Levin: Fed trying to turn economy around

By Jenny Lancour

ESCANABA - During a whirlwind fall tour through the central Upper Peninsula, U.S. Sen. Carl Levin offered hope that the national government is working hard to improve the uncertain economy.

"We're doing everything we know how to pull this economy back," Levin said during his visit to the Daily Press in Escanaba Friday afternoon. "It could get worse but, of course, there's hope."

Levin was touring the region, attending various events such as the U.P. County Commissions meeting in Harris and a Democratic Party event in Marquette this weekend. He also met with local municipalities and businesses including Engineered Machined Products in Escanaba.

Levin attributed the present economic downfall to the "housing bubble" that broke, bringing mortgage values down. This affected financial institutions because of the impact on savings and pension funds from where monies are borrowed.

Levin said the $700 billion bank bailout - AKA the Emergency Economic Stabilization Package - may take a matter of weeks to turn things around. He explained the bailout involves the government borrowing more money so assets become purchased, in turn, stabilizing the economy. The package includes tax reductions and tax incentives like energy tax credits, he explained.

In addition to the market being impacted at a real economic level, Levin said he's hopeful the psychological affects, like fear and loss of confidence, will also turn around.

"We're doing everything we can do with the housing package to shore up housing values," Levin said, citing improved treasury regulations. "We're trying to prevent foreclosures by having agencies work with homeowners to lower interest rates and lower balance."

He added, "We're working on programs to keep people in their homes and get housing values back on track."

Part of the reason for the current economic crisis is the current administration's efforts to "get government out of the way," Levin said.

"That's the problem. We should have been regulating what was going on with Wall Street," he added. "You've got to put the cop back on the beat."

Levin discussed a variety of subjects during his recent visit including alternative energy efforts in the U.P. In regards to oil prices, Levin said he is working on legislation to help drive down oil prices by closing loopholes on deceptive accounting practices like the Enron scandal, he said.

Levin, who voted against the war in Iraq, said America has to find its way out of Iraq and Iraqi leaders need to settle their own problems.

"We're spending $10 billion a month in Iraq. Why are we doing this?" he questioned. While the U.S. is building police stations and hotels there, Iraq is sitting on a $80 billion surplus in oil sales, he added.

In addition to discussing the national issues at hand, Levin also campaigned for his Democratic party's presidential candidate, Barak Obama.

"I'm totally committed to Obama," Levin said. "He represents real change."

On the other hand, Levin said he does not agree with the economic and foreign policies of John McCain who he sees as a continuation of Bush policies.

"Bush policy got us in the financial ditch," he commented.

"Obama represents a real significant break," said Levin, a U.S. senator for 30 years.

"I expect it to be a very close election," he added.

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Jenny Lancour, (906) 786-2021, ext. 143, jlancour@dailypress.net