Published: September 30, 2008 07:32 pm      

Residents sound off on House bailout decision

BLUEFIELD — Uncertainly and a desire for action were on the minds of the region’s residents Tuesday as they waited to see what would happen after the House of Representatives rejected a $700 billion plan to purchase bad debts and relieve pressure on the nation’s economy.

For many people, the issues are complex, but they felt that the situation was serious.

“I don’t know if it was right or wrong, but it’s going to hurt, and hurt some people more than others,” Edna Bone, 81, of Bluefield said of the House’s vote. “I really don’t know what they should do and it’s hard for me to judge. I guess I’ll have to let God be the judge.”

A Princeton resident said the bill should have moved ahead.

“They should have passed it,” said Coy Williams, 80. “They ought to bail it out, I think. Then they should get all the credit cards and burn them all. They’re (credit) a good thing to have when you need them, but not when you have up to 12 of them. Bail them out and get this economy going back again.”

One Virginia person agreed that the bill was needed.

“I think they did the wrong thing,” Ashley Cole, 22, of Richlands, Va. said. “I think we can’t come out of where we are without putting plans like that into action.”

Cole said she was unsure what Congress should do next to help the nation’s economy. “I don’t know. I’m kind of on the fence right now about what they should do.”

“I’m not sure we can bail it out,” said Teresa Taylor, 38, of Wyoming County. “America needs to get back to God. That’s the only hope.”

Other people said they had not followed the controversy very much, but still questioned whether the representatives who voted against the bill’s passage made the right decision.

“The way I see it right now, no, they didn’t,” said Thomas Reynolds, 31, of Hinton.

Major financial institutions should bail themselves out of trouble, a Virginia woman stated.

“I’m kind of against that,” Cathy Mullen, 52, of Bluefield, Va. said of the $700 billion bail out. “Wall Street made the mistakes and Wall Street should bail themselves out. They did it, the CEOs that got all the packages when they left and the millions and millions of dollars.”

“I think eventually they (Congress) will come to a compromise or the country will be in big trouble,” Mullen said. “They should monitor things more carefully.”

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com