Challenges Coleman To Explain Prediction That Bailout Will Net $14 Trillion

Franken: No More Blank Checks For This Administration - Not After Billions Spent In Iraq With No Oversight

SAINT PAUL [09/23/08] - With Minnesota’s middle-class families, already struggling in the Bush-Coleman economy, now being asked to foot the bill for a trillion-dollar bailout of the financial services industry, DFL U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken today announced the principles that he would demand in any bailout package.

Al Franken:

“If we’ve learned anything during the Bush-Coleman era, it’s that when we hand over tax dollars to these folks, we’d better get a receipt. We need to take action to avoid economic disaster - but the era of putting powerful special interests first and ignoring Minnesota’s middle class has got to end.”

This weekend, Coleman asserted that if the bailout was approved, “the government could make 10 or 20 times what it pays on this.” Franken today called on Coleman to explain his reasoning for such an estimate, as no economist has suggested such a “rosy outcome,” according to the Politico.

Franken announced that he would only support a bailout plan if it adhered to these principles:

1. No blank check. “Not one dime should go to this bailout without independent oversight, real accountability, and complete transparency.”

2. Taxpayers get a stake. “If we’re footing the bill for keeping these companies afloat, taxpayers should get an equity stake so that we can share in the benefits when and if they get back on their feet.”

3. No golden parachutes. “In the public sector, there’s no such thing as a golden parachute. And if we’re going to sacrifice $2,000 for every Minnesota taxpayer to bail out these companies, these executives are going to learn about sacrifice, too. So, all excessive compensation, bonuses, and severance agreements are hereby cancelled.”

4. Bring back oversight. “We need to restore the regulatory framework dismantled with George W. Bush in the White House and Norm Coleman in the Senate so that this doesn’t happen again.”

5. Help homeowners. “The foreclosure crisis caused this problem, and we still haven’t taken the steps I’ve been proposing for months to address it. We have to freeze foreclosures and allow bankruptcy judges to re-set mortgages on primary residences.”

6. Protect consumers. “I’m calling for a new Financial Products Safety Commission with similar duties and powers to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008 at 12:36 and is filed under Press Releases. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.