Sen. Clinton on the Administration's Proposal to Restore Stability to U.S. Financial Markets

[The Straight Story]

Statement of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on the Administration's Proposal to Restore Stability to U.S. Financial Markets

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton made the following statement on the administration’s proposal to restore stability to U.S. financial markets.

“When the American people, facing a foreclosure crisis and struggling economy, turned to this administration for help, the answer was no. Now, the administration is turning to the American people for help, to rescue the credit markets and take on hundreds of billions in debt and financial obligations as a consequence of that same foreclosure crisis. The truth is, Main Street came to Washington and got little. Now Washington is coming to Main Street and asking for a lot. The American people deserve to know that this isn't a blank check. While the need to address the current crisis is clear, I will only support steps that will prevent a widening crisis, tackle the worst kinds of abuse tolerated for too long by the Bush Administration, and address the root problems at work.

The proposed intervention outlined today by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson would be a watershed moment for our economy. I believe that such an intervention demands that we fundamentally alter the priorities and policies of our nation under the Bush Administration that allowed this crisis to take place and escalate. Corporations that will benefit must be held accountable not only to large shareholders but also to the American people. And American taxpayers deserve to know that their money will not allow for a continuation of the status quo: short term profit at the expense of long term viability; obscene bonuses and golden parachutes regardless of performance; reckless risk taking that have placed the markets in so much jeopardy; rewards for those who foreclose on middle class families and sell mortgages designed to fail to turn a profit; and outsourcing of good jobs to serve short term stock prices instead of America's long term economic health. The prevailing dynamic of corporate America, where the sole priority was the dividend, the inflated bonus and the quarterly earnings report, must give way to a new respect for the long term prosperity of the American worker and the well being of the middle class.

After eight years of failed policies – and two years of an absentee administration – our only option left may be an unprecedented government intervention into the private markets. The markets must be stabilized to stave off wider turmoil. Nevertheless, the urgency of this crisis does not mean that we should offer a blank check to financial institutions or the privileged few. Nor can we simply allow the administration to use the taxpayers like a ‘reset button.’ We cannot allow Wall Street to act without oversight by a vigilant SEC and administration – and without regard for the American people, who will now have paid twice: in falling prey to a widening credit crisis, and in paying the bill to hopefully bring it to an end.

I will be examining the administration's proposal very closely to ensure that we do not approve a policy that may stabilize the markets in the short term without addressing the root problems facing middle class families or the kinds of reckless gambling that was permitted for far too long by the administration. The Bush Administration may have changed its tune once the crisis facing Main Street hit Wall Street. But we need to be sure that the American taxpayers – asked to shoulder yet more risk and responsibility – have a voice.”


On Thursday, Senator Clinton outlined her plan to halt the market crisis in a speech on the floor of the Senate, calling for a series of specific proposals, including creating a new version of the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) to remove bad mortgage debt from the market and restore confidence, curbing the most damaging and manipulative trading practices, providing immediate relief to homeowners facing foreclosure through modifying troubled mortgages, and reasserting competent federal oversight. Senator Clinton also explained her plan in a letter to more than 15,000 New Yorkers who had expressed concern about housing and the economy.

http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=303310&&

[Beregond2]

1. Very sensible and sound;

unlike all the ninnies screaming: "Off with their heads!" on this board. Allowing the situation to spiral into another Great Depression would be cutting off our noses to spite our faces.

[Marie26]

2. K&R

[Winterblues]

3. Possibly she learned her lesson from the IWR and the Administration's "Must Act Now"

approach to things. There needs to be at least some deliberation from supposedly the most "Deliberative Body on Earth".. The Administration is nothing but a Cabal of LIARS and should never be believed about anything at all let alone economic issues.

[Captain Hilts]

4. Clinton's a policymaker more than a politician. nt