Think Progress

Holt: Bailout Package Doesn’t Address The ‘Heart Of The Problem’ — People ‘Saddled With Bad Mortgages’

rush.gifIn an interview with ThinkProgress today, Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) said he had concerns with the way Congress rushed through the bailout package. “There should have been more deliberation,” he said. “It would have been better if there been hearings…and had a somewhat more open process.”

Holt noted that voting down the proposal on Monday didn’t actually improve the substance of the bill. But like his Democratic colleague Rep. Chet Edwards (D-TX), Holt voted for the bailout package despite his reservations:

It will do some good. It will not be the cure-all. It’s not the bill I hoped for and have worked for and am still working for. But it has some merits.

He added that the bailout plan is “more good than bad,” but said the new law is “not the most efficient way” to deal with the financial crisis. Holt took issue with critics who say the bill expands the scope of executive power. “I actually don’t see it as a major transfer of power. It’s a transfer of $700 billion,” he argued. Listen here:

“if you were trying to help ordinary Americans,” Holt explained, “then why don’t we actually go to the heart of the problem that we’re trying to solve here.” The “root” of cause, he said, is people who are “saddled with bad mortgages.” “By doing that, we would not only be draining the poison from Wall Street…but we would be actually helping the home owners, helping the neighborhoods, helping the towns.”

Holt is pushing a proposal backed by the Center for American Progress to enact a program like FDR’s Great Depression program, the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC). Holt noted that the government put up today’s equivalent of $70 billion. “It stemmed the mortgage crisis of that day,” he said, and it “actually ended up in the black — it ended up in a net return to taxpayers.”



19 Responses to “Holt: Bailout Package Doesn’t Address The ‘Heart Of The Problem’ — People ‘Saddled With Bad Mortgages’”

  1. Buckie Boy says:

    Why doesn’t America just divorce their wives and marry a rich one, sorta like McSlimmy, that would fix everything.

    Or maybe they just want that part of the population to just commit suicide, you know reduce the population.

    But we all know they have no intention of helping the middle class, we are their slaves and slaves are disposable.


  2. henry wallace says:

    Let us all remember..one trillion dollars would go a long way toward infrastructure and the jobs that accompany it. The nuts and bolts of America could hold this country together however failed banks and crooked bankers should be swept down the drain not rewarded for failure.


  3. 5th Estate says:

    satirev… that’s the least of her nonsense:

    “The barometer there, I think, is going to be resounding that our economy is hurting…

    “he was so instrumental in bringing folks together over this past week, even suspending his own campaign to make sure he was putting excessive politics aside and putting the country first.”

    “I’ve had that track record of reform. And I’ve joined this team that is a team of mavericks with John McCain, also, with his track record of reform,”


  4. Bilbo Hussein Baggins says:

    Ok so with this bail-out the banks get rid of their bad mortgages. Does that mean that the government will now own them? If so, Congress needs to start Monday on working on legislation that will put forth a strategy for the loans be renegotiated so that people won’t lose their homes. Unfortunately I think that the people who are on the brink of foreclosure are going to have to wait until January to get any help.


  5. Max-1 says:

    .

    Q U E S T I O N:

    If the argument is to be correct…
    … That this “BAILOUT” is needed immediately because the bailout is supposed to “SAVE” the cycle of loans and free up “mom&pop” middle America…

    … Then how is it that anything “less than the best” is supposed to be acceptable?

    Many, many Legislators including Obama and Biden clearly state that this “BAILOUT” bill isn’t the best, yet they vote to give America LESS THAN THE BEST!

    Anything “less than the best” is not in the best interest of America for if the intentions was to do the best, how is “less than”… Better?

    AMERICA DOES NOT
    DESERVE LESS THAN!

    .


  6. RUCerious says:

    Hobbin Rood, take from the taxpayers, give to the Wall street bankturds and hope enough tinkles down to fix shit.


  7. had enough says:

    A comment regarding the bailout from a caller on Thom Hartman:

    It is like the Titanic going down and the wealthy going to the upper levels of the ship.


  8. GL2814 says:

    Why do I get that haunting suspicion that we’re all going to regret this bailout bill for a long time to come?

    Bailing out wall street and not main street. Why am I not surprised? The mentality of the government is kind of like that line from Blade Runner:

    “You know the score pal. If you’re not cops (substitute cops with CEO’s), you’re little people.”


  9. RUCerious says:

    satirev, a fraudiot?


  10. McWars says:

    Holt makes too much sense, therefore the congress will tell him to lay off.

    Frankly, the precedent is set and we are finished. FDR is not only rolling in his grave, there’s a cyclone six feet under.


  11. McWars says:

    You’ve succeeded, Bush. You’ve succeeded. We are the smart kind; hence we are weak. You have proven that one doesn’t need intelligence to wield power effectively to suit their own ends, only that you be well-connected.

    You gave people a sense that they were on the way up, Bush, and they immigrated here and they had (more) children. Now look what you’ve done. Now the people who immigrated here feel like they came for no good reason. And the people who had those kids now see them as burdens with mouths to feed because they are out of work. I could go on, but what’s the point, I’m just one of the angry left.

    Why doesn’t anyone understand cause and effect anymore?


  12. Doc Rock says:

    Not only is he right, but now that the baoil is out it’ll be 10x as hard to get the folks who really need it–help.


  13. JBaddo says:

    Where did she get her degree from ? Certainly not an English major.


  14. lm945 says:

    I am so sick of the Rights’ adherence to Reaganomics and the “trickle down” theory. Guess what? It doesn’t work.

    I have a novel idea. Why not try “trickle up”? Give the bailouts to the lower and middle class. We’re the ones who need it the most. We’ll spend the money on luxury items, like food, rent, gas, heating oil, health care. Eventually, some of that money will trickle up the wealthy.


  15. Brain From Planet Arous says:

    Congress threatened with Martial Law if they did not vote yes:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaG9d_4zij8


  16. Tim43 says:

    Wonder how much the round mouth barney frank got paid off for this bill. Or, perhaps some $3xual man favors were given in place of cash.

    It was sickening the praise that pelosi gave to this fool for what he has done to this country.


  17. Brain From Planet Arous says:

    lm945 Says:

    I am so sick of the Rights’ adherence to Reaganomics and the “trickle down” theory. Guess what? It doesn’t work.

    The so-called Left was in on this extortion scam also.

    Keep thinking it is only the Right, while you read these:

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701688.html

    Don’t forget this:

    http://maplight.org/FISA_June08


  18. EugeneDebs says:

    Tim43 Says:

    Who cares what you say troll. You are such an ignorant punk.


  19. Brain From Planet Arous says:

    EugeneDebs Says:

    Tim43 Says:

    Who cares what you say troll. You are such an ignorant punk.

    I don’t think sexual preferences should come into a decision about a person. Nor should gender, race, or religion. It should be on people’s ACTIONS. Barney Frank is a complete and thorough sellout, like Biden, Pelosi, Reid, Obama, McCain, Palin, Hillary, and all of the other traitors that voted for this Extortion Bill.

    Maybe that is what Tim43 is trying to say, but the temptation to call someone Fat, Ugly, queer, or something worse is great when they create downright Un-American/Constitutional actions. I lost trust in Obama after the FISA/4th Amendment/Telecom immunity sellout, and he has grown steadily worse. Barney Frank, like Obama and McCain should be judged on their votes.



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