Lancaster County’s representative in the U.S. House, Republican Joe Pitts, cast his second vote against the government’s $700 billion bailout of the financial industry. The bill passed the House 263-171 this afternoon. Pitts told me earlier today he thought the measure does not go nearly far enough to protect taxpayers or to reform the ailing financial system. He also said he was appalled by the insertion of a number of pet projects onto the bill.

“It’s very offensive that they would add 350 pages of provisions that are extraneous, special earmarks and tax breaks for special-interest groups,” Pitts said. Officials said changes made to the measure had sparked a far smaller number of defections among previous supporters. Pitts, however, said none of the changes addressed his concerns. “This does nothing to correct the problems that got us into this mess,” he said. “There are no reforms whatsoever. I frankly don’t believe this is going to solve our problems. You can ask yourself several questions: Does this bill hold those accountable who created the problems? No. Does the bill reward those who made good decisions? No. Does the bill provide reforms that brought on the problems so they don’t happen again? No. Does the bill stage the bailout in a way that is most protective to taxpayers? No.”