bailout

UPDATED 3:41 P.M. 11/17/2008

U.S. Reps. Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton) and John Salazar (D-Manassa) are skeptical about a $25 billion loan package for the Big Three Detroit automakers currently being pushed in Congress.

Tancredo will be voting against the proposal, said spokesman T.Q. Houlton.

"We're bailing out these large auto industry makers where basically they've run their companies really in a bad direction, and we shouldn't be holding the taxpayers responsible for that," Houlton said.

U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Fort Morgan) voted against the $700 billion bailout of the nation's financial industries Monday and pushed for a new bill that includes more financial reform and taxpayer safeguards.In a statement released by her campaign, Musgrave said she wanted to see "a workout, not a bailout" of a bill that includes restructuring troubled mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, changes accounting rules to more accurately reflect companies' earnings, and guarantees that taxpayer bailout money would be repaid.

WASHINGTON – As the newspaper headlines change, so do political advertisements.

The conservative advocacy organization Freedom’s Watch, which launched a nearly $700,000 television advertising buy in Colorado’s hotly contested Senate race last week focusing on national security, is throwing a new ad into its Colorado rotation with a more economic-oriented message.

The 30-second ad, “Hey Elk,” takes aim at Democratic candidate Mark Udall for supposedly voting in favor of a $10 million earmark for an elk bridge. Like its “Department of Peace” ad launched several weeks ago, Freedom’s Watch’s new spot uses to humor to tweak Udall.

“Hey Roy, do you know where that Mark Udall elk crossing bridge is?” one elk asks another in the ad.

U.S. Rep. John Salazar (D-Manassa) voted against a $700 billion economic bailout package Monday, saying the bill had no provisions for repayment or to provide direct assistance to homeowners.

In a statement provided to the Grand Junction Sentinel on Monday afternoon, Salazar said Congress should remain in session to craft legislation that "doesn't leave the American taxpayer holding the bag for the excesses of an out-of-control Wall Street."

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton) bucked his constituents Monday by voting for a $700 billion economic bailout plan,saying in a statement that he was worried many people "would pay the price for the excesses of others."

Tancredo was the only one among Colorado's three Republican members of Congress to vote for the bill. Democrats Ed Perlmutter (D-Golden) and Diana DeGette (D-Denver) also voted "aye."

WESTMINSTER--Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff (D-Denver) lauded Barack Obama for "demanding real accountability" in the $700 billion financial bailout bill that failed to pass the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday.

But Romanoff declined to pass judgment on the bailout plan itself, saying he has not "had a chance to sift through the whole package."

U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Golden) voted for a failed attempt at a $700 billion bailout of the nation's financial industries Monday.

But Perlmutter said in a statement Monday afternoon that the bill's failure "presents us with an opportunity to come back to the table and work together to create a better plan."

The U.S. House's rejection Monday of a $700 billion emergency economic bailout for the nation's financial industries was "a victory for the taxpayers," U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado Springs) said in a statement.

The bill, H.R. 3997, failed 225-208.

Lamborn co-sponsored an alternative bailout bill, H.R. 7223, that would, among other things, privatize ailing mortgage giants Fannie Mac and Freddie Mac, use privately-funded mortgage insurance to stabilize the market, and eliminate taxes on profits earned by U.S. firms overseas.

Despite "hesitations," U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Denver) supported the economic bailout plan that failed a U.S. House vote Monday "because it was the right thing to do," she said in a statement on her Web site.

The bill, H.R. 3997, failed 225-208.

Colorado's congressional delegation was split on supporting a $700 billion emergency bailout of the nation's financial industries Monday.

The split wasn't on party lines, either: supporters of the bailout included U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette (D-Denver), Ed Perlmutter (D-Golden) and Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton).

U.S. Reps. Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado Springs), Marilyn Musgrave (R-Fort Morgan), Mark Udall (D-Eldorado Springs) and John Salazar (D-Manassa) voted "no" on the bill.

The bill, H.R. 3997, failed 225-208.