The Economy
Bartlett: Financial Crisis Is Due To Over-Regulation
For 16 years, Congressman Roscoe Bartlett has voted to deregulate the financial markets every chance he got. And now that the financial markets are in free fall, does Bartlett finally admit that he went too far? No, he says he didn't go far enough! Contrary to just about everyone else, Roscoe Bartlett says that the current financial crisis is due to over-regulation of the financial markets. Watch for yourself this clip from Bartlett's opening statement at the candidates forum sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce in Hagerstown.
Later that evening, at the FCC Candidates Debate, Jennifer examined Bartlett's dismal record of deregulating the financial markets where voters are losing trillions of dollars as the markets continue to decline.
Jennifer Voices Her Opposition to the Bailout
The BBC was in Frederick yesterday to report on the proposed $700 Billion bailout. Jennifer pulled no punches in voicing her opposition to the give away to Wall Street fat cats. She says it still doesn't address the root cause of the problem, namely real estate foreclosures. The interview was part of the lead news segment on BBC's Newsnight. You can view it by clicking here. Jennifer's 30 seconds of British fame appears at the 5:30 mark. (A little warning: the BBC website resizes your web browser, so you might want to shift+click on the link to open a new window.)
Bail Out Wall Street?
Find the Solution on Main Street
The real estate slowdown hit Main Street two years ago, but President Bush did nothing, and even threatened to veto Democrat-sponsored legislation that would have helped homeowners. Now, when the meltdown is hurting millionaires on Wall Street, President Bush wants immediate action with no strings attached. Already, in the last few weeks, he’s spent hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars protecting a selected few corporate lenders from their bad investments.
No one can be sure of the next best step. People in Washington and New York, wanting to protect their own hides, want immediate and dramatic action. People in the 6th Congressional district want something more. I am not sure that I trust many in Washington right now. The past 8 years of no regulation and no oversight have left us with terrible choices. No one wants to avoid action, but we want to take the right steps.
President Bush wants $700 billion more of taxpayer dollars to bail out Wall Street banks, and even foreign-owned banks, so they can just keep selling mortgages. Even worse, President Bush says: “Don’t clutter the bailout bill with foreclosure protection for homeowners, or salary cuts for millionaire CEOs, or measures to ensure that taxpayers don’t get cheated. Just give us the money and go away.”
Comptroller Peter Franchot Tours Carroll Creek
Comptroller Peter Franchot took a walking tour of Frederick today with Jennifer. He was in town to view the economic development taking place along Carroll Creek. The Carroll Creek project was achieved during Jennifer's term as Mayor of Frederick. Frederick has now become the second largest city in Maryland.
Afterward, Franchot predicted Jennifer would upset Roscoe Bartlett in the fall election, comparing the race to his own upset of incumbent Comptroller William Donald Schaefer. "My own mother didn't think I was gonna win because I was running against a Maryland legend", Franchot said. "But I always had a feeling that the public was ready to switch. I think that's what's going on now."
Recent Job Losses Will Hurt Everyone
RECENT JOB LOSSES WILL HURT EVERYONE
REGULATORS IGNORED SIGNS OF CRISIS
WALL STREET GETS THE HELP, MAIN STREET GETS THE SHAFT
FREDERICK, MD – March 21, 2008
The recent job losses at Rayloc in Hancock, MD and at Hagerstown’s Volvo-Powertrain plant will hurt hundreds of families and the local economy. While Rep. Roscoe Bartlett expressed little concern about the job cuts, calling the cuts “cyclical”, Democratic challenger, Mayor Jennifer P. Dougherty said, “This is just another example of how people in Washington lose touch with local people and businesses and use old ways of thinking to try to explain away problems.”
According to Dougherty, “Hardworking people will have to find a couple of minimum-wage jobs to try to pay their bills. They will dig into their savings and cut their expenses at a time when the cost of living just keeps going up. If anyone in Washington had been paying attention during the past 3-4 years, they could see the credit problems were going to explode and that real people were going to be hurt.”
“Dr. Bartlett blames everyone else for the economic problems, but takes no blame for the federal regulators who ignored the signs of crisis. Members of Congress should have been asking some tough questions a few years ago if they really wanted to avert a crisis,” said Dougherty.
