Round Rock considers economic plans

AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) -- As Republican Texas Rep. John Carter talked to his constituents at the Round Rock Economic Summit about the bailout plan making headlines across the country, workers from every industry in city wondered when the crisis in other states would become more than just a ripple in Central Texas.

"You always want to diversify and make sure all your eggs are not in that one basket," said Round Rock Mayor Alan McGraw.

McGraw said the images that frighten his residents the most are not necessarily the ones from Wall Street but the ones from just down the street in Rockdale.

"When Alcoa lays out 600 employees out of a town of 6,000, that's 10 percent," said McGraw. "When you look at Dell, Dell has 10,000 employees in a town of roughly 100,000, that's 10 percent."

Carter said it is a sense of security that Congress must restore. Part of restoration could come in the bill that will be waiting on the Congressman's desk by the time he gets back to Washington D.C.

"I'm not unreasonable, and I know that when you're making legislation, you're making sausage," said Carter. "A lot goes into the mix, and I got to see the mix before I tell you what I'm going to do, but, if it's just what we had last time, then I'm afraid they're going to get another 'no' vote out of me."

Even so, Carter said he realizes the importance in coming to a consensus and is confident a solution will be passed out of the House by Monday at the latest.

"We are going to do something, and it is going to get taken care of," said Carter. "We are not leaning over the edge of a precipice. We will make this deal work."