Republicans try to save economy by kicking it in the nuts
Update: Here is a link that breaks down how everybody voted: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/washington/ROLLCALL.html?currentChamber=house¤tSession=2¤tCongress=110¤tRoll=674 (thank you LaterSkater)
Pulling a page from the Democrats playbook circa 2000-2006 , Republicans seem unorganized, lacking leadership and generally inept when it comes to trying to get something passed to help the economy. In doing so it led to the $700 Billion bailout bill failing to pass the House of Representatives by a 228-205 margin.
To be fair there is blame to go around with 40 percent of Democrats not supporting the bill and over 66% of Republicans. Upon hearing the news the Dow dipped over 700 points with general panic in the market increasing.
Make no mistake about it, it sucks that there has to be a bailout. On principle the government shouldn’t have to do this. However there is a time to be an ideological purest and a time to be pragmatic. This is the latter. We will work on having a post up later tonight about what could happen to the economy if nothing is done.
Some highlights of $700 billion package:
- Provides up to $700 billion, starting with an initial $250 billion, for the Treasury Department to purchase troubled assets, mainly in the area of mortgages that are weighing down the financial system.
- Gives the Treasury Department, working with experts chosen by the government, the authority to fashion the asset purchase program.
- Requires the Treasury to modify troubled loans wherever possible to help families keep their homes. It also directs other federal agencies to modify loans that they own or control.
- Calls for restrictions on the pay and benefits received by executives whose companies are selling some of their bad assets through the government’s purchase program.
- The Treasury would be required to provide details of its purchases within two days of the transactions and various oversight boards would be created to monitor the operation of the program.
- Taxpayers would be given ownership stakes in companies whose bad assets are purchased. After five years, if the government is facing a loss in the program, the President would be required to submit a plan recommending how the money could be recouped from financial companies.
- Establishes a program whereby banks could buy government insurance that would cover the principal and interest on certain troubled assets, rather than selling them outright. Premiums would vary depending on the assets’ risk profile.
Source: Associated Press
Fun quotes
- “If we don’t pass it, we shouldn’t be a Congress,” Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, the senior Republican on the Budget Committee
- “We’re all worried about losing our jobs,” Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., declared in an impassioned speech in support of the bill before the vote. “Most of us say, ‘I want this thing to pass, but I want you to vote for it - not me.’
- “We’re in this moment, and if we fail to do the right thing, Heaven help us,” Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
Sources/ further reading:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FINANCIAL_MELTDOWN?SITE=NYONI&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/29/MN8H137MVO.DTL
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/business/30markets.html
16 Responses to “Republicans try to save economy by kicking it in the nuts”
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- AnotherDamn CafePress Shop
Politi-comedy on a T-Shirt!
- AnotherDamn CafePress Shop
Enron
WorldCom
Lehman Bros.
And there is many more. This goes way beyond banking. When public companies make money, be it on phony energy trading or shitty mortgages, shareholders don’t want to know how. They just want to know that the stock they purchased yesterday is worth more today. When shit hits the fan, the records are shredded and execs vanish, that’s when people ask: “What the hell happened.”
We’ll never know the true extent of corporate fraud because corporations have their hands in the politicians pants. And vice versa. Until that changes, we’ll always have these messes to deal with. Unfortunately, the finance industry is so far reaching that the lack of controls has a devastating effect on the broader market.
If credit remains frozen for any length of time, the global economy will freak.
I need to say that at this point no one has mentioned the children, whether it’s their financial future or their potential dude on dude lovin’ future. “Won’t someone please think of the children!”
I don’t agree.
This is Corporate Socialism pure and simple. It’s amazing to me that you believe Bush’s “sky is falling” BS… despite all the other deceptions he has perpetrated on the American public. If they are truly serious about getting us out of this financial crisis, than they need to start at the root cause — home mortgages. Show me a bill that has proportional bail-outs for Main St. (not just Wall St.) and then we will talk. Until then, Shut the F* up about Depression 2.0
/rant over
So who’s at fault? The person stupid enough to sign on for a 3/1 ARM on a $400,000 mortgage for a house worth $250,000? Or, the person who lent him that money?
Of course, if bailouts start coming for the financially retarded, where’s my bailout? Shouldn’t I get a reward for not being either of the persons described above?
Show me a bill where the morons who overborrowed and overspent are adequately punished (some form of electrocution preferably) then that’s the one that I’ll vote for. It could be like those oil for food programs…
I’m with Madame, I need to know why we can’t start from the ground up, if it’s the ground problems that left to this all falling apart anyway. I hate that Socialism is being applied at whim and we’re being told no other reason that that if we don’t everyone will devolved, cats will be living with dogs and it will be madness.
So this is kind of related, but one of my neighbors has a “Vote Yes on #102: Keep Marriage Simple” sign on his lawn. And I keep thinking “With everything going on in the world today, the most important thing to you is to keep two dudes from kissing.”
Well to keep them from kissing AND having butt sex. I could support that if they made an exception for lipstick lezbos.
Heaven’s no! Support men kissing and having butt sex! Typically, gay men are the fashionable, witty, educated, and attractive. Let them hump each other. We don’t need them as competition for poon.
Back on topic, I agree with the anti-socialism and the main street bailout sentiment. That’s why I propose some process for indentured servants. If I pay your mortgage then you become my servant. However, if you don’t work hard enough or long enough then you might lose your house or other assets that have a lien. It’s a private sector solution to a public problem. You may already familiar with this program, it’s called a job.
I contend that the whole thing is screwed. Bailing out Joe and Jane’s bad mortgages (Main St.) is no different that bailing out the shareholders of the banks (Wall St.)…it is basically telling everyone “don’t worry, make stupid financial decisions, blame someone else, and then let the rest of the taxpayers bail you out. I came ->this<- close to buying a house I could not afford…not because the bank told me I could, but because I was greedy and wanted a house that was on par with friends of mine that make 4 times as much money as I do…where would I be now if I had done that? Losing my house to the bank…and in a world of shit, but I can gaurentee that I wouldn’t be blaming the mortgage company for allowing me to be an irresponsible knucklehead. On the other side of the coin, I also didn’t invest in the banks and mortgage companies that “were taking advantage of” all those people. Call me lucky if you want, but I’d like to think that I could see the writing on the wall. The economists were saying the real estate bubble would burst 2 years before it did…all those people that bought 5 houses to flip at the peak…well, I guess they were just unlucky (rather than irresponsible)
and on a side note…something DOES need to be done about the economy if only to stabelize the market quell people’s fears.
If this congress adjourns without doing something so that a bunch of representatives can get on the campaign trail, the entire lot of them need to be voted out.
Hell, most of them need to be voted out anyways.
In other breaking news, McCain camp blaims Obama for Republicans failing to pass bailout.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/29/campaign.wrap/index.html
@Antigrammatik
I don’t like the idea of bailing out the greedy and stupid either. But when their stupidity/corruption starts to bleed over into Average Joes well-being… measures have to be taken. And unfortunately they won’t let us euthanize.
Side note, I think capping the golden parachutes is only a start. They should really be prosecuting!
Sigh. This is all depressing me. Can we go back to talking about dude on dude love?
Here, here.
Come for the politics, stay for the dude on dude lovin’. Change we can believe in.
I totally agree Madame. I am supportive of a government solution to this situation because it is the only way that I can support a resolution to this problem.
This situation is affecting everyone, including those that pay their bills. Unfortunately, we don’t have the capital to rectify the situation. The best we can do is support a government who can help out.
In other news:
OK — I am going to weigh-in on the issues:
1 - If all someone is worried about is gay kissing/sex, their priorities are misplaced. If they aren’t hurting you and they aren’t hurting anyone else, leave them the heck alone.
2 - If you were stupid enough to over-mortgage yourself or take an interest only loan to get yourself into a house that you totally knew you couldn’t afford, only to find out a couple years later that you couldn’t afford it, shame on you. I’m sorry that you might lose your house/car/etc. but I certainly shouldn’t have to bail your stupid ass out.
3 - The banks need help. However, before we start using the taxpayers for the bailout, all of those bank and company execs should have to file bankrupty so that we can use their assets to fund the bail-out. I don’t care who you are, but no one deserves a half million dollar bonus each year while the business is going down the toilet. Shareholders, execs, owners FIRST. Then you can knock on my door.
4 - Once the gov’t figures out how to handle it, policies need to be put in place so there is a check to our human nature of greediness.