Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Chesapeake
Forbes voted early in the 30-minute roll call and then closeted himself with a group of other lawmakers in the nearby offices of House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland, among the bailout's most prominent supporters.
There was no arm-twisting, he said. The group, members of the Congressional Prayer Caucus, were "praying for the country, Democrats and Republicans."
Forbes said his vote was motivated largely by concern that the plan would not restore confidence to the financial markets. A better solution, he said, may be to increase federal insurance to bank depositors.
In both parties, "most of us just want to make sure," Forbes added. "We realize we need to do something. We're prepared to stay here as long as we need to do it, but this is just too important for us to get it wrong."
Rep. Thelma Drake, R-Norfolk
Drake limited her comments to a three-paragraph written statement. She said her vote against the bailout was a rejection of "the false choice" its supporters offered of "doing this plan or doing nothing to solve the economic crisis."
Drake said Congress should be ordered back into session after the Rosh Hashanah holiday solely to focus on alternative proposals.
"A real solution to this problem will put the taxpayers first, require Wall Street to pay its fair share, and will address the root causes of this crisis," Drake added. She declined to answer questions.
Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Newport News
Scott issued a statement calling the bill better than the Bush administration's original proposal but "not a good deal for taxpayers."
It should have included help for homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages and provisions guaranteeing that the federal government would pay no more than the "fair value" of any securities purchased from troubled firms, he said in an interview. Without that, some assets would be bought at inflated prices, saddling the taxpayers with a loss, he warned.
To those who fear the bill's defeat means Congress may do nothing, Scott said, "They should be more afraid we might start buying $700 billion in assets and not know what we're buying."
Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Westmoreland County
Wittman, whose district covers much of the Peninsula, said he voted no largely because of reservations about having the government purchase privately held securities.
Wittman said he was concerned that the Treasury might pay more for some securities than they're worth. He would have been more sympathetic to an approach that provided some form of federal insurance for troubled securities without having the government actually purchase them.
Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-Wilson, N.C.
The plan was "too risky and gives away too much without any guarantees that the problems will be corrected," Butterfield said. "While people talk about stabilizing the markets, we should be focused on stabilizing families and our rural communities."
Rep. Walter Jones, R-Farmville, N.C.
Jones, whose district covers the Outer Banks, did not issue a statement explaining his decision.
Dale Eisman, (703) 913-9872, dale.eisman@pilotonline.com Why local representatives voted "no" to the bailout plan:
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mccain on tv
McCain has been on tv today proclaiming how great his leadership has been in getting the Senate to pass the bill.
Poor befuddled, self-deluded McCain thinks he is a leader.
So anyone remember the Fannie/Fred Mac Debates of yor
Yes the ones in 2003, 2004, and 2005 where we were warned this would happen. But Barney Frank, Dodd, and others noted there was NOTHING TO WORRY about and nothing bad would happen. Why? Political KickBacks.
The Repubs noted that we would be on the hook if we did not regulate them. Even McCain stated that they needed more regulation in 2005. But the Dems blocked it stating nothing was wrong with them.
Now had the shoes been switched you would have the news in an uproar over this but since it was the Dems, it gets pushed aside as a passing mention. Published toward the end of a broadcast or report as an after thought.
We do need change, we need a change of Congress again with people who are not full time Lobby Taking professionals.
Actually Keith
The idea that a person can guide a block of people to vote against the citizens wishes is worse. McCain has a history of not voting w/ his party. I believe he appreciates the tone as well. No one wants this bail out. It is a tough line to take. Like they said multiple times, at the end of the day they have to answer to the voters. Not everyone can behave as a mindless zombie and follow their 'dear leader' the chosen one. Some of us have no choice except to allow brain activity to flow unfettered.
No to Bailout No to Rescue No to Socialism
Enough of the B.S. from our leaders.
A rescue is not needed. Why reward buisness that is unsound and continues to make bad decisions. Buisness and Investments have risks, it is not the goverment's responsibility to cover all bets !
This is GREED ! This is Politicians protecting thier own personal investments and catering to the big boys in Wall Street.
Any buisness that needs to borrow money in order to make payroll will fail ! A free Market will work itself out. Buisnesses that made smart moves will continue to prosper.
For a goverment to rescue only certain buisnesses is Facism !
a 401K should not be more important than Liberty.
Our leaders are ignoring the public outcry against this !
This rescue/bailout plan is far worse than anything King George did to us. In one week Free Amercia became a Socialist Country .
This is one of the saddest moments in American History.
And to think my father and Uncles were sent to war to fight communism only to have it forced on them years latter by the Goverment they defended.
Don't re-elect these Politicians, they are lying and only care about thier own personal gains.
To all those who placed money in 401K's
Remember, investing your 401k in the stock market is like gambling. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Fortunately, over the last decade, we have grown used to double-digit gains, expecting the party to last forever. In the last 10 years we have seen an average of a 30% return on our investments (AFTER the big drops). If you want to take the risk, then you have to be willing to accept the losses. Unfortunately, those losses have been because of mis-managed, de-regulated finance firms who played will-nilly with our investments. We trusted them and got hooked on their "financial crack". Now we are learning to go cold turkey to break our addiction.
any explanation of those for the bailout?
It seems to me, that neither Senator McCain nor Senator Obama has the political capital to get the "Do-Nothing" Congress to act. I think the representatives were actually representing the people who elected them.
Is there an article that explains why local Congressmen/women voted to throw taxpayer bucks hastily to this scheme? We all know if they voted to sink money into the bailout, and it backfired, it would be the President's fault if it worked out poorly politically. (See Congressional votes - Iraq war), a.k.a. I'm just an ignorant Congressperson, the President lied.
The Dems are really blowing an opportunity by putting their zaniest characters in their most powerful positions. Whatever happened to a Democrat like Sam Nunn?
a bad day for ira
Ira's beloved McCain has been shown to be an ineffectual leader of his own party.
Text of the Bill
For anyone that wants to read the draft: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/business/21draftcnd.html
All in a name
Ludwig Von Mises.
You said it
"What I would like to see is stopping the blame game and try and see what the "real" problem is and what is realistic in solving it"
A multitude of bloggers on this site have explained the cause and solution to you Gertz. You have consitently used it as a forum to advance your own political view w/ 1 and 2 sentence quips. You have offered nothing prductive to the debate.
I would say you have mastered the ability to ignore others.
Are you going to retire before you're 100?
Have any of you who want this bill voted down looked at your 401(k) plan in the past week? If you have, you know what I mean. The $700b that this bill costs will be so spread out over many years and in so many ways none of us will ever know we're paying it. It's not like they're sending you a bill due in 30 days for $700 billion! Come on, people -- get over it. Our economy has tanked and if this bill is not passed we will pay a WHOLE LOT MORE than $700b and will be working until we are 100 years old.
my position on the bailout
This issue is very complex, requires a great deal of discussion, research and thought before it advances in either direction. What I would like to see is stopping the blame game and try and see what the "real" problem is and what is realistic in solving it, but so many, and on here also, aren't taking a look at the issue, just throwing out comments that don't make a lot of sense and show little knowledge of what's going on.
One of the things we are missing on this blog is the ability to "ignore" certain bloggers.
NO BAILOUT!!! NO WAY!! NO HOW!!
NO to the bailout!! Don't think for ONE second that if you are a legislator and you vote for this bailout that in 4 weeks your sorry butt will be coming home forever. We WILL remember and when calls and faxes are running 100+ to ONE AGAINST the bailout, I double dog DARE you to vote for it. America has had it will all of members of the House and Senate--re-elect NO ONE is the prevailing sentiment. I guarantee if no one is re-elected to the House, and the 1/3 or the Senate that is up for re-election gets voted out, when American taxpayers roar CONGRESS WILL LISTEN!
your village has benn looking 4 u
Gertz has been hopping from board to board with this same statement. Then he proclaims the goverment has no business interfering w/ smiking in restaurants.
It has been a bad day for you and Keith. I think you helped a lot of undecided voters of the fence.
Never in my life have I seen such empty comments that are obviously written by people who read the first three sentences of an article and decide they know the subject. I love it.
s. rose
Very well said. From the onset Bush tried to rush this trough with out discussion or debate, he wanted action immediately the same way the Iraq war was prsented to us and we see the mess that created.
Frankly speaking
Wow, it's exciting watching my son's college saving plan lose 10% of it's value in a day. Thanks Chris Dodd and Barney Frank.
Why did 40% Democrats and 2/3 of Republicans vote against
Because they were more worried about getting re-elected than the people that elected them!!!
lots of responses
Certainly get a lot of responses from the right wingers who so desperately want to segue far away from the Bush/McCain lack of leadership and their ready supply of incompetence.
No Bailout
I say let the market correct itself. Some of those corporations that made risky investments deserve to go out of business. The credit freeze will begin to thaw when the stronger banks prevail. Those who took out home loans when they couldn't afford them should lose their home. This will cause a glut of housing and home prices will continue to fall. But over the past 5 years, home prices rose dramatically. People were buying homes just to hold them a few months and resell at a tremendous profit. This situation is now correcting itself. If you chose to speculate, you might be stuck with a home you can't afford. I bought my home 10 years ago and my mortgage remains affordable. Let the market correct itself.
Praying For More
The Honorable Congressman were probably praying for more than just the country. They were probably praying that they had CYOA so that the voters would re-elect them.