Walz says a plan must pass

By Mark Fischenich
The Free Press

MANKATO October 01, 2008 10:24 pm

— Rep. Tim Walz wasn’t surprised the opinions came freely and forcefully when he canvassed Mankatoans Wednesday about the proposed $700 billion financial rescue plan under consideration in Congress.
That topic alone generated about 1,200 e-mails to his congressional office in the past week or — when the Capitol e-mail service crashed under the volume — to his campaign Web site. That compares to about 400 on a variety of topics in a typical week.
When the Mankato Democrat sent out inquiries to dozens of constituents Tuesday night about the proposal, including changes being made under a Senate plan, a huge number wrote back with lengthy opinions.
And when he’s in public, pumping gas or riding the exercise bike at the YMCA, people are constantly sharing their thoughts.
“There’s no doubt,” Walz said. “It’s engaging the public.”
The initial reaction was almost unanimous opposition. In the last couple of days, particularly when the stock market plunged following the House defeat of the plan, more people concluded the government needed to act.
Even while opposing the legislation put before the House on Monday, Walz said he is committed to seeing a rescue plan passed. First, he wants ironclad provisions to make sure taxpayers share in the gains if the bailout helps financial institutions return to profitability. He also wants tougher regulations and oversight of Wall Street and more assistance for average homeowners.
As of Wednesday afternoon, he thought the Senate plan probably would fall short of those requirements. And he doubted the bill would pass the House.
But while Walz said he considers the bailout necessary to prevent a deep and broad economic recession, he doesn’t believe the legislation needs to be passed hastily.
“Getting it right is so much more important than getting it done right now,” he said, predicting the House would take another crack at passing a bill on Friday.