Reader comments
2 of 3 Utah congressmen vote no on bill

I've supported Chris in the past and continue to though this is why he get's in trouble. He plays way too much insider ball.

This bill was bad from the beginning. By killing it they force the House Democrats and our big government lov'n President to do something better.

The House GOP floated the idea of lending the money at a nominal 2% interest rate and let the banks settle their own bad debt. Or better yet, we do the bailout but NOT buy the debt, the US Treasury acts as an investor. Any profits goes right to paying off debt.

Best idea, let this settle itself out. Today we watched another bank go under, Wachovia. It did not get a bailout but instead was bought by Citigroup. Wachovia was one of the largest banks in the world, top 5 in the US.

Market forces have settled Lehman Brothers, now Wachovia, and even Wamu. These will work just fine.

The risk of the bailout is the complete failure of the dollar. In either case, people are going to lose illusory money based on home values that were never really there.

I want the Community Reinvestment Act ended.

It is sad that our local legislators are too worried about their re-election bids to do what is right for the country as a whole. The only one who did the right thing isn't up for re-election. The bailout would not have cost the taxpayer significantly over the long run because most of the troubled securities that would have been purchased would have paid out. The only threat to repayment is whether the individual borrowers (the taxpayers themselves) refused to follow through with their loan obligations. I guess this just shows that taxpayers don't trust themselves.

Goodbye to Chris Cannon!! I am glad that I helped vote him out in the primary elections. This man does not represent me and doesn't care about his constituents. Good to see that Matheson and Bishop can listed to the voice of the people.

I think the market's reaction to your "NO" vote shows what a tremendous mistake you are making.

Good Job Cannon...

While I agree that Congress is responsible for part of the mess in the 1st place, for requiring loans to higher risk homeowners, it isn't that simple. The Fed lowered rates for long enough for many people to get lower, variable rate loans, and then the feds raised the rates, 3% in a short few months. That caused many people to not be able to afford the loans. They started failing, and housing values, due to the forclosures, started sliding, which made it worse. Sub-prime mortgages, were like hot potatoes, and no one wanted them. Banks couldn't loan more, as they had these loans they couldn't even sell.

In Utah, that has started to slow down construction financing, and other business loans. When they can't get credit, the companies start failing. Other industries have been effected.

If they buy up the worst of the sub-prime mortgages, (There are reportedly $2 Trillion of them) and interest rates are kept low by the Fed, and most homeowners/taxpayers pay back the loans, the government and the tax payers will be OK.

Yeah, maybe politicians are finally "listening" to us, but just to be re-elected?

It's nice to see representatives doing their job. Let the companies fail. Americans need to learn responsibility.

Live within your means!

Lamb duck congressman "conservative" votes for the nationalization of the banking system. You're out, why can't you do the right thing for once?

Matheson and Bishop are listening -- Cannon isn't.

This whole thing is absurd. We should never have gotten into this position but now that we are but letting it get worse will only throw us into an economic depression that is worse than any of our nightmares.

I'm VERY happy to see the bailout fail! Notice Cannon doesn't mind voting FOR it, but then he leaves in 2 mos. I DO think that if someone may have explained the bailout better to the public, it may have had a chance of passing. But for Bush to just say things like "disastrous, calamitous" was not very explanatory! I know I'll take a hit in the stock market, but it wouldn't be as bad as the long-term effects of printing all this worthless money! The vote REALLY reflects the publics distrust of the president, congress, and wall street. The emails to Congress were running 90 to 1 against! I would have thought Bush and Congress would have learned their lesson when they tried to ramrod the illegal immigration bill through, not to try a fast one on the public again!

thank you Rob Bishop... I tell you it is about time our elected officials listen to whom they were elected by. I will re-elect him because I feel that I already do my part as a working class American who pay thier bills... on time, lives within a budget, and feels that capitalism works only at its best when the government keeps their hands off.

Thank you again

Normally, I would agree with your comment - if companies make bad decisions, then they should pay the price for their bad decisions. If you or I take out a loan and we can't pay it, then we suffer and nobody bails us out. But, this whole bailout goes beyond that simple line of thinking.

First off, let me just say that I think the whole bailout offer stinks from the inside out; however, the alternative to not bailing out the banks is a lot worse - the entire banking industry could completely collapse, along with the entire financial market. So, not only would the companies fail that made the made decisions, but many other companies would fail as well since they cannot borrow the money they need to carry them until payments come in. The borrow in the short run. But, if that money dries up, one of two things can happen - either they raise prices, or they close stores, which translates into lost jobs.

I agree people should live within their means. But, for better or worse, the US economy lives on credit.

Its interesting to see how the guy who isn't running for re-election voted. You have to wonder if Bishop and Matheson voted their conscience or politics(?).

It was really a no win solution I think. This is the very type of situation that requires our Representatives to put politics aside.

What are the NO voters smoking?

Cannon always votes against his constituents. Let's vote him out in November!

Oh wait, that's right we already did! smile.

Hurray for they house defeating this bailout!

Great work house republicans!

I am a red republican, but Chris Cannon, I never voted for you... Your democrat predicessor was the right guy for the job.

What would life be like to view through black and white lenses? We just don't get it. Research the issues and don't just think this bailout is wrong. Anyone who voted agaisnt it, just hurt America.

Clearly this is a time when our Congressmen _shouldn't_ be listening to a bunch of hotheads calling their offices. We need this bailout to calm things down before there's _real_ trouble!

I have usually voted Republican, however I have respected and voted for Matheson. His caving in here is causing me to re-think my vote. Pass the bailout!! If you have reservations, you can tweak it later on. We need this before financial panic sets in!

Now will they have the guts to get rid of Dodd and Frank? Obviously these two were not looking out for us.