"The bailout bill failed in the House today, and Senator McCain blames Democrats for putting politics ahead of country. Looking at the facts, 59% of Democrats voted for the bill, and 32% of Republicans did. This is clearly a controversial issue that crosses party lines; some, like both Senator McCain and I, believe the bailout to be essential to the continued health of the American economy, while others see it as a handout to the rich, or as unprecedented government meddling in what was once a free market.
"We should not belittle the opposition's apprehension at this large a move. Each member of the House of Representatives has considered the bill at hand, and decided that it was their duty to vote as they did. To call such a vote unpatriotic is an affront to the very core of our government. The idea that congress must in times of crisis act as a rubber stamp to the executive branch's whim is one that must be attacked, and must be exposed as ridiculous in the national discourse.
"I consider it my own duty now to phone up my colleagues in the House, schedule meetings with those that voted nay, and attempt to convince them, through rational discourse, to change their votes. To use intimidation or demagoguery, in this critical time for our nation, is unconscionable. Any attempt to attack individuals based on their vote at this time should be rebuked by the people; every single member of the House of Representatives is doing their duty.
"Except that one guy who registered no vote, what's up with that?"
"We should not belittle the opposition's apprehension at this large a move. Each member of the House of Representatives has considered the bill at hand, and decided that it was their duty to vote as they did. To call such a vote unpatriotic is an affront to the very core of our government. The idea that congress must in times of crisis act as a rubber stamp to the executive branch's whim is one that must be attacked, and must be exposed as ridiculous in the national discourse.
"I consider it my own duty now to phone up my colleagues in the House, schedule meetings with those that voted nay, and attempt to convince them, through rational discourse, to change their votes. To use intimidation or demagoguery, in this critical time for our nation, is unconscionable. Any attempt to attack individuals based on their vote at this time should be rebuked by the people; every single member of the House of Representatives is doing their duty.
"Except that one guy who registered no vote, what's up with that?"
Page Summary
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Comments
I like the closing statement. :)
I don't like the bailout myself but the Congress needed to get something done today and they failed.
Edited at 2008-09-29 11:24 pm (UTC)
(edit: "I disagree with crs that nothing need be done." was what I said originally, but even in crs's faux dialog above, that's not what he has Obama saying, so I guess I'm disagreeing with you, mjperson.) I agree that bailing out the banks and investment banks and the insurance companies that made bad decisions is not the way to go. But in the end Congress should have either said, "you know what, Mr. President, we disagree. We think that the markets are robust enough to handle this (lie)" or "here's our plan, and we're gonna make it work (lie?)".
Instead, they end up playing at trying to do something and now they're looking like a bunch of school ground children bickering over who broke the swing. And that's NOT going to instill confidence in anyone.
Edited at 2008-09-30 01:03 am (UTC)
Just sayin'
I must say, this morning's photo op with Barney Frank and Chris Dodd almost made me gag - if you had to pick two legislators most responsible for blocking earlier reforms of the GSEs that might have mitigated this crisis, that'd be them....
"might have" being operative words in there.
Incidentally, this all so important bill now that everyone thinks might have saved the world had it passed in 2005(6?) ... from a candidate that this spring admitted the economy was not his strong suit? I had to be reminded that McCain was awfully skittish about commenting on financial and economic matters on the campaign trail. How'd he suddenly become this maverick financial pre-cog? [fact check: McCain made the quote I'm remembering from the papers in Jan originally in late 2005 to the Globe. He was called on it a number of times at debates and in the media but he claimed by then that he was well versed in economic issues. Still, to make that sort of comment in 2005 about the time of S.190, seems telling.]
Edited at 2008-09-30 01:05 am (UTC)
He was one of the Keating 5, remember?
While I certainly think the GSE's should have been reformed to be more conservative, I will point out the parallels between the rush to CDOs and subsequent market collapse and the days of Long Term Capital Management, in which there was no Fannie/Freddie equivalent. My understanding is that Fannie/Freddie followed rather than lead the rush into these exciting, new, no-lose repackaged mortgage products.
Having said that, I have trouble finding really reliable, well-vetted information on this. Next month I'll get a chance to ask economics experts I trust, and see how wildly off my opinions are from theirs...
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_dem/barr021308.pdf
Lenders who could get away with it approved bad loans and sold them off to make money. Period.
(admittedly, the other half of the blogosphere is saying "Oh noes! CDOs! Glass-Steagal! Predatory lenders! Republicans bad!", and perhaps I see them as marginally better only because I personally tend to lean democrat. It is kind of disturbing how easily reality can warp depending on where one is standing. Again, this is why I want to go talk to the Sloan school professor that I know who I consider to be thoughtful and well-informed about both politics and economics because at this point I'm failing to have confidence in my own ability to rationally evaluate this stuff given that I can't devote much time to it)
Given the japanese economic example in the 80s and 90s if the government does absolutely nothing, it will take an awfully long time for things to come back. Those on Wall St. know this, hence the tremendous drop yesterday. Today, we were given hope that action, in some form, will be taken, and here we go, up today, earning back most of those losses. What the general public doesn't seem to realize is that if they buy up all these CDOs (which are pennies on the dollar), they are going to make a tidy profit in the next 10-20 years as those who do not default on their mortgages will be paying their payments and eventually their principal on their home. Even if that foreclosure number goes into the 20s or 30s, there is still money to be made here.
Most investors, including your 401Ks and pensions, need to turn off their flavor of financial television, make sure their investment strategy and risk are in line with the goals of the investment and that said investments are of quality (low debt, strong balance sheets, well diversified for your mutual funds, etc.), and hang on for the ride.
Me, I am having fun with the volatility, selling today what I bought yesterday, and turning over a nice 20% return in my retirement accounts between answering phone calls for my less than comfortable clients. Not bad for two-days worth of work.