Monday, Sept. 29 - U.S. Reps. Jim Ramstad, Collin Peterson, Tim Walz and Michele Bachmann were among House Republicans whose opposition votes killed the Bush administration’s $700 billion bailout plan for Wall Street firms and banks.

“The administration’s bailout plan imposes great risk to taxpayers and no guarantee of success,” Ramstad said today in a prepared statement.

The plan, which failed 228 to 205, faced bipartisan opposition. Ramstad, 3rd District, and Bachmann, 6th District, are Republicans; Peterson, 7th District, and Walz, 1st District, are Democrats.

The plan did get some bipartisan support from Minnesota’s Congressional delegation. Democrats Betty McCollum, 4th District, and Keith Ellison, 5th District, and Republican John Kline, 2nd District, voted for the plan.

In a statement posted to her website prior to today’s vote, www.mccollum.house.gov, McCollum said, in part, “I will vote to support this bipartisan economic rescue package.

“I wish it wasn’t needed, but this legislation is about saving our nation’s economy and starting a new era of responsible government regulation in the marketplace to protect working families from greed, corruption, and abuses.”

Follow this link to read McCollum’s full statement:

www.mccollum.house.gov/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={3F83EE78-7746-457A-8C45-753847E2EF8C}

In a prepared statement, Kline said, in part:

“As it became increasingly clear that the financial crisis facing America was extending beyond Wall Street and threatening the jobs, homes, and retirement security of the men and women reporting for work on Main Streets throughout Minnesota and across America, we were asked to cast our vote for an imperfect, but important, solution. Unfortunately, this bill did not pass, and the crisis continues.

The final bill, Kline said, was “imperfect, but it was a bipartisan solution that I believed was in the best interest of Americans,” noting that it had won support of such diverse groups as AARP, Citizens Against Government Waste and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Follow this link to read Kline’s entire statement:

http://kline.house.gov/ (Click on “MORE” under “Top Story.”)

Ramstad, summarizing House Republicans’ opposition, said that because the proposed bill was “considered in such haste, without adequate hearings or debate, nobody knows what this complex financial scheme will produce so the final cost to taxpayers is uncertain,” Ramstad said.

Of the nation’s top economists, Ramstad said, 400 signed a petition to Congress objecting to the bailout plan.

“They are skeptical of the federal government buying up toxic mortgage-backed assets from banks and hoping the benefits trickle down from Wall Street to Main Street,” Ramstad explained.

“According to these economists, the long-term effects of this financial scheme - higher inflation, a weakened dollar and a greater national debt - will outweigh any short-term stabilization of the credit markets.”

Rather than providing $700 billion of taxpayer money to buy frozen mortgage assets to solve the current problem, Ramstad said, Congress should adopt the plan to insure mortgage-backed securities through payment of insurance premiums by the holders of these assets.

Comment from all lawmakers in the Minnesota delegation was not immediately available. This article will be updated as more information becomes available.

Greg Huff is editor of www.mnsun.com. This article updates a version posted here previously.

Previous reader comment(s):

Author: Jeanne

It's scary, I agree, but why should those of us who are cautious and responsible with our money be forced to bailout those who were driven by greed into a financial crisis?

http://kline.house.gov/ (Click on “MORE” under “Top Story.”)

Ramstad, summarizing House Republicans’ opposition, said that because the proposed bill was “considered in such haste, without adequate hearings or debate, nobody knows what this complex financial scheme will produce so the final cost to taxpayers is uncertain,” Ramstad said.

Of the nation’s top economists, Ramstad said, 400 signed a petition to Congress objecting to the bailout plan.

“They are skeptical of the federal government buying up toxic mortgage-backed assets from banks and hoping the benefits trickle down from Wall Street to Main Street,” Ramstad explained.

“According to these economists, the long-term effects of this financial scheme - higher inflation, a weakened dollar and a greater national debt - will outweigh any short-term stabilization of the credit markets.”

Rather than providing $700 billion of taxpayer money to buy frozen mortgage assets to solve the current problem, Ramstad said, Congress should adopt the plan to insure mortgage-backed securities through payment of insurance premiums by the holders of these assets.

Comment from all lawmakers in the Minnesota delegation was not immediately available. This article will be updated as more information becomes available.

Greg Huff is editor of www.mnsun.com. This article updates a version posted here previously.

Previous reader comment(s):

Author: Jeanne

It's scary, I agree, but why should those of us who are cautious and responsible with our money be forced to bailout those who were driven by greed into a financial crisis?