Idaho Republican Sens. Larry Craig and Mike Crapo were on opposite sides of the outcome as the U. S. Senate Wednesday night passed a version of the $700 billion financial industry bailout.
The Senate easily passed the measure on a 74-25 vote, and leaders in the House say GOP opposition in that chamber that defeated the plan on Monday has lessened.
The rescue package lets the government spend billions of dollars to buy bad mortgage-related securities and other devalued assets held by troubled financial institutions. If successful, advocates say that would allow frozen credit to begin flowing again and prevent a deep recession.
Sen. Craig voted in favor of the measure after the Senate added $110 billion in tax breaks for businesses and the middle class, plus a provision to raise, from $100,000 to $250,000, the cap on federal deposit insurance. As revised by the Senate, the package extends several tax breaks popular with businesses. It would keep the alternative minimum tax from hitting 20 million middle-income Americans and provide $8 billion in tax relief for those hit by natural disasters in the Midwest, Texas and Louisiana.
However, Sen. Crapo voted against the plan, saying he wasn’t convinced that taxpayers were adequately protected.
US Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) comments
Northwest lawmakers were split evenly on the vote, as Craig, Washington Democrat Patty Murray and Oregon Republican Gordon Smith voted yes, while Crapo, Washington Democrat Maria Cantwell, and Oregon Republican Ron Wyden voted no. (AP)
Idaho Republican Senator Mike Crapo is among those that oppose the bailout plan that was rejected in the U.S. House on Monday.
Crapo, a member of both the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Development and Senate Finance Committees, still feels the proposal lacks enough safeguards to protect the American taxpayer.
US Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) comments
The Idaho Falls Republican has also taken issue with the way the bailout legislation was fast-tracked without answering a number of questions.Still, Crapo acknowledges that Congress does need to act, and that inaction would result in dire consequences for the country’s financial stability.
Crapo encourages a resolution of some kind
The House vote sent stocks plummeting, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down a one-day record 778 points and brought up the possibility of a stock market freeze, similar to what was enacted following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Crapo continues
The stock market rebounded Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 485points.
President Bush told Congress on Friday it must pass legislation bailing out the struggling financial system, as leading lawmakers arranged to resume negotiations.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson was set to attend the restart of talks at midday. House Republicans said they would send a top leader to the closed-door session after the House GOP earlier boycotted bargaining on an emerging bipartisan consensus, calling it unacceptable.
Bush acknowledged lawmakers have a right to express their doubts and disagreements on the $700 billion plan, but declared they must work swiftly to avert an economic meltdown.
Among those with strong concerns about the administration’s plan is Idaho Senator Mike Crapo. While he feels the bailout plan as presented places too much risk on the taxpayer without adequate accountability for those responsible, Crapo agrees that something must be done soon.
US Senator Mike Crapo comments
House GOP members unveiled a radically different proposal that provides no government money up front for a financial rescue. Instead of the government buying the distressed securities, the new plan would have banks, financial firms and other investors that hold such loans pay the Treasury to insure them. (AP)
Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo is one of many lawmakers who have strong concerns about the Bush Administration’s proposed bailout plan and its affect on American taxpayers.
Warned of a possible financial panic, key Congressional Republicans and Democrats had reported agreement in principle on Thursday on the $700 billion bailout of the financial industry and said they would present it to the Bush administration in hopes of a vote within days.
Sen. Crapo, a member of both the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Development and Senate Finance Committees, says something needs to be done, but he feels the proposal places too much risk on the taxpayer without adequate accountability for those engaged in the risky economic behavior that brought about the crisis.
US Senator Mike Crapo comments
Meanwhile, a group of GOP lawmakers circulated an alternative designed to attract private capital back into the credit markets with less government intrusion.
Under the proposal, the government would provide insurance to companies that agree to buy frozen assets, rather than purchase them directly as envisioned under the administration’s plan. The firms would have to pay insurance premiums to the Treasury Department for the coverage. (AP)
U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho is hosting a statewide townhall-style meeting via telephone on Wednesday evening.
Crapo will utilize a telephone and Internet program known as the iTownhall to lead the discussion with up to several thousand Idahoans simultaneously, with the meeting likely to focus on the nation’s energy policy.
US Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) comments
The iTownhall meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Pacific Time and run for about 90 minutes. Calls are placed to participants starting about 10 minutes before the scheduled start time of the meeting.
A new tax deal reached by Senate leaders includes several major provisions sought by Northwest lawmakers, not the least of which is an extension of a multiyear program that pays rural counties hurt by federal logging cutbacks.
Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, says the timber payments, which compensate counties stung by dropping timber sales on federal land, would run through 2011.
US Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) comments
The bill also would allow Washington state residents to continue deducting state sales taxes on their federal income tax returns, and extends billions of dollars in tax credits for renewable energy. Washington is one of at least eight states without an income tax where taxpayers faced the possibility that they could lose the ability to deduct state or local sales taxes from their federal returns.
The agreement would also extend targeted tax breaks for a variety of causes, including college tuition, state and local sales taxes and research and development for U S businesses.
The Senate is expected to vote on the tax bill later this week. If approved, the legislation would go to the House. (AP)
Staff from Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo’s office are holding several informational meetings this month across the state for anyone with questions about the 2008 Farm Bill.
Sen. Crapo says the legislation continues the general policy of the previous Farm Bill and its significant impact on Idaho.
US Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) comments
During the meetings, Crapo’s staff will be joined by representatives from U.S. Department of Agriculture agencies, including the Farm Service Agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and Rural Development.
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Two meetings are scheduled for north-central Idaho next week – Tuesday, Sept. 23, In Genesee from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the PNW Growers offices; then on Wednesday, Sept. 24, in Nezperce from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Nezperce Hotel and Café.
The full U.S. Senate will consider legislation backed by Idaho Sens. Larry Craig and Mike Crapo that clears the way for firearms to be legally transported and carried across federally-owned lands.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted on Thursday to advance the measure geared towards freeing gun owners from conflicting regulations regarding firearms in national parks and fish and wildlife refuges.
Last December, Sen. Crapo sent a letter to Interior Secretary and former Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne requesting that the National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service remove the firearms restrictions, and defer instead to state gun laws, which is currently the practice of the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service.
US Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) comments
In April, Kempthorne proposed regulations that would permit law-abiding gun owners to transport and carry firearms in national parks and fish and wildlife refuges in states that permit doing so on their analogous public lands. That was followed by a comment period that ended on July 30, and Interior officials expect final comments on the rule to put it into effect by Nov. 1.
