Wednesday September 24, 2008
By: Nick Maggio
From: Eagle Tribune
To the editor: Last week, all of America watched what may have been the worst economic meltdown since the Great Depression unfold on national television. By the end of the day, the market had dropped 500 points, Lehman Brothers was bankrupt, and AIG was reeling and required an $85 billion bailout. In an effort to try to stop the rapid decline a plan that will require over a trillion dollars in spending is all but guaranteed. Much of this market crisis is the result of policies that have been implemented by Bush/Sununu based on a philosophy that believes in little to no oversight on our financial markets, allowing predatory lenders and institutions to recklessly gamble with the American people's pensions, 401Ks, and other investments crucial to our lives. An example of one such policy that has been particularly devastating was a 1999 bill, which John Sununu supported, called the Financial Modernization Act, which repealed the New Deal era law that kept commercial and investment banks separate. As a result ,investment banks were able to invest in the housing market, causing the decline of this market to have more widespread economic effects. Now many Republicans, John Sununu included, are claiming to support regulations, but can we really trust legislators who have a basic economic belief of deregulation based on pre-industrial revolution economics to properly regulate the market? Jeanne Shaheen has always supported smart market oversight and regulation, not just when it seems politically necessary. We need a new direction in Washington, we need a new senator. Jeanne Shaheen is more than qualified and I am proud to be supporting her candidacy this fall for the U.S. Senate. NICK MAGGIO Atkinson, N.H.
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