[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 17]
[House]
[Pages 22866-22867]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 THE WALL STREET BAILOUT: ``HEADS, WE WIN; TAILS, THE TAXPAYERS LOSE''

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LIPINSKI. Madam Speaker, a year ago we heard that the world 
financial system was on the verge of collapse. Congress was given a 
$700 billion Wall Street bailout plan that we were told was needed to 
avert catastrophe. After studying the legislation, I decided it 
contained too many loopholes and provided no guarantee that middle 
class Americans would be helped by this huge expenditure of their hard-
earned money.
  One year ago today, I stood here and voted against the bailout bill, 
and it failed. Unfortunately, later that week the Senate passed it, and 
it then passed the House on the second try. The bill had gotten no 
better; so I reluctantly voted against that bill again.
  I believed it was the right thing to do then, and I am even more 
convinced of that today. Much of what I feared would happen if we 
passed the bailout has come to pass.

[[Page 22867]]

  We still don't know what the banks have done with the billions they 
were given. Executives at firms the taxpayers propped up have taken 
home huge paychecks. Foreign banks wound up receiving taxpayer money. 
And, most importantly, unemployment has skyrocketed and is expected to 
go higher.
  Last week I joined 28 of my colleagues in calling on the Treasury 
Department to end the bailout program and stop more taxpayer money from 
being misspent. A year after Wall Street's recklessness brought the 
economy to its knees, little has been done to reform the financial 
system and prevent another such crisis. That must change. We cannot 
permit the financial industry to continue to live by the slogan 
``heads, we win; tails, the taxpayers lose.''
  For the time being, the markets appear to have stabilized, but that 
is little comfort to the millions of Americans who are out of work or 
have seen their wages and hours cut, or are wondering if their next day 
on the job will be their last. They are among the innocent victims of 
this recession.
  There is still great anger about what happened with the bailout and 
the reckless and misguided actions that caused the problems in the 
financial industry that led to the pain felt by middle class Americans. 
I continue to hear about it from my constituents, no matter where they 
live in my district, what their profession is, or their age.
  One constituent I spoke with last month is more well known than most 
of my constituents, but he echoed a similar sentiment when it came to 
the bailout and what we need in America today. Dennis DeYoung, lead 
singer and songwriter for Styx, pointed me to a song he wrote and sang 
30 years ago. That song, ``Rockin' the Paradise,'' appeared on the 
album ``Paradise Theater,'' which went to number one on the charts. It 
was recorded in a studio in Oak Lawn in my district. Thirty years 
later, as our country continues to reel from the consequences of the 
greed of some, the lyrics are as relevant as ever:
  ``Don't need no fast buck, lame duck profits for fun, quick trick 
plans, take the money and run. We need long term, slow burn, getting it 
done, and some straight-talking, hardworking son of a gun.''
  The song goes on:
  ``I ain't lookin' to fight, but I know with determination, we can 
challenge the schemers who cheat all the rules.
  ``Come on take pride, be wise, spottin' the fools. No big shots, 
crackpots bending the rules. A fair shot here for me and for you.''
  That is what Americans want, to know that when they work hard, 
they'll not get cheated by the ``big shots'' and the ``crackpots.''
  It's long past time that we ``challenge the schemers who cheat all 
the rules.'' That is what my constituents want. That is what all 
hardworking Americans want us to do in Washington. They want to hear 
``straight talk.'' They want to see us ``getting it done'' so that they 
have a ``fair shot'' at the American Dream.

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