Blog Entries tagged 'Debt Crisis'

Cantwell supports move to inject cash into banks

art@artshotwell.com — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Senator Maria Cantwell says she supports the latest proposal that the federal government inject capital directly into banks in return for ownership stakes in a move to restore confidence in the financial system and unfreeze credit markets.

Cantwell issued this statement:

While I remain supportive of leveraging the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government to try and avoid further financial meltdown, it's important that the Treasury Department's decision-making be based on a clear [...]

Rick Larsen votes to approve emergency bailout

art@artshotwell.com — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

U.S. Representative Rick Larsen voted to approve the emergency bailout. It passed the House 263-171. Larsen released the following statement in advance of the House vote:

When the Bush Administration asked for $700 billion with no oversight and no protections for taxpayers, Democrats in Congress said no way, no how, no blank check.
Congress has made significant improvements to the Administrations financial rescue package. We cut the $700 billion in half and conditioned any future p [...]

Washington Senators' bailout vote

art@artshotwell.com — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Washington's two U.S. Senators voted on opposite sides of the Senate vote on a financial rescue package. The bill passed on a 74-25 vote. Senator Patty Murray voted 'yes,' while Senator Maria Cantwell voted 'no.' I'm posting statements from both Murray and Cantwell.

Patty Murray explains her 'yes' vote

art@artshotwell.com — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Senator Patty Murray voted 'yes' on the financial rescue legislation. This is her statement:

Today communities across America, and far from Wall Street, are hurting. Families are struggling to fill up the tank, to afford health care and to send their kids to college. "

"And even if theyve played by the rules, paid their bills on time and have good credit, they are now at risk because of the Bush Administrations failure to rein in Wall Street greed.

People want to know if this [...]

Maria Cantwell explains her 'no' vote

art@artshotwell.com — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

From Senator Maria Cantwell:

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) issued the following statement after the vote on the economic rescue and tax extenders package. Cantwell voted no. The measure passed by a vote of 74 to 25:

The people of Washington state sent me here to fight for sound fiscal policy. I have led the fight for taxpayers in my state to get the fairness they deserve with the state sales tax deduction. I have led the fight for rural communities in my state and across t [...]

Billions off the balance sheet, and it's legal?

bhodgman@comcast.net — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 13:45:52 +0100

There's an article in the Sunday New York Times about how the current mortgage debt crisis in the U.S. financial system came about (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/business/23how.html?ref=business&pagewanted=all)

There are calls for new regulations and changes to the Federal Reserve/SEC mission, but one passage in particular struck me:

"Among the topics they discussedwere investment vehicles that allowed Citigroup and other banks to keep billions of dollars in poten [...]