“This is a challenging time,” Carter said, a Republican representing District 31, which includes the Temple area. “Whether we get through this bailout or not, we’re going to have a recession, that’s just a fact. How mild or bad that recession is going to be will depend on the kind of policies we adopt for the next year.”
Regarding Central Texas, Carter, 66, said the recession would not be severe.
“I think we will be out of it very quickly and we will be much more prosperous than others,” he said. “The question is what other programs are going to be created and what other expenditures and taxations are going to come into place that might actually harm us and our markets.”
Carter said the severity of the recession depends on the results of the plan put together by U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
Carter twice opposed the Paulson plan. The three-term lawmaker said it was “suspicious” and “worrisome.” Adding the recent $700 billion plan with earlier ones worth $300 billion, the total proposed financial obligation came to $1 trillion, he said.
“To spend a trillion dollars of extra money in six months, above and beyond anticipated expenditures of the United States, to me made the most serious vote I’ve had to vote on in Congress,” he said. “And I really felt we had not talked-out other alternatives. I’m not ashamed of my vote and think I will be proven right.”
The Temple Chamber of Commerce sponsored Carter’s speech, called “How legislation affects your small business.” Carter said small businesses are the backbone of the American economy.
“If there’s one group of people that’s talked about most in Washington, it’s small business. They employ about 90 percent of people in the United States,” he said.
Carter’s appearance came one day after presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain sparred over the economy in a nationally televised debate. Carter said regardless who wins the November election, business owners need to speak up.
“You need to be reminding people when this next administration comes in, what small businesses do, and what they do to make the economy grow,” he said.
One Temple small business owner at the meeting said he was buckling down hard, coping with a slight dip in revenue.
“When we make it through this thing, we’ll end up on top,” said Luis Hernandez, owner of Dynaclean Professional Services, a tile, carpet and upholstery cleaning company. “We just got to hit it a little harder.”
Running for a fourth term, Carter is opposed by Democrat Brian P. Ruiz, a 32-year-old Hutto resident who has worked in radio and real estate, and Libertarian Barry N. Cooper.
fafflerbach@temple-telegram.com
