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Heritage Bank CEO Speaks About Bailout

By Casey Northcutt

Murray, KY – After Congress failed to pass the 700 billion dollar bailout plan touted by the White House yesterday, the DOW dropped a record 778 points. Heritage Bank Chief Executive Officer John Peck says the legislation, though unpopular, is necessary. The Hopkinsville-based CEO says the plan's unpopularity was largely due to the fact that the government didn't adequately explain its purpose, and the term "bailout" misrepresents the situation. "The primary purpose of that legislation was to inject liquidity into the industry, into the economy of the United States, putting the markets at ease that there will be cash available for institutions to lend, and thus, liquidity would be available, cash flow or funds would be available for industries within our financial networks." Although he believes in a free enterprise system, Peck says at this point, the government is the only entity that can insert enough money into the economy to jump start the slump. At a local level, however, the crisis isn't so dire. As long as customers have maintained good credit, they should be able to secure loans from area institutions.