Cook, Rohrabacher skeptical of bailout

The $700 billion proposal to bail out distressed lenders that failed in the House on Monday has transcended party lines among area congressmen and congressional challengers.

The bill failed by a vote of 228-205, with Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher voting against it. While his Democratic challenger, Huntington Beach Mayor Debbie Cook also spoke against the bill, neighboring Republican Rep. John Campbell voted in favor of it.

Rohrabacher said he opposed the bill because it was thrown together quickly and legislators were asked to vote on it with little time to prepare through scare-mongering tactics.

“Whatever project they have in mind, we need more time to work on it. It’s totally irresponsible to do something without hearings and oversight to make sure the money is spent the right way,” Rohrabacher said.

He derided the proposal, calling it “socialism for the rich,” and said it lacked the necessary regulatory oversight to deal with the root issues that caused the problem in the first place. Still, Rohrabacher said he wasn’t fundamentally opposed to the idea of a future bailout proposal if someone could convince him it would avert a market crash.

“If the stock market goes down 2,000 points or 3,000 points, then those people who are trying to frighten us into acting immediately will know their hysteria is justified, but, instead, if we just have an adjustment in the market that’s not catastrophic and we start building up again then it’s just part of the normal movement of the market,” Rohrabacher said.

Cook said she was skeptical of the idea of a massive bailout and agreed with Rohrabacher that banks that are insured with federal funds should be limited in size so that they don’t become so big that their failures are catastrophic for the economy.

“Obviously we have to protect the economic system, so we should only bail them out to the extent that it does that,” she said.

Orange County Democrat Loretta Sanchez also voted against the package.

But Campbell, who represents a district just south of Rohrabacher’s, had a different view, just as strongly held.

“The consequences of doing nothing are so negative and so severe and I have not seen any other idea that is better than this one,” Campbell said of his “yes” vote. “This isn’t just about Wall Street. It affects anyone with a job, a bank account or retirement plan.”

Amihai Glazer, a UCI professor of economics, believes that with issues of such gravity sometimes partisanship gets overshadowed by the greater good.

“Congressmen and the presidential candidates and the secretary of the treasury and many others really want to do what’s best for the country; Not everything is driven by the desire to score points against the other party or to win an election,” Glazer said.

Campbell said he expected another vote on the package later this week after Congress takes a two-day break for Rosh Hashana.

“We’ll have to see if a nearly 800 point drop in stock market and the failure of a few more banks will change people’s minds,” Campbell said.

— Michael Alexander contributed to this article