Sen. Kennedy: ‘It’s a Bailout! I’m Not Going to Bubble Wrap It’

Kennedy: “So the president says that’s a safe — that’s a safe bet. Except when you read the fine print, you find out that the securities that the banks put up as collateral to borrow money from the American people are not what’s called mark to market. They — they aren’t — the securities are not put up at the at their real value, they’re put up with the value for what — at the time they were purchased. So if you bought a security that was, let’s say, to make it simple $20, and you own — you — you — you own — it’s owned by a bank, and it’s now worth $5. You — you — you give that $5 to the $25 billion fund, but it’s really — and you get credit for $10, but it’s really worth only five. I mean, it’s a bailout. And I’m not going to bubble wrap it, and I don’t think we ought to try to bubble wrap it to the American people.”