Bailout plan needed to get credit for small companies
Risch hates the $700 billion bailout plan, saying, "It didn't provide enough protection for taxpayers, there was not nearly enough reform in the bill to keep this from happening again, there were no provisions to really go and get after the bad guys that
caused this, and lastly and to add insult to injury there were billions of dollars of pork hung onto a bill that was incredibly important to the United States of America."
LaRocco said he would have voted for the bailout bill because it's about small
companies having the capital and credit to buy a truck or inventory, and because the final version had oversight and taxpayer protections.
LaRocco and Risch agreed that lax regulation led to the economic meltdown. Rammell said overregulation caused the
economic disaster. "Fannie and Freddie were required by law to give 42% of their loans to low- and moderate- and high-risk individuals. If we truly lived in a free market economy nobody would have made these high-risk loans. Nobody."
A direct energy investment of $300 billion over 10 years
The transition to energy independence will not be easy, but a recent study demonstrates the significant economic and social benefits to the whole economy of altering our current energy policy. The proposal uses both a direct investment of $300 billion
over 10 years of public funds and tax incentives to diversify the country's energy sources, invest in more efficient factories, promote construction of energy efficient buildings and reinvest in smart urban growth with improved transportation options.
The study finds that implementing this plan will add more than 3.3 million high-skilled and high wage jobs to the economy, stimulate $1.4 trillion GDP growth over 10 years and produce $284 billion in net energy cost savings. The investment is cost
neutral over 10 years because the $300 billion federal investment will be offset by $306.8 billion in increased federal tax revenue from increased income. Relative to the baseline, the project could be revenue positive over a longer window.
Source: Campaign website, www.laroccoforsenate.com, "Issues"
May 14, 2008
Bail out main streets as quickly as Wall Street
The Bush administration's economic policies are not working, with rising energy costs and disastrous budget deficits, and rural areas of Idaho are among the hardest hit, according to Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Larry LaRocco.
And while the administration is quick to bail out Wall Street, Idaho's main streets need help, said LaRocco, who introduced an economic stimulus plan to aid workers and industries in the state.
Source: David Cole, in Lewiston Tribune
May 8, 2008
