BAILOUT NATION UPDATE: SESTAK HAS HIS FACTS WRONG ON TARP
Contact: Nachama Soloveichik or Tim Kelly - 484.809.7994
Sestak - Not Toomey - Contributing to the Country's Debt
Allentown, PA – In a press release on Saturday, Rep. Joe Sestak accused U.S. Senate candidate Pat Toomey of supporting President Bush’s fiscally irresponsible policies, but it was Joe Sestak (RC #681) and Arlen Specter (RC #213) who supported President Bush’s largest spending package—the $700 billion TARP boondoggle—not Pat Toomey.
“While I respect Joe for being a principled liberal and, unlike Senator Specter, sticking to his liberal convictions,” Mr. Toomey said, “he simply has his facts wrong on TARP and my record. I have long been critical of the wasteful spending under the previous Republican administration, while Joe and Senator Specter supported the huge $700 billion TARP policy, paid for on the backs of Pennsylvanian taxpayers.”
“Now, Joe continues to support the TARP policy even after its many flaws have come to light. By doing so, he continues to support a policy that lacks the appropriate oversight, that continues to be plagued by secrecy, and will probably not pay taxpayers back, according to Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky. In addition, Joe is supporting a policy that failed to do the very thing it was supposed to do from the get go—buy up toxic assets to provide financial stability. Instead, Joe voted for a $700 billion taxpayer-funded investment in banks, and continues to defend this policy.”
“If Rep. Sestak is concerned about the size of the debt and deficit and growing the economy as he claims to be in his press release,” added Toomey Communications Director Nachama Soloveichik, “he should explain why he voted for a slew of policies that constitute the largest spending increases in history, the largest debt increases in history, the larges deficit increases in history, and the largest tax increases in history. These include the TARP bailout, the auto bailout (RC #690), the $787 billion stimulus (RC #70), and the $1 trillion government-run health care bill. Most people would agree that this is not an effective way to grow the economy. In fact, a bipartisan group of senators and representatives have signed letters to Secretary Geithner urging him to end the TARP program at the end of the year. It is clear that Rep. Sestak is far outside the mainstream on this issue.”
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