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Bailout OK’d as area reps stay firm
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Congressman Tim Ryan
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Charlie Wilson
‘The cost of inaction would have been worse,’ a local congressman says.
YOUNGS-TOWN — Though the second vote on the new $700 billion Wall Street bailout had a drastically different result from the first one, none of the congressmen representing the Mahoning and Shenango valleys changed his mind.
U.S. Reps. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, and Charlie Wilson of St. Clairsville, D-6th, voted yes on Friday as they did Monday.
“I know it’s a lot of money, but the cost of inaction would have been worse,” said Wilson, whose district includes Columbiana County and a portion of Mahoning County.
The legislation passed the House 263-171 Friday.
The House rejected a similar bill Monday 228-205 in what political and economic observers described as a stunning decision. That vote led to the Dow Jones’ dropping nearly 800 points, the most ever for one day.
“First and foremost, we protected the taxpayers,” Wilson said of the passage of Friday’s bill. “We are facing an economic downturn as serious as any that has faced this nation.”
The U.S. Senate passed the bill Wednesday and President Bush signed it into law shortly after the House vote.
The new bill included an increase in federal coverage of bank deposits from $100,000 to $250,000.
It also includes congressional review after the first $350 billion of the $700 billion is disbursed and extends dozens of expiring tax breaks for businesses and individuals.
Ryan, who represents portions of Mahoning and Trumbull counties, again voted for the bill even though he has reservations about that decision. He voted yes because he had greater concerns about a serious credit market freeze if the bill failed.
U.S. Reps. Steven C. LaTourette of Bainbridge, R-14th; Phil English of Erie, Pa, R-3rd; and Jason Altmire of McCandless, Pa., R-4th, again voted against the bill even with changes.
LaTourette and English had shown a willingness to vote on the bailout bill if certain items were removed.
“We had an opportunity to do a better bill, and one that wasn’t so costly to taxpayers,” said LaTourette, whose district includes seven northern townships in Trumbull County. “It didn’t have to be ‘my way or the highway’ because there were many good ideas out there, but no alternatives were allowed.”
House leadership refused to make any changes to the bill Friday.
“The challenges facing our financial markets are real and Congress should have engaged in a deliberative process to craft a measured response that put the taxpayer front and center,” said English, whose district includes a portion of Mercer County.
“Instead, the Congress considered a bill [Friday] which, nearly identical to its previous version, contained the same flawed framework to which I strongly object on Monday,” he added.
Altmire, who represents all of Lawrence County and a portion of Mercer County, said the new bill’s “underlying premise” was the same as the one rejected Monday.
“Although there were many extraneous provisions added in order to entice lawmakers to entice lawmakers to switch their votes, the bailout provisions still fail to protect the American taxpayers,” he said. “There remains little in the bill to address the fundamental problems that have led us to this point.”
skolnick@vindy.com