Clarke Statement on the Emergency Economic Stabilization
“This bailout is the brainchild of the Bush Administration, which once again is gambling with people’s lives. Although we don’t know whether this rescue plan will work, I do know that doing nothing is far worse.
Today we are experiencing an explosive financial crisis on Wall Street that has rippled across our country exponentially. For example, short-term costs, including payroll costs, are financed by short-term lending. The lack of lending will lead to declines in the ability of some businesses to remain solvent. Moreover, unemployment will increase with those failures and the general slowdown in lending will directly impact small businesses, their employees and local citizens.
As a result, the loss of jobs for New York will be catastrophic and Brooklyn cannot absorb more unemployed people. We are trying to avoid mass unemployment and all the tragedies associated with it. This bill is not a panacea by any means. But in order to provide some level of protection for working people, from what may be even harsher economic times, I do support this legislation.
The reality for New Yorkers is that both the state and local budgets are faced with severe financial constraints which may result in cutbacks. While I am not completely pleased with this bill, I am concerned with what these budget cuts mean for the people of central Brooklyn.
We cannot sit back and watch the economy continue to spiral downwards leaving the average person vulnerable and exposed. This crisis will have a long lasting detrimental effect on the economy and it may be a long time before there is any foreseeable recovery.”
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