Sanders tries to revise history on the auto bailout

[bigtree]

...he voted against the money going to rescue the auto industry from collapse.

Johnny one-note would rather drone on and on about Wall St. than take responsibility for that shameful vote of his.

[MoonRiver]

1. Was he called on it?

Haven't been able to pay complete attention to the debate.

[bigtree]

3. yes he was

...he deflected, calling the bill a Wall St. bailout, like many folks here have done. It's a meaningless deflection to those whose jobs were saved by the bill he voted against.

[Joe the Revelator]

8. Do some research Bigtree

http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/83206/leahy-sanders-reluctantly-support-auto-industry-re/

[grossproffit]

2. Michigan voters are pretty smart.

[Lizzie Poppet]

15. Smart enough to know that claim is bullshit?

We'll see...

http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/83206/leahy-sanders-reluctantly-support-auto-industry-re/

[dchill]

4. Oh, there's shame here alright.

What factories do Michigan auto workers work in? They've all "bailed" to other places. We know who gets helped in any government bailouts. There's your shame.

[Depaysement]

5. Actually

He voted for the auto bailout. Almost every dem did.

[Enrique]

10. correct

Leahy (D) Yes; Sanders (I) Yes.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_wires/2008Dec12/0,4675,SenateRollCallAutos,00.html


However, Hillary was talking about something else, something that happened after Obama took office, and Bernie didn't deny it. I'm looking but I can't find out what it was. She said something about a letter.

[TheCowsCameHome]

6. Link to his "no" vote, please.

[bigtree]

9. Sanders Opposes Bailout

Sanders Opposes Bailout
Thursday, January 15, 2009

WASHINGTON, January 15 - Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement after the Senate went along with releasing the second half of a $700 billion bailout fund:

"Today I voted to withhold more funding from the Troubled Asset Relief Program. I have deep respect for President-elect Obama and I very much appreciate the difficult job he has in trying to remedy the economic damage done by the Bush administration's reckless policies.

"Nonetheless, I have strong reservations about continuing this bailout without strong taxpayer protections written into law. I also object to using middle-class taxpayer money to bail out the exact same financial institutions whose greed and recklessness led to the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression.

"Furthermore, we need a major investigation into how this financial crisis occurred and who exactly was responsible."

Under a provision built into the bailout bill when it passed in October, Congress could have rejected the administration's request to spend the second $350 billion if both the Senate and House had voted to stop it. The Senate voted 52-43 against blocking access to the money.

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-opposes-bailout

[Depaysement]

11. TARP was the Wall Street bailout

Not the auto bailout.

[TheCowsCameHome]

12. Ruh-roh.

[dsc]

14. it was both

the bailouts were combined as both candidates said

[Samantha]

17. Sanders opposed average Americans bailing out Wall Street but he did support bailing out Detroit

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2008/10/01/wall-street-bailout

"In the midst of all of this, we have a bailout package which says to the middle class that you are being asked to place at risk $700 billion, which is $2,200 for every man, woman, and child in this country. You're being asked to do that in order to undo the damage caused by this excessive Wall Street greed. In other words, the "Masters of the Universe," those brilliant Wall Street insiders who have made more money than the average American can even dream of, have brought our financial system to the brink of collapse. Now, as the American and world financial systems teeter on the edge of a meltdown, these multimillionaires are demanding that the middle class, which has already suffered under Bush's disastrous economic policies, pick up the pieces that they broke. That is wrong, and that is something that I will not support.

"If we are going to bail out Wall Street, it should be those people who have caused the problem, those people who have benefited from Bush's tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, those people who have taken advantage of deregulation, those people are the people who should pick up the tab, and not ordinary working people. I introduced an amendment which gave the Senate a very clear choice. We can pay for this bailout of Wall Street by asking people all across this country, small businesses on Main Street, homeowners on Maple Street, elderly couples on Oak Street, college students on Campus Avenue, working families on Sunrise Lane, we can ask them to pay for this bailout. That is one way we can go. Or, we can ask the people who have gained the most from the spasm of greed, the people whose incomes have been soaring under president bush, to pick up the tab. (emphasis added)

"I proposed to raise the tax rate on any individual earning $500,000 a year or more or any family earning $1 million a year or more by 10 percent. That increase in the tax rate, from 35 percent to 45 percent, would raise more than $300 billion in the next five years, almost half the cost of the bailout. If what all the supporters of this legislation say is correct, that the government will get back some of its money when the market calms down and the government sells some of the assets it has purchased, then $300 billion should be sufficient to make sure that 99.7 percent of taxpayers do not have to pay one nickel for this bailout.

Sam

[Joe the Revelator]

7. Jesus christ, do some research

http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/83206/leahy-sanders-reluctantly-support-auto-industry-re/

[AgingAmerican]

13. Ignorant OP

He voted FOR the auto bailout.

[kesavage]

16. He was for it until they tied it to Wall Street

Read and learn: http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/83206/leahy-sanders-reluctantly-support-auto-industry-re/