WCSH - "Collins And Allen On Bailout"

Press Release

WCSH - "Collins And Allen On Bailout"

Senator Susan Collins and Representative Tom Allen both agree that some sort of bailout in the wake of the "meltdown" on Wall Street is necessary.

"The SEC regulations that apply to publicly traded corporations should be extended to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae," says Collins. "They are at the heart of this financial meltdown because they either own or back eighty percent of the mortgages in this country. In addition, they should be required to the same capital requirements that apply to commercial banks. We need more regulation of mortgage brokers."

Tom Allen says if help is going to be extended to Wall Street, it should also go to Main Street.

"If the United States government is going to absorb bad debt in the form of mortgage backed securities, we ought to be taking care of people in this country who are struggling to pay their mortgages and who are one step away from foreclosure. In addition, we have to make sure that the Treasury department doesn't run this operation all by itself. There needs to be Congressional oversight of the treasury because we've found in the past that when there is not Congressional oversight, bad things can happen."

Allens places the blame for the financial crisis on the Bush Administration and its "allies" including Senator Collins. He says they failed to institute regulations and provide adequate oversight of U.S. financial markets.

Collins says she has consistently backed reforms that were blocked by democratic senators.

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