Don't panic! I think we will get a better bailout plan by the end of this week or thereabouts.

[Tatiana]

I just listened to Sheila Jackson-Lee on the Race for the White House show (I know, I know). She was on with Republican Congressman John Culberson (R-Texas). Culberson didn't really articulate why he voted against the bill other than the fact that he is a fiscal conservative and balked at the price tag. (I wonder if he felt that way about all of Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy or the cost of the Iraq occupation.)

However, Jackson-Lee articulated several reasons why she did not vote in favor of the bailout bill. I can't remember everything she said, but she did mention the lack of judicial oversight, the lack of assistance to "Mr. and Mrs. Main Street" in terms of the restructuring of mortgage debt (it would be very hard to get multiple entities to sign off on a restructuring package), lack of taxpayer protection, and unprecedented powers bestowed upon the treasury secretary. I did not hear her say that she was not in favor of passing a bill to save our economy. I heard her say she was not in favor of THIS bill as presented. She praised Speaker Pelosi and defended her leadership admirably. She also pointed out the fact that at the end of the day, Speaker Pelosi delivered 140 votes in favor of the plan. The Republicans only mustered up 65, much lower than what their leadership had promised.

I think Jackson-Lee and other Democrats who voted against the bill did so from a principled standpoint and I actually sort of respect that. The Republicans are playing politics. They are up for re-election and feel like their constituency views this as a bailout of the wealthy paid for by the lower and working class citizens. However, I think the Dems who voted against this bill are holding out for a BETTER bill and are playing hardball because they know the economy needs a rescue package and given the failure of this vote, they are in a stronger position to negotiate better terms (bankruptcy protections, restructuring measures) for the AVERAGE citizens who are victims of this credit crisis. Jackson-Lee said she thought they could have a better bill worked out by the end of this week. If a "better" bill is negotiated, Bush will have no choice but to sign it. Folks in the banking industry are saying we have anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks to pass a bill before we really go under.

This is taking it down to the wire, but I don't think we should get on the case of the Dems who voted against this bill. They are advocating on behalf of the people so that they don't just get kicked out into the street and so the government and Congress has oversight regarding how the $700 billion (or however much it ends up being) is spent.

I also see the fact that a significant number of representatives in both parties voted against this bill as a good thing. Maybe the Republicans' intentions weren't that good. But this is a welcome change from the IWR or Patriot Act, when everyone marched lock-step with whatever Bush's White House told them to do. Finally, Congress found its spine, stood up to the bully, and said "we don't care what you think. We're not afraid of you."

I think we'll get a bailout plan passed. We just have to weather the storm until then.

[PVnRT]

1. I certainly hope so

The markets are already panicking. The uber-wealthy will take their money and run rather than take a bath, and then the rest of us are stuck holding the bag.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Thank you for your coherent message...

I agree.

The bill was a bad one, IMHO.

There is no reason to accept a bad bill just because we're in a crisis.

We need, and deserve, good solutions.

We will get a good bill, and as you say, we'll just have to weather the storm till then.

K&R

[Bucky]

3. Oh, absolutely. The big problem was seeking more House Republican votes, instead of those 93 Dems

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. Kick!

Because more people need to read this!