Gerlach Votes To End Bailouts, Repay Taxpayers
Gerlach Votes To End Bailouts, Repay Taxpayers
Congressman Jim Gerlach (PA-6th District) on Friday supported a House Republican measure that would have ended the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and required the remaining funds in the program be used to pay down the massive amount of national debt that is being piled onto the backs of our children and grandchildren.
"The American taxpayers were asked more than a year ago to dig deep and send billions of dollars to Wall Street to prevent a cataclysmic collapse of our financial markets and ensure consumers and small business owners would have access to mortgages and loans for expanding production and hiring new workers," Gerlach said. "But some in Washington now want to treat TARP like an ATM and use funds repaid by the banks or left over in the program for more and more spending. Enough is enough. We need to end this bailout program, and start working on fiscally responsible plans for creating jobs and getting credit flowing again."
Democrat leaders rejected the House Republican plan. Instead, the Majority muscled through legislation that creates a huge new bureaucracy to regulate banks and other financial institutions.
Gerlach voted against the bill (H.R. 4173) because it will hamper small businesses ability to create jobs and place a huge burden on our families.
"This bill will make it harder for our families and for our small businesses to get credit in our local communities that they absolutely need to create more jobs," Gerlach said on the House floor Thursday. "It is certainly going to expand the Federal Government even beyond its current size, and it will empower Washington bureaucrats through the creation of yet another Federal agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
"This is despite the fact that there has already been a multitude of efforts this year to expand Federal power into the auto industry, the housing industry, the energy industry, the health care industry, and now the financial services industry. The effort of seeking more and more power by the Federal Government over more and more aspects of our daily lives is simply breathtaking."
Source