I still don't understand how mental health parity is at all related. And the FDIC insurance increases don't address the problem -- they might actually worsen it. If the FDIC was already potentially going to run out of money, how does more than doubling their risk help? This is rediculous.
Kelly wrote our congressman, Republican Dave Reichart, voicing her concerns about the first bailout bill. She actually got a really nice response back. But he was also pushing for the FDIC limit increase. Here's his response:
Dear Ms. Handley,
Thank you for contacting me to share your views on the original financial markets "bail-out" legislation that I opposed and that the House rejected by a vote of 205-228. I appreciate your thoughts on this matter, and welcome the opportunity to respond.
Undeniably, action is necessary to address the worsening crisis in our financial markets and ensure that credit remains available for middle class families to buy homes, put their children through college, and save for their retirement. We must also act to help small businesses continue to have available credit in order to grow and create jobs. However, I voted against the bill that was introduced on Sunday, September 28th, because it did not include enough taxpayer protections, and I was concerned with the haste that this legislation was brought to the floor for a vote. In a very short period of time, we were asked by the Administration to approve a $700 billion bill with almost no strings attached, and that overnight went from a 3-page to 110-page bill. When I first came to Congress almost four years ago, I was astounded to learn that legislation is often hurried to the floor in this manner, and I was determined that this time that wasn't going to happen, not with a bill of this scope and magnitude. My experience as a police officer and S.W.A.T. commander taught me that especially in a crisis, you have to keep your head, and make thoughtful - not panicked - decisions.
I'm hopeful that Congress will soon consider legislation that is far better than what the Administration tried to force upon us. It needs to restore confidence in our financial institutions, and improve oversight, reform, and accountability to protect
taxpayers.
While action is required, it is more important to get this legislation right than to act in haste by cutting a $700 billion blank check at taxpayers' expense. Panic on Wall Street helped bring us to this point, and we cannot let panic in Congress push through a prescription that is worse than the illness. We need a comprehensive package that helps our economy recover with more private capital, not taxpayer dollars; that holds accountable the bad actors who contributed to this crisis and doesn't reward them for a job poorly done; and that enforces existing laws while modernizing outdated ones. It is essential that the crafting of the new package takes into account the long-term consequences of using taxpayer money, and we must ensure it does not jeopardize critical services.
I spent the week prior to the vote gathering information, carefully evaluating dozens of proposals, and soliciting input from Republican and Democratic lawmakers, leading economists and financial experts, Treasury Secretary Paulson and senior Administration officials, members of my 8th District Economic Advisory Committee, and thousands of constituents like you. One specific issue that I heard from my constituents was to work from the bottom up. I introduced legislation on Monday to increase the amount of insurance the federal government gives banks for deposits from $100,000 to $300,000 and will work to have it included in whatever solution is voted on. I'm encouraged that national leaders heeded the wisdom of this approach and are now advocating for it.
Rest assured that I am committed to rising above the political games in Washington, D.C. and will work non-stop in a bipartisan fashion to come up with a better solution. But even when this debate is over, the work to fix our economy will not be done. We need to insist that there be an investigation into what brought us to this place so
that we can hold accountable those responsible for this crisis and ensure it never happens again.We must also begin the real reforms necessary to address the underlying problems in our economy that were the fuel for this fire. We must work on a comprehensive energy policy that does not give billions of dollars per day to foreign countries; we must work to reform our education system to create a better trained workforce; we must fix a broken immigration system; and we must work to keep tax cuts in place so that we don't penalize investors who we are now trying to encourage to come back to our economy and provide capital.
Once again, thank you for taking the time to get in touch with me. Your interest and input are valued and I hope to hear from you in the future regarding other matters of importance. I encourage you to visit my website and sign up for my monthly e-newsletter at http://reichert.house.gov to learn more about other
issues impacting the 8th Congressional District and our nation.
Sincerely,
David G. Reichert
Member of Congress