Neither Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., nor Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., are comfortable with saddling their constituency with an additional tax burden.

In a statement released on his Web site last week, Coburn called for “sacrifice and statesmanship in Congress.”

“This is a time not just for bipartisanship in Congress but common sense, sacrifice and statesmanship,” said Coburn. “Before we ask American families to make further sacrifices, we need to make sacrifices of our own. Congress must learn the lesson of our current financial situation, which is that you cannot live beyond your means indefinitely. As a first step, members of Congress should put their pet projects on the chopping block and come together to eliminate billions in wasteful Washington spending.”

According to a Wednesday AP report, Inhofe said he wouldn’t support the administration’s bailout plan, and was the first member of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation to do so. Inhofe told the AP he wanted more accountability and oversight built into the plan before it’s approved. He also is concerned about the speed in which the administration wants the plan enacted.

“Anytime someone is in such a desperate hurry to get something done, I am always a little reluctant to be in the same hurry,” Inhofe told the AP. “It usually turns out that it is not a good idea.”

Area residents are also concerned, and some feel Congress has been left with little choice but to approve the proposal, including Luke Foster.

“I am always concerned about a government bailout, especially when the federal deficit is so astronomical,” said Foster. “But if the fallout of not bailing them out is worse than the price you pay for doing it, you really have no option. The key is to be conservative.”

Beth Herrington, local historian and retired educator, was a child during the Great Depression, and “shudders when supposedly rock-solid financial entities are in big trouble.”

“I am very concerned about the Wall Street bailout,” she said. “How did this happen? Where were the safeguards, if any? The tax burden will rest upon us for years and years. And there is also the ‘gut’ reaction from everyone, which means a trickle-down effect that causes the economy to veer up and down in mostly detrimental ways, in my estimation. When financial disaster faces Mr. and Mrs. Average American, the impact is the worst possible scenario for the country.”

Dr. Shannon Grimes, a local chiropractor, said many officials have warned of the perfect financial storm for years.

“Our government, and a private, for-profit bank called the Federal Reserve, are robbing responsible Americans to pay for the bad debt who made bad decisions,” he said. “Not only will they be robbing us now through taxes and debasing the dollar, they are robbing our children and grandchildren. By what morality do they think it is OK to saddle the future generations with such debt? Sadly, they likely are not thinking beyond bailing out some buddies and political expediency for a few votes.”

Grimes said the average consumer needs to move past politicians’ “feel-good rhetoric” and understand the underlying principles of the problem.

“As it is now, we already have about two-thirds of our nation’s mortgage industry nationalized,” he said. “Who is getting our money? No doubt, many in favor of these socialist wealth redistribution schemes have good intentions, but robbing my family, friends and neighbors with good intentions is still robbing them. Live frugally, my friends and neighbors, as we likely have more of this and related messes to come.”