Senator Sherrod Brown

The Economy

As Ohio and the nation move into the 21st century, it is time for economic policies that benefit middle class families. We must secure better federal investment for community development projects in urban areas and in infrastructure projects in rural Ohio.

The keys to shared prosperity are joint efforts between our exceptional colleges and universities, hospitals and non-profit groups, small businesses and large industry, and elected officials and citizens. Working together we can continue to drive our nation’s economy forward.

To do this, I am encouraging cooperation and collaboration between numerous private and public sector groups to create more opportunities for Ohioans and to rebuild a thriving middle class across our state. For example, I am working to increase awareness and access to existing federal programs that will strengthen the state’s economy.

The federal government is already actively invested in contracts of products and services that support thousands of Ohio businesses and millions of Ohioans. Our great state is a world class leader at our Wright Patterson and NASA-Glenn facilities. Increasing access to the resources that support these economic opportunities is key to redeveloping our communities. Whether it is through grants from the U.S. Economic Development Administration or federal research and development funds that allow us to create products and strategies to gain America’s energy independence, we must continue to facilitate opportunities for the good of Ohio.

From Ashtabula to Galion, from Lima to Jackson, from Hamilton to Lorain, our state has so much to offer. I’m committed to bringing good-paying jobs to our state and keeping those that already call Ohio home. We must not forget our role as a leader in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors as well as in the critical fields of health care and higher education. And we will must embrace emerging industries such as alternative energy production and biotechnology. It is this spirit of innovation and hard-work that has and will continue to make Ohio a great place to live and do business in the years ahead. 

Banking

Since the beginning of this decade, our state has lost jobs while the workforce has grown, leading to almost a doubling of unemployment.  Manufacturing jobs have declined by almost 30 percent.  Wages and family income are down, and poverty is up.

Meanwhile, the price of most of the things we need to buy has climbed steadily.  While gas prices have fallen back a bit, they are still stretching family budgets.  Food prices are up, and the cost of health care and college tuition and almost everything else is much higher.

Middle class families are working harder and earning less.

On top of these longer term trends, we are now facing the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.  We saw the seeds of today’s problems in Ohio years ago, as predatory lenders came into our state and began making loans with terms that almost guaranteed they could not be repaid.  This boom in risky lending was fueled by investment banks on Wall Street and investors around the world.   

Some of the first casualties of this risky credit were homeowners in Ohio, most of whom already owned their homes, who were assured they could afford the loans they were sold.  Our state led the nation for a time in the percentage of homes in foreclosure.  Tens of thousands of people have lost their homes, which for many represented much of their life savings.

As soon as I joined the Senate in 2007 and was assigned to the Committee on Banking, I started urging Fed Chairman Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Paulson and the rest of the Bush Administration to take more aggressive action to address the housing crisis.  For far too long, the Administration believed the problem was “largely contained,” in Secretary Paulson’s words.

It was only when the problems spread from the Main Streets of Ohio to Wall Street that the Administration took notice.  But even then, it resisted providing help where it was needed most.  Our efforts to reform lending laws and provide help to struggling homeowners and communities were blocked by filibusters and veto threats.  Only when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which together own or back about half of all U.S. mortgages, were in financial peril did the Administration finally relent and agree to sign legislation to address the crisis.

Had the executive branch acted earlier to use its regulatory authority to contain the rise of predatory lending, we might not find ourselves in the serious financial difficulty we face today.  Unfortunately, this same indifference has characterized its attitude to the regulation of financial markets.  The Securities and Exchange Commission, for example, relaxed the rules for investment banks four years ago and then did almost no oversight.  Today we are seeing the results.

Congress had little choice but to approve the rescue plan requested by Treasury Secretary Paulson.  But it was greatly improved, by setting up strong oversight, limiting CEO pay, and giving greater protections to taxpayers so they have a better chance of recovering their money.  The costs of inaction -- in lost jobs, shrunken retirement accounts, and failing businesses – would have been too great. 

But at the same time that Congress was approving $700 billion in authority to purchase troubled loans from Wall Street, Republicans were blocking efforts to extend unemployment benefits for laid off workers in Ohio and across the country. 

Just as Wall Street needed our help, so does Main Street.  I am going to continue to press to provide help to those who need it most -- to people who have lost their jobs, or cannot feed their family, or heat their homes, or afford their medicine.

Washington’s work has just begun.  We need to do a much better job of both overseeing our financial markets and cleaning up the mess they have left behind.  That work cannot wait.  In the weeks ahead I will be pushing for hearings to examine the roots of the current crisis and the best remedies so that Congress can act when it returns following the elections.

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