'We Must Get This Right'
By Lee Bandy
SouthCarolina Insider
September 29, 2008 —
South Carolina’s two Republican senators, Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint, are sharply divided over how Congress should respond to the nation’s latest financial woes. Graham, a close personal friend of GOP presidential nominee John McCain, warns of dire financial consequences if Congress doesn’t approve of the administration’s proposal to authorize a $700 billion bailout of the nation’s financial market. DeMint, one of the more conservative members of Congress, says the country needs to return to the free market system and not call on taxpayers to pay for someone else’s mistake or misjudgment He said he was deeply troubled by the $700 billion bailout. “What is missing from it and from the recent string of bailouts is a commitment to return to a free market enterprise economy.” said DeMint of Greenville. “What we need now is not what could be nearly a trillion dollars in new taxpayer bailouts, but pro-growth policies that allow our markets to correct and start growing again.” Graham, in urging Congress to get moving, warned this problem will have an increasingly negative impact on the ability of Americans to borrow money, to buy a home, build a business, or go to college. Graham who is up for re-election this year, was expected to have an easy go of it. But a recent poll showed the senator winning just 50 percent of the vote against Bob Conley of Charleston. A number of Republicans don’t care for Graham. Some people say the bailout issue could rise up and cause Graham some anguish. He never has been that well liked in some Republican circles. A recent poll had Conley trailing by nine percentage points. Graham, meanwhile, stood firm in his support of the administration’s bailout plan. “If we do not use sound judgment, I fear many Americans, who have worked hard all their lives and invested in their future, will be placed at additional financial risk,” he cautioned. The senior senator from Seneca said getting bad debt out of the system may be the only way to recapitalize our nation and prevent an institutional collapse that would jeopardize the financial future of all Americans. “I know the price to fix this problem is enormous. However, at the end of the day, it may be less than the price of doing nothing and risking a complete financial meltdown. Graham voiced belief it is in our national interest for Congress to act sooner rather than later. This is not the time for partisan politics or the blame game,” he said. “We must get this right.”
|
