House Republicans Like Paulson but Not His Financial Markets Rescue Plan

With House Republicans growing angrier by the day over the president's $700 billion Wall Street bailout, minority leadership officials are starting to shift their view of the plan's architect, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

Just after his plan was announced, several aides to top GOP leaders said that they felt Paulson was out of touch with their concerns and had little political capital to work with. But as the House GOP, led by Rep. Eric Cantor, worked to develop its own, insurance-based plan, several leaders said on background that they now hold Paulson in great respect for being able to at least come to grips with the financial problem swiftly and develop a recovery plan.

"Paulson has a tremendous amount of respect," said a key GOP official involved in building support for their plan.

Part of the attitude shift is the result of trying to figure out an economic fix on their own, leadership officials said, and part of it is due to the renewed respect House members have for Paulson's earlier moves to shore up faltering money giants on Wall Street.

The new look at Paulson may be a good thing for the president as he tries to build GOP support for the eventual bailout.

"We don't like his plan, but I think that everybody in the room now sees that Paulson really has a grasp of what's happening and how to fix it," said another key official involved in the negotiations with Bush and the Democrats. "He's probably got more credibility than the president, to be truthful," added the official.

Another official said that the initial anger directed at Paulson and his team was simply "venting" at the price tag. That has now dissipated, the official said.