Schumer Praises Bush's Bank Plan

Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer praised President Bush’s newest banking plan on Tuesday, calling it “a good start.”

On Tuesday morning, Bush announced a $250 billion plan to buy shares in the nation’s major banks, expand the government’s bank deposit insurance program and guarantee most new debt issued by banks around the country.

“Hopefully, this strong approach is the dynamite needed to blast through the clogged-up financial system,” Schumer said in a statement. “Once that is accomplished, we must make sure that this new capital is used to strengthen traditional banking practices to get the economy going again.”

“There must be checks to prevent these dollars from being used to increase executive compensation, pay out dividends or bankroll exotic financial instruments. The Treasury plan gets great marks on the first, a passing grade on the second and an incomplete on the third.”