Congressional candidates on the economy
WSTM Channel 3 (NBC), Syracuse NY
September 21st, 2008
Congress is considering a $700 billion dollar plan to try to rescue Wall Street and to stabilize the nation's economy. But come January, the issue will be passed onto the politicians elected in November. And that's helping the economy play an increasing role in campaigns.
Here in Central New York, the three candidates for the 25th congressional district have differing opinions on the best plan for dealing with the nation's financial crisis. Democrat Dan Maffei said he wasn't opposed to a stimulus package, and "The one thing I really would do is make sure not only does Wall Street get a bailout but main street gets a bail out also, we have to make sure people's whose homes foreclosed on are also helped." For Republican Dale Sweetland, having a long term plan is a priority. He said " I think there are appropriate places for sure regulations that don't hinder the free market because we do need to have a free market in this county but they take care of protecting people and the economy from this type of collapse." Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins says the bill Congress is working on is at the expense of the taxpayers. He said "First of all we have to bail out the borrowers, the homeowners, not the lenders who make bad bets, second we really need to re-regulate the economy, these new deal regulations are there for a reason, and third we need to have a more progressive tax structure because the rich have gotten enormously richer."
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