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Friday, October 3, 2008
Why your congressman switched on the bailout. Or didn’t.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Four days after it voted the measure down, the House voted 263-171 for a $700 billion bailout of the American financial system.
That’s a 58 vote pick-up over Monday. Here’s the roll call, but to tell you the truth, the New York Times has a knock-out interactive look, state by state.
In Georgia, only two switched, both Democrats — David Scott and John Lewis, both of Atlanta.
Neither supporters nor opponents of the rescue plan are sure of the consequences.
But on Friday afternoon, one day after both cast votes in the Senate in favor of the measure, Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss were on a joint, five-city flyaround to explain their position — in Albany, Macon, Savannah, Augusta and Columbus.
The pair issued a statement from the road that began this way: “We commend those members of the U.S. House of Representatives who put their country first to vote for this important legislation.”
It wasn’t a statement aimed at any House Republicans from Georgia, who maintained their opposition, and underlined the division between eight Republicans running for re-election in four weeks — Chambliss for the Senate, and the others for their congressional seats.
Below are statements being issued by House members this afternoon.
House members who voted no on Monday, yes on Friday:
David Scott, Democrat of Atlanta: “First, I was able to work with House leadership to strengthen language providing assistance to homeowners. …Secondly, small businesses in Atlanta started running out of short term loan options. They said they would have to start cutting payroll to make ends meet. I believe that in order to help keep employees on the job we could not wait around for a perfect bill. If I thought this was just a bailout for Wall Street, I would continue to oppose it.”
John Lewis, Democrat from Atlanta: “I have decided that the cost of doing nothing is greater than the cost of doing something. The fear that is gripping Wall Street has the power to shut down Main Street. ….But I do not see this as a blank check. In a few months, we will have a new president and a new Congress. We must hold the feet of these financial institutions to the fire. It is only with that assurance that I will vote yes on this legislation.”
House members who voted no on Monday, no on Friday:
John Barrow, Democrat of Savannah: “The Senate tried to send us something we could all agree on, but all they really did was dress up the same bill we voted on earlier this week with sweeteners to get some members of the House to change their vote. Most of the new items in this bill I have voted for and would vote for again, but not if it means voting for a bailout that’ll do more harm than good. I hope I’m wrong, but that’s how it looks right now.”
Lynn Westmoreland, Republican from Coweta County: “Because of this week’s actions in Washington, Americans who pay their taxes and who pay their mortgages on time and who acted responsibly will be handed a tab for up to $700 billion. ….This bailout may or may not help our economy in the short term. In the long term, it puts us on a dangerous path toward government ownership of private securities and creates a ‘moral hazard’ - investors and businesses will believe that risky bets will enrich them if they succeed and government will write a check if they fail.”
From a joint statement by Georgia’s seven House Republicans: “We cannot preserve our free-market economy by sacrificing the very principles that underlie it. Over the past week, we have heard loud and clear from many of the almost 5 million Georgians that we represent — and they are not convinced that this approach is the right one. They want to preserve our financial system, but demand that we think more about the taxpayer in developing the solution.”
House members who voted yes on Monday, yes on Friday:
Sanford Bishop, Democrat from Albany:
“I wish the bill we took up today was a cleaner bill. I wish we could have passed the bill Monday, and saved our deficit another $150 billion. Many of the provisions added onto this bill, especially relief for middle class taxpayers, are needed, but they add to the bill’s cost. And any other day, I would stand firmly opposed until those costs were off-set. But this is not ‘any other day’ - this is an extraordinary day, and these are extraordinary circumstances. The economy is on life support and not passing this bill would be tantamount to pulling the plug.”
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Looking for votes in a place where ‘bail-out’ has an entirely different meaning
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Athens Banner Herald has this today:
About two dozen prisoners signed up in the first-ever voter registration drive at the Clarke County Jail.
The 25 inmates who have registered so far are part of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s “Democracy Behind Bars” campaign to register 1 million new voters nationwide, according to the civil rights group’s general counsel, Dexter Wimbish.
He doesn’t expect to reach that goal in time for the Nov. 4 general election but hopes to harness the buzz that has been created in this year’s presidential election by the competing tickets and concerns about the tanking economy….
In addition to the first-time voters at the local jail, 15 other prisoners filled out absentee ballot applications, according to Clarke County sheriff’s Capt. Eric Pozen.
• Full election coverage: News, photos and more
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Kingston says business pressure won’t lead him to switch on today’s Wall Street vote
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You think U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Savannah), with his seat on the House Appropriations Committee, will be one of those who flip on the bailout vote today?
Think again.
On the Democratic side, David Scott of Atlanta and Hank Johnson of Decatur, both of whom voted against the measure on Monday, left the door open for a vote switch.
But of seven Republican House members from Georgia, not a sign of movement.
Kingston said he wouldn’t — despite calls his office has received from businesses executives, including Sandy Springs-based Newell Rubbermaid and Coca-Cola Co., urging him to support the measure.
“These are the same people who have been preaching to us that smaller government is better government,” he told my AJC colleague Peralte Paul. Businesses can’t want to privatize their profits and expect the public to absorb their losses, he said.
What’s more, he said he objected to company executives suddenly jumping in with their opinions, particularly when they don’t weigh in on other issues.
“Sometimes, with business, they forget a fundamental part of relationships. It’s not always good to introduce yourself when there’s a problem,” Kingston said. “The time for getting to know each other has come and gone. It’s not an effective way to lobby.”
Kingston said his main concern about the plan, he said is how to fund its $700 billion price tag, when the nation already has a debt of about $10 trillion.
“I could cobble together a package with other conservatives in the House, but we have not been given that opportunity,” Kingston said. “Nobody was calling for the party to end when Wall Street was making its millions. Suddenly, this is the fault of Washington and not the cycle of free enterprise?”
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