John Boehner 8TH DISCTRICT OF OHIO

Oct 6, 2008

Washington- There have been a lot of questions about the economic rescue package that was signed into law recently, and rightly so.    

The enactment of this flawed but necessary bill is not a cause for celebration.  Rather, it is cause for anger.  The bill was necessary because Washington has failed the American people.  There was no failure of our free-market system, of which I remain a staunch proponent, but rather a failure of politicians and bureaucrats who weren’t fulfilling their oversight responsibility.  Executives at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other firms were permitted to run rampant, engaging in free-wheeling and irresponsible business schemes that ultimately imperiled our economy.  The excesses of Wall Street put Main Street Americans at risk.  And to protect Main Street Americans from irreparable harm, action had to be taken.  

I voted for the bill, reluctantly, because I believed the risk of doing nothing was unacceptable.  Doing nothing meant taking a huge gamble with the futures of Main Street Americans – families, retirees, students, small businesses and taxpayers.  The legislation is designed to free up more capital to grow businesses, create jobs and let small businesses make major purchases, and to ensure that Americans can get approval for car loans, student loans and other consumer credit.

House Republicans stood on principle throughout the process of crafting the economic rescue legislation, and in doing so, we were able to secure numerous reforms on behalf of taxpayers.  We fought for, and won, an increase in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) cap from $100,000 to $250,000 to protect savings and small businesses.  We fought successfully for inclusion of an insurance program that puts the financial burden on Wall Street instead of Main Street, a major change from the original plan proposed by the Treasury Department, which put too much burden on taxpayers.  We pressed successfully for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to change so-called “mark-to-market” rules for certain assets that have worsened the credit crisis.  We also stripped out special-interest earmarks for trial lawyers, labor bosses and thinly-veiled political organizations like ACORN that were included in the original deal struck between congressional Democrats and the Treasury Department.  

These changes made a bad bill better, but the fact of the matter is that taxpayers should never have been put in this position in the first place – and those responsible for putting taxpayers in this position should be held accountable.  Accountability starts with examining the root causes of the situation.  Unfortunately, the Democrats who control Congress seem intent on changing the subject.  As of this writing, Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA), the chairman of the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee, is refusing to hold a hearing on the role the excesses at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac played in the current economic crisis.  

Over the last decade, Republicans have consistently sought fundamental reform of these so-called “government-sponsored enterprises,” but our efforts were blocked by lawmakers on the other side of the aisle who said no reform was needed.  Former President Bill Clinton tried to initiate reforms and was rebuffed by his own party; President Bush tried in 2003 to take similar action but again was blocked by Democratic lawmakers who insisted Fannie and Freddie were “fundamentally sound financially.”  At the same time Democrats claimed there was “no crisis” at Fannie and Freddie, predatory subprime lending ran rampant, laying the foundation for the troubles that are playing out today.  The American people deserve to know the mistakes that were made and the role those errors played in putting our economy in peril today.  It’s outrageous that the partisan congressional hearings being conducted on the origins of the crisis have been designed to steer clear of any such discussion.  

American families should never again be put in this situation.  The crisis in our economy is an outrage, because it’s a crisis that could have been avoided.  It is a failure of a broken Washington in dire need of fundamental reform.  

Boehner represents Ohio’s 8th District, which includes all of Darke, Miami and Preble counties, most of Butler and Mercer counties, and the northeastern corner of Montgomery County.  He was first elected to Congress in 1990.