WHEELING - U.S. Rep. Charles Wilson has experience in both business and banking - and even he is uncertain of the economy's future a week after Congress passed a $700 billion government bailout of the battered financial industry.
Wilson - a member of the House Financial Services Committee - was among those voting in favor of the so-called rescue package, which was approved by a final House vote of 263-171.
"We're in uncharted waters," Wilson, D-Ohio, said during a visit to Wheeling on Thursday. "This is something we've never done before.
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"I have a pretty good feel for business, and it's still difficult to know what it's going to do," he added.
Wilson noted he thinks it's "too early" to gauge whether the actions of Congress will have a positive effect on the nation's economy and financial markets. He hopes that by today - a week after the bailout was approved - stock market numbers that have continued to fall "will start to level off."
"We've got a problem," Wilson acknowledged. "I know I took a lot of heat for my vote, but I believe it was the right thing to do. Doing nothing is not an option."
In addition to owning a local furniture store and chain of funeral homes, Wilson also served on the board of directors for the former Belmont National Bank.
He said he has enough related experience to know that when the nation's banking and financial markets dry up, there is no credit available to the consumer and that the economy subsequently suffers.
Wilson also admitted to feeling uneasy about the additional $150 billion in tax extenders that were added to the relief package. Many of the extenders, he said, were important and necessary but shouldn't have been added to the legislation.
Wilson blamed members of the Senate for adding the extenders to the bill, then leaving Washington prior to the House's vote on the package.
House members were anxious to pass emergency relief for Wall Street before heading back to their districts until after the election, according to Wilson. Thus, they were reluctant to make any changes to the bill that might keep it from being passed for a month.
"Some things that happen here are just political, and I wish they weren't," Wilson said.
Most recent job approval ratings for Congress have been abysmal, with most polls listing them at well below 20 percent.
"I think that after the last election, people thought the Democrats were going to resolve the war," Wilson said. "They're disappointed that that has not been done."
He referenced the fact that while Democrats proposed more than a year ago a 16-month plan to withdraw troops from the Middle East, this idea was not popular with Republicans at the time.
Today, both sides are considering a similar 16-month timeframe for withdrawal, he noted. Wilson was elected to the House in 2006 when Democrats took over the majority in the chamber.
"I see a growing together of the two parties," Wilson said. "Things are more friendly than when I first got here. There were some tough times in the beginning."