Idaho congressmen split on rescue bill
Simpson and his opponent Debbie Holmes still think the legislation was necessary; Sali and Minnick both oppose it.


BY DAN POPKEY - dpopkey@idahostatesman.com
Edition Date: 10/04/08

Idaho GOP Reps. Bill Sali and Mike Simpson ended the week as they began it, divided on the federal financial bailout. Only on Friday, Simpson was with the majority that passed the bill and sent it to President Bush for his immediate signature.

HERE'S WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT THEIR VOTES:

Simpson said there is a misconception that there are no provisions to protect taxpayers.

"I could not vote for legislation that did not protect taxpayers against loss at every turn. I am convinced this bill is an investment that will be recouped over time. If the money has not been paid in full, the bill contains provisions that require a tax on Wall Street to repay it, not the American family.

"No one is happy about this legislation, but I am convinced that action is a necessary evil in order to keep small businesses afloat, keep retirees from losing their life savings and help end the growing credit crisis we now face," Simpson said.

Sali called the president's bill a "colossal mistake."

"These are urgent times that demand wise and decisive action. The notion that Congress must do 'something' cannot be substituted for the obligation for Congress to do the right thing. This bill was not the right prescription to fix our current credit crisis, and I could not support this landmark and terribly mistaken legislation.

"Today, Congress told taxpayers that their own, their children's and their grandchildren's future would be mortgaged for perhaps $700 billion because some businesses made bad investment decisions," Sali continued. "Even if this bailout works, it will fundamentally and forever change the relationship between government and the private sector and will open the door to more and riskier financial decisions."

HERE'S WHAT THEIR DEMOCRAT CHALLENGERS SAID ABOUT THE VOTE:

Debbie Holmes, Simpson's opponent, said, "I am encouraged by the passage of the 'rescue.' It's a very sad state of affairs when we have to resort to this, but I do hope that this will help rescue the economy from the disastrous consequences of the government's inaction over the past few decades.

"Already, credit has tightened; also, we lost 159,000 jobs in the USA last month, both as a result of our government's unwillingness to enforce protections for the American people. We must never again allow such lax oversight to create a preventable economic crisis."

Walk Minnick, despite being a longtime friend of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, said the bill "is simply not the answer" and should not have included other extraneous legislation added by the Senate.

"It does not do enough to protect the American taxpayer, and it adds far too much debt to our record deficit. This is fiscal recklessness, and so I continue to oppose this bill. I am strongly supportive of reducing taxes by offering credits for renewable energy, and I have been one of this state's strongest advocates for extension of the Secure Rural Schools program. But the addition of those measures to a broken bill is yet another example of the failed system in Washington."

SEN. LARRY CRAIG VOTED FOR THE BILL WEDNESDAY NIGHT; SEN. MIKE CRAPO OPPOSED IT.

In the race to succeed Craig, Republican Jim Risch opposed the bill, while Democrat Larry LaRocco said Friday he would have voted for the bill.

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