Well – it seems that Congress has actually listened to the people for once. A majority of us has been against this bailout from the beginning! It failed with a narrow vote of 228-205.
House Fails to Pass Huge Bailout Deal
WASHINGTON (Sept. 29) – The House on Monday defeated a $700 billion emergency rescue package, ignoring urgent pleas from President Bush and bipartisan congressional leaders to quickly bail out the staggering financial industry.
Stocks plummeted on Wall Street even before the 228-205 vote to reject the bill was announced on the House floor.
When the critical vote was tallied, too few members of the House were willing to support the unpopular measure with elections just five weeks away. Ample no votes came from both the Democratic and Republican sides of the aisle.
Bush and a host of leading congressional figures had implored the lawmakers to pass the legislation despite howls of protest from their constituents back home.
The overriding question for congressional leaders was what to do next. Congress has been trying to adjourn so that its members can go out and campaign. And with only five weeks left until Election Day, there was no clear indication of whether the leadership would keep them in Washington. Leaders were huddling after the vote to figure out their next steps.
Monday’s mind-numbing vote had been preceded by unusually aggressive White House lobbying, and spokesman Tony Fratto said that Bush had used a “call list” of people he wanted to persuade to vote yes as late as just a short time before the vote.
Lawmakers shouted news of the plummeting Dow Jones average as lawmakers crowded on the House floor during the drawn-out and tense call of the roll, which dragged on for roughly 40 minutes as leaders on both sides scrambled to corral enough of their rank-and-file members to support the deeply unpopular measure.
They found only two.
Bush and his economic advisers, as well as congressional leaders in both parties had argued the plan was vital to insulating ordinary Americans from the effects of Wall Street’s bad bets. The version that was up for vote Monday was the product of marathon closed-door negotiations on Capitol Hill over the weekend.
“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.’ “
With their dire warnings of impending economic doom and their sweeping request for unprecedented sums of money and authority to bail out cash-starved financial firms, Bush and his economic chiefs have focused the attention of world markets on Congress, Ryan added.
“We’re in this moment, and if we fail to do the right thing, Heaven help us,” he said.
The legislation the administration is promoting would allow the government to buy bad mortgages and other rotten assets held by troubled banks and financial institutions. Getting those debts off their books should bolster those companies’ balance sheets, making them more inclined to lend and easing one of the biggest choke points in the credit crisis. If the plan works, it should help lift a major weight off the national economy that is already sputtering.
The fear in the financial markets send the Dow Jones industrials cascading down by as over 700 points at one juncture. As the vote was shown on TV, stocks plunged and investors fled to the safety of the credit markets.
So, what does this mean for WE the people and our economy? Personally, I still think it was a good idea to shoot this thing down and let the chips fall where they may. Maybe now those corporations will start pushing back at Congress when they start trying to pass stupid socialist bills forcing private businesses to take on high risk loans.
Personally, I think this could have been done properly by allowing capitalism and the free-market to have a bigger influence on the bailout. But, I know why it failed – because it would have led us one step closer to socialism. This bill in its present state (full text of the bill) would have lead to a nationalized banking and financial system. It including a bailout for homeowners who shouldn’t have had those homes in the first place. It included payoffs to liberal special interests (ACORN). There were just as many Dems and Repubs who voted against it.
Here’s the tally:
| Party | YEA | NAY | NO VOTE |
| Democrat | 140 | 95 | 0 |
| Republican | 65 | 133 | 1 |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | 0 |
You can go here to see who voted and how they voted so that you know how to vote come November! You know, if Pelosi hadn’t pissed off all the Republicans by blaming this mess entirely on Bush and his administration before the vote – there might have been more Yea’s from the Republican side! Oh well, go figure – the Dems will never own up to their mistakes of trying to incorporate social policies in to private businesses.
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U.S. Common Sense: Congress says no to $700B; Dow says by to 700 Points
Did I Miss Something?: Lighting Strikes Approach Washington
Political Rants from The Right: Bail out bill fails – and EVERYONE is to blame!
Copious Dissent: Bailout Dies in The House – For Now, (Roll Call)
Caledonian Comment: US Market Turmoil With Nancy Pelosi Starring in Kill Bill 3
First Door on The Left: Quote of The Day
The Liberal Journal: Drop
Tapline: Bailout!! And the Beat goes on.
The Side Track: Still Trickling Down
Black Woman Thinks…: Whatever Happens Next…?
Political Disgust: Alternative Financial Bailout Plan
Sphere: Related ContentTags: bail out, bailout vote tally, Congress, conservatives, Democrats, failed bail out bill, full text bail out, independents, Liberals, Pelosi, pissed of republicans, Republicans
September 29th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
I will have to expand upon this later tonight when I get a chance to work on my site, but basically this billed failed Congress because it was too big in scope (not dollar figure). There were enough items in the bill which made small clusters of Representatives shy away from voting for it. What Congress needs to do next is to scrap the Omnibus bill concept and focus on small targeted bills. The most pressing bill should be a $200B “toxic” mortgage restructuring plan. As I said months ago when the $150B stimulus bill was proposed, the money should go to restructuring the mortgages with the ridiculous adjustable rates making them unaffordable to those that signed the loans and too expensive for the banks to get rid of. Apply $200B to wipe out all existing ARMs and replace them with fixed rate mortgages. Then the Congress can look at targeting Wall Street oversight, providing new powers to the Fed and the Sec Tres, and so forth. Don’t try to do too much too quick.
Reply to U.S. Common Sense
September 29th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Glad to see that Rep John Duncan (R-TN, 2nd District) voted no on this money grab.
Reply to Rich Dansereau
September 29th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Actually, it was probably not because they listen to the people, they just listend to Nancy Pelosi, who right before the vote decided to bash President Bush, and basically Republicans on their economics and what not. This made many mad, included some Democrats who thought that there was no excuse to say that, especially since this bill is suppose to be partisan and fix this country – so basicall Pelosi screwed up and majority voted no.
Reply to Bradley Hankins
September 29th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
[...] articles: The BoBo Files – “Bailout Voted Down! What Comes Next?” CNN – “Bailout plan rejected – supporters scramble” yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = [...]
Reply to Congress says no to $700B; Dow says bye to 700 points | U.S. Common Sense
September 29th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Bobo, Great post….I am so confused about this mess. everyone is spouting half-truths and lies who do we believe and Like….which end is up….I still say this gives people a chance to look at all angles and not be blind-sided which, listening to what was in the original bill they tried to ramrod through and it failed by a large majority. Am I making any sense?? I still think that people who contributed to this mess should be jacked up starting with, as I understand , the Carter administration and their passing of laws made this possible. Stay well…..
Reply to Tapline
September 29th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
@CommonSense – you have a pretty good alternative idea there – also – good post and thanks for the linkback! I think I could jump aboard on your plan. Now, let’s hope there’s enough politicians up there who can think likewise.
@Rich – thanks for dropping in and commenting. My congresswoman also voted no. But, I live in a very conservative county – I’m sure she was hearing it from everyone.
@Bradley – I think it was a combination of things – what Pelosi said, what their constituents were saying (they want their jobs back), and it just wasn’t a very good bill.
@Tapline – I know whatcha mean! Personally, I don’t think it means a total meltdown of our economy. Sure, it’s going to hit the financial and mortgage sector pretty hard – but – there are still some very big powerhouse banks and other financial institutions that are pretty solvent. I don’t see the need to rush this bill through. Sure, something probably needs to be done – but – not the way they were proposing. I don’t think there should be any government involvement at all where the financial institutions become nationalized. The bill should leave things up to the free-market system and let capitalism work the way it was intended. Likewise, I like CommonSense’s idea up there where those in ARMs and other sub-prime loans are moved in to fixed-rate mortgages. If they still can’t afford those houses then, well..so be it. They wouldn’t have been able to afford it in the first place. Besides, once there is a large inventory of homes on the market, prices will come down which will spur investment bringing prices back up which also helps the industry.
I’m sure it will work itself out…it’s just a matter of how long it will take.
Reply to The BoBo
September 30th, 2008 at 5:56 am
I have to disagree with the idea one that the Republicans did this just to be for the people, they did it so they have a chance to come out with a better idea and maybe win an election. Pretty much it’s all crap.
I hate the idea of spending all this money on companies, but if you look back in history, you will see almost everything that has happend over the last 2 years happend right before the great depression. There was a lot more to it then a stock market crash, and frankly I don’t really want to have another great depression again.
Reply to Holly
September 30th, 2008 at 7:16 am
I don’t care how this bill was struck down, I’m just happy it happened.
Reply to phuckpolitics
September 30th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Holly, I’m sure that is a concern shared by many, including those in DC and on Wall Street. That’s why we need to address the actual problem and not just treat the symptoms.
Reply to U.S. Common Sense