Sep 25, 2008 5:59 pm US/Central
Thousands Contact Lawmakers About Bailout Plan
(WCCO)
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Congressional offices are getting bombarded with phone calls and e-mails from constituents with their opinions on the bailout deal.
CBS
As Congressional leaders have worked out an outline for a deal on the bailout, the proposal remains extremely unpopular with many Minnesotans.
In a Minneapolis coffee shop, single mother Ann Pearson thinks the bailout is helping the wrong people.
"It's the people like me that are having a hard time keeping up with the economy and paying their bills, and we're losing our houses and losing our cars. And we need the government to help us not the bigger people," she said.
Congressional offices are getting bombarded with phone calls and e-mails from constituents with their opinions on the bailout deal.
Minnesota Congressman Jim Ramstad said in 48 hours he has gotten 1,002 calls and e-mails against bailout; only 10 were in favor of it.
"People are angry, people are angry at the administrations bailout plan, they are angry at rewarding incompetence and bad judgment," Ramstad said.
In the past 24 hours, WCCO has contacted every member of the Minnesota congressional delegation. Liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans are getting the same calls and all Minnesota representatives said that their calls are overwhelmingly against the bailout.
That puts legislators in a tough spot -- a vote for the bailout is essentially a vote against their constituents.
However, some lawmakers are becoming increasingly convinced that if they don't act, the consequences for ordinary Americans would be devastating.
Rep. Betty McCollum said she would support a bailout with provisions that help ordinary citizens.
McCollum said that without the bailout the U.S. could be facing a depression.
"I'm not interested in bailing out Wall Street. I'm interested in making sure that the families I represent don't see their home values decline, they don't watch their 401(k)s disappear, they don't see their children's opportunities to go to college just disappear," she said.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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