FRANKEN STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT BUSH REMARKS REGARDING MARKET TURMOIL
Posted in Press Releases on September 18th, 2008
FRANKEN STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT BUSH REMARKS REGARDING MARKET TURMOIL
Saint Paul [09/18/08] - - Al Franken made the following statement today:
“I’ve heard Barack Obama say this, and he’s right: Under this administration, instead of prosperity trickling down, pain has trickled up.
“Here in Minnesota, we didn’t need to watch the news this week to know that the Bush-Coleman economy simply isn’t working. Household income is down, the price of everything from gas to college tuition is skyrocketing, and Minnesotans are feeling less secure than ever. The dream of middle-class prosperity seems to be slipping away for too many families.
“That we’re now using taxpayer money to bail out Wall Street corporations is an unfortunate necessity. But as we rush to the aid of Wall Street, we cannot ignore the real pain being felt on Main Street.
“That’s why we need to make a clean break from the special-interests-first policies of George Bush and Norm Coleman. They believe that wealth comes from the top. They think that the solution to the energy crisis is more giveaways to the oil companies, that the best way to create a prescription drug benefit in Medicare is a $300 billion handout to the drug companies, that your Social Security money should be “invested” in the hands of the same Wall Street companies now falling apart.
“So if they think that simply bailing out these financial interests counts as “doing something” about the economy, they’re just as wrong. We need to bring back oversight and accountability on Wall Street. We should restore regulations that have been rolled back during the Bush administration, strengthen liquidity and disclosure requirements for investments made by these firms, and develop systematic monitoring of financial systems so these crises don’t creep up on us like AIG did.
“And then we need to address the economic crisis on Main Street. I’ve called for a new stimulus package to create jobs by investing in infrastructure, a plan to stop the tidal wave of foreclosures that led to the collapses on Wall Street, middle-class tax cuts to put more money in the family budget, an Apollo program to end our dependence on expensive foreign oil, and steps to make college tuition and prescription drugs more affordable.
“What Minnesotans are seeing on TV this week is complex and worrisome. But what they’ve seen happening to the family economy is just as troubling. And in the Senate, I’ll fight to turn the page on the failed Bush-Coleman policies that have driven us into this ditch - and for common-sense solutions to rebuild our middle-class economy.”
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