Bailout Falling Apart; House Repubs Not On Board

Fox News | 9/28/08

[pabianice]

Now on Fox: Pelosi twisting arms to get Repubs on board bailout bill; much push-back. Pelosi will not let this pass without Repubs on board in case it blows-up and Repubs can pin it on Dems. Race to complete before Asian markets open. The Adventure Continues...

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

what if the Republicans state to the Press conference VERY clearly, “We oppose this bailout for the following reasons..1, 2. 3, etc. If these are removed, we will sign on immediately!”

[DorisCCC]

I like Dave Ramsey, too. I saw him in person a few years ago and got an autographed copy of his book. If he says the market won’t crash, I believe him.

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

I understood that it is out, however, there is a clause for housing that would put them right back in.

[beckysueb]

You have my deepest sympathies.

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

excellant post.

[McGruff]

See my tagline for something Obama said today.

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

Just go vote for ron Paul and be done with it.

you want perfection? Talk to a dog. They ARE perfect.

[CarolAnn]

“My senators are durbin and obama, alas.”

I’m so sorry. You have my deepest sympathy - and I mean it.

[beckysueb]

The direction of the country these past few weeks has changed all of our outlooks. I believe McCain more than I used to since I have gotten to know him better. Besides people tend to see leadership in their presidential candidate.

[Skid Marx]

McCain is a traitorous RINO globalist bastard, financed by George Soros and Ketchup Kerry, who shouldn't get a single Conservative vote, nonetheless my own..... There is no leadership in evidence on this issue, any more than there was on drilling.

I, for one,AM CONVINCED! (..criminy)

[beckysueb]

I will definitely use it. I have been so frustrated because I didn’t know how to explain it to people. This is perfect.

[roamer_1]

Just go vote for ron Paul and be done with it.

I have never supported Ron Paul, though domestically, he hit this one right on the nose. Credit where it is due.

you want perfection? Talk to a dog. They ARE perfect.

I don't need perfect. But I will *not* vote for a traitorous RINO bastard. I do not support liberalism, no matter which letter is beside the name.

[Skid Marx]

McCain has been their arch-nemesis historically. What makes you think that has changed?

?

[Petronski]

No entity is large enough to have caused this mess except the U.S. Government. Similarly, tragically, no single entity is large enough to rescue us. I personally don’t think $700bn is enough, but it’s sure as hell more effective than $250bn. Now we have the dems larding it up with this 20% ACORN provision, which is STILL in the bill and all I can do is throw up my hands. It’s a crying-ass shame.

[Think free or die]

"The situation is too impenetrable (even for an MBA in Finance like me) to grasp easily otherwise. "

I've never specialized in finance, but I realized years ago that the world of hyperfinance was way beyond anything I learned in my MBA program. That alone gave me pause. If the layering of derivatives and obfuscation of risk was beyond my comprehension and comfort, I realized that many, many investors were entrusting their savings to a system which was largely incomprehensible to them. Trust in the financial system is ultimately critical to recovery, but I don't see how it can be restored without some serious housecleaning in Washington and in the financial establishment.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

"By removing the forced mark to market, can the financial institutions then sort out which assets are failed and separate them from the other paying assets, and with insurance by a safety net for the paying assets? Yes, and that is what in essence the Republican plan has been trying to insert, to reduce by hundreds of billions the exposure of failing assets."

Maybe. Sorry to let you down, but I just don't know. That's the kind of detail-based decision that I hope is being analyzed right now by smart people on our side with all the numbers in front of them. An corollary might be to raise the statutory floor for the various asset-based metrics. IIRC, the floor for Fannie Mae was 5.2% and for ordinary banks it's 10%-- (don't treat those numbers as gospel, they're just shards in my memory). Sarbox's m2m rule forced assets in the balance sheets down during the real-estate correction. So some modification of both m2m and the statutory floors might buy time for the issue to be resolved by the free market. Of course, m2m is not by itself a bad idea-- certainly it's good for business for accountants! But balance sheets are supposed to represent reality. Still, it factors into the whole mess as a trigger for many defaults.

Meanwhile, of course, is the probability of that vapor-lock I've been talking about. That is the thing that must be prevented. An injection of liquidity is the usual prescription for that; the difference this time (as with AIG) is government ownership of the means of production. For good reason, that makes a lot of people very nervous, including me. At a minimum, let's make it temporary.

Note I haven't spoken of the notion held by some proponents that the bailout would be profitable to the taxpayer. Lovely if true, but irrelevant, except as a selling-point. It's keeping that $62 trillion pyramid standing that I'm most concerned about. Conceivably, the Constitution becomes null and void if that falls.

[marajade]

They didn’t do anything illegal. That’s the problem. This legislation will change that. It needs to be passed or McCain can kiss the Presidency goodbye.

[SoftballMominVA]

...where 65% of monies are given to a "Housing Trust Fund"

Housing Trust Fund equals ACORN? I'm getting ready to contact Rep Wolf's office and I'd like to be clear when I speak to his office. Do you have something I can look at to show the link?

[CarolAnn]

Kucinich is against it! Wow! He said he won’t vote NO - he’ll vote HELL NO.

Take that wimpy Republicans.

[roamer_1]

The direction of the country these past few weeks has changed all of our outlooks. I believe McCain more than I used to since I have gotten to know him better. Besides people tend to see leadership in their presidential candidate.

I see *nothing* different, and *nothing* unexpected. I do not tend to see leadership in anyone just because they *may* hold office, or even because they *do*. It is required of my leaders to actually *LEAD*, and to do so *CONSERVATIVELY*, or their "leadership" is left without my respect, and certainly without my consent.