Standing Up for Taxpayers
Statement
This week the Senate passed my Pay It Back Amendment to the Wall Street Reform Bill with broad bi-partisan support. This plan is a key step in winding down the bank bailouts and bringing fiscal responsibility back to Washington. Pay It Back makes sure that repaid bailout money will be used to pay down the deficit, not for more spending, and the amendment severely restricts the Treasury's ability to use repaid bailout funds. It also shrinks the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) by $150 billion, preventing the Treasury from using leftover funds for new programs.
Our kids shouldn't be saddled with a debt Washington's unwilling to pay. That's why the Pay It Back Plan takes returned bailout money from the banking, housing, and auto industries-more than $180 billion so far-and puts these funds toward deficit reduction. With the national debt approaching $13 trillion, it's way past time for some belt-tightening in Washington.
It's also time we created new rules of the road for Wall Street. Pay It Back prevents returned bailout money from going toward more bailouts. Leaving banks unable to count on more taxpayer funds will force them to shape up.
The Pay It Back Plan does not undermine emergency and recovery efforts. Rather, it sets a schedule for getting the government out of the business of owning businesses. This bill looks at critically open-ended policies-created to weather a real economic disaster-and establishes a responsible "exit strategy' that will protect and benefit the American taxpayer.
This amendment is a great addition to the Wall Street reform bill. Coloradans that were forced to bring the big Wall Street banks back from the brink of collapse are now assured that the bailout is winding down. American taxpayers should never again have to foot the bill for bad decisions made on Wall Street.
It's time to wind down the bailouts, get back what we can for taxpayers, and begin to pay down the deficit - and the Pay It Back Plan is a good step in that direction.
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