U.S. House Members Vote for Senate Financial Rescue Bill
HOUSEVOTE
Worcester Telegram and Gazette
Rachel Kolokoff
Boston University Washington News Service
October 3, 2008
WASHINGTON – Members of Congress from central Massachusetts stuck by their “yes” votes on Friday as House members passed the Senate’s version of the financial rescue bill.
All agreed that passing the imperfect bill was better than doing nothing, which they said would only have caused further economic upset.
“The credit markets would further tighten and the people that I represent – even those who want me to vote ‘no,’ would be hurt very badly,” U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern said on the House floor Friday, before the vote.
Mr. McGovern said that he appreciates the sentiment of one of his constituents, who suggested that Wall Street businessmen “take a long walk off a short pier.”
Still, he said, acting based on that anger would not help any struggling homeowners, small business owners, or people desperate for loans.
“I want someone to pay a price – or to at least assume responsibility – for this economic mess before we do anything else,” Mr. McGovern said. “But while that might be good therapy, it’s not good economic policy.”
That is why Mr. McGovern supported the bill, he said, even though he would have preferred it contained strong bankruptcy protection, stricter limits on CEO compensation, an economic stimulus package aimed at helping working families and firmer pay-back provisions.
U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal also said in an interview on Friday that the bill was necessary, despite its imperfections, because it would bring some stability to the markets.
Mr. Neal said that the bill contained other necessary provisions such as one to shield more than 20 million taxpayers nationwide from the Alternative Minimum Tax..
“The AMT legislation is welcome relief for tens if not hundreds of thousands of people in Massachusetts,” Mr. Neal said.
U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas said in an interview on Friday that she was persuaded early on by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke that the legislation would help steady the markets.
“I think it’s very fortunate that today we had much larger numbers both on the Democratic and Republican sides, enough to pass the bill,” Ms. Tsongas said.
Mr. McGovern said in an interview on Friday that as late as Thursday night he was uncertain enough people would vote to pass the bill.
Mr. Neal said more people voted for the bill than he had expected.
Unlike the original House bill that failed on Monday, this bill contained sweeteners added by the Senate on Wednesday, including the three key ones:
· An extension of a number of tax breaks including business tax breaks for people using, producing and investing in renewable fuels
· A temporary increase in the limit on federal bank deposit insurance from $100,000 to $250,000
· An adjustment of the Alternative Minimum Tax, an income tax for the wealthy, to reflect inflation.
In a statement on Friday U.S. Rep. John W. Olver said no one is confident that the bill’s passage signals an end to legislation needed help the financial system.
“We will almost certainly be back next year to overhaul our financial regulatory system so the same practices that caused this crisis will not reoccur,” Mr. Olver said.
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