Staffers for negotiators of bailout bill asked to turn over their BlackBerries

blogs.abcnews.com ^ | 9/27/2008 | Jake Tapper

[Jim Robinson]

Saturday afternoon so as to prevent leaks, as members of Congress and the Bush administration rolled up their sleeves to try to hammer out a compromise bill.

The BlackBerries, with Post-It notes identifying their owners, vibrated away in a small trash can, and later were spread out on a table for later retrieval, as their owners tried to help their bosses resolve the legislative logjam in one of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's offices on the second floor of the U.S. Capitol building.

House Republicans, who had not been meaningfully involved in the process until Thursday, when they announced they would not vote for the compromise bill first proposed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, sent a high-ranking member of their leadership, Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., who arrived to the negotiations carrying a tall cup of coffee.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., projected confidence before the meeting, saying, "It would be my hope that this could be resolved today, that we had a day for the American people and members of Congress to review the legislation on the Internet, that we could bring something to the floor possibly Sunday night or Monday morning."

House Ways and Means chairman Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., currently the subject of an Ethics Committee investigation into whether he skirted taxes...

barf!

[FlingWingFlyer]

http://republicanleader.house.gov/Contact/

[Jaidyn]

Man if I was in charge I’d make government so transparent people would walk into walls in the capitol.

Agree! This is about us, so why the secrecy? It's like they are conspiring against us, the ones they want to foot the bill for their mistakes. They all need to go.

[RochesterFan]

Amen to that. Government in the sunshine! If I am going to have to pay, I demand to know who to blame and work to oust from office.

[Eva]

Barack Obama said that he and John McCain agreed that this should be a clean bill, clear of any earmarks.

That was before the debate. Now, he supports the ACORN allotment and the union pension subsidies.

[Hattie]

How about if we the people vote on this bill? Maybe it’s time we just all sit down and don’t go to work for about a week. How would Pelosi, Reid, Paulson and Bernake and Obama like that?

[mewzilla]

Update with an ACORN mention...

McCain, Obama calling: Bailout going OK?

[Logical me]

No damn bailout! Period.

[Plutarch]

Confiscate Blackberries? From their cold dead hands.

[Betty Jane]

I heard that on Thursday or Friday, the Dems had planned on attaching the bail out to the Continuing Resolution, trying to force the Republicans to vote for it to avert a government shutdown. The Dems were told to stuff it.

[TWhiteBear]

What a coup, BSing the staffers out of their blackberries.
By now, those blackberries have more bugs than an Tijuana hotel room. Thank Gd the staffers didn't have any guns or the Democrats would have seized them also. The staffers should also keep their legs crossed.

[shadowgovernment]

“...........reminds me of the 2000 election,
and the rats trying to manufacture votes behind closed
doors.”
>>>.............
worked great for them in the Washington state Gov election, or have the FR community forgot, nothing came of that election fraud ..not hopeful about 2008.

[shadowgovernment]

“Government in the sunshine! If I am going to have to pay, I demand to know who to blame and work to oust from office.”
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>...........
The question no one brings up: WHY IS G BUSH BEHIND THIS PLAN?? so disappointed in the man.

[bitterdfwrepub]

“so as to prevent leaks”

So now we have secret government?

CIA, DOD and other national security issues, I get the need for secrecy. This? No way.

If our tax dollars are going to be used to pump the bilge and scrub the barnacles from the (Barney) Frankenstinian monster that was set loose upon us then we should hear every word spoken and read every word written about WHO gets the money, WHERE, WHY, WHAT and WHEN.

This should be 24/7 on C-SPAN.

[Lancey Howard]

Democrats ARE Nazis.

[Guenevere]

bttt

[Canedawg]

“Democrats ARE Nazis.”

I’m using that as my tag this week.

[Fraxinus]

They conveniently don’t need the republicans for anything else.

Congressman Dodd said that they need Republicans to vote for this thing, which tell me at least one of three things is true.
There are not enough Democrat votes to pass the bill:
Dem leadership does not think this bill will work and they intend to blame Republicans when it fails:
Democrats feel they need ideological cover as they are afraid that they could lose their reputation of being for the little guy. (this one I got from Climate Audit).
In any case Blunt needs to understand that he and those members he represents have been given veto power over the bill and use it for all they are worth.

[matthew fuller]

"Maybe it’s time we just all sit down and don’t go to work for about a week."

I agree- In the spirit of saving gas and saving the country, how about shutting down all eighteen-wheelers for a week? That would get their attention.

[SLB]

I leave mine on my dresser when I get home at night. Turn it off, and just let it set until morning and then only check it to see if anything earth shattering is waiting me. The Army just bought me a Sprint AirCard for my laptop so I suppose they expect me to bring it home now and continue working through the night and weekends. Never happen GI!

[Squantos]

Did ya happen to get one of them thar DES / STU versions of the BB ? I like em. Serves all my digital needs and acts as a modem for a laptop if I need such !

I have a set of the shure ear buds that have a mic on the cord for mine as well and they work great when on the move or waiting for an appointment etc ......loaded it up with MP4 versions of movies and shows I never had time to watch and music I like, even audio books. I like em ........good all round do it all piece of gadget !

I hear it even makes phone calls !!.......LOL !

Stay safe SLB !