In Rick Kennedy”s column (Record-Bee, October 4), he would lead you to believe that the rescue bill passed by Congress last week benefits greedy executives on Wall Street and no one else. While it is certainly true that this now international crisis is rooted in irresponsible behavior on the part of Wall Street, what Mr. Kennedy fails to mention is that in today”s economy, Wall Street and Main Street are inextricably connected.
The bill we passed last Friday was not much better than the one we rejected earlier. But as credit markets seized up it became obvious that if the House failed to act the consequences would shake the foundations of our economy all across the country and in Lake County.
The responsible extension of credit from one entity to another is one of the principle foundations of our economy. Make no mistake; we should never go back to the easy, no-cost credit of the recent past.
However, we are all dependent on some credit in our day to day lives; using a credit card, a family financing a new home, car, or college education, a small business owner who needs to buy a piece of equipment, or a local community that needs to finance a critical infrastructure project. When banks, corporations and individuals aren”t willing to lend money to one another, the system simply stops working. That is the position we find ourselves in today.
Some of you may be asking yourselves, I live responsibly within my means, I pay my bills on time and I don”t have much debt, why should I care what happens in the credit market?
You don”t have to look any further than the most recent unemployment numbers to see why we should all care and why we had to act. The country lost more jobs in September than any month in the last five years. Unemployment in California stands at 7.7 percent, the highest it has been in 12 years.
In a rare show of bi-partisanship, Governor Schwarzenegger and Treasurer Bill Lockyer announced last week that if the credit markets are not restored, California will be unable to find short-term financing to operate the state.
From police, fire, and public health workers to road crews, government services will be disrupted and these jobs could go on the chopping block. Your job and your neighbor”s job may be safe right now, but if we don”t try to fix this credit problem, there are few who will be immune from its effects.
I remain committed to enactment of concrete market reforms that address the underlying problems that led to this crisis. I”ve received personal commitments from Speaker Pelosi and Senator Obama that they too will work for these important market reforms.
To that end, the House has already begun hearings on the regulatory shortcomings in our financial system and in January we will be ready to pass real regulatory reform legislation. I can assure you that I will do everything in my power to make sure the mistakes of this credit crisis are never repeated.
Finally, Mr. Kennedy suggested a simpler answer would be to send a $3,000 check to every citizen. This is not going to save anyone”s home from foreclosure let alone free up the frozen credit markets.
For Lake County families facing foreclosure, Congress has already initiated a new program to help homeowners secure long-term, fixed rate mortgages that they can afford. For more information, call my office or go to HUD”s Hope for Homeowners website at http://www.hud.gov/hopeforhomeowners/index.cfm.
I can assure you that I am as mad as anyone about this, but at the end of the day I had to set aside my outrage at all of the flawed policies, greed and incompetence that got us to this point and do what was best for our community and country moving forward. I had to choose to either do nothing or vote for an imperfect rescue package and I chose the better of two bad options. I voted for the bill because I believe it is the only way to begin to resolve this crisis.
Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) was first elected to represent California”s 1st Congressional District in 1998. The district includes all of Napa, Lake, Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte Counties as well as portions of Yolo and Sonoma Counties. Thompson”s office may be contacted by email at http://mikethompson.house.gov/contact/email.shtml
Opinions are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Lake County Record-Bee or its management.
