Stopping Bailouts

Investigate the ShoreBank bailout

I will support a congressional investigation into the ShoreBank bailout. Washington politicians have tried to get Wall Street and American taxpayers to bail out ShoreBank, even though dozens of other community banks have been allowed to fail. The only reason ShoreBank is getting special attention is because ShoreBank has ties to the White House and leading Illinois Democrats. We need a full audit before ShoreBank is given any more of our tax dollars–or else the bank should be placed in receivership.

Probe Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s role

Rep. Schakowsky tried to get Illinois to bail out ShoreBank, which would have been the first state bank bailout in U.S. history. She had a conflict of interest, since ShoreBank may have saved her husband some prison time by allowing him to pay back money from a check kiting scheme for which he was later convicted. She also encouraged the public to invest in ShoreBank in January 2010, when she knew the bank was in trouble.

Jobs, not bailouts

The best way to help low-income communities is to create jobs, not to bail out multinational companies like ShoreBank. We must stop corrupt schemes like the federal weatherization program, which uses ShoreBank to cycle federal taxpayer dollars to companies controlled by White House cronies. We must rejuvenate our inner cities by providing better police protection, lower taxes, and new incentives for small business.