Washington, D.C – The following is a prepared statement by Ms. Ryan Alexander, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense on the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008:

For better or worse, this bailout legislation is moving forward. The market has already assumed that Congress will take action and failure to act could have significant economic consequences.

The original 3-page plan presented by Secretary Paulson, with its complete lack of oversight, strings or structure was an irresponsible expansion of executive branch power. While the bill being debated in Congress now is an improvement from the original, it still poses a significant risk to taxpayers.

The oversight protections in this legislation provide an opportunity for accountability, but there is still an enormous amount of executive discretion in this bill, particularly as it relates to valuing the troubled assets the public will take over. Furthermore, window-dressing provisions, such as the five-year recoupment plan, give the illusion that this package will not have massive budgetary implications. But the political reality is that a future Congress is unlikely to tax the financial services industry.

The risks are greater than we’ve ever seen.

Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that passing the bailout is not the end—it is just the beginning. The real work to make sure our economy recovers and taxpayers are protected has just begun. Congress created oversight mechanisms such as a Financial Stability Oversight Board and a Special Inspector General, but the effectiveness of these mechanisms will depend on their power to ensure that the taxpayers receive a fair market price for the assets they take on and that no one enriches themselves in the process.

It is also the beginning of uncovering the core weaknesses that brought us to this point. We need to make sure those responsible for this fiscal mess, in both the public and private sectors, are held accountable. And we must ensure our representatives and the Administration are held accountable for their decisions not just on the bailout, but on the less visible fiscal crises that are presenting the greatest challenge to our country in years. For example, we need to end the cycle of deficit spending, decrease the national debt, address escalating health care costs for Medicare and Medicaid, fix our crumbling infrastructure, and address our energy needs.

It’s going to take all of us to ensure this does not happen again. We’ll do our part by watching closely.