GOP lawmakers unite to say bailout will work

Georgia’s Republican U.S. lawmakers expressed confidence Tuesday that the nation’s financial markets will recover, but said it could take time.

“We did not get to where we are overnight and we will not get out overnight,” U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss said.

Chambliss, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson and Georgia’s GOP House members convened a public kiss-and-make-nice session, a week after they parted ways over a massive rescue plan to underpin the nation’s economy.

The senators, who voted for the rescue plan, joined six of Georgia’s seven Republican House members at the Republican Victory Dinner 2008 at the downtown Atlanta Hilton. All of Georgia’s GOP House members voted against the bill.

“We are on the same team,” U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Grantville) told reporters at a press conference before the dinner. “We are family.”

Westmoreland and his fellow Republican House members stood with Isakson and Chambliss on Tuesday in an attempt to show party unity as the Nov. 4 election approaches. Only Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Gainesville), who had a previous campaign commitment, skipped the event.

“This market will come back,” Westmoreland said. “The market is always up and down. It will come back.”

Chambliss said the group decided to meet with reporters to dispel “innuendos” about continuing disagreements among the delegation.

“We are all very confident that Nov. 4 will be a great day for Republicans in Georgia,” he said. “We’re confident it will be a great day for John McCain.”

The get-together — about 550 people attended the dinner — came on a day when the Dow Jones Industrial Average trimmed another 500 points, raising new question about if and when the rescue plan would begin to have an impact.

U.S. Rep. John Linder (R-Duluth) took the microphone when asked by a reporter if he thought the rescue plan would work.

“There’s a lot going on and we will not know for some time to come,” Linder said. He later added: “In the final analysis, the markets respond to fundamentals, not politics.”

U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Savannah) said the rescue plan was never intended to bail out Wall Street.

“This was not about the stock market,” Kingston said. “This was about the economy. This was about a bigger picture.”

U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Marietta) urged long-term investors and people with retirement money in stock funds to “have a little patience.”

“We are strong and we will remain strong,” Gingrey said of the nation’s economy.

Gingrey also added a warning to speculators trying to play the current financial chaos.

“This is not the time to try to time either the stock market or the housing market,” he said. “You just have to hold on. That’s the best advice I could give.”