Cole, Fallin, Lucas Explain Rescue Bill Votes

Congressman Tom Cole said today his vote for the financial rescue bill is one he will have to defend for the rest of his political life.

In a statement, Cole said, "Lyndon Johnson used to say, 'doing the right thing isn't hard, knowing the right thing to do is.' Over the past few weeks I have questioned whether passing this bill is the right thing to do. But I believe that without immediate action the stock market will take a nose dive, credit will freeze up and economic activity will grind to a halt. I am not willing to gamble the jobs, life savings, retirement accounts, the homes and the businesses of the people I represent. We cannot risk the global, political and social turmoil that will surely occur if there is a severe and prolonged recession or depression in the United States."

Congresswoman Mary Fallin, who voted no on the earlier version but voted yes today, issued a statement in which she said, “Passing this bill was an extraordinary and difficult thing to do, but I believe it was the only way of getting our economy back on track. In moving forward, we must look to additional measures that ensure the American people are never again put in this position. Congress retains oversight of this plan and control of the purse strings, and I intend to ensure that we exercise that authority to protect taxpayers. Congress should also work in a bipartisan fashion to install new and workable safeguards against the kind of irresponsible lending practices engaged in by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and other institutions which contributed to this crisis. Only by permanently putting an end to the bad practices that got us here in the first place can we guarantee this crisis does not repeat itself.”

Congressman Frank Lucas, who voted no earlier and the same way today, said, "Today, I voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. This was one of the toughest decisions I have made in my 14 years as a United States Congressman, and I know that many of my constituents will be disappointed with my vote. They, like myself, are concerned about the state of our economy and the impact the turmoil on Wall Street may have on their retirement savings, pension fund, or even bank account. However, as concerned as I am about our economy, the cost and significance of this bill coupled with the haste in which it was crafted was of greater concern to me."

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Coburn Yes, Inhofe No On Rescue Bill

Senators Tom Coburn and Jim Inhofe split their votes tonight on the financial rescue bill. Coburn voted for it, Inhofe against.

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Meacham Calls For Bailout Bill Approval

State Treasurer Scott Meacham today called on members of the congressional delegation to act quickly to pass legislation to rescue the nation's failing financial markets.

"The longer they wait, the worse it gets," said Meacham. "It's time for every member of Oklahoma's congressional delegation to stand up and make the tough decisions needed to get the markets back on track.

"While sitting around saying 'no' may be the safe political thing to doright now, it's very short-sighted as credit is drying up, investmentsare shrinking and many Oklahomans' savings and retirement funds aredisappearing."

Without significant action soon, Meacham said the damage will only worsen.

"We saw earlier this week what happened to the stock market after the House failed to approve the first rescue package," he said. "The stock market set a record for the largest single day decline in history and investors lost more than a trillion dollars.

"I commend President Bush, Treasury Secretary Paulson and congressional leaders in both parties for their understanding of the potentially devastating impact of this ever widening financial crisis on our nation's economy and their hard work in drafting a compromise rescue plan to help stop the economic freefall we are currently experiencing."

Meacham said no package is going to please everyone.

"No taxpayer is happy that they are being called on once again to rescue private businesses from their poor decisions," Meacham said. "However, history teaches that failure to act in times of national crisis can be devastating. Herbert Hoover had to learn that lesson the hard way following the stock market crash of 1929.

"My call today is for all members of Oklahoma's delegation to rise tothis historic challenge and take decisive action to keep our country strong."

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Dan Boren Explains Vote For Bailout Bill

Democratic Congressman Dan Boren, who today joined Republican Congressman Tom Cole in voting for the bailout bill, issued this statement explaining his vote: “Although Congress voted down the proposed financial package today, there is little disagreement that something must be done.

"Our country currently faces arguably the largest economic emergency in our history. It is my hope that Congress will reconvene soon to continue working toward addressing this economic crisis.

"Today I voted in support of the legislation because I believe the American banking system is at risk of total failure.

"Over the past two weeks we have seen our nation’s largest bank, three of our nation’s premier investment banks, and the country’s largest insurer fail. This should be cause for great concern.

"Many Oklahomans count on banks and financial institutions to protect their life-savings, expand their businesses, make major financial purchases, and send their children to college. A failure of our lending institutions could destroy our nation’s economy and cause many of our citizens to lose their jobs and homes.

"In the weeks to come, I will continue to monitor any proposal put forward to deal with the current financial situation.”

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Key, Reynolds Applaud Bailout Opposition

A pair of state legislators praised congressional lawmakers for opposing a mammoth bailout of financial lenders, saying the plan undermines the free market and public trust.

“My dad always said a good deal today will still be a good deal tomorrow, so I see no reason to rush this bailout plan through Congress without careful review,” said state Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City. “As it is now written, the plan will simply incentivize bad business practices and lead to further disruption of our economy.”

“This bailout plan is nothing more than an attempt to protect poorly run businesses from the consequences of bad management decisions using taxpayer money,” said state Rep. Charles Key, R-Oklahoma City. “For free markets to work, private businesses must be allowed to succeed or fail based solely on their ability to turn a profit and not their ability to exploit political connections.”

Reynolds and Key said it is “morally indefensible” to force financially responsible Oklahoma businesses and families to foot the bill for national lenders “who couldn’t pass an economics 101 class.”

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Lucas Opposes Bailout Bill

Congressman Frank Lucas said today he opposed the bailout bill because, “I am concerned about the current state of our financial system. However, the constituents of the Third Congressional District spoke loud and clear over the last week in opposition to the proposed rescue plan, and I am here to represent their voice in Congress. I await the development of other proposals to address the crisis our financial markets are facing.”

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Fallin Explains 'No' Vote On Bailout Bill

Congresswoman Mary Fallin today issued the following statement concerning her vote against the economic bailout plan:

“Like all Americans, I am extremely concerned with the present state of the economy. I believe government action is needed to stabilize the financial sector and to protect the economic security of our families and businesses. Today’s bill, however, puts the interests of Wall Street above that of Main Street and rewards bad behavior at taxpayer expense. While I remain optimistic about achieving a legislative agreement in the future, I cannot support the legislation before us today for three fundamental reasons.

“First, it represents a violation of a basic American principle to expect taxpayers – who are not at fault in this crisis – to underwrite the rescue of those who are. A combination of bad lending policies at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, poor oversight of those agencies, equally bad practices on Wall Street and in the financial markets and, in some cases, simple irresponsible greed, caused this mess. It is simply wrong to expect the hard working American taxpayer to pay for it.

“Second, I was elected to work and speak and vote for the people of the Fifth District of Oklahoma. I cannot tell my constituents in good conscience that the plan we saw today, a massively funded and lightly regulated government intrusion into private finance, is going to benefit the people who put me in office and who I am proud to represent.

“Third, this does not need to be the end of the process. We can shore up our financial markets and protect the investments of our citizens while providing a much greater degree of accountability and transparency. I have been working with my colleagues in the House to develop such alternative solutions, and I remain optimistic that a final legislative agreement will be much stronger than the one we saw today.

“I am ready to do what it takes to pass a workable economic recovery plan that protects the savings, retirement and economic security of American taxpayers. I cannot, however, support a ‘bailout’ that takes $700 billion away from Main Street in a bid to protect Wall Street from the consequences of reckless decisions and a culture of greed. Nor will I write a blank check and simply hope that throwing money at our current problems will make them go away.”

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