THE ECONOMY:

Behind Nevada’s bailout votes

Why ‘nay,’ ‘nay’ and ‘aye’ are what Berkley, Heller and Porter voted respectively on the plan rejected, 228-205, by the House

Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2008 | 2 a.m.

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Nevada delegation split as House rejects bailout plan (9-29-2008)
Stocks tumble as House votes on plan (9-29-2008)
Among themselves, conservatives start asking: What went wrong? (9-28-2008)
What we can expect - and who to blame: In Las Vegas (9-28-2008)

Washington — The intensity of populist outrage over bailing out Wall Street at the expense of Main Street created an unusually odd alliance among Nevada’s lawmakers.

Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley and Republican Rep. Dean Heller, both facing angry calls from voters back home, opposed the $700 billion bailout bill that their leaders had hoped would produce a bipartisan compromise.

Only Nevada’s Rep. Jon Porter, a Republican facing the most difficult reelection of his career, voted for the bill.

“For those who aren’t able to see this, they’re blind,” he said of the threat to the economy if the bailout does not occur. “I’m hoping they will open their eyes.”

The far-reaching proposal would buy up Wall Street’s bad mortgage-backed securities in an unprecedented government intervention in severely distressed markets. Congressional negotiators had worked through the weekend to strengthen the original Bush administration plan with greater taxpayer protections sought by both the left and the right, but for many representatives, it wasn’t enough to counter calls from home.

As lawmakers watched the floor vote Monday afternoon in a tense and dramatic debate, a New York Democrat thrusting his finger at Republicans shouted across the chamber: “600 points!”

That’s how much the stock market was nose-diving as the 1:30 p.m. vote was under way. The country watched, stunned, as retirement funds and investment accounts crashed. The market was down more than 770 points by the final bell, the biggest plunge in history.

Porter said that after the vote, calls to his office switched and constituents thanked him for backing the Wall Street rescue plan.

“I voted yes because I thought it was the right thing to do,” Porter said. “I don’t trust Washington. I don’t trust Wall Street, but I do trust that we need immediate action.”

Monday’s vote had been expected to be close, but after the weekend announcement of a deal and the dire predictions of economic collapse coming from the White House, leaders were hopeful.

But rank-and-file Republicans disassociating themselves from their party and the unpopular Bush administration in an election year had never fully embraced the bailout plan. For conservatives, it goes against their deep philosophical belief in free market economics.

Heller issued a statement saying he would support a bill that “allows the market to correct itself.”

But as much as Democrats want to blame Republican leaders for failing to bring their members onboard, there is a broader story of discontent brewing among the ranks of both parties back home.

In Nevada, Democratic challengers of Porter and Heller said they would also have voted against the bill.

State Sen. Dina Titus, who is running against Porter, issued a statement saying the bill “lacks critical provisions to provide needed regulation of the mortgage market or help for families facing foreclosure.”

Heller’s opponent, Jill Derby, sided with him in opposing the bill but blamed him for not playing a greater role in forming a workable compromise via his seat on the Financial Services Committee. “We’re all really reeling from what happened,” said Derby, a former university regent. “The failure to come up with a compromise solution really just let the country down. I blame the Congress for not being able to do that.”

Berkley was the first of the Nevadans to vote. Almost as soon as she did, she was out the door and on a plane to Las Vegas for the Jewish holiday that will close Congress today.

Her absence made her unavailable as party leaders scrambled looking for lawmakers who would switch.

Berkley’s chief of staff, Richard Urey, said it didn’t matter when she left. “She wasn’t going to have her mind changed,” he said.

Berkley could not overcome her skepticism that the Bush administration was leveling with Congress about the extent of the crisis, Urey said. She still smarts from civil rights abuses that happened after the Patriot Act, which was swiftly approved by Congress with Bush’s urging after 9/11.

She also wasn’t convinced the legislation was as strong as it could be to protect taxpayers. In particular, she said she wanted tighter provisions for taxpayer ownership of the companies and limits on executive pay. She also wanted greater oversight.

“This seemed to the congresswoman to have an eerie ring to previous matters the Bush administration tried to hustle through Congress,” Urey said.

Still, it was surprising to see a lawmaker who votes with her party the great majority of the time go against the grain. She was among 95 Democrats, many from the left, who voted no.

Does she — or Heller — feel responsible for the historic Wall Street dive?

“You hate to see it happen, but I think everybody knew if this bill didn’t happen today, stock prices would go down,” Urey said.

On the opposite end of the political spectrum is Heller, who is among those conservative Republicans who could not bring themselves to agree to a market intervention.

The bill was bolstered with provisions to satisfy the conservative flank, but still they fled. Last week, Heller said he feared the bill bordered on socialism.

“I cannot with good conscience put Nevada’s taxpayers on the hook for the foolish excesses of Wall Street,” he said in a statement Monday. “This legislation will not help Nevada’s middle-class families, small businesses or economy.”

Porter is not the kind of lawmaker who is always accessible to the press. But after Monday’s dramatic vote, he held forth with reporters, railing with passion and frustration that the time to act had come and gone.

“My constituents in Nevada are hurting, my constituents are frightened, my constituents are angry,” Porter said in a conference call. “Nevada is facing one of the worst economic downturns in our history.”

Porter joined just 65 Republicans to vote yes.

Congress is out today for the holiday, but the stock market will be open, negotiations will continue on the Hill — and the telephones will keep ringing.

Sun reporter David McGrath-Schwartz contributed to this story.

Discussion: 18 comments so far…

By Lenny_V

9/30/08 at 3:55 a.m.

Suggest removal

Bye bye Porter.
By uddeboda

9/30/08 at 5:45 a.m.

Suggest removal

I ADMIRE YOU JON PORTER FOR HAVING THE GUTS TO VOTE FOR A BILL THAT COULD SAVE ECONOMIC DISASTER ACROSS THE WORLD.

It may turn out that you will not be re-elected, but at least your conscience will be something that you can live with, WELL DONE Jon
By mschaffer

9/30/08 at 6:19 a.m.

Suggest removal

The irony here is that there have been many stupid votes Jon Porter has cast but this one, that will probably cost him his re-election, was not the worst by far.
By azsk8fan

9/30/08 at 7:03 a.m.

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I'm sure Porter is sitting snug as a bug in a rug - sure he has a nice home that he can pay for, isn't living paycheck to paycheck so of course he will vote to screw the taxpayers - at least the other politicians listened to the people who elected them, the people they were elected to represent and their votes were truly representative of what the people want. Porter, otoh, is one of those politicians who gets himself elected to represent the masses and then votes as HE sees fit, regardless - because of course HE knows better right.............
By jfnance32

9/30/08 at 7:23 a.m.

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Ms. Taxus (Titus) said she would voted for the bill.

If one does not like Porter's vote then they can't like Ms. Taxus's stand either.
By uddeboda

9/30/08 at 7:27 a.m.

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It may well be that Porter is sitting snug, and I am sure he will be alright no matter what happens. He is one of the top clique, who always do well. The American way of life has been good for most of you for decades, cheap oil, a job, low mortgage rates, low taxes, but whether you like it or not, as the speaker said, "the party is over" not only for Wall St, but for a vast majority of the American citizens. You have always lived under a deregulated system, and thats the problem, and now is the time for some regulation into the banking and loan lending instutions, sounds very socialistic, maybe, but far better to bring the causes of the problem to heel, than let them carry on as usual.
By davemedsker

9/30/08 at 7:44 a.m.

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Democracy can only survive until we realize we can vote ourselves into the public trust and steal the wealth of our nation to ourselves. I think Bush and Pelosi consciously know they are stealing the wealth of our Nation, maybe Porter, too. Our great country cannot survive the looting of unscrupulous people while good men stand watching idly by. But there is something worse, now that Michael Moore and I agree on something this will surely usher in the Apocalypse!
By azsk8fan

9/30/08 at 7:52 a.m.

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These politicians, with all their tax loopholes - do you really think they care what happens with the little guys tax dollars - hell no - it's not like they're feeling the bite -
By Future2012

9/30/08 at 8:25 a.m.

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Nancy Pelosi's bill failed because

-There still was not enough effort to move this into primarily a FDIC like insurance program (away from a nationalizing of the financial system),

-The "Troubled Asset Relief Program" or "TARP." scope is way beyond the core problem which is mortgages and still includes buying foreign illiquid paper.

-Changing the mark-to-market accounting rule (Statement Number 157), was left to the SEC. Congress needs to suspend the Sarbanes-Oxley mark-to-market accounting rule and replace it with a more accurate three year rolling average mark-to-market.

-There is no help for people paying mortgages.

- The Financial Stability Oversight Board to oversee the program, is not independent from the current regulators (includes the chairmen of the Federal Reserve Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission; the Federal Home Finance Agency director; and the Housing and Urban Development secretary).

-CEO pay is not capped. There is just a deletion of the tax deduction and a 20% surcharge on income over $500k. It only covers the top 5 employees.
By neiman1

9/30/08 at 8:31 a.m.

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It doesn't matter if you like the bill or not, you have to give Con. Porter credit for voting for this very unpopular plan. He knows if it isn't bipartisan the democrats will pass a bailout that is totally wrong. It takes guts to vote against the hype of the moment for the good of the country. Thanks for the courage Mr. Porter, I hope it doesn't cost you your seat, we need a few more members that can put Country First.
By texexnv

9/30/08 at 10:53 a.m.

Suggest removal

Heller probably just got himself re-elected since Jillo backed the Psychotic Prezz.

It's time to quit passing the buck to the schmuck! http://texex-xpress.blogspot.com/2008/09...
By texexnv

9/30/08 at 11:21 a.m.

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And Jillo is caught flat out in a flip-flopping lie here.

Jillo told the RGJ on 9/26 the bailout was "absolutely necessary. I don't think there's a choice. I think we have to support it." http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/misc?ur...
By gqbossing

9/30/08 at 1:43 p.m.

Suggest removal

Do you reall think the bailout will have a positive effect for 99% of us? The big losers for a non-bailout are people with under 660 credit scores who try to buy homes/cars/boats; most of them should and aren't looking for a home/car/boat and companies who need the credit to stay alive.

How are companies who need a loan to pay their employees and debt viable in the first place, and how long until they go under no matter how much money they borrow. People who bought homes and such with bad credit scores are partially to blame for this as well.

Honestly I don't see why a bailout really helps anyone but those who have made very poor decisions who should have to pay for those mistakes.

On the other hand a bailout will affect people like me who have good credit, work two jobs and don't go crazy with debt as it will add to my tax burden and devalue the money i have worked so hard to have.

Just say no to someone who's telling you that you HAVE TO accept this bill right now and tell you everything is going to go bust if we don't. this is just part of a normal cycle and we've got some dumb people crying wolf...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/09/30/dobbs.q...
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.ht...
By UNLVStud

9/30/08 at 1:45 p.m.

Suggest removal

Congress needs to fix the Bankruptcy system to help out the middle class that was tricked into getting instruments that they couldn't afford to pay on. That need to be part of any "bailout" plan. Without it, no one should vote for the bill.

Porter is Bush's lapdog and will do anything he says. It's time to vote him out and put someone in who will listen to his constituents.
By anewkindofpolitics

9/30/08 at 7:37 p.m.

Suggest removal

c'mon, JFnance32...now you are just lying.
Dr/Sen/Prof Titus, who you demeaningly call Ms. Taxus said she would vote NO for the bailout bill. Shows how much research you did before spewing partisan fear and slime.
If anyone wants to see the TRUTH, they can visit her website and read her press release for themselves.

http://www.dinatitus.com/go/press-releas...

its the second one down titled "Titus Statement on Wall Street Bailout"
By jfnance32

9/30/08 at 10:21 p.m.

Suggest removal

Oh...she was for it before she was against it.

She dances around the issues so much there is no telling where she will land.

She was against new drilling but now she is for but only if 5 million things happen first.

She is doing the same on the bailout bill.

She was for it but now has reversed herself is against it. I am sure tomorrow or the next day she will be for it.

I guess she needs to stick her finger in the wind before deciding.

True leader....the only sure thing she is for is taxes....Ms. Taxus at work.
By uddeboda

10/1/08 at 12:32 a.m.

Suggest removal

jfnance32
Or she could stick her finger somewhere else, which might give her some idea of how to vote
By LasVegasRocks

10/1/08 at 3:05 a.m.

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"I don't trust Washington. I don't trust Wall Street" - Jon Porter (R)

Now I understand. Jon Porter doesn't trust either Washington - where he votes lock-step with Bush and McCain - or Wall Street, but he wants to give $700,000,000,000 to corporations that are failures.

He should be ashamed and he should retire so that someone with intelligence and integrity could represent Nevada's 3rd Congressional District.

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