By Tove Tupper & Faris Tanyos
 
October 1, 2008
 
MEDFORD, Ore. -- The bailout plan, which was revised following Monday's defeat in the House sent stocks tumbling, was passed by the Senate in a 74-25 vote Wednesday night.
 
The House plans to vote on the bill Friday. It includes tax breaks for businesses and the middle class, and a boost in the deposit insurance limit to $250,000.
 
Oregon Republican Congressman Greg Walden says the plan's new revisions will benefit taxpayers, especially those in Southern Oregon. Walden, who is on his way to Washington tonight, says he's optimistic that the Senate will pass the bailout plan, which includes the four-year county timber payments struck down last week, something Walden has been fighting for for more than three years.
 
"And what we have to do is first stop the problem from getting any worse, and second make sure it never happens again, and we can get after these guys on Wall Street who caused this mess and make sure they don't get golden parachutes either," says Walden.
 
Walden says the crisis is bigger than politics, and dissolving those party lines is essential to ensuring a plan is reached.He says he will remain in Washington until a plan clears the House and Senate.
 
Jobs with Justice, a national campaign group for workers rights organized a Day of Action Wednesday to protest the bailout plan, including a rally at the Medford Library. JwJ says that while a bailout plan is needed, it shouldn't help major corporations blamed for creating the credit crisis. It says the needs of the average, working American should be the focal point of the package.
 
"That's the kind of of bailout we need in this country, one that's works for ordinary workers. To heck with the corporations, they're the ones who have caused this problem in the first place," says Wes Brain with JwJ.
 
Wednesday's JwJ protest was followed by a forum about jobs and the economy.