LONGMONT, COLO. — Dale Klotz's business repairing power tools took a nose dive when foreclosure signs sprouted up on lawns across the northern suburbs of Denver here.
He's looking for a second job, and he wishes he wasn't saddled with a mortgage. But amid the hard times, he took some satisfaction Tuesday in the House's vote to turn down President Bush's $700-billion rescue package for the financial system.
"I don't think we ought to bail out Wall Street," Klotz, 45, said as he loaded groceries into his white Ford pickup at a shopping center. "I'm an average American, trying to make a living. I've got a home mortgage I'd like to unload, but I make my payments every month."
Why, he asked, should his tax dollars go to save reckless Wall Street executives?
Sentiments like that fueled this week's rebellion in the House, where members bucked party leaders and the Bush administration to block approval of the rescue package.
Election-year politics also played a role, analysts say. Klotz's representative, Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.), is locked in a tight reelection battle and said she heeded the views of her constituents in voting against the bailout Monday.
"It's not a moment at which people can put the national interest ahead of constituent interest," said Robert Loevy, a political science professor at Colorado College.
According to one count, 30 of the 38 representatives in the most competitive Nov. 4 House races voted against the bill. Americans have bombarded members of Congress with calls and e-mails urging "no" votes, causing some computers on Capitol Hill to crash repeatedly over the last two days.
Organizations such as ACORN, or Assn. of Community Organizations for Reform Now, a national advocacy group for low-wage workers, organized rallies outside Federal Reserve offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other major cities.
"You look at an electoral battleground map and you are looking at Nevada, the foreclosure capital of the country, and Michigan and Ohio and Florida," said Austin King, director of an ACORN center in New Orleans. "These swing states have tens or hundreds of thousands of foreclosures. Voters there want to see something done that helps them, not just Wall Street."
On Monday, the opponents got their wish: The House rejected the plan. But stocks cratered, with the Dow Jones industrial average diving 777.68 points -- a gut-wrenching experience for almost everyone with stocks, mutual funds or 401(k) retirement funds.
