The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal Editorial, 9/30/8
The U.S. House failed the American people on Monday with the defeat of a bipartisan rescue bill designed to stabilize the institutional financial infrastructure and ensure necessary credit availability for consumers and businesses.
We disagree with the three Mississippi congressmen who voted against the measure: 1st District Rep. Travis Childers, 2nd District Rep. Bennie Thompson, and 4th District Rep. Gene Taylor, all Democrats.
Republican Rep. Chip Pickering of the 3rd District, unlike a two-thirds majority of his party peers in the House, voted for the bill. It’s probably not coincidental that Pickering is the only member of the Mississippi delegation not up for re-election in five weeks.
The measure, which would have provided about $700 billion in guarantees from the federal government, lost on a 228-205 vote despite the backing of congressional leaders of both parties, President Bush and presidential nominees John McCain and Barack Obama.
White we respect the right of every member of the House and Senate to vote by conscience, a more detailed explanation of the decision and their alternatives is required of the opponents in what is indisputably a time of national crisis. Doing nothing is not a responsible option.
