Pelosi’s bailout speech ridiculous

By The Daily Progress

Published: October 6, 2008

I am writing to express my outrage over the needless political comments made by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi prior to Congrress’ important first vote on the $700 billion economic legislation. Rather than attempting to lay blame for this mess on President Bush, Speaker Pelosi should have shown leadership and bipartisanship by explaining what the legislation would do instead.

In fact, the largest part of this morass was started when Congress, with the support of the Clinton administration, passed legislation in 1997 altering how home loans could be given, with the idea of making home ownership possible for Americans with more limited means. While that may have been a laudable goal, it was not implemented by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac in a responsible way, and it led to the extension of suspect mortgages and encouraged many Americans to make poor judgments based on escalating home prices.

Indeed, the Bush administration and many members of Congress, including John McCain, warned as early as 2003 that the upward trend in real estate prices was not sustainable and that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae should be reorganized to address this growing concern.

Blame for this morass cannot be laid on the Bush administration alone. The collective inaction of all in Washington, the administration and the Congress alike, is to blame.

It is important that the American people be told how the bailout’s purchases of bad mortgage and other debt will be handled over time, with the possibility of the government recouping some of the money being used to purchase these bad debts.

Speaker Pelosi has failed to act responsibly on this important occasion, and I am outraged that my savings and those of all other Americans were jeopardized by her political grandstanding.

Roger Briney
Albemarle County