Congressman Elton Gallegly
Serving the 24th Congressional District encompasses most of Ventura County and inland Santa Barbara County.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congressman Elton Gallegly (R-Ventura & Santa Barbara Counties) issued this statement today 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. 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 free-market system. It will hurt the very families and businesses it is supposed to protect.

“I have repeatedly said I would vote for this bill only if it focused on Main Street, not Wall Street. But without protections against unscrupulous and overly lax lending practices, Main Street is not protected. It is business as usual, and that is unacceptable. I could not vote for the largest corporate bailout bill in American history without greater assurances that it would restore confidence in our financial system and address the long-term problems that caused this crisis. Therefore, I voted ‘no.’”