Saturday, Oct. 04, 2008

Washington House members maintain 'no' votes on bailout bill

By Les Blumenthal, Herald Washington, D.C., bureau

WASHINGTON -- In the end, none of them flipped.

The four Washington state House members who voted against the $700 billion Wall Street bailout Monday voted against it again Friday.

But there was one switch. Democratic Rep. Jim McDermott of Seattle opposed the financial rescue plan Friday, saying Republican senators had forced changes in the bill that were unacceptable.

Others voting no were Republican Reps. Dave Reichert of Auburn, Doc Hastings of Pasco, Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Deer Lake and Democratic Rep. Jay Inslee of Bainbridge Island.

"I just couldn't do it," Reichert said. He said nothing substantively changed from the earlier version, and that the addition of such sweeteners as the extension of the sales tax deduction on federal returns was not enough to change his mind.

"I don't like Christmas tree ornaments," he added. "There is no accountability in this bill, no assurances the $700 billion in taxpayer money will be protected."

Reichert is locked in a tough re-election fight with Democrat Darcy Burner, who also opposed the bailout package.

The four who voted no Monday had been under pressure to change their votes. But in the end, House leaders had well over the 12 votes they needed to pass the legislation. The final tally was 263-171.

Hastings said he was "mad as hell that the reckless actions of Wall Street created this situation," but that didn't mean taxpayers should foot the bill for the "risky decisions" the financial community had made.

Inslee said the bill offered an "illusion of protection" and did nothing to deal with the needs of homeowners.

McMorris Rodgers said she remained unconvinced the bailout was the right approach. "I believe the government needs to act, but that doesn't mean spending your money on short-term fixes," she said.

But the big surprise Friday was McDermott, who had earlier supported the bailout. He said Senate Republicans had blocked efforts to help ordinary people, such as extending unemployment benefits, but had included accounting gimmicks and earmark spending.

"The Senate dug an enormous ditch alongside Main Street, and they want the House to drive into it," he said.

Washington state's two Democratic senators had split on the issue, with Patty Murray supporting it and Maria Cantwell voting no.

Here's what the bill's supporters had to say:

-- "With mounting evidence that the impact of this crisis is being felt well beyond Wall Street, I am supporting this bill," said Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair. "I am not doing so to boost the salaries of Wall Street executives, but so the janitors and nurses and secretaries and teachers and car dealers in my district can keep their jobs."

-- "This was not an easy vote, but we are not in easy times," said Rep. Adam Smith, a Tacoma Democrat who supported the bill. "An economic slowdown cannot be avoided at this point, but this bill can make it far less painful and hopefully give us a chance to pull out of it sooner."

-- "I don't like that we had to take this extreme action, but we had to," said Democratic Rep. Rick Larsen of Lake Stevens. "The credit crunch is already being felt in my district."

-- "This bill isn't perfect and it's not a panacea," said Rep. Brian Baird, a Vancouver Democrat. "I'm angry about all of this, but I firmly believe this bill was necessary to help make the best of a bad situation."