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Georgia: Chambliss defends bailout vote

By: Beverly Carroll
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U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., talks with the editorial board of the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Twenty-eight days from a closely contested re-election showdown, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., voted against the wishes of a majority of his constituents and supported the $700 billion federal plan to stabilize the national economy.

To do nothing about the credit crunch would be have been disastrous, Sen. Chambliss said Monday in an editorial meeting with Chattanooga Times Free Press editors.

“When you looked at doing nothing, versus trying to craft a bill that would move us to a more stable financial community, that had some liquidity restored to it, some integrity restored to it and also instill confidence in the community, there was only one way to go,” he said of voting for legislation providing nearly $700 billion to buy out loans and other assets from banks. “(And that was to vote for) the bill on the floor.”

Sen. Chambliss said he has begun to travel around Georgia, explaining the consequences of failing to intervene in an economy reeling from record home foreclosures, plunging stock prices and spiraling gas and utility costs. People begin to understand, he said.

“The day of the vote, I had a major employer in Georgia call me and tell me that two major banks and one community bank told him they were revoking his line of credit,” the senator said. “The employer said he would pay his people first and then when the money ran out, he would begin to lay them off.”

Sen. Chambliss said he did not support the first couple of bailout proposals, voting only when the package included a requirement that any money paid back goes to retire the debt, and the golden parachutes for executives were limited and more oversight was included.

As he enters the last leg of his campaign for a second six-year term, Sen. Chambliss listed his accomplishments and defended his record.

The most junior senator appointed chairman of a major committee when the GOP ran the Senate, he headed the Agriculture Committee and rallied bipartisan support for bill protecting farmers and improving the public school lunch program, he said. He was one of the original “gang of six,” a bipartisan group that negotiated drilling on the U.S. outer continental shelf. The expansion of offshore drilling is a key part of an energy package that calls for future drilling in Alaska and alternative energy sources for fueling automobiles, he said.

The economic crisis has overshadowed several key issues that will re-emerge as the financial plan settles the market, Sen. Chambliss said. One of the biggest issues is health care, he said.

“I am convinced that we can come with up a legislative package, whether it is tax deductions or tax credits versus universal health care for individual, (that) will provide an opportunity for every American to have a policy designed to fit their needs rather than have the government dictate who they can go to from a physician standpoint, what hospital they can go to or whether they can have elective surgery,” he said. “That needs to be a decision made by the patient, not the federal government.”

Sen. Chambliss said the Iraq war, another issue overshadowed by the economy, is close to being resolved. The Iraqi government has called for elections early next year, and he predicted that a withdrawal will begin after that election.

Sen. Chambliss said he is excited about the opportunities he has had and is asking for six more years.

“We are a pretty divided country right now,” he said. “(Republicans) are going to have a tough time maintaining where we are right now. We are going to lose a couple of seats, I don’t know how many. If we have anything close to where we are now, 49, (in the Senate) that will be a major victory. I can’t speak for the House.”

Sen. Chambliss said Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., feels confident about the election.

“The race is going to tighten, but we feel confident that McCain is going to win Georgia and we are going to win,” he said. “I think you will see him take the gloves off (tonight), come out swinging; he needs to do that.”

A spokeswoman for Democratic opponent Jim Martin declined to comment about Sen. Chambliss before the editorial board meeting and was unavailable after the meeting. Efforts to reach Catoosa County Democratic Chairman Chris Scott on Monday evening were unsuccessful.

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