Straten: Would Vote For Plan; Risk too Great to "Flip Coin"

 
Roland Straten, Republican candidate for Congress in New Jersey's 8th District, would have voted for the emergency economic rescue plan that passed the Senate and will be voted on by the House on Friday.
 
"The risk of not taking action and allowing credit gridlock, affecting all our livelihoods, is too great," says Straten.  "And unlike my opponent, who characterized his vote by saying 'We're flipping coins here,' I have come to a conclusion after as thorough a review as possible."
 
In a letter to district constituents and friends Straten stated that he had to overcome his philosophical opposition to government intervention to decide to support the measure.  He was influenced by the fact that Senator Judd Gregg, the brother of a former roommate at Tuck School at Dartmouth, and a "true fiscal conservative," helped draft the measure.
 
"Government intervention into private markets, no matter how well intentioned, got us into this mess, and it is too big and entrenched to disappear without government action," says Straten.  "If we just did nothing, as my opponent suggests, the shock to the private economy would be too abrupt and risky."
 
Straten has suggestions he would include in the legislation, if he were elected. Among them are several which look forward, such as a review of banking and financial regulations to prevent a recurrence, and continued close congressional oversight to carefully manage the process to minimize taxpayer exposure and possibly turn the $700 billion dollars expenditure into a slight profit.
 
"We need to restore the private markets and reduce government involvement.  We need a committee similar to the 9/11 commission to investigate and make recommendations on how to prevent this from ever happening again," says Straten.  "I would be happy to serve on that committee."
 

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