Monday September 22, 2008
(Manchester, NH) – Former Governor and current US Senate candidate Jeanne Shaheen released the following statement today in response to the proposed federal bailout of Wall Street:
"I am deeply troubled by the fact that the taxpayers are being asked to foot a $700 billion bill for bad decisions made by Wall Street investment banks and the lack of oversight and accountability championed by George Bush, John Sununu and their allies in Congress. As this proposal develops, I think it is critical that any final deal includes protections for taxpayers, help for families who have been the victims of predatory lending practices and tough, new accountability and oversight in the financial markets to ensure that we don't end up in this situation again. Lax accountability and the look-the-other-way culture that the Bush administration and their allies have supported in Washington have allowed Wall Street to run rampant at the expense of middle class families – and now families are paying the price as pensions and 401Ks are jeopardized, housing values plummet even further and it becomes harder and more expensive to borrow.
It is outrageous that taxpayers are now being asked to hand over hundreds of billions of dollars to bailout the people that got us into one of the worst financial crises in history while some of the CEOs at these firms are getting enormous severance and compensation packages -- despite their roles at the helm. It is unacceptable that we are now looking at adding a trillion dollars to our national debt and tripling this year's deficit to bail out these institutions. And it is disgraceful that we are considering asking the taxpayers to clean up after the abuses and failures of Wall Street, the Bush administration and their allies. It is imperative that the taxpayers be protected first and foremost in any final bailout proposal and that the people who got us into this situation don't get handed a blank check."
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