The national economy and its effect on Louisiana was the main topic of speeches by U.S. Sen. David Vitter and U.S. Congressman Steve Scalise at a breakfast meeting of the East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce Friday morning.

“Even though Louisiana is not suffering as bad as the rest of the country, the horrible economy is job priority one,” said Vitter, R-La.

Both legislators voted against the $700 billion bailout of the financial industry and the bailout of the nation’s automakers. Vitter said the automakers were not mandated to make fundemental changes to their companies, and those changes should be made first before they get any money.

He even chided President Bush’s announcement Friday morning that the automakers would get $17 billion in loans.

Though the loans come with several stipulations, like reducing debt and getting rid of job banks, Vitter said Bush was not tough enough.

“We worked for wage and benefits package that would be in line with the foreign auto companies. The president’s proposal tells them to be ‘competitive.’ We tried to negotiate mandates, but the president wants ‘targets’ which have no teeth,” Vitter said.

Scalise, R-Metairie, agreed and said he wants to increase Congressional oversight over the bailout money. Scalise said the entire idea of the bailout only increases the national debt.

“The bailout bill added $2,300 to every citizen’s payment to bring down the national debt,” Scalise said. “The debt has to be addressed because it is weakening the American dollar, and we are printing money that we don’t have.”

Still, both of the legislators said they are looking forward to President-elect Barack Obama’s stimulus package, which proposes $1 trillion to rebuild the country’s infrastructure and put people to work.

Vitter said the plan sounds good, but there are two major challenges to implementing it. First, Vitter believes there must be projects that can be started immediately to have an effect on the economy. Then there has to be less political division of the money, and the money should not be given to large populations, but to states with the biggest needs, like Louisiana, which has to restore its coastline and build bigger and better levee systems.

On that note, Scalise said he is waiting for a report from the U.S. Corps of Engineers on the feasibility of building locks at the Rigolets and the Chef Pass. He believes it can be done but said it will take time.

Scalise also tied the health of the economy with an energy policy that would push more exploration for oil within the United States.

“Hybrids, solar and wind should still be pursued, but they are not viable right now, and we need continued exploration,” Scalise said.

Being in the minority will present a big challenge for Vitter and Scalise now that Democrats have a lock on the Senate and House of Representatives. Scalise thinks he and other Republicans must try and work with moderate Democrats. He sees a big battle brewing in the House between the liberal and moderate Democrats that could be beneficial for the Republicans.

In the Senate, there are 42 Republicans and 58 Democrats, which means the Republicans can still hold filibusters to stop Democratic legislation.

“But this means we will need every Republican to back a filibuster. That will be a great challenge,” Vitter said.

Both men said they are working on other ways to bring the economy back. They said they are pushing for bills that would give the president line-item veto on budgets, put a cap on government spending and mandate a balanced budget. However, with a Democratic-controlled Congress, Vitter doesn’t see any of these measures succeeding.