Seventh district congressman Artur Davis says after candid discussions, all but one of the members of the Alabama delegation followed the lead of the sixth district Republican Spencer Bachus.
The Birmingham Democrat says his colleague from Vestavia Hills ultimately felt the 700-billion dollar rescue plan for the nation's financial institutions was the right choice to avoid what the Bush Administration calls a "crisis."
In a somber speech on the House floor Monday, Bachus warned members failure to pass the plan will ultimately mean "companies going out of business - we've been told it would. It can mean more bank failures - it probably will. It will mean impairment of our parents and grandparents' pension. I'm not willing to put that bullet in the revolver and spend it."
Davis offered bi-partisan support when he described Bachus providing real leadership in Monday's failed attempt to pass the 700-billion dollar measure. Davis also says he's disappointed in the "blame game" currently underway between leadership from both parties.
On FOX6 News at Noon, Davis described Bachus, who serves as ranking Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, as the expert on the issue from Alabama. "As Bachus goes, so goes Alabama," Davis said about the seven member delegation.
Supporters fell 12-votes shy of passing the measure that is expected to clear the Senate Wednesday.
Alabama's fourth district congressman Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) was the lone NO vote from Alabama. He announced co-sponsorship today of an alternative plan, "The Free Market Protection Act of 2008." In a release, he describes it as using "voluntary private capital, not taxpayer capital, which will help the system recover properly." You can read more about his plan here, though currently the alternative version appears to have little traction in the current talks for a new proposal.
Many supporters, Davis included, say the President and Congressional leadership have done a poor job of explaining the plan. Talk of crisis has not detailed specifics, leaving critics to describe it as a bailout for Wall Street fat cats. Economists and legislative supporters say failure to rescue the struggling financial system will completely freeze lending among banks, creating a chain-reaction that will dry up loans for small and mid-size businesses, halt mortgage lending, even create a reduction on many limits for credit cards.
Those predictions lead to warnings of job reductions and a long deep recession. Davis and others say little has been done to point out the potential the "bailout," flawed though it may be, could actually turn a good investment.
UAB Finance professor Andreas Rauterkus says while the billions in "bad debt" may look like trash, many of the assets would have the time to gain value once the market unfreezes. Its a notion reported in only a handful of stories like this one here from the LATimes.Finally, the belief that American taxpayers are angry and totally against the bailout may not be the case now. Scott Rasmussen of Rasmussen Reports told me this morning on Good Day Alabama that opposition topping 50-percent last week dramatically dropped to 32% Sunday. Read the full report
here.
Still, Americans seem conflicted in new numbers from Rasmussen this afternoon. Forty-five percent believe the rejection will hurt the economy. Thirty-three percent believe its overblown by the media. Read the full analysis
here.
Program note: Rep. Robert Aderholt talks to Good Day Alabama about his vote Wednesday at 7am.
