Brown-Waite Joins Foes Of Bailout Bill

Ginny Brown-Waite was among the 228 House members who voted against the $700 billion bailout package for the financial industry Monday, calling the measure "embarrassing" and stomach-turning.
The Brooksville Republican joined 95 Democrats and 133 members of her own party in rejecting what President Bush and both presidential candidates called a necessary action to prevent the U.S. economy from collapse.
The compromise was crafted "by some of the same people who brought us this mess, except this time we have a gun to our head," Brown-Waite said on the House floor. "This isn't legislation. This is extortion."
Brown-Waite said she couldn't stomach adding another $1 trillion to the nation's existing $10 trillion in debt, as well as a clause that allows the treasury secretary to, as she put it, "bail out" foreign banks with "no restrictions, no guarantees."
The bill would create two categories of homeowners, she said: "Those who make every mortgage payment and pay every bill, and struggle to meet their commitments, and those homeowners who didn't meet their obligation, skipped out on the bill, and now want taxpayers to bail them out."
"This is so embarrassing it turns the stomach of most Americans," she said.
In an interview Monday, Brown-Waite echoed what Republican and Democratic opponents alike had wondered: Why weren't other options considered?
She cited it might be time to dust off a clause in the FDIC Improvement Act of 1991, which stopped the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation from providing aid to banks except in the case of an emergency and with certification by the president, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department.
She said eliminating the capital gains tax would be a simple and effective way to jumpstart the economy.
"No other alternatives were looked at," she said, "and I think the American public has to be very upset at that."
The feared Wall Street carnage that supporters cited as a reason to vote for the bill came true at least in the short term Monday. The Dow lost about 778 points and posted its biggest daily percentage decline since the October 1987 stock market crash. The S&P 500 also had its worst day in 21 years; the Nasdaq had its worst day since April 2000 when the Internet bubble burst.
Supporters of the measure said they would try to bring the package back for consideration again as soon as possible, perhaps as early as the end of the week.