Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008

Floor Speech

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Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I had originally planned to talk about something else altogether, but it's the nature of the debate that causes me to simply say I do view this as a bailout of sorts, but it's not a bailout for the borrowers, it's not a bailout for the lenders.

If you understand the bill, you understand that actually the deals that the borrowers get are not particularly good. The deals that the lenders get are not particularly good.

This is intended, if it works, as a bailout generally for all those innocent homeowners and taxpayers who have been dragged into this mess in part, because of our failure to regulate previously, in part because of the incompetence, virtually, the pitiful performance the of the rating agencies.

As a result, an awful lot of people, and our economy, are being hurt. I view, this personally, as a bailout for the economy, with an incidental effect of avoiding foreclosures in individual cases--and that's nice. It's nice to help people out--but I am not voting for this thing because it's helping individuals out and happens to help a few lenders out. It's not a bailout for those folks. In my view it's a bailout for the entire economy and all of these people that have been dragged into it.

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