WASHINGTON — Conservative Republicans stole the spotlight with their opposition to the $700-billion financial rescue plan that fizzled in the House Monday, but they had help from a slew of liberal California Democrats who joined them to defeat the bill.
Those Californians found themselves in the unfamiliar position of not only standing with some of the most staunchly conservative Republicans in the House, but also voting against a traditional ally, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), who campaigned tirelessly for passage.
Among the 14 California Democrats refusing to endorse the bailout plan were Southern Californians, including Reps. Adam B. Schiff of Burbank and Brad Sherman of Sherman Oaks, and Bay Area lawmakers, including Reps. Pete Stark of Fremont and Lynn Woolsey of Petaluma.
The rebellion divided these Californians from colleagues who usually hold virtually identical political views: 18 California Democrats stood with Pelosi to back the bill.
Most of those who opposed the rescue package -- a group that included more than half the members of the Hispanic and black caucuses -- complained that it tilted too sharply toward helping Wall Street and rich investors and did too little for average workers and homeowners struggling in the sagging economy.
"What I wanted to see was an economic recovery package, and what I found looked more like a bailout plan for Wall Street," said Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles), who voted against the package despite his position as assistant to the speaker. "It was too tenuous for me to look my constituents in the eye and tell them they would recoup their hard-earned tax dollars."
As the votes were being cast Monday, Reps. Bob Filner (D-Chula Vista) and Darrell Issa (R-Vista), often on opposite side of issues, slapped hands outside the House chamber as they bonded to vote "no."
Getting liberals such as Filner on board may help determine whether Pelosi and the Bush administration can revive the rescue package later this week.
"There's a number of things they could do -- they don't have to do all of them, they just have to show some good faith that they're actually doing something," said Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove), a more fiscally conservative Democrat who spent 12 years in the financial industry. "Basically, when I look at the bill, everything everybody is saying is just not true."
