Kuhl Votes For The Financial Rescue Legislation

Press Release

U.S. Representative John R. "Randy" Kuhl, Jr. (R-Hammondsport) issued the following statement today after he voted for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.

"Today's legislation is a drastic improvement over the Bush Administration's plan, which I voted against because it failed to address the fundamental cause of this problem and did not protect the taxpayers from picking up the tab for Wall Street losses. This plan protects New York taxpayers from higher income taxes under the AMT and will save jobs in Western New York"

"The danger our economy faces runs right through Main Street. Over the last seven days, tightening credit has impacted families, small businesses, and seniors. Instead of being offered a $5,000 line of credit when applying for a credit card, people are being offered $1,000, which no longer meets their needs. Banks are slashing available lines of credit, and increasing fees and interest rates for those small businesses that took out loans to keep their doors open and their employees paid. Financial aid departments at universities and colleges across this country are crossing off names of lenders willing to give out student loans. Jobs have already been lost and more would follow if we had not taken the necessary action today."

"The bipartisan Senate passed legislation adds significant new protections for taxpayers on Main Street, including increasing the amount of bank deposits insured by the government from $100,000 to $250,000 through 2009 and protecting 21 million middle-class families from getting hammered by the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) for tax year 2008. It also guarantees that irresponsible corporate and Wall Street executives will not be rewarded with golden parachutes or severance pay."

"Inaction was never an option, and had Congress failed to pass this rescue plan, American jobs would be in jeopardy and small businesses would have faced problems growing financially and creating and retaining jobs. Last week, when the commercial financial markets verged on collapse, the place where businesses get their short-term loans for daily operations froze, leaving businesses around the nation shut off. More episodes of this magnitude will leave businesses unable to pay their payroll or their bills. On Monday, I voted against a bad bill so that Congress could create a better one that will stabilize our economy and restore confidence in our financial markets. This is a difficult situation and I am doing my best to protect the taxpayers and jobs for our district"

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