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Rev. Jackson: Why Not Bail Out Struggling Homeowners?

Posted Sept. 23, 2008 – There is something seriously wrong with a government that would spend $700 billion to bail out Wall Street but ignore homeowners who are fighting to pay their mortgages, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said Saturday.

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We must challenge plans that bail out the rich, yet put out the poor and put down the middle class," said Jackson, who blames the current financial crisis on the Bush administration, the Federal Reserve, the Securities Exchange Commission and congressional oversight committees.

We can't just bail out Wall Street and ignore Main Street. We must freeze foreclosures, and restructure and modify loans to protect the home equity of people defrauded and victimized by the sub-prime lending schemes.

Jackson is urging Congress to block powerful banks from fueling the campaign coffers of lawmakers who sit on financial oversight committees. He told The Associated Press that members of those committees should be compelled to “return campaign contributions from Wall Street lobbyists and firms,” calling it a conflict of interest. 

It's like a football team investing in referees," Jackson said. "In a close call in a tight game, how is the other team going to be confident they are getting a fair call?

Last weekend President Bush asked Congress to allow the federal government to buy $700 billion “in toxic assets clogging the financial system and threatening the economy as negotiations began on the largest bailout since the Great Depression,” AP reported.

“The rescue plan would give Washington broad authority to purchase bad mortgage-related assets from U.S. financial institutions for the next two years. It does not specify which institutions qualify or what, if anything, the government would get in return for the unprecedented infusion.”

What do you think of the Bush administration’s plan to bail out Wall Street? Click “Discuss Now,” on the upper right, to post your comment.

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