Bailout fails- Page 2

[Calvin]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 3:21pm

Congress To Country: Drop Dead

[kelzama]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 3:22pm

How is the vote partisan when 90+ dems voted no?

[NYadgal]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 3:22pm

Country to Congress: You Just Lost My Vote!

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 3:24pm

simple, they're spiteful idiots who allowed themselves to be manipulated into an untenable position due to their own egos. was her speech a disgusting display of partisanship? of course it was. should they have held their noses and voted for it anyway? yep.

if pelosi is smart, she'll trot out a plan tomorrow and pass it on a party line vote and tell the gop to go eff themselves.

i'm reminded of a scene in an episode of the drew carey show where he's lost all his money in vages or some such thing and he's stomping around a fountain chanting "stupid. stupid. stupid" with each step. curiously he meets jerry van dyke coming around the other way doing the same thing.

unless the gop has something really good in their back pocket - and really, at this point, what could they have - they just elected bammy.

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 3:27pm

Speaking as a mostly average American - I'm so freakin' confused about this mess. Do we want the plan or not? According to some, we don't - this is just scare tactics, more of the same, yadda yadda yadda, and yet according to others we need it or we're back to the middle ages. You all are pretty well versed and follow these events closely - I follow to a certain extent, but not as much, and I'm feeling overwhelmed by it all. What about all the other people that don't follow it?

[Mamie]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 3:30pm

You're absolutely right Addy. The problem is that the vast majority of the people who elect those congressman don't understand how this is going to directly affect them. They need to get someone on all the TV stations and radios to start explaining it in simple black and white terms - talking it through every step without using the 'experts' terms. Bill Clinton did it the other night on TV. If these horses a's don't take off those R and D hats and start thinking about the country then the country is going down.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 3:30pm

These people disgust me....watch any session on C-Span...the house is almost entirely empty, and they often don't vote... What a ridiculous reason not to vote for this bill...

SERVE YOUR PEOPLE, CONGRESS! NOT YOU STUPID EGOS AND PARTY LOYALTIES...

This government needs a face lift....enough of these professional politicians, I want people who care for the nation to sit in those senate and rep seats...and I want responsible leaders who think long term rather than till sunset....

Updated On: 9/29/08 at 03:30 PM

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 3:32pm

"They need to get someone on all the TV stations and radios to start explaining it in simple black and white terms - talking it through every step without using the 'experts' terms."

Excellent idea, Mamie. They ain't calling this a "mess" for nothing...its damn near impossible to explain or understand.

[Mamie]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 3:32pm

-720

They may get their wish.

[javero]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 3:33pm

Pelosi's had a target on her back for awhile now. The other side of the aisle loathes her and some her own partisans covet her position which places her 2nd in the line of prez succession if memory serves.

In this town, ruining politicos is considered sport.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 3:33pm

The thing I'm feeling overwhelmed by is that EVERY SINGLE news article I read or newscast I watch is filled with 'Republican' and 'Democrat'. This has become SUCH a political situation, and it should rise above politics.

Pointing fingers does us NO good.
The loss of confidence is staggering.

Updated On: 9/29/08 at 03:33 PM

Posted: 9/29/08 at 3:33pm

And the problem is- no one knows whether this is a good idea or not. People have strong opinions but the fact is- we just don't know what's going to happen.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 3:36pm

...and the 24-hour news media which has to keep itself going manages to confuse things further by featuring headlines such as 'Financial Tsunami', when it truthfully wasn't.

There are one or two voices of reason I seek out and pay attention to in the media, and I plan to listen hard to what they have to say.

The rest is just dangerous noise.

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 3:37pm

Count me in with the overwhelmed. I want to write my congresspeople and tell them ... something. But what? I don't know if I'm for or against the bail out.

It was scary being with people this weekend that don't vote because they feel that their vote would cancel out someone's vote who is better informed than they are, and they just feel like it's too much information to digest.

[JbaraFan1]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 3:37pm

somebody hold me

[javero]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 3:42pm

Honestly, what I don't understand still is what "assets" the bailout plan is supposed to allow the Treasury to acquire.

According to some reports it's mainly mortgage-secured bonds. Is it asking to much of the Treasury Sec to produce an itemized list?

The other question that many Americans are putting to the experts is 'why won't the gov't bailout individual homeowners facing foreclosure'. The short answer from all the talking heads is that the restructuring of individual mortgages by the Treasury would be too onerous.

Call me naive but I like to know what I'm getting for my money in detail.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 3:43pm

pogs, jav. pokemon pogs.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 3:45pm

"i'm reminded of a scene in an episode of the drew carey show where he's lost all his money in vages or some such thing"

Talk about a Freudian slip of the fingers.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 3:50pm

It was a stupid thing for Pelosi to say, but that does not change the fact that they should have voted for this.

The issue here is the ability to access capital, and the cost of doing business.

If banks stop lending money, then the economy as we know it comes to a shrieking halt. A friend is trying to refinance his home, and the rate went up 3 percentage points within weeks.

Business will have to pay more for capital, if they can get it, which means that other expenses, like salaries, expansion, capital improvements, will be put on the back burner. This is trickle down economics at its worse.

We will not get even get into the consequences of massive business failures on otherwise healthy business and investment portfolios. Otherwise stable companies will suddenly be holding a lot of worthless paper, and will not be able to raise the capital necessary to do business.

This is bad. And for the Republicans to vote no because of a friggin speech (which was mostly true) speaks volumes.

There will still be a bailout. It will just take time. Hopefully, we will not lose any more large financial institutions before it is finalized.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 3:53pm

I've been in meetings all day so I haven't had a chance to read: Could someone tell me what could possibly have been so "partisan" about her speech that it should be held responsible for the Republicans voting against it?

As far as I'm concerned, she could have said "Republicans are all hatchet murderers" and they STILL should have voted for it.

No?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 3:54pm

"And for the Republicans to vote no because of a friggin speech (which was mostly true) speaks volumes."

Republicans don't matter in this issue. Dems had the votes, Pelosi couldn't wrangle them in. Maybe she should "know her power" and resign.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 3:58pm

She had her share of the votes. It was the Republican minority leader who lost control:

===

"We could have gotten there today had it not been for the partisan speech that the speaker gave on the floor of the House," House Minority Leader John Boehner said at a brief press conference after the vote. He blamed Pelosi and Democrats for torpedoing a delicate bipartisan agreement and said her speech "poisoned our conference (and) caused a number of members that we thought we could get to go south."

Updated On: 9/29/08 at 03:58 PM

[LePetiteFromage]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 4:02pm

Updated On: 1/13/09 at 04:02 PM

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 4:02pm

In an era when so many get off on faux-outrage, should we really be surprised? You'd of thought she had said "faggot" in her speech or something. Or didn't wear her flag pin.

And yes, the lack of solidarity among some of the Dems is notable and disappointing.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 4:05pm

Here you go. It wasn't so bad, but since this was a bi-partisan solution, I think she could have been a bit more bi-partisan in parts.


"When was the last time someone asked you for $700 billion?

It is a number that is staggering, but tells us only the costs of the Bush Administration’s failed economic policies—policies built on budgetary recklessness, on an anything goes mentality, with no regulation, no supervision, and no discipline in the system.

Democrats believe in the free market, which can and does create jobs, wealth, and capital, but left to its own devices it has created chaos.

That chaos is the dismal picture painted by Treasury Secretary Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke a week and a half ago in the Capitol.

As they pointed out, we confront a crisis of historic magnitude that has the ability to do serious injury not simply to our economy, but to the American people: not just to Wall Street, but to everyday Americans on Main Street.

It is our responsibility today, to help avert that catastrophic outcome.

Let us be clear: This is a crisis caused on Wall Street. But it is a crisis that reaches to Main Street in every city and town of the United States.

It is a crisis that freezes credit, causes families to lose their homes, cripples small businesses, and makes it harder to find jobs.

It is a crisis that never had to happen. It is now the duty of every Member of this body to recognize that the failure to act responsibly, with full protections for the American taxpayer, would compound the damage already done to the financial security of millions of American families.

Over the past several days, we have worked with our Republican colleagues to fashion an alternative to the original plan of the Bush Administration.

I must recognize the outstanding leadership provided by Chairman Barney Frank, whose enormous intellectual and strategic abilities have never before been so urgently needed, or so widely admired.

I also want to recognize Rahm Emanuel, who combined his deep knowledge of financial institutions with his pragmatic policy experience, to resolve key disagreements.

Secretary Paulson deserves credit for working day and night to help reach an agreement and for his flexibility in negotiating changes to his original proposal.

Democrats insisted that legislation responding to this crisis must protect the American people and Main Street from the meltdown on Wall Street.

The American people did not decide to dangerously weaken our regulatory and oversight policies. They did not make unwise and risky financial deals. They did not jeopardize the economic security of the nation. And they must not pay the cost of this emergency recovery and stabilization bill.

So we insisted that this bill contain several key provisions:

This legislation must contain independent and ongoing oversight to ensure that the recovery program is managed with full transparency and strict accountability.

The legislation must do everything possible to allow as many people to stay in their homes rather than face foreclosure.

The corporate CEOs whose companies will benefit from the public’s participation in this recovery must not benefit by exorbitant salaries and golden parachute retirement bonuses.

Our message to Wall Street is this: the party is over. The era of golden parachutes for high-flying Wall Street operators is over. No longer will the U.S. taxpayer bailout the recklessness of Wall Street.

The taxpayers who bear the risk in this recovery must share in the upside as the economy recovers.

And should this program not pay for itself, the financial institutions that benefited, not the taxpayers, must bear responsibility for making up the difference.

These were the Democratic demands to safeguard the American taxpayer, to help the economy recover, and to impose tough accountability as a central component of this recovery effort.

This legislation is not the end of congressional activity on this crisis. Over the course of the next few weeks, we will continue to hold investigative and oversight hearings to find out how the crisis developed, where mistakes were made, and how the recovery must be managed to protect the middle class and the American taxpayer.

With passage of this legislation today, we can begin the difficult job of turning our economy around, of helping those who depend on a growing economy and stable financial institutions for a secure retirement, for the education of their children, for jobs and small business credit.

Today we must act for those Americans, for Main Street, and we must act now, with the bipartisan spirit of cooperation which allowed us to fashion this legislation.

This not enough. We are also working to restore our nation’s economic strength by passing a new economic recovery stimulus package—a robust, job creating bill—that will help Americans struggling with high prices, get our economy back on track, and renew the American Dream.

Today, we will act to avert this crisis, but informed by our experience of the past eight years with the failed economic leadership that has left us left capable of meeting the challenges of the future.

We choose a different path. In the new year, with a new Congress and a new president, we will break free with a failed past and take America in a New Direction to a better future.”


Updated On: 9/29/08 at 04:05 PM