Austin Congressman Lloyd Doggett, speaking on the House floor today:
“A few months ago, President Bush accurately diagnosed the problem he just dumped in the lap of Congress. ‘Wall Street got drunk, and now it’s got a hangover,’ he said. But Mr. President, you gave them the keys to the liquor cabinet by failing to enforce our laws. And now you’re really demanding that Americans, who didn’t get invited to the party, must pay for everything destroyed in the drunken brawl.
“These late night negotiators have not asked the President, ‘where do we find $700 billion?’ It is time to demand that bailout supporters outline the revenue measures necessary to pay for it. And the place to begin is with those who enriched themselves when Republicans took the cop off the corporate beat. We need an alternative to just raising the credit card limit – an alternative to more irresponsible ‘borrow and spend’ from a President, who has already borrowed more from foreigners than all previous Presidents in American history put together and who continues to mortgage America’s future.”
This article appears in September 19 • 2008.