Uppity Wisconsin

I was extremely disappointed that you voted in favor of the bailout! We must place a moratorium on foreclosures and help those in danger of foreclosure to re-negotiate their mortgage so they can stay in their homes. DO NOT bailout Wall Street. That money can be better put to use helping ordinary citizens who are in financial trouble. Our own daughter lost her home in Ridgefield, Wi to foreclosure--not because she bought a home she couldn't afford, but because of predatory lenders who kept raising the interest rate to a place that was beyond her reach. No one came to her rescue and bailed her out!!!! When this comes to another vote--VOTE NO!!!!!

U.S. Rep. Dave Obey says people in his district are ticked off at the Bush administration's proposed $700 billion bailout for faltering financial institutions, and congressional leaders are working to add provisions to ensure that taxpayers benefit from the massive cash infusion. "If you take a look at the letters that I have gotten from home, it's very clear that people are very angry," said Obey, a Wisconsin Democrat who chairs the House Appropriations Committee. "They expect some of these changes to be made, and if they're not I think we're going to have a lot of angry constituents on our hands." He read one letter from a constituent, which said, "I would ask you to make every effort to place some checks and balances into the legislation proposed by Mr. Bush... No more of these payouts in the millions and millions of dollars for these failed companies with the taxpayer footing the bill. They should not be thrown diamond-encrusted life-preservers." The letter went on to urge oversight of treasury expenditures from the bailout. "That's pretty good advice which the Congress ought to take," said Obey in a telephone conference call with media Wednesday. Obey assailed the administration's plan, which arrived as a 3 1/2-page document last week asking for $700 billion so the U.S. Treasury can prop up bad mortgage investments "It's a three-and-a-half-page totally blank check," he said. Democrats want to add provisions that would protect people facing foreclosure, add a bipartisan oversight board and ensure that taxpayers would share in the profits once financial institutions become profitable. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and GOP nominee John McCain have also voiced support for provisions that give taxpayers, who will be shelling out the equivalent of $2,000 for every man, woman and child, a chance to share in future investment payoffs. White House officials, including Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, have been urging quick passage, saying every day that passes worsens the crisis. While Obey acknowledge the need for a quick resolution by saying, "Every day creates more uncertainty in the markets," he said congressional leaders "made clear we're not going to cooperate in the bum's rush." "We may get only one chance to fix this in the short term, and in my view we have take the time to try to do it right even if it takes an extra week," he said. He said the fix would only be short-term, and Congress needs to also needs to craft regulatory measures to replace regulations that were gutted under Republican rule in recent decades. That deregulation, he said, caused the current crisis. Obey said that there were no guarantees that the bailout, and a stimulus package currently being developed, will mitigate the panic that has driven the financial markets in recent days. "I think it depends in the confidence that consumers have in the product that the president and the Congress put through," he said. "If consumers conclude that all that has been done is to take care of the big shots and leave everybody on Main Street fighting for themselves, it's not going to solve the problem. It may not solve the problem no matter what is produced here." He added, "So much of this depends on confidence." And he painted a dire picture of what could happen to the economy if the bailout either doesn't pass or doesn't work. "If you're trying to get a car loan, if you're tying to get a mortgage, if you're trying to get a student loan, if you're trying to build a new house, you're just not going to be able to get credit and we're just going to have one whale of a recession," he said. "And you can have millions of people losing their jobs." While Obey is not heading bail-out negotiations -- House Banking Committee Chairman Barney Frank is -- he is involved in a standoff with the White House over a continuing budget appropriations bill to keep the government running during the coming fiscal year. President Bush has proposed a bill that makes deep cuts to children's health care, vocational education and medical research, while Democrats have proposed legislation that protects those funds. Obey announced that Democrats, who have majorities in both the House and Senate, have decided to extend federal budget funding from the last fiscal year in the hope that Obama will win the White House in November. "We had a choice," he said. "We could either swallow those cuts or we could wait until we have a new president" who can "negotiate like an adult." If McCain wins, he said, the Bush cuts would likely become law. _____________________ Submited by : Libros Gratis