US talk radio holds firm over 'socialist' bailout

(Writes through with new details and quotes)

By Matthew Bigg

ATLANTA, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Opposing the White House's Wall Street bailout and letting stocks take a beating was a worthwhile price to pay to keep a "socialist bill" from meddling in the free market, conservative U.S. talk radio said on Tuesday.

Many of the influential hosts strongly oppose the rescue plan proposed last week by U.S. President George W. Bush, once a talk-radio favorite, as inappropriate government intervention in the free market likely to make the situation worse, not better.

Congress will live to regret it if the $700 billion bill were passed hastily, they said, urging lawmakers to spend more time on a search for a solution that adheres to conservative ideals.

"I shouldn't say this, but I'm going to say it anyway. Screw the market! .... OK, I'll take that back, not screw the market but let me tell you something," conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh said as part of his analysis of Monday's events.

"When the government fails to pass a socialism bill and the market goes south, let it go south. I don't want to pass a socialism bill just to protect the stock market," said Limbaugh, by far the most popular host on U.S. radio.

"This raw deal would make things worse," he said on Tuesday.

U.S. lawmakers in the House of Representatives rejected the bailout package on Monday after most of House Democrats supported it, but a majority of House Republicans opposed it.

The surprise failure sent the market into a record tailspin and prompted a flood of bickering and fingerpointing from both parties.

Stocks recovered somewhat on Tuesday and Congress will have a chance to vote again or change the bill when it reconvenes on Thursday.

While conservatives said they recognized the seriousness of the market's fall, they would hold fast to their principles that on the economy include low taxes, small government and fiscal responsibility.

'NOT PARTICULARLY DISTRESSED'

"I'm not particularly distressed that the bailout bill did not pass. I want to see this thing (the bill) flesh itself out a little over a period of days," said talk show host Neal Boortz, who describes himself as a libertarian.

Hoping to win more support for the rescue plan, Bush said on Tuesday the U.S. economy was depending on decisive action or the economic damage could be "painful and lasting."

But part of the problem for some conservatives was a lack of confidence in a president they once saw as a champion of their cause for his commitment to tax cuts and his firm response to the Sept. 11 attacks.