Criticizing what he described to reporters as a “timeline of bailouts”, Pat Toomey kept up a drumbeat begun last week in a policy speech in Philadelphia faulting opponent Joe Sestak for opposing measures that would have made Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae more accountable and more transparent.
Joe Sestak, Toomey told reporters on an afternoon conference call, “voted against efforts to impose reasonable regulations on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government sponsored enterprises at the very hear of our financial crisis.”
Sestak, who supported legislation to bail out the foundering mortgage giants, has a record of opting for bailouts over oversight, Toomey charged, say Sestak opposed common sense reform even after the two “had already proven they were a serious problem.”
In July 2008, Toomey said, Sestak “voted to bail out Fannie and Freddie,” a theme which continued in October, when Sestak “voted to bail out Wall Street banks. 63 Democrats voted against the bill,” Toomey said, but Sestak called it the “most consequential vote I’ve taken,” to that point.
In January 2009, Sestak voted to “bail out Wall Street again” despite 99 other Democrats opposing the measure. And in March 2010, he proposed the Home Ownership Vesting Act that would have “forced taxpayers to bail out underwater mortgages.”
Toomey brushed aside Sestak’s claim that voting for bailouts “made him sick”, saying his voting record proved not only that he supported numerous bailout programs, but also that he would have exacerbated the problem had his Vesting Act passed. However, it failed to gain a single co-sponsor.
Bullish on reforming the Federal Reserve, Toomey described proposals to audit the central bank as “probably helpful,” saying, “I do support greater transparency.”
On corporate taxes, Toomey said his ideal corporate rate would be 25 percent, which he said would make the United States “comparable to our major competitor [nations]. Toomey described his free enterprise philosophy as one that would “maximize opportunity and minimize political interference … which eventually leads to lower growth.”
Toomey refused to comment on recent polls, saying he doesn’t “put a lot of stock” in them, but told reporters he was “excited” for the only two debates with Joe Sestak, scheduled for this Wednesday and Friday.