D a s L i b e r a l e T a g e b u c h

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Kreditkrise und Konjunktur in USA

Stellungnahmen von Clinton, McCain und Obama

Statement from Hillary Clinton, March 17, 2008

“This is a moment of great unique uncertainty in our financial markets. The crisis that began in the subprime mortgage market has spilled over and now poses a broader threat. I am following the developments in our markets closely. This morning I spoke with Secretary Paulson and New York Federal Reserve President Tim Geithner. They both outlined the actions that were taken yesterday to ensure liquidity and restore confidence in the market. I relayed to them my thoughts and concerns. I will continue to monitor the situation closely throughout the day and will seek advice and counsel from a broad range of economic advisors.

“As a senator from New York , I am keenly focused on the impact of these market developments on the lives and livelihoods of thousands of New Yorkers and on the New York economy as a whole. I am also reminded everyday as I meet with families and listen to their stories that the effective function of our market isn’t just about Wall Street, it is about Main Street.

It’s about the families I meet that are struggling to fend off foreclosures and stay in their homes. It’s about construction workers who used to build houses and are now out of work. It’s about the college student who has good credit but is struggling to get a loan. What is happening on Wall Street may well affect the lives and fortunes of tens of millions of Americans who work hard everyday. They’ve done nothing wrong, but they will be impacted.

“In these times of stress and uncertainty, we need to be vigilant, to do everything in our power to maintain confidence in our financial system. I feel very strongly that in every way we’ve got to have more urgency to continue the action that was started yesterday. In my conversations earlier this morning, I raised my concern about the continuing numbers of foreclosures and my very strong belief that in the absence of addressing that aspect of this subprime mortgage credit crisis, we will not be able to make the progress that we have to make. I will follow this closely and as I said, I am particularly concerned about the many employees of Bear Stearns and their families and the ripple through the economy that this is going to cause.”

U.S. Senator John McCain today issued the following statement on the economic challenges facing America's homeowners - (Credit Crunch), March 11, 2008

"Undermined by sagging home values and a national credit crunch, our economy has slowed, presenting challenges to the prosperity of American families. While it is the government's role to help the honest, hardworking homeowner in this time of distress, it is not the government's role to bail out investors who should understand that markets are about both return and risk, or lending institutions who didn't do their job. It's important that managers and investors are held accountable for their own decisions. And we need to monitor the impact of the many, important steps that have already been taken. We don't want to do something in the short-term that damages our economy in the long-term.

"Lenders should also be thinking about how to help their good customers who are having difficulty through no fault of their own. For example, as companies bear the costs of product recalls when their products cause harm to customers, perhaps financial institutions should be thinking about their accountability to their customers. In the interests of transparency, financial institutions need to fully disclose their losses, only then can regulators and rating agencies really do their jobs."

Senator Barack Obama today released the following statement on the state of the economy.

The news coming from Wall Street today has confirmed our fears that the financial fallout from the mortgage crisis would spillover into the wider economy. Months ago, I went to Wall Street and said that our capital markets could not function without the confidence and trust of the public. I said that Wall Street could not succeed while the rest of America struggled. Now, as the Federal Reserve does its best to bring stability to the market, we must focus on what we can do to restore the public’s confidence in the market and help the millions of Americans who are worried about their jobs, their homes, and their financial future.

History will not judge President Bush kindly for his failure to act in a way that could’ve prevented or alleviated this economic crisis. There have been few Administrations so out of touch with the concerns and the struggles of working Americans and so beholden to the lobbyists and special interests who blocked any kind of regulatory oversight of the financial sector. Whether it was subprime lending, credit cards, or bankruptcy laws, Washington has allowed these special interests to prevent sensible policy that could have prevented the most serious effects of the current predicament.

Nowhere has the failure been more pronounced than the President’s refusal to address the plight of homeowners and Main Street businesses that lie at the heart of the turmoil right now. After months of inaction and half-measures, the President traveled to New York last week to say that there is a danger in doing too much and implied that doing nothing would be preferable. His principle policy to address the financial crunch that now threatens millions of Americans with foreclosure and thousands of business with bankruptcy is to extend his tax cuts for the wealthiest few. It’s a policy so divorced from the reality facing the American people and the American economy that it would be laughable if it weren’t so frightening.

At this moment, we must come together and act to address the housing crisis that set this downturn in motion and continues to eat away at the public’s confidence in the market. We should pass the legislation I put forward with my colleague, Chris Dodd, to create meaningful incentives for lenders to buy or refinance existing mortgages so that Americans facing foreclosure can keep their homes. This is not a bailout for lenders or investors who gambled recklessly, and it is not a windfall for borrowers. It is a fair and responsible way to help stem the foreclosure crisis.

Many other steps will be required to reverse this downturn in the weeks to come. It will require the efforts of those in the financial community; of the Federal Reserve; of Congress, and the White House. And it will also require a renewed confidence that we can meet this challenge. We are the United States of America, and each time we have faced moments of adversity in the past – some much greater than this – we have summoned a spirit of cooperation and innovation to emerge stronger and more prosperous than we were before. But it will take work, it will take time, and it will take leadership that recognizes that we are all part of the same economy, and that economy must work for every American in order for America to prosper in the 21st century.