BREAKING: Voinovich Will Support Senate Bailout

Release:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator George V. Voinovich (R-OH) announced he will vote for the economic rescue bill despite his firmly held principles that fiscal responsibility must be restored to our political process. Sen. Voinovich believes this is one of those rare, historic moments when the fate of Main Street trumps all else. He is pleased that the bill includes an extension of his Mortgage Relief Act until 2012 – legislation that eliminates income tax on forgiven mortgage debt.

“Doing nothing is simply not an option,” Sen. Voinovich said. “I have spoken with Ohio employers large and small this week who will have to make choices like laying off workers because they can’t get money from the banks to make payroll. I cannot sit back and allow that to happen. We must do everything we can to calm the markets by restoring confidence in the credit system.”

Sen. Voinovich added that he supports this legislation because it addresses three critical goals: 1.) protecting taxpayers to the maximum extent possible; 2.) stabilizing home prices and reducing foreclosures; and 3.) restoring confidence in order to “grease the wheels” of the credit markets.

“This is affecting not only Wall Street but Main Street and my street,” Sen. Voinovich said. “Ohioans depend on credit to buy a home, drive to work and send their children to school. If this doesn’t pass, the possible ramifications are staggering: businesses laying off staff or closing completely because they can’t make payroll; a dramatic loss of retirement funds; an inability to get a loan to pay for college, a car or a house; cities unable to float bonds to build hospitals or schools; and home prices could plummet.

“But our work cannot stop here. We must make a full-court press to stabilize the housing market, pass fundamental tax and entitlement reform and become energy independent.”

Sen. Voinovich is also meeting with other senators to try and, once and for all, get his Securing America’s Future Economy (SAFE) Commission Act as quickly as possible.

The SAFE Commission would examine fundamental tax reform and entitlements and present long-term solutions to place the United States on a fiscally sustainable course and ensure the solvency of entitlement programs for future generations. Sen. Voinovich introduced the SAFE Act last year in support of establishing such a commission and forcing Congress to take action on comprehensive tax and entitlement reform. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) has introduced a similar bill in the House with over 100 cosponsors.

“I am voting for this tonight with a heavy heart. I have spent my entire career focusing on eliminating debt at the local, state and federal level so we don’t pass it on to our children and grandchildren. While deciding to vote for a package of this magnitude feels like being punched in the gut, the thought of what would happen to average Americans if we didn’t do this is much more painful. I am, however, very pleased to see that any profit we may make off this deal will be used to pay down the national debt.”

The national debt stands at $9.6 trillion, almost double the $5.4 trillion debt that existed when the senator came to the Senate in 1999. By the end of 2009, the national debt is expected to have grown to $10.5 trillion. The Congressional Budget Office said the federal government will finish the fiscal year with a near-record deficit of $407 billion. These numbers do not include borrowing from the Social Security Trust Fund which would put the overall number close to $600 billion and $700 billion by next year.

“Today, 51 percent of the privately owned national debt is held by foreign creditors, mostly foreign central banks. Foreign creditors provided more than 70 percent of the funds that the United States has borrowed since 2001. The three largest foreign holders of our national debt are China, Japan and the OPEC nations,” Sen. Voinovich continued. “And at the same time we send billions of dollars overseas for oil to pad the coffers of many nations that do not have our best interest at heart and to some like Venezuela, whose leader has threatened to cut off oil to the United States. We must become independent from foreign sources of energy by using all of our resources here at home, investing in new technologies and conserving. We must find more and use less.”

I am planning on having some analysis of this statement as well as the bill itself (and some leftovers from the debacle in the House) later tonight, but I wanted to get this statement out there as soon as I could...