Six of the 11 House members from Virginia stood their ground Friday and again voted against the $700 billion bailout plan.

The measure passed 263 to 171 with the help of 56 House members who reversed course and supported a revised version of the massive Wall Street rescue bill they had opposed Monday.

Rep. Eric I. Cantor, R-7th, who played a starring role in pushing for the package, appeared relieved to have success after the surprise defeat of the measure Monday.

“I’m glad it’s over,” he said.

Cantor succeeded in adding a provision to the bill allowing Wall Street firms to buy government insurance for their less risky assets, rather than sell the assets outright to the government, as Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. had recommended.

The insurance plan was the result of a working group Cantor led at the behest of Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio. The group’s mission was to find an alternative to the administration’s proposal and give Republicans something they could vote for.

“Hopefully, that played a part in delivering today’s vote,” Cantor said.

The insurance plan was in the bill Monday when it fell 12 votes short of House passage.

After the Monday vote, Cantor observed the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, and did not participate in the negotiations with members Tuesday and most of Wednesday.

He said he resumed calls to members at sundown Wednesday “until it was too late.”

“And then I called members on the West Coast,” he said.

Rep. Rob Wittman, R-1st, got a call from President Bush - but that didn’t change his mind. He voted “no.”

“He wanted me to consider both sides of the bill. He said he thought it was needed,” said Wittman. “I would have preferred something with more direct participation with the firms holding these (mortgage-backed assets).”

Rep. Randy Forbes, R-4th, said he heard from corporate CEOs who seemed to be supporting the measure only because nothing else was on the table. For him, that wasn’t a good enough reason to vote “yes.”

“Nothing changed on the bill significantly from Monday to today to change the core part of the bill, which is we are spending $700 billion to buy assets that we have no idea what they are worth,” said Forbes, who called the bill “an enormous gamble.”

The Senate passed Wednesday night a revised version of the bill including a provision increasing insurance coverage for deposits to $250,000 and adding on $110 million in tax breaks.

Rep. Virgil Goode, R-5th, who voted “no,” said he considered the new version of the bill and liked the fact it increased the insurance on deposits and prevented more than 20 million people from being hit with the alternative minimum tax. But it was still asking too much of the taxpayers, he said.

Rep. Robert C. Scott, R-3rd, was the only Virginia Democrat who voted against the bill.
“There are effective solutions for this crisis, but the $700 billion purchase of possibly worthless assets is unlikely to address any of the root causes of the problem,” Scott said in a statement.

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Five Virginia House Republicans and one Democrat Monday voted against the $700 billion financial bailout measure.

The five Virginia Republicans voting ‘no’ were Reps. J. Randy Forbes, Thelma Drake, Virgil Goode, Bob Goodlatte and Rob Wittman.

The Democrat was Rep. Robert C. Scott, 3rd, who said it was “a bad deal for the American people.”

Three Virginia House Republicans and two Democrats voted for the bailout.

The bill failed 205 to 228. It would have authorized the federal government to buy a host of bad, mortgage-backed assets from Wall Street firms. The bill included an insurance plan called for by Rep. Eric I. Cantor, R-7th, which would have allowed the government to insure some of the assets to be sold in the private sector.

Scott raised concerns that the government would overpay for assets that are essentially worthless. “Overpaying everyone is an ineffective way” to help failing companies, he said.

Moments after the vote, Cantor walked off the House floor and vowed to return to the drawing board. The House is adjourned through the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah and will return Thursday.
“I’m very disappointed,” Cantor said in an interview after the bill failed. He blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for failing to include more measures to “protect the taxpayers even more.”

Speaking to TV cameras, Cantor held up a copy of a speech Pelosi delivered and said her partisan tone cost the bill Republican support.

“Because somebody hurt their feelings, they decided to punish the country,” said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services committee, at a news conference with Democratic leaders.

The vote needed a dozen more votes to pass. “Give me the 12 people’s names,” Frank said, “I will talk uncharacteristically nice to them.”

Roughly two-thirds of Republicans voted ‘no’ on the bill after House Republican leaders said Sunday they would allow members to vote their conscience.

Rep. Tom Davis III, R-11th, said that behind closed doors, though, leaders were much more aggressive in pushing members to support the bill. Davis voted for it.

“What alternative do you have at this point?” Davis said, comparing the economic crisis to an impending hurricane and voting “no” to standing in the storm’s way. It was a theme several Republicans used to justify a “yes” vote.

“If you don’t vote for this ... and credit dries up, there will be no question who to blame,” Davis said.

Constituent calls were running 10 to 1 against the plan, according to a spokesperson for Rep. Rob Wittman, R-1st.

Members of Congress faced a tough vote with that groundswell, said political scientist Paul Freedman of the University of Virginia.

“If you’re a Republican, the only thing worse than voting ‘yes’ on this is conceivably voting ‘no,’” Freedman said.

Wittman said he voted against spending $700 billion to assume Wall Street’s bad debts, because it would also create “a massive new bureaucracy with no guarantee of success.”

On the House floor, Rep. Jim Moran, D-8th, called on lawmakers to support the bailout and its market regulations to restore confidence immediately in the markets, loosen up U.S. lending and create jobs.

“Greed is the accelerator in a capitalist economy,” he said, “but unless we are willing to tap the regulatory breaks once in a while, the economy is going to crash.” Moran said.

Markets tumbled dramatically on news of Congress’ failure to pass the plan. The Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its largest one-day point drop, nearly 778 points.

Rep. Virgil Goode, R-5th, a “no” vote, said the bailout “will not save America.”

“We need to infuse capital into our financial system and not more federal debt,” Goode said.

Rep. Rick Boucher, D-9th voted “yes,” saying the bill would “restore confidence in our credit markets.”

This bill would have benefited “businesses small and large and consumer borrowing for cars and homes,” Boucher said.

Rep. J. Randy Forbes, R-4th, also a “no” vote, said Sunday he supported delaying action on the bill, saying there was no rush to do something that may not work to correct the flagging economy.