N.C.'s nine not likely to change their minds on bailout plan

By: JournalNow Staff | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 03, 2008

RALEIGH

Senate-added sweeteners to a financial-bailout plan appear unlikely to persuade many of the nine North Carolina congressmen who voted against the package earlier this week to embrace it.

"While the Senate bill is several hundred pages longer than the bill the House considered Monday, at its core, the bailout plan has not changed," said Kathleen Joyce, a spokeswoman for Rep. Walter Jones, R-3rd.

Leaders in the Senate added several tax provisions to the package late Wednesday in an effort to win over members on both sides of the aisle who had helped defeat the proposal Monday. The legislation failed on a 220-205 vote and only four Democrats from the state's 13-member delegation voted for the plan.

The $110 billion in tax breaks inserted by the Senate didn't appear to assuage Rep. Heath Shuler, D-11th. Hayden Rogers, Shuler's chief of staff, said he is still leaning toward voting no.

Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-10, called on Democrats to offer a new package that would provide "lasting stability" while protecting taxpayers. Democratic Rep. G.K. Butterfield's office said Butterfield is also still leaning against the proposal.

Although Rep. Sue Myrick, R-9th, likes some of the new tax extensions and an increase in the federal deposit insurance cap, she isn't sure if those changes will win her over, her spokeswoman said.

Officials for Reps. Mike McIntyre, D-7th; Virginia Foxx, R-5th; Howard Coble, R-6th; and Robin Hayes, R-8th -- all of whom voted against the initial House proposal -- did not detail whether the Senate additions affected their position on the plan.

But the four North Carolina Democrats who voted for the plan indicated they plan to do that again.

Rep. Mel Watt, D-12, said he had yet to review the changes but couldn't imagine any would cause him to change his mind on the package.

"From my own perspective, knowing the impact that this will have if we don't do something dramatic, this is not really a difficult vote for me," Watt said.