PITTSBURGH -- Monday was a disastrous day on Wall Street, with the Dow plunging nearly 800 points, the single largest one-day drop in history.

The drop was due largely in part to the U.S. House of Representatives voting down a $700 billion rescue plan designed to resuscitate the financial industry. House members rejected a watered-down compromise version backed by their leaders and the Bush administration, voting down the bill 228 to 205.

Robert Strauss, an economist from Carnegie Mellon University, told WTAE Channel 4 Action News anchor Michelle Wright that he read the 115-page bill and thinks Congress should go slowly rather than rushing into anything.
Video: Watch Michelle Wright's Report

Strauss says the bailout in its current form helps Wall Street -- not Main Street -- and there are several things that need to be done first.

"There is a lot of anger in the country about spending money that we don't know what it's going to be for. Seven hundred billion dollars is half of what the income tax brings in in a given year," Strauss said. "The e-mails, phone calls -- by all accounts, they're getting inundated, which is healthy in a democracy."

There are three things Strauss wants to see with this bailout:

• There should be oversight of financial institutions included in the bill.
• Taxpayers should have their say with public hearings before any vote, "so that we all -- as a community and a society -- understand what we're ponying up for, because it's an awful lot of money. Doing this without public review is really irresponsible."
• Presidential candidates should disclose who will be in their cabinet, so we'll have an idea of the financial direction of each possible administration.

"If we don't deal with it wisely, with very experienced people in the cabinet, regardless of who gets elected, we're going to be in trouble because this is not something for kids to play with," Strauss said.

Even if Congress moves slowly, Wall Street will survive, according to Strauss. Those who'll feel the pinch right away are retirees and college students perhaps using mutual funds to pay for school or seeking loans, he said.

He suggests treasury securities if you're looking for someplace to put your money, saying they're still the gold standard.

Pennsylvania lawmakers were split in their support of the bailout bill. Ten Pennsylvania House members voted in favor of it, nine voted against.

"I agree that the economy is struggling, but the free market works properly only if there is a downside to risk," said U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire, D-McCandless, who voted against the measure. "It is not the government's role to reward bad decisions or nullify the downside to investment risks."

U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, voted in favor of the measure.

"This is not a perfect bill, but failure to act will have global economic ramifications and freeze our credit markets here at home," Murtha said.

Even though he voted for the bailout, Murtha said the bill had room for improvement.

"It had really no oversight. It gave complete control to the treasury department to work things out. We thought we needed oversight, we thought we needed transparency," said Murtha.

U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, voted against the plan, and said in a news release that the legislation will simply move bad debt around, rather than creating a way to bring more money into the markets.

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