By NEIL H. SIMON, Media General News Service
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Virginia’s Senators voted in favor of a mammoth government bailout package Wednesday night handing the economic issue back to the House for final passage.
The Senate passed the bill 74-25.
Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., called it admittedly imperfect, but in a statement said he was pleased to see it included recommendations--including limits on executive salaries -- he had pushed for while Congress debated how to rescue troubled Wall Street firms from mountains of bad mortgage-backed assets.
Webb said the bill represented “the only possible opportunity that will be offered in the Congress this year to address this situation.”
The revamped plan includes giving the Treasury Department power to spend $700 billion buying mortgage-related assets from troubled banks, but the bill also includes tax cuts for businesses and increases the federal insurance for bank deposits to $250,000 from the current $100,000.
“I am pleased that we included meaningful provisions to limit executive compensation and to give taxpayers the chance to share in any gains achieved through this legislation,” Webb said.
In what is to be among the last roll call votes for retiring Sen. John Warner, Virginia’s five-term Republican voted in favor of the bill.
The House still must act on the bill before it can go to the president’s desk.
Rep. Robert C. Scott, D-Va., declined to take a position on the Senate version Wednesday. He and a majority of the House voted against its version of the bailout Monday.
Scott warned if the Treasury Department went buying securities it could end up buying from banks that do not need help or paying too much for assets that are “worthless” from banks who are going to go bankrupt anyway.
“There is no suggestion as to how the expenditure of $700 billion will solve the problem at hand,” Scott said.
Neil H. Simon can be contacted at (202) 662-7669.
The Senate passed the bill 74-25.
Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., called it admittedly imperfect, but in a statement said he was pleased to see it included recommendations--including limits on executive salaries -- he had pushed for while Congress debated how to rescue troubled Wall Street firms from mountains of bad mortgage-backed assets.
Webb said the bill represented “the only possible opportunity that will be offered in the Congress this year to address this situation.”
The revamped plan includes giving the Treasury Department power to spend $700 billion buying mortgage-related assets from troubled banks, but the bill also includes tax cuts for businesses and increases the federal insurance for bank deposits to $250,000 from the current $100,000.
“I am pleased that we included meaningful provisions to limit executive compensation and to give taxpayers the chance to share in any gains achieved through this legislation,” Webb said.
In what is to be among the last roll call votes for retiring Sen. John Warner, Virginia’s five-term Republican voted in favor of the bill.
The House still must act on the bill before it can go to the president’s desk.
Rep. Robert C. Scott, D-Va., declined to take a position on the Senate version Wednesday. He and a majority of the House voted against its version of the bailout Monday.
Scott warned if the Treasury Department went buying securities it could end up buying from banks that do not need help or paying too much for assets that are “worthless” from banks who are going to go bankrupt anyway.
“There is no suggestion as to how the expenditure of $700 billion will solve the problem at hand,” Scott said.
Neil H. Simon can be contacted at (202) 662-7669.