Bailout shapes race for Senate

One hopes to be a “firewall” against left-leaning Democrats —- the other, a “bridge” to speed change after years of Republican presidential rule.

Georgia voters on Tuesday will either re-elect Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss —- the firewall —- or toss him out and install Democratic challenger Jim Martin —- the bridge —- in the state’s hard-fought, nationally watched Senate runoff.

No matter who wins, one thing is certain: Georgia’s next U.S. senator will soon have to decide whether to support or oppose billions in new federal spending that is being proposed by President-elect Barack Obama.

Obama has vowed to jump-start the country’s sputtering economy with a new stimulus package that, in part, would create or preserve more than 2 million jobs to update the nation’s roads, bridges and public works over the next few years. The injection of up to $700 billion would be on top of the $700 billion financial rescue plan already under way.

He has said he wants a stimulus bill on his desk when he takes office in January.

Wait and see it

Both Martin and Chambliss say they would give Obama’s proposal a look once they know the specifics. Both, however, stopped short of saying they would support it.

“We’ve got (the current rescue plan) in place, albeit a controversial plan,” Chambliss said in an interview. “But we are starting to see an easing of credit. We need to give this plan a chance to work before venturing out and spending more of the taxpayers’ money.”

Martin, who has used Obama in his advertising campaign and who has invited the president-elect to come to Georgia to campaign for him, was also reluctant to jump on the bandwagon for the new stimulus proposal.

“I don’t know the specifics of it,” Martin said in an interview. “But I do know we need something to get middle-class people back to work in Georgia. We’ve lost 96,000 jobs in the state.”

Martin said he would reserve judgment on whether to support the Obama plan until he can review its details, which have not been announced by Obama or his aides. ” That’s the only responsible thing to do,” Martin said.

Some economists say a massive new stimulus plan is needed to jump-start the economy, even if it means bloating the national debt. But others say that would be a mistake, creating mountains of new debt for future generations. U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) blasted Obama’s proposal, saying in a written statement that is “threatens to send our nation over a fiscal cliff, leading to higher taxes and fewer jobs.”

Chambliss has come under intense criticism from some conservatives for his support of the massive financial rescue package now being dispensed to financial institutions to free up credit. Chambliss landed in a runoff with Martin after neither candidate got a majority of the vote Nov. 4 in their race with Libertarian Allen Buckley. Buckley got 3.4 percent of the vote, and some political observers believe the third-party candidate peeled off conservatives upset about the rescue package.

Financial crisis positions

Democrats want to oust Chambliss and elect Martin to help secure a 60-vote, filibuster proof “super majority” in the Senate. Republicans have vowed to hold Chambliss’ seat at all costs to provide a GOP buffer to complete Democratic control. Democrats now have 58 seats in the upper chamber, with only races in Georgia and Minnesota to be resolved.

During their four-week runoff, Chambliss and Martin have locked horns over the current financial rescue plan, which Martin has dubbed a bailout for Wall Street. Martin has complained the plan, which was backed by Chambliss and Obama, does not contain enough safeguards for consumers or adequate oversight for the institutions that will get the money. Chambliss, meanwhile, has accused Martin of “burying his head in the sand” as the nation’s financial markets tanked.

He said the current rescue plan needs to be given time to work, before another stimulus package is considered. Approving billions more for another stimulus, Chambliss said, could cause inflation to soar and the dollar to drop in value.

“It obligates our children and grandchildren for the extensive debt they will have to pay one of these days,” Chambliss said. “There is a limit to the amount of taxpayer money that’s available.”

Martin said he likes that Obama is taking a “long-term approach” to the nation’s ongoing financial woes. He also likes the concept of using any additional stimulus money for rebuilding and improving the nation’s infrastructure.

But Martin said he wants to refine the current rescue plan before deciding on another stimulus. About $350 billion of the current plan will be allotted under Obama’s administration.

“I do think that before we spend the next segment of the money in the bailout, the things I asked for should be put in there,” he said.

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