Gallegly votes no on bailout

U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly (RThousand Oaks) issued the following statement, somewhat edited, this week after voting against the Economic Stabilization Act:

"The underlying reason for Wall Street's troubles is the lax standards it has employed for determining who qualifies for home mortgages. Banks and other lending institutions have been giving loans to people who don't qualify and could not possibly pay back their loans," Gallegly said.

"They have done so using gimmicks and sometimes through outright fraud, but more often under the lax regulations or nonsensical mandates imposed by the federal government. That includes giving loans to illegal immigrants with no discernible income. This bill does nothing to change that. There are no regulations or mechanisms in this bill to tighten standards and prevent a repeat failure.

"We must not bail out those who caused the problem. Instead, we must hold them accountable. This bill may favorably impact financial markets in the short run, but in the long run it will undermine our recovery and our freemarket system. It will hurt the very families and businesses it is supposed to protect," he said.

The House defeated the bill on Monday, 228 to 205. More than two-thirds of Republicans and 40 percent of Democrats opposed it.