Mon, Dec 01, 2008

Nation

Entire Arizona House delegation rejects $700 billion bailout

By Josh Brodesky
arizona daily star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.30.2008
Southern Arizona's two Democratic representatives voted against the proposed $700 billion bailout Monday, saying the bill was rushed and failed to protect taxpayers.
In rejecting the bailout Reps. Raúl Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords joined the rest of the Arizona House delegation in opposing the measure — although their reasons were different from House Republicans'.
Grijalva declined to do an interview despite multiple requests. But in a statement released almost immediately after the vote, Grijalva said he could not back the bill because it lacked enough oversight on how the money would be spent and did not address the needs of working families who may be in danger of losing their homes.
"I am not in disagreement that there is a financial crisis in our country," he said in his statement. "I am in disagreement of a proposal that is rushed and more importantly does not advocate equally for main street and strong protections for working families."
Grijalva said he wants a pay-as-you-go structure, tighter controls on CEO compensation, a reworking of bankruptcy laws to help protect homeowners and the ability for Congress to halt payments.
"Pursuing this historic deal without strong oversight and ensuring strict regulations occurred for passage is a bad deal," he said. "The language allows for an oversight committee to only critique the proposal, not halt actions."
Grijalva spent much of the day in meetings after the vote. His offices were flooded with e-mails and calls, most of which supported his no vote, spokeswoman Natalie Luna said.
Grijalva stayed in Washington, D.C., even though Congress is on a short break for Rosh Hashana, because he is anticipating a second vote on Thursday.
Giffords had similar reservations, but unlike Grijalva she didn't stay in Washington after the vote.
Instead she hopped on a plane for Tucson to celebrate the Jewish New Year and campaign against her Republican challenger, Tim Bee. Numerous efforts to reach Giffords were unsuccessful.
"I am concerned that this bill did not have adequate taxpayer protections to ensure a fair, long-term return on our investment," Giffords said in a statement released Monday afternoon. "The bill also lacked strong enough restrictions on executive compensation."
Giffords' spokesman, C.J. Karamargin, said Giffords' main concern was the rush to pass such significant legislation.
"The congresswoman wants to make sure that this legislation actually does what it's supposed to do and not put taxpayers in a tremendously risky situation," he said. "It can't be a do-over bill."
He said she specifically would like to see a "tightening of the language about how the taxpayers will recoup the money that the Treasury Department is proposing to lend these institutions."
Essentially, the final version of the proposed bailout allowed Congress to recover losses from the financial industry for any mortgage-backed securities that had lost money after five years, according to news reports.
Both Giffords and Grijalva are facing re-election. Giffords is in a competitive race with Bee, a former state senator. Grijalva faces a challenge from Republican Joseph Sweeney, a perennial congressional candidate.
Sweeney said he would have voted no on the bailout, and then pushed for a Republican alternative that would have provided insurance to the mortgage-backed securities.
"It's a real mess ain't it," Sweeney said. "This is real 'Black Monday.' "
Bee initially agreed to an interview on the vote, but spokesman Tom Dunn first wanted to know if Giffords had issued a statement.
After Giffords issued her a statement Dunn sent an e-mail saying the Bee campaign would "issue a statement shortly," but as of 8 p.m. he had not.
All of Arizona's House delegates — Democrat and Republican — rejected the bailout, and in the hours after the vote, a number of them issued statements explaining their decisions.
Democrat Rep. Harry Mitchell, who represents the Tempe area, said the decision was too big to be rushed, but he supports some form of a bailout.
"I remain committed to working with Republicans and Dem-ocrats — for as long as it takes — to bring forward a bipartisan compromise that can earn House approval."
Republican Rep. Jeff Flake, who represents much of Eastern Arizona, said he couldn't get behind the bailout because it involved too much government. It was time to consider the competing House Republican proposal, he said.
And Republican Rep. John Shadegg, who represents northern Maricopa County, said he rejected the bailout because it did not have enough safeguards for taxpayers and in its current form would encourage more irresponsible conduct.
"When government relieves companies from the negative consequences of their bad decisions, it encourages more irresponsible conduct," he said.
● Contact reporter Josh Brodesky at 807-7789 or jbrodesky@azstarnet.com.