Rescue can't be hasty, Specter says

By Spencer Soper

WASHINGTON | - Congress needs to carefully review a proposed $700 billion plan presented by the Bush administration to save financial markets, U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter told a crowd of more than 200 students at DeSales University Monday.

''These legislative proposals need to percolate Â… and the American people need to know what's going on,'' said Specter, R-Pa., adding that the reviews should run into October if necessary. ''If they don't like the amount of time it's taking, that's too bad.''

His statements run counter to the Bush administration's push for swift action on the plan, which would be one of the government's biggest-ever private sector bailouts. The proposal calls for the U.S. Treasury to buy bad mortgages from ailing financial institutions, which are seen as clogging credit markets and dragging down the economy.

Specter said he wants to make sure such a plan has adequate oversight. He'd also like bankruptcy judges to be empowered to rework mortgages for distressed homeowners so they don't lose their homes to foreclosure. Some of those homeowners may have been misled into complex adjustable rate mortgages with payments that climb drastically after a period of lower initial payments used to entice them, Specter said.
Students applauded when Specter said limits should be placed on the compensation of executives at the companies benefiting from government help.

''The companies that created the problem shouldn't profit from it,'' he said.

Larry Meo, a student at the Center Valley school, said Specter made a convincing argument about the need for the government to move cautiously. ''I'm just as confused as everyone else about the financial crisis,'' he said.

Specter also fielded questions from the audience about Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, special education funding, illegal immigration and health care.

He told the students he thinks the government should reassess its funding priorities, and he would like to see more government money invested in health