Hastings joins GOP rebellion against bill

U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings voted with the majority Monday to defeat the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street and the financial system, saying the latest legislation was only "marginally better" than the plan put out originally by the Bush administration.

Hastings, R-Pasco, said in a telephone interview after the vote that proponents had indicated the plan could be expanded over time to include other financial instruments that had gone bad, including auto loans and other types of retail borrowing.

"That would be a huge expansion of taxpayer liability that concerns me," Hastings said.

In what he called one of the most difficult votes of his career, Hastings said he didn't make up his mind until Sunday night when it became clear, in his words, that there were still "too many concepts" and not enough details about taxpayer exposure.

Hastings, who has rarely voted out of step with the Bush administration or Republican leadership, was one of 133 Republicans to rebuff President Bush and join 95 Democrats in voting against the bill.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, had worked feverishly to line up votes. Bush had even called some Republicans to cajole support for the bill. Hastings said he was not lobbied by the White House prior to the vote.

Though Bush and Congressional leaders have argued that the U.S. economy will collapse unless the $700 billion plan is quickly approved, Hastings says he couldn't stomach the idea of government bailing out Wall Street.

"On the question of increased government intervention in the marketplace, I am just plain opposed to such a massive intrusion into the economy and the marketplace," he said in a news release, further explaining his vote.

"As to the crisis about which we are warned, I hope it can be abated, though I do believe additional steps can be taken to allow for the infusion of new capital, instead of focusing solely on preventing a freeze of existing capital. I also believe an insurance-centered approach would allow for relief in a way that places the responsibility for paying on Wall Street and those being bailed out."

He expressed support for the more scaled-down, free-market approach promoted by conservative Republicans to provide government insurance for mortgage-backed securities rather than rely entirely on taxpayer money to help troubled financial institutions.

What has been disturbing to him, Hastings told the Herald-Republic, has been the way Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson dribbled out the bad news, first asking for authority to spend money on individual company bailouts and then proceeding to spend the money. It started with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in July, when Paulson asked for $200 billion to spend in case the mortgage companies needed a rescue.

"Five weeks later, the money was spent," Hastings said.

Next came $25 billion for the auto industry.

"Now here we come to this $700 billion point, and in all cases, the taxpayer is potentially subject to pick up the tab. That concerns me. How do you pick the winner and losers?"

Hastings had planned to return to Richland late Monday, but with talk of a possible vote later in the week, his travel plans are now up the air.

A deal seems remote at best, he said. "The market obviously has dropped. We'll have to see what happens."

* Leah Beth Ward can be reached at 577-7626 or lward@yakimaherald.com.

How the state's representatives voted

* Republicans -- Hastings, N; McMorris Rodgers, N; Reichert, N.

* Democrats -- Baird, Y; Dicks, Y; Inslee, N; Larsen, Y; McDermott, Y; Smith, Y.

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