Raul Martinez Calls for No Vote on Bailout

Statement

Raul Martinez Calls for NO Vote on Bailout

Former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez , candidate for Florida 's 21st congressional district, today called on Congress to vote no on the Wall Street bailout package which is up for a vote today in the U.S. House of Representatives. Mayor Martinez released the following statement:

Mayor Martinez released the following statement:

"The Diaz Balart / Bush economic policies have failed and the country is worse off. The same people who rushed us to War in Iraq and rushed us into a stimulus bill that has not worked are trying to rush us into another bad idea."

"The proposed ‘bailout' by the Bush Administration to be voted on today in Congress does not do enough to ensure that the middle class, the people who are truly being hit hard by tough economic times, will be sufficiently helped by this legislation. Hard-working South Floridians, many who are struggling to escape home foreclosure, have not received enough support from Congress to help them stay in their homes. The mortgage crisis is the root cause of this problem and it has not been addressed sufficiently."

"Any bailout should be directly targeted at homeowners, have strict accountability, conflict-of-interest, regulatory and oversight rules attached, including a hard cap on executive compensation and stock warrants for the rescuing taxpayers."

"The Bush Administration is seeking an unprecedented power grab to address the mess that they created. The Treasury Secretary would be largely unrestricted in his ability to spend $700 billion of taxpayer money at a cost of about $2,300 to every man, woman and child in America."

Mayor Martinez proposed the following suggestions:

* Work directly with people that were affected and lost their homes. Not with people that committed fraud, but individuals that got swept into the craze of owning their own home.
* Prevent more foreclosures by negotiating with owners and banks to buy those loans at a discount (the actual value of their homes).
* Require that the net gain of any sale or transfer of the property within the next 10 years, for those homeowners who are being helped, be shared with the government 50/50.
* Create public works jobs so these people will be able to pay for their mortgages.
* Place a cap on the amount of the mortgage.
* Only those people who live on the property will be allowed to participate (Homesteaded properties only).
* Interest rate for new loans will have to carry a low interest rate of about 4-5%.
* People that need to refinance to avoid problems in the future can participate.
* Homes that have been foreclosed could be bought by a first time homebuyer who can participate in the program. Also, any new buyer could obtain a property as long as a new appraisal is done.
* Do away with predatory lending.
* Bring back tight regulations for banks and investment houses.
* Regulate hedge funds to make sure that the leverage financing is controlled.
* Stop short selling in the stock market.
* Prohibit speculation on oil.

This is a far more detailed response than what was provided by Lincoln Diaz-Balart.

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