Congresswoman Diana DeGette said this morning that elected leaders must make the case for how the financial crisis could hurt average Americans in order to pass a Wall Street bailout package that she says is too important to fail.

If Congress fails to pass some type of boost for Wall Street – a plan for the federal government to use $700 billion to buy up bad debt failed dramatically on Monday – regular Americans could see home, car and student loans disappear, jobs vanish and their credit card limits reduced, DeGette said. American stock markets plummeted on the news Monday.

“I’m not sure politicians have adequately explained the seriousness of the issue and the consequences for average Americans,” she said.

DeGette, a Democrat from Denver, is the House’s chief deputy whip, and she said she spent much of Monday trying to round up votes for the measure, which had the support from leaders in both parties but failed as rank-and-file Democrats and especially Republicans turned against it.

DeGette said she understands how many representatives felt pressure from their constituents to vote against the plan. She said her office before Monday was flooded with calls from people urging her to vote no. But she said representatives should think about what is best for the nation.

“A lot of people wanted to vote no but wanted it to pass,” she said. “And that’s not leadership.”

DeGette said after Monday’s vote, her office was again flooded with calls from people in support of the bailout.

DeGette was one of three members of Colorado’s Congressional delegation to vote for the plan, along with Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Littleton Republican, and Rep. Ed Perlmutter, a Democrat from Golden.

Rep. Mark Udall, an Eldorado Springs Democrat who is running for U.S. Senate, Rep. John Salazar, a Democrat from Manassa, Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Colorado Springs Republican, and Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, a Republican from Fort Morgan in a tight re-election campaign, voted no.

DeGette declined to comment on Udall’s and Salazar’s no votes, instead saying that she is talking with all members of Colorado’s delegation to garner support.

“We improved the plan a lot,” DeGette said of the lengthy negotiations that preceded Monday’s vote. “Do I like it? Do I like we have to do it? No. Do I think we have to do it? Yes. ... I decided on behalf of my constituents and the taxpayers that the risk of doing nothing was too great.”

Congress is in a short break for the Jewish holidays today and tomorrow, but DeGette said she expects leaders in Washington to go back to work and reach a compromise quickly.

“I’m sure there are a lot of people who voted no and were sorry they did that when they saw the market fall,” she said.

The federal Bureau of Land Management today auctioned 55,186 acres on the Roan Plateau for oil and gas development, reports Mark Jaffe.

The sale at the Denver Marriott West in Golden raised $114 million from a half dozen bidders.

In back-and-forth bickering on the Senate floor Thursday, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell attempted to force Democrats to vote on a measure opening up coastal waters for drilling when gas reached $4.50, $5 or even $7.50 a gallon, reports The Salt Lake Tribune.

"If $5-gallon gasoline isn't an emergency, I have to ask what is an emergency?" McConnell said.

"It's a phantom solution," countered Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., noting that such drilling would not affect gas prices in the short term. Watch video of McConnell bidding up the price, and Salazar's reactions.

From the U.S. Department of State...

"Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice joins the Aspen Music Festival and School and the Aspen Institute in an afternoon of 'Words and Music,' on Saturday, August 2, at 3 pm in the Benedict Music Tent in Aspen, Colorado. Secretary Rice will participate in a conversation with Aspen Institute President and CEO Walter Isaacson, respond to questions from the audience, and perform two chamber music selections with current Aspen Music Festival and School music students. They will perform the first movement of Dvorak’s Piano Quintet in A major, B. 155, op. 81 and the 2nd movement of Brahms’ Piano Quintet in F minor, op. 34."

The state of Colorado filed one of the 17,000 protests against the Bureau of Land Management's plan to lease the Roan Plateau for drilling next month. "The BLM has rejected the state's proposals, and we have no choice but to object to the BLM's leasing plan," Harris Sherman, executive director of the state Department of Natural Resources, wrote in the formal protest, filed Wednesday.

The plateau, northwest of Rifle, holds as much as 9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, but it also is rich in wildlife and scenic beauty. A coalition of 10 environmental groups has filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking an injunction to block the lease sale, saying the BLM's plan does not go far enough in protecting the plateau.

Colorado and federal officials sparred with environmental groups before a national advisory committee Wednesday over a proposed rule to manage 4 million acres of roadless forests, report Anne Mulkern and Mark Jaffe.

"The state of Colorado does believe that this is a solid, sound vehicle for protecting the state's roadless areas," state Department of Natural Resources director Harris Sherman said at the meeting.

But Pam Kiely, acting director of Environment Colorado, criticized the hurried pace for approving the rule.

Former Justice Department official Monica Goodling interviewed attorney Cliff Stricklin, then recommended him for the job of first assistant U.S. attorney in Colorado because he was politically suitable, a Justice Department investigation found, reports Felisa Cardona.

Stricklin, now in private practice with the Denver firm Holland & Hart, is best known for leading the prosecution team in the federal insider-trading case against former Qwest chief executive Joe Nacchio.

To those whose one-word solution to the U.S. energy dilemma is "drill," Sen. Ken Salazar has a one-word response: "Incomplete," reports AP.

The Colorado lawmaker says drilling for more domestic oil and gas is part of the solution, and he's joining fellow Democrats to push for extension of renewable energy tax credits.

Republicans, bolstered by the public's frustrations with high pump prices, want to lift restrictions on drilling offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

"There are those within the GOP who've taken the position that we will drill our way out of energy dependence. I think that answer is incomplete," Salazar said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "Those who come down to the proposition who say our answer is one word, 'drill,' are not being forthright with what we have to do in the long term."

Sen. Ken Salazar told reporters Wednesday that he would introduce legislation to address how workers from the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant are compensated for illnesses incurred as a result of exposure to radioactive materials.

He termed as "abhorrent" the manner in which the Department of Labor has managed programs intended to compensate employees for their illnesses.

The Compensation and Respect for Energy Workers, or CARE, Act of 2008 would, according to Salazar, expand the category of individuals eligible to receive benefits, streamline the policies and procedures surrounding the program, and improve program transparency. A copy was not available Wednesday.

A group of Southeastern Colorado residents, members of the The Piñon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition, are denouncing the Army's recently released report on the proposed expansion of the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, and are calling on the Army to drop its "illegal plans" to acquire land in Piñon Canyon, according to a press release issued Monday.