THAT’S DEBATABLE:

Where do you stand on the Wall Street bailout bill? What needs to be in the bill for you to support it?

There are no assurances that any banking triage plan proposed by Congress will “work.” But doing nothing is not an option. Wall Street banks are gone or have already written off their toxic assets. Main Street must now be the focus; retribution and reckoning can come later. I see it as three challenges: liquidity, setting a value of the assets, and rebuilding confidence in our financial system at home and abroad.

In this limited space, I have a few comments: Accounting rule changes can be done but with great caution. Insurance through a transaction fee has calculable merit. Raising the FDIC insured deposit limits is a confidence builder. Ultimately, balancing the federal budget will be the single best cure for the excesses of Washington.

Debbie Cook

Democratic candidate, 46th Congressional District

The $700-billion bailout package we are being presented with is too large and unres- tricted. However, I would consider voting for it if it were scaled back and more protections were incorporated into the package to prevent taxpayer dollars from being misused for personal gain by special interests and/or to bailout entities like foreign banks who do not deserve such largesse from the American people.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher