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Congress Comes Through
October 3, 2008
It was a tumultuous week. An awful lot happened between Monday's 205-228 rejection of the financial rescue package by the House of Representatives and Friday's 263-171 approval of an improved package by that same House.
The rescue provisions of the final package authorize the Treasury Department to buy up to $700 billion in troubled financial assets in several stages, beginning with $250 billion right away. Treasury will receive an equity stake in financial institutions that choose to participate. Those companies also face limits on the compensation of top executives. Programs to help homeowners avoid foreclosure would be strengthened and expanded. Congress, the GAO, a new inspector general and a new oversight board will monitor all aspects of the program.
Three things happened between Monday and Friday to turn the House around:
1. Stock and especially credit markets responded quickly and negatively to the House vote, threatening a financial market meltdown.
2. The Senate sweetened the package in important ways, increasing the FDIC insurance limit from $100,000 to $250,000 and including the popular tax "extenders" (AMT relief, deduction for state sales taxes, credits for alternative energy and R&D, more). They also added some relatively small but extraneous provisions. Then on Wednesday they passed the package with a resounding 74-25 vote.
3. The tide turned on calls and letters into House offices. Before the Monday vote they were running more than 10-1 against the package. After Monday it shifted toward 50-50, with the volume of positive contacts growing every day.
Business, particularly chambers of commerce, played a huge role in reversing the tone of contacts to House offices. You showed real leadership by rising to the occasion on short notice, often weighing in without formal policy and with your memberships divided. One thing our lobbyists heard loud and clear on Capitol Hill all week: Your actions helped make the difference in winning.
The rescue package is far from perfect, but it should avert the financial crisis that was almost certain otherwise. There will be plenty of time later to put mechanisms in place to ensure that it doesn't happen again. For now, we should close the loop with our senators and representatives who came through on this tough issue. Take a minute to thank those who voted yes and, if you're inclined, express disappointment to those who voted no. Check the roll call votes for the Senate and House then use our Action Center to send a message to your Members of Congress.
Thank you for stepping up when it mattered most. Once again we've shown that the entire Federation can accomplish big things by working together.
Reprinted from U.S.Chamber of Commerce |
