The proposal by the U.S. Treasury Department to rescue the country's financial industry is drawing sharp criticism from Kentucky's junior U.S. Senator.Senator Jim Bunning calls the $700 billion bailout plan "un-American" and says it would replace the free market system with socialism.The Republican says he doesn't buy the argument that the country would plunge into a recession without the rescue. He says government and industry leaders should sit down and hammer out a big picture response to the lending crisis."A new business model that would say you can't lend money to people who don't have a down payment or you can't lend $400,000 to someone who can only afford to pay for a $200,000 loan," Bunning told reporters Tuesday morning.Bunning is a member of the Senate Banking Committee, which began hearing testimony on the bailout plan Tuesday.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.