Obama's Senate Speech on the Bailout

Obama had this to say on the Senate floor about the bailout today:

We're in a very dangerous situation where financial institutions across this country are afraid to lend money. And if all that meant was the failure of a few banks in New York, that would be one thing. But that's not what it means. What it means is, if we don't act, it will be harder for Americans to get a mortgage for their home or loans they need to buy a car or send their children to college. What it means is that businesses won't be able to get the loans they need to open a new factory or make payroll for their workers. And if they can't make payroll on Friday, then workers are laid off on Monday. And if workers are laid off on Monday, then they can't pay their bills or pay back their loans to somebody else. And it will go on and on and on, rippling through the entire economy. Potentially we could see thousands of businesses close, millions of jobs could be lost, and a long and painful recession could follow. In other words, this is not just a Wall Street crisis, it's an American crisis.

I have heard critics of the bailout say that the bailout is not necessary right now and that we should let banks suffer for the poor investment decisions they made. What these people fail to realize, however, that the purpose of the bailout is not to rescue financial institutions from the consequences of their irresponsible choices. Nor is the bailout an opportunity to conveniently forget about the actions which should have been taken to prevent the current economic situation. Instead, the fact is that the activity of these financial institutions has far-reaching implications on numerous aspects of our economy and the bailout is about protecting the American public from the innumerable rippling consequences of a massive failure on Wall Street.

See the entirety of his speech here.