Capuano: Bailout vote my toughest yet

By George P. Hassett

US Rep. Michael E. Capuano, D-Somerville, said his office got nearly 1,000 phone calls last week from constituents concerned about Congress' estimated $700 billion economic bailout package.

Sentiment was mixed, he said: roughly 60 percent of callers “flat out said no,” while 40 percent “accepted the notion that something had to be done.”

Opinion was mixed on the street in Somerville too. Most people asked about the bailout by The Somerville News this week said they didn't like it.

“The fat cats played the game. Let them cover their losses,” said one man, who would not give his name, on Broadway Monday.

Others, however, said action was required. “The rich never suffer,” said John Kiparsky, 35, of Somerville. “If nothing was done, the people at the banks would probably end up okay” while everyone else paid the price, he said.

Capuano's vote supporting what could become the most expensive government intervention in history was “by far the most difficult” one he cast in his five terms in Congress, he said.

Twice he voted to approve a bailout - on Sept. 29 when it failed and on Friday when it passed and was signed into law. 

“In the final analysis, I supported this package because I am convinced that the risk to our economy is just too great,” he said in a statement. “For me, it came down to balancing the risk of voting yes and saving the economy for all Americans while incurring a potential cost to taxpayers versus the risk of voting no and watching the world economy collapse. I took what I thought was a smaller risk for my average constituent.”

The bill had many provisions he didn't like, he said (“Oversight could be stronger” and a provision allowing bankruptcy judges the power to modify troubled borrowers' mortgages didn't make it in) but if it wasn't passed, he believed the consequences would have been dire.

“I am just not willing to risk putting the jobs, pensions and 401(K) plans of hard working Americans on the line while we wait for a better bill,” he said.

In an interview with The Somerville News, Capuano said there is enough blame to go around. “In the final analysis, we're all to blame,” he said. “I can even blame Congress, the previous administration and the American public.”

Capuano did say, however, that “unfettered human greed” has peaked during the Bush administration.

Alderman-at-Large William A. White said if the package had not been approved, the nation could have been plunged into a depression and cities such as Somerville would find themselves in trouble.

“In Somerville we need commercial development to ease the burden on taxpayers. If we had a depression, you wouldn't see development in Assembly Square,” he said.

Capuano said when Congress returns to work in January he plans to push for a “long overdue” overhaul of the nation's financial system that would include adding regulation to individuals and insurance companies involved in the stock market.

Comments

[JARfromWard3]

"Capuano said when Congress returns to work in January he plans to push for a 'long overdue' overhaul of the nation's financial system that would include adding regulation to individuals and insurance companies involved in the stock market."

Hopefully, that overhaul will include Congress' reclaiming its Constitutional power to set monetary policy. That means eviscerating, disemboweling, or otherwise seriously curtailing the powers that the FED has accumulated since 1913. If this does not happen, then I'll know that JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs are running the money system and not the US Congress. It's a sad day for The Republic.

For the record, I'm one of the 60% who called Mike's office and said flat-out-NO to the Bank rescue bill.

73
JAR

[Deval supporter]

"Alderman-at-Large William A. White said if the package had not been approved, the nation could have been plunged into a depression and cities such as Somerville would find themselves in trouble."

The package was approved, and it looks like Somerville may be in trouble anyway. Where's my portion of the $800B?

[thanks]

Mike,

Thanks for having the nerve to vote for the right thing even though your constituency had a visceral reaction to it. I know that must have been hard.

I don't think that people understand how bad things can and may still get. I have to believe that people must be vomiting as they open their 401(k) statements or how about the retirees who depend on their nest egg to live. How about trying to buy a car or house on credit - try getting a loan. How about small businesses who need short term loans for cash flow purposes? This affects everyone whether we like it or not.
We have plenty of time to blame and there is plenty to go around. Let's hope that we can crawl out of this.

Thanks Mike for your leadership.

[Somerspeak]

Bullshit.

Editor's Note (JN): The (new) Somerville News website is up - you can comment on stories over there. http://www.thesomervillenews.com

[Joe LoRusso]

Congressman Capuano had a tough vote to cast but had to in the best interest of his constituents. Thank you for tiredless work for all the peple you serve.

I hope one day to see you!

Editor's Note (JN): The (new) Somerville News website is up - you can comment on stories over there. http://www.thesomervillenews.com

[Jack Hamilton]

There are dozens of more sensible approaches that could have been taken. Instead, we're bailing out people who engaged in bad, and sometimes illegal, business practices.

A real solution would have been giving that money to homeowners across the nation. They would use it to pay the banks, both helping home owners and the banking institutions. Instead, Wall St. got all the help while Main St. foots the bill... again.

Editor's Note (JN): The (new) Somerville News website is up - you can comment on stories over there. http://www.thesomervillenews.com

[thanks]

Jack,

Nice thought. I'm not sure how your proposal liquefies the system and changes the banks' capital rations to enable them to lend again. A frozen credit system is death to an economy. Giving people money to pay for homes that they originally couldn't afford won't help if they ultimately lose their jobs in a stalled or stagnant economy.

Editor's Note (JN): The (new) Somerville News website is up - you can comment on stories over there. http://www.thesomervillenews.com

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