Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, was at first reluctant to support the Bush administration's plan to buy up toxic mortgage-related debt from struggling banks. But with the credit markets seizing up and the stock market falling, he said Congress had little choice but to support the bailout.
"We are trying to do the only thing that can be done right now to try and stem the tide," he said after the Senate approved the bill on a vote of 74 to 25.
Utah Republican Sen. Bob Bennett, a senior member of the banking committee, has been one of the bailout's biggest supporters. He said it was good medicine for an ailing economy, but warned it is not a cure-all.
"This will not solve the problem. We are headed for a recession, I am convinced," Bennett said on CNBC. "But if we don't take care of the crisis in the credit markets, that recession will be far deeper and last far longer than it would otherwise."
The House is expected Friday to take up the politically sensitive bill, which the Senate sweetened with $100 billion in tax breaks for businesses and individuals. Both Bennett and Hatch hailed the addition of the secure rural schools and payment-in-lieu-of-taxes provisions, which will send millions of dollars to Utah's rural counties, where much of the land is controlled by the federal government. But Bennett said some House members who once rejected the plan may switch sides, not because of the changes but because of the potential political consequences.
"I remind all those that, after the fact, can be fingered as having refused to prevent that deep year or longer recession will probably pay a political price," he said.
Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, backed the bailout, while Democrat Jim Matheson and Republican Rob Bishop opposed it.
Bishop liked the additions to the bill, especially the money for rural Western counties and tax breaks for renewable energy, but he had not yet decided if it was enough to change his vote. Matheson's office did not say if the additions had any impact on his position on the bill.
Reaction from voters, measured by e-mails and phone calls to members of Congress, has softened in the past few days. What Bennett once described as an "avalanche" of anti-bailout calls, has become much more mixed.
"There are now people calling and saying 'Hey, wait a minute . . .,' " he said.
Bennett attributes the shift in public opinion to the historic stock market drop on the day of the House vote.
Hatch said he has received hundreds of calls from upset Utahns who oppose the bailout, but he has also heard from "several small and medium business owners in Utah who tell me something must be done immediately or they will not be able to sell their products, meet their payroll or continue operations."
Bishop's office has seen his calls change, too. His chief of staff, Scott Parker, said the number of Utahns supporting the bailout "has increased a bit," though a strong majority still opposed the legislation.
Calls to Cannon dropped off considerably Wednesday. He had been getting 100 calls a day, most of which came from angry Utahns. Cannon said people were upset because Congress didn't do a good job at communicating the need for the bill and how it will work.
"It's about making sure people can buy cars and students can get loans," Cannon said. "That's what's at stake here and as more of that narrative has come out; the calls to my office have evened out significantly."
Congressional staffers say that on controversial bills expected to pass, opponents have a greater interest in calling to complain. But when the first bailout bill failed, those who quietly supported it started making calls of their own.
