Alexander Says No Extending Bailouts

With Congress set to return for a lame-duck session this month, Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander says the time for government handouts is over.

Alexander voted for the $700 billion financial rescue plan federal lawmakers approved last month. At the time, he described the bailout as a way to clear the nation’s financial highways of a wreck. Now he says Congress must pull back the reins …

“Well, we’ll be back in Washington in two weeks, and I think it’s time to stop bailing people out with other people’s money and start making fundamental investments in the long term which help all taxpayers. For example, I think we ought to make a dramatic new investment in research and development on energy so we can keep prices low and be independent.”

Alexander says he isn’t reconsidering his vote on the financial rescue plan and says the government now has enough authority to handle the problem.