Quote:

Thank you for writing and sharing your thoughts about America’s financial crisis. I agree with you that giving the Secretary of the Treasury authority over a $700 billion dollar fund to stabilize the financial system, without any checks on his authority, or oversight of his actions, would have been a grave mistake. However, the severity of this economic crisis forced the Congress to act in order to save Main Street from further financial pain. If we had not acted when we did, small businesses trying to fill orders and meet payroll, students looking to pay for college, consumers looking to buy cars and so many others would have faced even greater economic hardships, which would have been disastrous for household wealth and jobs in our country.

That is why I made the difficult decision to support the administration’s rescue plan after insisting on changes to the program to ensure that taxpayers will share in the rewards of recovery, that executives of these mismanaged financial institutions would not be enriched with taxpayer money, and that there would be effective oversight of the program. When the economy recovers, taxpayers should be able to recoup most, or all, of this money because the federal government will earn a return from any investments it makes in banks needing assistance. To hold the banks’ executives accountable, the bill requires that all companies that benefit from government assistance limit how much they pay their top employees and, in many cases, eliminate golden parachutes entirely. And to guarantee effective oversight of the rescue program, major oversight mechanisms were written into the legislation, including the creation of a new Inspector General and Congressional oversight panel.

Finally, we forced the Administration to add protections for homeowners into the bill that address the eye of the financial storm – the foreclosure crisis. Of course, this is only one part of a comprehensive solution needed to get our economy back on the right track. Congress stands ready to deliver a broad-based economic stimulus package to invest in Main Street, create new high-paying jobs, and keep the engine of our economy going.

Again, thank you for contacting me on this important issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me again if I can be of further assistance on this, or any other matter.

I wonder how long ago this response was written (I got it today) and if his staffer can see the inconsistencies... ugh...

It is quite obvious that this was the standard response given to all that contacted Senator Schumer, as now 8 minutes later I got another response which is exactly the same!!

OK, I'm up to 5 of the same letter within 25 minutes!!

I contacted him many times - I can hardly wait to see how many of these letters I'll get!

senator@schumer.senate.gov A message from Senator Charles E. Schumer 11:52 am 9K
senator@schumer.senate.gov A message from Senator Charles E. Schumer 12:08 pm 9K
senator@schumer.senate.gov A message from Senator Charles E. Schumer 12:14 pm 9K
senator@schumer.senate.gov A message from Senator Charles E. Schumer 12:16 pm 9K
senator@schumer.senate.gov A message from Senator Charles E. Schumer 12:17 pm 9K
senator@schumer.senate.gov A message from Senator Charles E. Schumer 12:18 pm 9K
Vanguard Vanguard's perspective on turbulent times 12:18 pm 14K
senator@schumer.senate.gov A message from Senator Charles E. Schumer 12:19 pm 9K
senator@schumer.senate.gov A message from Senator Charles E. Schumer 12:21 pm 9K
senator@schumer.senate.gov A message from Senator Charles E. Schumer 12:22 pm 9K
senator@schumer.senate.gov A message from Senator Charles E. Schumer 12:26 pm 9K