Southern Minnesota Congressman Tim Walz voted Monday against the revised Wall Street bailout plan released by Congressional leadership.  Walz made the following remarks about the proposal:

“Speaker Pelosi and the Democratic negotiators deserve credit for the progress they made on this bill.  This extensive rescue package has many more protections for taxpayers than the three-page bailout proposal put forth by the White House last week.

“In the last week, I’ve personally called more than 100 constituents, bankers and business leaders in southern Minnesota to sound them out about this bailout package. The message I’ve heard from them is clear: Despite the many and significant improvements made by Democratic negotiators, this bill still falls short.

“The bill we voted on today passes the buck when it comes to recouping the losses taxpayers might suffer.  I also regret that this bill does not do enough to help average homeowners, or provide sufficient oversight of Wall Street.

“Wall Street got us into this mess, and I hope that the Congressional leadership will go back to the drawing board and write a bill that holds Wall Street accountable, both through sensible regulation and oversight and by restricting the excessive golden parachutes for CEOs who got themselves in trouble.

“My job is to protect the American taxpayer, and this plan doesn’t go far enough in looking out for the middle class. It doesn’t go far enough in holding Wall Street accountable. If Wall Street is going to get our money, we need to have some protections in place, and this plan doesn’t go far enough.  Finally, it does not do enough to help address the real cause of our economic crisis: the tidal wave of foreclosures that are hurting families and neighborhoods all around the country.

“I voted against this bill because it wasn’t a good deal for taxpayers. Lawmakers need to go back to the table immediately and come up with a much better deal for taxpayers and the middle class.”