Shaheen comes out against bailout bill, again

Former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen (D-Madbury) said she does not support the financial bailout bill working its way through Congress. However, she told The Conway Daily Sun in an editorial board meeting, after her first debate against U.S. Sen. John Sununu (R-Waterville Valley), that she was "inclined" to support the bill.

The Shaheen campaign said that Shaheen remains opposed to the Senate version of the bill because it lacks oversight regulations.

"My hope was that the Senate would work together in a bipartisan manner to fix the lack of accountability, oversight and taxpayer protections in the bailout bill so that we could rescue our economy without burdening taxpayers and enriching those who created the crisis," Shaheen said in a Thursday statement. "I would have supported that sort of proposal.  But instead of working together to fix the underlying problems like lax accountability measures, lack of taxpayer protections and loose CEO compensation restrictions, Congress went in the other direction and added millions in tax giveaways for makers of toy wooden arrows and Puerto Rican rum.  I would have voted against this Senate bill." 

Yesterday in a debate against Sununu, Shaheen said she opposed the bill that was defeated in the House and said she opposed adding additional costs to the bill that was voted in the Senate.

"I don't think that's what we ought to be doing at this critical time," Shaheen said.

The Sun reported that when Shaheen met with their editorial board, Shaheen said she would be "inclined" to vote for the bill. The Sun reported that when "pressed for a declarative yea or nay, she [Shaheen] replied ‘I would be inclined to vote for it because I think we have to do something.'"

In the same article the Sun reported that "Shaheen, who is challenging Sununu for the senate seat, conceded she'd support the bailout plan because the credit situation is so dire."

Kate Bedingfield, Shaheen's communications director, said that Shaheen thinks Congress should work to pass a "bipartisan package" and Shaheen remains opposed to the Senate bill.

"Gov. Shaheen has consistently stated that she hopes that Congress will work together to create a bipartisan package to rescue Wall Street," Bedingfield said in a statement. "She believes that Congress should act and that they should take the time to get the package right and ensure that it is has the necessary transparency and oversight so that there is accountability for how taxpayer dollars are spent.  She is opposed to the Senate version of the bill because of the lack of accountability in the final bill."

The Shaheen campaign also said that the statement was issued in response to the Senate passage of the bill and not in response to The Conway Daily Sun article.