Some Georgia lawmakers cautious about bailout

Here’s what members of the Georgia Congressional delegation said Monday about the proposed $700 billion plan to shore up the financial system:

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R): “We must do something because the cost of doing nothing is too great. You never want to see the government have to bail out certain entities, and this bill cannot become a Christmas tree for every special interest out there.”

Sen. Johnny Isakson (R): “I eagerly await the details of the legislation Treasury will propose. I believe Congressional action is not only necessary but essential. … I will work hard to see to it that the action we take provides short-term financial stability and long-term financial security for the taxpayers of Georgia and their families.”

Rep. John Barrow, D-Athens: “We need to fix this problem. We need to fix it as soon as possible, and we need to work together to do it … Whatever we do to try to bail ourselves out of this mess, we need to make sure that we include the kind of regulations necessary to prevent something like this from happening again.”

Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany: “We’ve got a serious crisis, and everybody is feeling the need to do something quickly … Without knowing the details — because they haven’t been written yet — it’s hard to comment on the specifics. There’s got to be a fix that improves the financial prospects of both the financiers on Wall Street as well as ordinary folks facing foreclosure.”

Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens: “I am extremely skeptical about the federal government nationalizing a huge section of our financial services. … Socialism has never worked and will not work. We must look to the private sector, with very little government intervention in that sector, for solutions to almost all problems that we face. I will be looking for solutions to our financial crisis that will not put taxpayers on the hook and will not borrow from our children and grandchildren, if at all possible.”

Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Gainesville: “I am cautiously optimistic, provided that appropriate reforms are attached.”

Rep. Phil Gingrey, R- Marietta: “All too often, when Congress tries to enact a ‘quick fix,’ it causes more harm than good. At the end of the day, we’ve got to make sure that if the federal government is going to spend $700 billion of taxpayer money, then it better be the right plan. It must restore public confidence in both government and the economy, and be well collateralized as a ‘recourse loan’ [giving the government the right to recover assets if the loan is not repaid].”

Jack Kingston, R-Savannah: “I’m leaning against it. I want to learn more about it. My problem is we’re told it’s a disaster if we don’t do this, but nobody has defined what that means.”

Rep. John Lewis, D-Atlanta: “We know this is a very serious crisis. We cannot run and hide. Even so, we must not and should not give Wall Street a blank check. … People are losing their jobs, their homes, and struggling with health care. No one has come to their rescue, but yet overnight we are pressed to come to the aid of Wall Street. We must protect the resources of the American people to ensure that their tax dollars are available to give them the services they require, not siphoned off to pay for the failures of private industry.”

Rep. Tom Price, R-Roswell: “The gravity of this situation cannot be understated, and I am working diligently to ensure the taxpayer is protected.”

David Scott, D-Atlanta: “Two things are very very important — that we do it quickly and also with the thought, the seriousness and the intellect so there is no rush to do something that’s this earth shaking … We’ve got to have oversight. We can’t bail these folks out and then reward these companies with these stratospheric (CEO) salaries of $125 million. There’ve got to be some curbs. Another thing is to look for a way to stop the hemorrhaging for the homeowners who are already going into foreclosure.”

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Grantville: “I get that there’s a crisis. I get that there’s urgency. But we need to slow up and put this through subcommittee, then committee, then the full House, where it needs to be open to amendments. In case anybody hasn’t noticed, the federal government is swimming in debt, too … If this is rushed through without scrutiny, I will oppose this bill.”

( Rep. John Linder, R-Duluth, declined to comment “until he sees a final proposal,” a spokesman said.

Democrats Hank Johnson of Lithonia and Jim Marshall of Macon did not respond by press time.)