WASHINGTON — Colorado’s U.S. senators waited until the final minute to determine how they would vote tonight when the Senate takes up a Wall Street bailout bill.
Ken Salazar, a Denver Democrat, ended up voting for it. Republican Sen. Wayne Allard voted no.
Earlier, Salazar said he has not committed to voting for the bill, but he expressed repeated concerns about the economy.
“We’re facing a devastating credit freeze and the possibility of an economic collapse,” he said.
In Colorado, Salazar said, businesses are laying off workers because they can’t get loans; people cannot get mortgages; and people are seeing their retirement funds dwindle.
The majority of constituents calling his office oppose the bill, he said.
“People are angry on Main Street. I’m angry too,” Salazar said. “But as a U.S. senator, I have to make sure that we avoid the kind of economic calamity we saw in the 1920s.”
In the afternoon. Allard said he also remained undecided on the proposed multibillion dollar financial-rescue proposal.
In a conference call with reporters, the Loveland Republican said the Senate version of the bill has been improved over the one voted down in the House on Monday. It includes additional oversight measures and some extra provisions that would help out struggling homeowners, he said. But Allard added that he remains concerned the bailout will increase the federal deficit.
“I have a lot of reservations about the bill,” he said. “Some parts of it are good. Where I’m going to end up voting, I can’t frankly tell you because I don’t how it’s going to look when it comes up.”
Allard said: “I don’t like the idea of government coming in and owning business, but it may be a necessary means as we stabilize it. I can understand the need for some of these things on a temporary basis only.”
He said his chief concern involved a provision that would raise the federal government’s debt limit to $11.3 trillion.
“Every time we turn around, we’re spending like a drunken sailor,” Allard said. “There are no parameters here on controlling spending at this place. This Congress has no interest at all in trying to worry about the obligations we are putting onto the next generation.”
