Bailout Voting

[Flamingo]

I am working from home today and have the bailout vote on - right now it looks like it will not pass and the market is just tanking away. It was down already 600 points...the entire situation is just awful.

[Mi Bankruptcy]

I guess the American people are so fed up with letting our government spend our money and tax the hell out of us.. They would rather see the market tank. It's not sarcasm.. Just a thought.

[bal_ny]

I've been watching cnn.com at my desk.
You're right, it didn't pass. Now what?

[chloe0724]

It seems to me that things are doing ok without the bailout. Citi bought Wachovia, JP Morgan bought Wamu. Let the banks with capital left on hand buy the ones that are hurting. Let's actualy be a capitilistic economy.

[Flamingo]

Looks like they go back to step one and try to make some revisions and get all those Repuoblicans that voted "nay" to change their minds with those revisions.,

[Mi Bankruptcy]

It seems to me that things are doing ok without the bailout. Citi bought Wachovia, JP Morgan bought Wamu. Let the banks with capital left on hand buy the ones that are hurting. Let's actualy be a capitilistic economy.

I couldn't agree more with Chole. If they get too big in the future government will bust them up.

On a side note and personal observation.. Being the 'main street' individual I now see gas at the lowest it has been in months. $3.68 In Michigan. Hmm... I believe we just had a bunch of hurricanes etc. I guess the speculators are taking a break from the OIL.

[Over our heads]

I think maybe those congress people actually got it right. The people of this country hate their bailout plan. And seeing as how the people of the country VOTE them into their jobs, we can vote their arses right back out.

Get a clue Bush, screw the banks, and help out the little people for once.

[JRScott]

133 Republicans and 95 Democrats voted against this bill. Bipartisan enough to show it was not a good deal.

I think the bill was bad I looked over the 107 pages, while its a lot of political and economic talk there were really no guarantees to the American people in that bill. Indeed it put the very people who lead us here on the oversight committee and rewarded the CEOs who have run their companies into the ground.

Some of the Rep were saying people are 10-1 against this bill.

We have survived major banking collapse at least twice in this country, once in the 1870s and once in the 1930s. I think the House vote got it right, better to let the market sort it out.

It was 700 billion in money the government didn't have and we can't expect to have in the future.

[woeisme]

I think they should shut the market down while they play the politics, like they did with 9-11. Keep everyone from totally losing their retirement investments while they grandstand in the Congress.

[AngelinaCatHub]

I think they should shut the market down while they play the politics, like they did with 9-11. Keep everyone from totally losing their retirement investments while they grandstand in the Congress.

[fltoo]

Amen.

Congress should be a 6 year stint of service to the country, not a career.

We have the power to vote them out state by state.

[treehugger1]

Or, this could be one of those rare instances where representatives were voting the voice of constituents.

[Overmylimit]

I think it all boils down to basics, when are the banks just going to admit they made bad loans and eat it. When we make bad decisions we at some point have to admit it and face the music...they should too. I wish I could go to Congress and say my business was having trouble and I ran up tons of credit lines and now I want help please bail me out! It will not happen for any of us on this board and it shouldn't happen for big business either.

[justbroke]

It seems to me that things are doing ok without the bailout. Citi bought Wachovia, JP Morgan bought Wamu. Let the banks with capital left on hand buy the ones that are hurting. Let's actualy be a capitilistic economy.

You need to read the FINE PRINT of those deals. They were brokered by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury.

The fine print reveals that if, for example, Wamu's $42B or so in debt is actually higher, the FDIC will cover the difference.

What happens behind the scenes is what the average U.S. citizen don't, can't, won't or refuses to realize. This entire system is propped up by promises. A really true disaster of Great Depression proportions awaits us.

Today, they're talking 100,000 jobs loses per MONTH. (That's per month...) Also, many business will continue to shrink or shutdown completely. Now, those with a job are saying "well, it's not my problem". Wait until December/January. It will not be pretty. The key factor is, that in 1930 there were 122,000,000 people. We are now about 310,000,000. The population has severely increased and our dependency on things like Oil, for one, has increased. The economics of a total collapse of capital is 10 times worse than in 1930. Talking about a 25% unemployment rate in 1930. If we get to that, then it's a disaster which would take... well... 70 years to fix, and forget about social programs... they are done.

Of course, I have already suggested that we get rid of the entire Congress and elect a new one immediately. The same folks who got us here, are the ones playing with this bill. I'm happy on one note... some of the media channels got smart today and stopped calling it a bailout.

That's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

(Adding more psyco-babble. Our GDP is about $13 trillion dollars, and spending on the Federal Budget is $3 trillion (give or take $100 billion dollars) for 2008. That represents about 25% of the GDP. In the 1930s, during the depression, Federal spending was only 6% of the GDP. We have real issues, that no one ever wants to fix, only "band-aid". This has been the process for years and years and years. The $750B dollars is nothing, really.

Maybe it is time to take corrective action, but you do have to temper it. You don't let the building burn down, because you don't like that the water isn't reclaimed water. You deal with the issue of the water, after you put out the fire.)

[fltoo]

Or, this could be one of those rare instances where representatives were voting the voice of constituents.

If only this were true.

They voted nay due to their fear of not being reelected. But, you are right, at least they voted nay which is what the people wanted.