Las Vegas Sun

By Lisa Mascaro · September 29, 2008 · 8:54 AM

WASHINGTON -- Greetings, Early Liners from the nation’s capital, where the House is getting ready to vote this morning on the $700 billion bailout for the financial markets.

A number of lawmakers have opened the debate by saying no one is happy to be here today, taking this vote. Americans have been telling pollsters they are not pleased about the bailout plan, which congressional leaders keep trying to rephrase as a “work-out” or “buy-in” to convey the importance functioning markets have to Main Street.

Conservative Republicans and a few progressive Democrats in the House still aren’t convinced it’s the necessary or correct approach, despite changes negotiated in marathon sessions this weekend to ensure taxpayers have ownership of the companies helped and executives don’t get exorbitant pay packages.

President Bush said from the White House he understands “this will be a difficult vote.”

We’ll be watching Nevada’s House members, Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley and Republican Reps. Dean Heller and Jon Porter.

Heller was skeptical of the bailout in interviews last week. For conservatives, pouring taxpayer money into the markets is an anathema to all they stand for.

Porter, meanwhile, in continuing to distance himself from President Bush, blamed the administration for the mess. He called last week for a special commission to investigate what went wrong.

“The administration dropped the ball,” Porter said in an interview last week. “There’s no excuse. If they didn’t know, that’s a problem. If they did know, that’s a bigger problem.”

Porter adds there’s plenty of blame to go around. “There’s no question about it. I know there’ll be ample time for finger-pointing. I think there’s a lot of guilt to go around.”

With that, here’s the weekend roundup:

-- Speaking of whom to blame, my Sunday story offers a brief legislative history of bills in Congress that may have contributed to today’s problems.

-- J. Patrick Coolican suspends his usual analysis of raw politics to witness Republican soul-searching in Sunday’s Sun.

-- Be sure to check out the Sun’s continuing series on the early days of Porter and his Democratic challenger for the 3rd congressional seat this fall, state Sen. Dina Titus.

Sunday’s stories look at Porter’s unlikely ascent into politics in Boulder City and Titus’ day job as a university professor.

-- The Sun’s Sam Skolnick writes that the negative ads in the Porter-Titus race have a job to do.

-- The R-J today says Sen. John Ensign is ready to move up the leadership ladder.

-- The battle to protect Gold Butte kicks up a notch in the final days of Congress as Berkley introduces an 11th-hour bill over Porter’s objections.

That’s it for now. Check back here for the latest political news in Nevada.