U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., said he voted Monday against a $700 billion financial bailout because it was put forward with reckless speed and would have rewarded foreign banks at the cost of community institutions.

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"We are in the golden age of thieves. And where I come from, we put thieves in jail. We don't bail them out," Visclosky told the U.S. House on Monday as he helped provide the 228-vote majority to kill the bipartisan rescue plan.

He complained President Bush's administration did nothing to stave off the bankruptcies and closures of LTV, Bethlehem, National and Republic Steel, but is rushing Congress to "clean up Wall Street's mess, cloak the Bush administration's abysmal failure to protect the people of this country from financial predators and further enrich those ... who caused the problem."

He said the bailout would only add to the profits of foreign banks that invested in risky American subprime loans, which are at the root of the current crisis. The plan would have then left community banks and tax-paying customers to fend for themselves, Visclosky said.

"Why does the Royal Bank of Scotland, with $3.5 trillion in assets, need welfare from the American taxpayer?" he complained.

He urged Congress to be deliberate and to "conduct comprehensive examination of alternative solutions" before acting.

Visclosky's Republican opponent in the Nov. 4 election, Mark Leyva, said Monday, "Congress did the right thing. I'm totally against the entire bailout and wouldn't have voted on it if I had been in Congress."

U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., also voted against the bill.

"Although this bill is a tremendous improvement over the legislation proposed by the Bush administration last week, it still falls short of what is needed to shore up the economy, protect taxpayers and promote economic growth," Jackson said in a statement.

To be palatable, he said bailout leglislation needs to include a second stimulus to help those squeezed by the financial crisis, a substantial investment in infrastructure to boost the economy and create jobs and a program to help keep taxpayers in their homes.

U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar, R-Ind., who was expected to vote on the bailout after House passage, declined comment on Monday's House vote but expressed concern about such an outcome late last week.

"Failure to pass such legislation would lead to massive unemployment and failure of small business and farming operations in Indiana," Lugar had said. "That is unacceptable."

Lugar said he worked during his first term in the Senate to write $1.2 billion loan guarantee legislation that saved the Chrysler Corp., which repaid the loan with interest in just four years.

"I am confident that we will adopt legislation that provides equity for the taxpayer and the businesses that will be assisted by the legislation," Lugar said.

U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., declined comment Monday, but said last week he had grave reservations about any bank bailout that would enrich CEOs with "golden parachutes" while leaving taxpayers "holding the bag."