Published: October 03, 2008 09:50 pm      

Rahall, Capito disagree on bailout plan again

Sticking to her conservative principles, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito again Friday voted to oppose Wall Street’s multibillion-dollar parachute on its second, and this time successful, float through the House.

West Virginia’s two Democrats in the House — Nick Rahall and Alan Mollohan — voted with the majority in a 263-171 roll call.

“While we’ve seen some key adjustments around the edges, this is fundamentally the same bill we considered on Monday,” Capito, R-W.Va., said afterward.

“We’re still talking about $700 billion, and we’re still talking about a process that lacks sufficient oversight and taxpayer protections for West Virginia families who pay their bills and play by the rules. It’s not even clear why $700 bill was the chosen number.”

Whatever the number, a West Virginia University economist, Russell Sobel, lambasted the plan in an interview this week as one that rewards “silly” investments and punishes the average American taxpayer.

A year from now, Sobel warned, Americans will be facing an added tax burden of $5,000 to $10,000 to pay off the rescue plan.

Others, however, such as Rahall, have cautioned that failure to pass the legislation — which President Bush signed before the ink could dry — would have a domino effect, reaching into small towns.

“West Virginia’s banks have played by the rules, but if the status quo continues, West Virginians could suffer from the financial crisis,” the Beckley resident said.

“This bill will build a much-needed firewall between West Virginia taxpayers and Wall Street’s greed.”

Rahall said the bill would maintain credit lines to help small firms meet payrolls and allow students to take out loans, “and have a calming effect on our financial markets to ensure that seniors’ nest eggs and retirement funds are safe and secure.”

What’s more, the measure is embedded with tax incentives promoting coal gasification and carbon sequestration projects of importance to the coal industry, the 3rd District congressman said.

“While I am pleased a resolution was found, the toughest part of the work lies ahead — holding the responsible parties’ feet to the fire and truly reining in the abuses of Wall Street,” he said.

Capito said all Americans are concerned about keeping the credit stream flowing for small businesses and maintaining jobs, but the House refused to consider other options.

“Instead of a serious look at how to reduce the cost to the taxpayer, we saw the add-on of various provisions designed to convince us to switch our votes that has actually made this bill $110 billion more expensive,” she said.

“That’s not how we should be addressing this problem, and that’s not how West Virginians want to see us address this issue.”

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com