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House Republicans say that Senate leaders spoke too soon when they said a deal had been reached on a Wall Street bailout package. In addition, a key Republican lawmaker stated that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) wants to explore new ideas, like loaning money to financial institutions or insuring the companies, rather than buying their toxic debt. Earlier Thursday, senators and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said they had a tentative agreement, though they’re still negotiating a bankruptcy provision. They said the deal was ready to be taken to the Bush administration. Not so fast, responded House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio). “There is no bipartisan deal at this time,” Boehner said in a statement. “There may be a deal among some Democrats, but House Republicans are not a part of it.” That is key, because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has said she won’t bring up the bill in the House unless a substantial number of Republicans, possibly a majority, agree to vote for it. Rep. Spencer Bachus (Ala.), the ranking Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, attended the meeting at which some say a deal was reached. But he later issued a statement saying he wasn’t authorized to negotiate or approve any deals for House Republicans. “There was progress on many issues, but no agreement other than to continue discussions,” Bachus said. He added that McCain is interested in using loans or insurance rather than having the government purchase the toxic debts of Wall Street institutions. "We would prefer a loan or supplying insurance,” Bachus told reporters. “These are the ideas Sen. McCain tried to maximize. He feels strongly we have to design a program where taxpayers won't lose." Bachus, wearing a “McCain-Palin” lapel pin, said he’d talked to McCain on Wednesday night and had breakfast with McCain’s advisers Wednesday morning. Asked about Bachus’s ideas, Frank questioned why Bachus hadn’t mentioned them in negotiations. “I’m disappointed he wouldn’t have raised them in the meeting,” Frank said. Also, Boehner’s office said he has appointed a working group of nine House Republicans to work on a plan to help financial institutions. His aides say very few House Republicans have agreed to vote for the bill. Three conservative members of that group, Reps. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), said they’d developed a set of principles based around a mortgage insurance concept for helping the companies. They said there was a “logjam” they were seeking to break by bringing up new ideas. “We remain skeptical, fearful and unconvinced” about the Bush administration’s plan, Hensarling said. |
