Home > Political Insider > Archives > 2008 > September > 29 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USEleven of 13 Georgia congressmen vote against Wall Street rescue
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Despite last-minute cover offered by former U.S House speaker Newt Gingrich, Georgia’s congressional delegation — both right and left — voted solidly against the $700 billion plan to rescue Wall Street.
Democrats Jim Marshall of Macon and Sanford Bishop of southwest Georgia voted in favor of the plan, which fell 205-228. Here’s the roll call.
Phil Gingrey, a Marietta Republican, told my Washington colleague Julia Malone that the House Republican leadership had called him minutes before the vote, pleading for his support.
“Our leadership weren’t elected by the people of our districts,” Gingrey said. He and other Georgia lawmakers have received a torrent of e-mails and phone calls from angry voters urging them to oppose what many considered a taxpayer bailout for firms that were guilty of greed or worse.
“This is a huge cow patty with a piece of marshmallow stuck in the middle and I’m not going to eat that cow patty,” declared Paul Broun, the Athens Republican, as quoted in the New York Daily News.
Below are quick explanations on the vote, first from Democrats.
Said Hank Johnson of Decatur:
“Frankly, the president carries no credibility with me and that is one of the many reasons I opposed this reckless bailout proposal….The president has displayed an unnerving habit of making the wrong judgement, at the wrong time, so often that it is hard for me to believe him when he asks me to bail out his Wall Street allies to the tune of $700 billion, or more, all paid for by the American taxpayer.”
Said John Barrow of Savannah:
“There’s no doubt we need a solution to the economic crisis we are facing, but the plan that was before us today wasn’t good enough. It didn’t go far enough to prevent the taxpayers from having to foot the $700 billion bill. It didn’t go far enough to make sure that taxpayer dollars don’t end up in the pockets of Wall Street executives who ran their companies into the ground. And it didn’t go far enough to prevent foreign investors from making off with our money.”
Said David Scott of Atlanta:
“Bailing out Wall Street with $700 billion dollars of taxpayer money without a dime to help struggling homeowners is wrong,” stated Rep. Scott. “This is not just a Wall Street problem, this is a problem at the kitchen table of every family in America and this bill simply does not do enough to assist homeowners and keep their families in their homes.”
In Georgia, Jim Marshall is probably the one most exposed by Monday’s vote. His 8th District covers middle and south Georgia. It leans Republican, and he faces a decently funded candidate in Republican Rick Goddard.
At a Sunday caucus meeting of Georgia Democrats, Marshall attempted to persuade his colleagues to support the rescue plan, saying he was willing to gamble his seat on the issue.
Just before the House vote, he telephoned the Insider, and said this:
“Some members of Congress simply don’t understand the exposure and the threat. Some members of Congress don’t believe it. I’m afraid many of my colleagues understand it, but….I think it’s very unfortunate that as soon as the Bush administration presented their plan, all kinds of commentators for political gain hopped on it and characterized it as a bailout. And the public mind is sort of set….
“There is no way in hell I would bail out the jerks on either side of this. The irresponsible borrowers, the irresponsible lenders and investors. No way in hell would I do that.
“To the extend that this ends up helping them a little bit is incidental to the fact that this is needed, in my view, as an attempt to help all those bystanders, families, small businesses, individuals, retires, etc., who are just caught up in this — caught up in the mess these jerks have created.
“I’m not happy that I’m in these circumstances, but less happy that the country’s in these circumstances. And I’m just going to do what the right thing to do is, and I hope people will understand. I’ll do my best to explain it.
“Damned if I’m going to rescue these jerks. But I am absolutely willing to try to avoid almost every single economist has said — and that is an imminent crash of the credit markets. Which all economists agree means that we head almost certainly into a depression.”
Among Republicans, Lynn Westmoreland was the first to explain himself:
“I do believe that our nation faces great financial challenges right now, and I believe that Congress should act. But the House should not appropriate up to $700 billion for a bill that didn’t exist until a few days ago and that never went through one committee hearing. This legislation costs way too much to pass through Congress with so little scrutiny. If the process is broken, the product is flawed. Combined with war costs, other bailouts and the stimulus packages, we can’t afford to be wrong with a price tag this high.”
On the Senate side, neither Saxby Chambliss nor Johnny Isakson, both Republicans, seemed pleased by the measure’s failure.
Said Isakson:
“This is the most important issue we’ve faced in a half-century. Our country is struggling. Doing nothing is unacceptable. I hope cooler heads will come to the table so we can move forward with a proposal that is in the best interests of the American people, their savings and their future.”
Chambliss was slightly less critical:
“Obviously the House vote today puts everything in a state of uncertainty and complicates the issue of whether or not the Senate will vote on a financial rescue plan, and I am certainly concerned about the way the markets have responded to today’s vote. I believe failure by Congress to take action on the current financial crisis in the right way will have serious repercussions on Main Street. Something must be done, but any proposed legislation must protect our citizens and taxpayers and their economic well being first and foremost.”
• Full election coverage: News, photos and more
Services »
Comments
By Mel
September 29, 2008 3:20 PM | Link to this
And Saddam Hussein will attack with weapons of mass destruction, rocks will fall from the sky and famine and plague will be visited upon the land. WOLF! WOLF! WOLF!
By Peadawg
September 29, 2008 3:23 PM | Link to this
I don’t know what to think. This isn’t a good way to do it, but it has to be done.
By RDollar1
September 29, 2008 3:23 PM | Link to this
Political jerks. I hope China and Saudia Arabia will not pull their money and crash the economy. Majority of the political jerks are millionaires, maybe we can move in with them.
By It's the economy stupid
September 29, 2008 3:23 PM | Link to this
Some sort of bailout or shoring up is needed and it better be completed quickly and without turning it into something for political gain. Yes, it stinks that these greedy jerks are getting bailed out… but lets keep the country out of depression then go after the jerks.
By BUM
September 29, 2008 3:24 PM | Link to this
It’s not very often I am proud of Georgia’s congressional delegation. But with two (2) exceptions (noted above) I am VERY PROUD that our elected representatives REJECTED this very bad piece of legislation.
THANK YOU, GA Congressional Delegation!
NO CORPORATE WELFARE!
NO BAIL OUTS FOR THE RICH AND WELL CONNECTED!
NO GIVEWAYS of our TAX DOLLARS to WALL STREE FAT CATS!!!
By scott
September 29, 2008 3:25 PM | Link to this
1 Northern Rock 2 Bear Stearns 3 ANB Financial 4 First Integrity Bank 5 Roskilde Bank 6 IndyMac 7 First Heritage Bank 8 First National Bank of Nevada 9 IKB (basically insolvent after gov’t intervention) 10 Silver State 11 Fannie Mae 12 Freddie Mac 13 Lehman Brothers 14 AIG 15 Washington MutualNeed I say more?
By David Gatch
September 29, 2008 3:27 PM | Link to this
Lets get too the truth. This whole mess started with programs started by Carter (70s) and the rules changed for the worst under Clinton (90s) pushing for loans to folks who should never been given a loan in the first place (Subprime) . You can also blame Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd as co-conspirators in weakening lending rules. The chickens have come home to roost. Where’s a good oak tree when you need it.?
By Pecee
September 29, 2008 3:27 PM | Link to this
Of all the knowledgable representatives in the House, you go and pick four numbnuts that know about as much about economics and the trouble this country is in as they do Aeronautical Engineering.
No one likes or wants this but we have to have it or risk a serious melt-down in our economic system.
Talk to some one who can give you a coherent explanation of why he voted or did not vote for this mess and ask them to try and leave the politics out of the equation for just this once - something Demoncrats seem loathe to do.
By BUM
September 29, 2008 3:27 PM | Link to this
It’s not very often I am proud of Georgia’s congressional delegation. But with two (2) exceptions (noted above) I am VERY PROUD that our elected representatives REJECTED this very bad piece of legislation.
THANK YOU, GA Congressional Delegation!
NO CORPORATE WELFARE!
NO BAIL OUTS FOR THE RICH AND WELL CONNECTED!
NO GIVEWAYS of our TAX DOLLARS to WALL STREE FAT CATS!!!
By Congressional Coward
September 29, 2008 3:28 PM | Link to this
“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”
These useless self-serving congressional cowards (except Marshall & Bishop)DO NOT vote for saving the economy but to save their sorry asses in the next election! I do not believe in bailing out the crooks on wall st but what choice is there-bailing out and saving our life savings or letting it all go down the drain????
Self serving congressemen listen to dumber than rock voters and this is what we get! DOW CRASHES!!!!!!!
By joe
September 29, 2008 3:28 PM | Link to this
People, including the representatives quoted above, clearly do not understand or do not believe that our economy is about to collapse. If what Sec Paulson and President Bush say is true and our economy completely collapses, these house members need to be voted out for not being diligent enough to look past politics and parties and take care of the national problem. I knew Nathan Deal would vote against…but I’m voting against him anyway.
By lea
September 29, 2008 3:28 PM | Link to this
Simple solution - don’t re-elect the ones who voted no.
By Nurse Ratchet
September 29, 2008 3:30 PM | Link to this
LMAO
Hey Mel, you forgot hell, high water, pestulance and wild horses…
Anybody wanna buy a bridge?
By Bill
September 29, 2008 3:33 PM | Link to this
The Dems got us into this mess with the CRA and they need to come up with a solution acceptable to all.
By Observer
September 29, 2008 3:35 PM | Link to this
I think Lynn Westmoreland said it best. There is no argument about needing a bailout but we need to take the necessary time to get it right. We didn’t get into this mess overnight and if e rush to a quick solution we are likely to make a VERY expensive mistake.
Congress needs to act but it needs to be a well thought out plan and it needs bipartisan debate.
By dan
September 29, 2008 3:39 PM | Link to this
I’ll be voting to return Congressman Westmoreland to the US house!
I think he’s the only republican on my ballot that is standing up for true republican ideals. Great job Congressman!
By Chris
September 29, 2008 3:39 PM | Link to this
to everybody who thinks this is bailing out corporate execs….you are an idiot. This includes Congressmen. Yes Wall St. got into this mess and that ain’t our fault but it’s our problem. When wall street tanks I, in addition to millions of others, lost our retirement. So much for the last 30 years…it’s gone. You morons. What happens on Wall Street trashes us a whole lot worse than a tax burden. Funny how none of you cared about the tax burden of fighting two wars on credit so we could have low taxes. But now in the name of no deficit you kill us all. I was supposed to retire next year.
By heath
September 29, 2008 3:40 PM | Link to this
THANK YOU, GA Congressional Delegation!
NO CORPORATE WELFARE!
NO BAIL OUTS FOR THE RICH AND WELL CONNECTED!
NO GIVEWAYS of our TAX DOLLARS to WALL STREE FAT CATS!!!
obvioulsy you have no idea how the credit mkts work. i’m sure you think your bank still owns your mortgage and its a God given right to have a sub 10% mortgage with 4% home appreciation, right? you should learn to not to speak about things you don’t understand.
By Observer
September 29, 2008 3:40 PM | Link to this
I think Lynn Westmoreland said it best. There is no argument about needing a bailout but we need to take the necessary time to get it right. We didn’t get into this mess overnight and if e rush to a quick solution we are likely to make a VERY expensive mistake.
Congress needs to act but it needs to be a well thought out plan and it needs bipartisan debate.
By Jeff
September 29, 2008 3:43 PM | Link to this
Actually, Marshall and Bishop are the ones who need to go.
Fortunately, I am in Bishop’s district and can actively work to make sure this happens.
By chris
September 29, 2008 3:43 PM | Link to this
American’s wanted ‘CHANGE’! So, in 2006 they voted in a Democratic Congress and
yes—we got ‘CHANGE’ all right. In the PAST YEAR:
1) Consumer confidence has plummeted; 2) Gasoline is now over $4 a gallon &climbing!; 3) Unemployment is up to 5.5% (a 10% increase); 4) Americans have seen their home equity drop by$12 TRILLION DOLLARS and prices still dropping; 5) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure. 6) as I write, THE DOW is probing another low~~ $2.5 TRILLION DOLLARS HAS EVAPORATED FROM THEIR STOCKS,
BONDS &MUTUAL FUNDS INVESTMENT PORTFOLIOS!YES, IN 2006 AMERICA VOTED FOR CHANGE…AND WE SURE GOT IT! ….
REMEMBER THE PRESIDENT HAS NO CONTROL OVER ANY OF THESE ISSUES, ONLY CONGRESS.
AND WHAT HAS CONGRESS DONE IN THE LAST TWO YEARS? EVERYTHING THEY CAN TO BRING DOWN THE ECONOMY AND WEAKEN AMERICA IN IRAQALL TO BENEFIT THEMSELVES IN THE 2008 ELECTION.
During that time Senator Obama received more money from FNMA than the rest of the Senate combined. Hmmm.
NOW THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT CLAIMS HE IS GOING TO REALLY GIVE US CHANGE ALONG WITH A DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS!!!!
JUST HOW MUCH DEMOCRAT ‘CHANGE’ DO YOU THINK YOU CAN STAND?
By jfm
September 29, 2008 3:46 PM | Link to this
The sky is falling The sky is falling
No one ever explained WHY buying all these bad securities at way more then there market value was a good idea.
Because its note a good idea. The sky isnt going to fall, the world will not end, and thanks to our representatives(most of them) democrat and republican, we are now not settled with the bad investments of a few.
Socialism is a non partisan issue. We dont want it and our representatives voted accordingly. The market can fail and I wont shed a tear.
By joe
September 29, 2008 3:46 PM | Link to this
Every honest Realtor and mortgage agent knew this would happen. The dishonest ones didn’t give a dam and still don’t. The state of Georgia failed to have any legislation to protect the taxpayers from mortgage fraud, thanks to Roy Barnes. This whole mess can be laid at the doorstep of Franks Dodd and HUD. Just wait and see what the crooks Obama has sellected from this group will do to you.
By Nathan Junior
September 29, 2008 3:47 PM | Link to this
Congressman Lynn Westmorland is a genius. AND, he’s a fearless visionary. Is there any chance John McCain could dump Governor Palin and replace her with Congressman Lynn Westmorland? That would be the BEST ticket EVER! Or, better yet, Lynn Westmorland for PRESIDENT!
By jamiejamiejamie
September 29, 2008 3:48 PM | Link to this
You know it is a sad state of affairs; it is amazing that Marx prescribed this action in the Communist Manifesto. Marx says the proletariat will have to wrest all forms of free enterprise by degrees until the government will control them all. His fifth step, in his 10 things needed to obtain a communist nation, is quote….”Centralization of credit in hands of the state, by means of a national bank with state capitol and an exclusive monopoly.” Sounds pretty crazy, and this bailout proposal would have effectively left Paulsin as the first Czar of finances. Plus what was this kick back to ACORN… that is ridiculous… I say make them all go back to the table and no one goes home, to campaign until all is settled. Including hearings, we had extensive hearings on the drugs in professional sports when we should have been having hearings on what was going on at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac!!!!
By chris
September 29, 2008 3:49 PM | Link to this
American’s wanted ‘CHANGE’! So, in 2006 they voted in a Democratic Congress and
yes—we got ‘CHANGE’ all right. In the PAST YEAR:
1) Consumer confidence has plummeted; 2) Gasoline is now over $4 a gallon &climbing!; 3) Unemployment is up to 5.5% (a 10% increase); 4) Americans have seen their home equity drop by$12 TRILLION DOLLARS and prices still dropping; 5) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure. 6) as I write, THE DOW is probing another low~~ $2.5 TRILLION DOLLARS HAS EVAPORATED FROM THEIR STOCKS, BONDS &MUTUAL FUNDS INVESTMENT PORTFOLIOS!
YES, IN 2006 AMERICA VOTED FOR CHANGE…AND WE SURE GOT IT! .. REMEMBER THE PRESIDENT HAS NO CONTROL OVER ANY OF THESE ISSUES, ONLY CONGRESS.
AND WHAT HAS CONGRESS DONE IN THE LAST TWO YEARS? EVERYTHING THEY CAN TO BRING DOWN THE ECONOMY AND WEAKEN AMERICA IN IRAQ.ALL TO BENEFIT THEMSELVES IN THE 2008 ELECTION.
During that time Senator Obama received more money from FNMA than the rest of the Senate combined. Hmmm. NOW THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT CLAIMS HE IS GOING TO REALLY GIVE US CHANGE ALONG WITH A DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS!!!! JUST HOW MUCH DEMOCRAT ‘CHANGE’ DO YOU THINK YOU CAN STAND?
By Just me
September 29, 2008 3:51 PM | Link to this
I get the feeling that if the bill had more to bail out folks with the subprimes that our group would have voted for this plan. I am against any bail out, they signed up for the STUPID thing they need to pay for it and not all of us. We do not need to bail anyone out.
By Lisa
September 29, 2008 3:53 PM | Link to this
Wow! What a bunch of “the sky is falling” whiners. You people have no faith in a system that has worked for over 200 years. So, you’re maybe you have to move out of the $400K house that you bough with a $60K salary, or you may have to give back the $600/month new car you financed for 72months. Bad decisions lead to bad outcomes, and then hopefully you learn your lesson. We survived the simultaneous dot-com/bombing of our country era & we will survive this too. I’m in the B2B sales field everyday, and I have yet to come across a single business who is closing down because of all this hysteria. As a matter of fact, I’m actually running across businesses that are GROWING. Image that.
By Dave
September 29, 2008 3:53 PM | Link to this
Give us, the TAXPAYERS this money instead and WE will bail out the economy. Here’s an email that is circulating! Subject: “We Deserve It” I’m in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a “We Deserve It” Dividend. To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200,000,000 bona fide U.S. Citizens 18+. Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up. So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billion that equals $425,000.00.My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a “We Deserve It” Dividend. Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let’s assume a tax rate of 30% .Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes. That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam. But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket. A husband and wife has $595,000.00.What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family? Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved. Buy a second home - stimulate the economy Repay college loans - what a great boost to new gradsPut away money for college - it’ll be there Pay off credit cards - more disposable income to invest or purchase goods and services - stimulate the economySave in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs.Buy a new car - create jobs Invest in the market - capital drives growthPay for your parent’s medical insurance - health care improvesEnable Dead beat Dads to come clean - or elseRemember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.If we’re going to re-distribute wealth let’s really do it… instead of trickling out a puny economic incentive that is being proposed. If we’re going to do an $85 billion bail out, let’s bail out every adult US Citizen 18+!As for AIG - liquidate it. Sell off its parts. Let American General go back to being American General. Sell off the real estate. We’d have money to buy! Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up. Here’s my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn’t. Sure it’s a crazy idea that can “never work” but why not? Can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party?How do you spell Economic Boom? I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 to $700 Billion.We Deserve It Dividend more than I-do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC. And remember, The Family plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam and crisis over! Ahhh…I feel so much better getting that off my chest. Kindest personal regards, A Creative Guy & Citizen. PS: Feel free to pass this along to your pals as it’s either good for a laugh or a tear or a very sobering thought on how to best use $85 Billion nevermind the $700 Billion for the entire proposal!!!!
By Pat
September 29, 2008 3:54 PM | Link to this
Where were these people when people were losing there homes to this subprime..this just started about four years ago….now the big wheels are in trouble and we must all rush to there needs…so they can continue to make more money and we make less….My gas issues are just as important where is the gas?
By Mark Siegel
September 29, 2008 3:55 PM | Link to this
If we can spend nearly a trillion dollars to fight a war in Iraq to combat a threat that turned out not to exist, then surely we can spend $700 billion to rescue a financial system facing real danger. Will some Wall Stree hot shots walk away with millions? Yes. Is that fair? No. But not to pass a rescue plan for our financial system will harm millions of people.
By Dumbledore
September 29, 2008 3:55 PM | Link to this
“obvioulsy you have no idea how the credit mkts work. i’m sure you think your bank still owns your mortgage and its a God given right to have a sub 10% mortgage with 4% home appreciation, right? you should learn to not to speak about things you don’t understand.”
Actually, I’m a tenured business professor at the University of Georgia with a long list of research publications re credit markets on my CV. (And on this site I’m not speaking, I’m typing.)
Your personal attacks reveal your “expertise” on this subject matter and put the lie to your opinion.
Thanks for the feedback.
Class dismissed.
By Pierce Randall
September 29, 2008 3:56 PM | Link to this
I told a friend that now we know the ratio of politicians in Washington willing to do the thing that must be done in a crisis, not balk for ideological or re-election reasons:
Slightly less than half
Among our state’s delegation, and I mean this with all due respect to pretty much only John Lewis (the rest can go to Hell anyway, as far as I’m concerned), the ratio is appalling.
Jim Marshall’s statements even got in the New York Times. I was born in Macon. I stopped liking him after his continued support for the Iraq War. Now that I know what his positions mean for him, I can agree to disagree on that one. What a call for public service and putting aside the political blinders!
By Lisa
September 29, 2008 3:57 PM | Link to this
Wow! What a bunch of “the sky is falling” whiners. You people have no faith in a system that has worked for over 200 years. So, you’re maybe you have to move out of the $400K house that you bough with a $60K salary, or you may have to give back the $600/month new car you financed for 72months. Bad decisions lead to bad outcomes, and then hopefully you learn your lesson. We survived the simultaneous dot-com/bombing of our country era & we will survive this too. I’m in the B2B sales field everyday, and I have yet to come across a single business who is closing down because of all this hysteria. As a matter of fact, I’m actually running across businesses that are GROWING. Image that.
By Jane
September 29, 2008 3:58 PM | Link to this
I have not seen the 110 page bailout solution. I do not believe that it requires 110 pages either. If they need a bailout/loan -why not give it to them with the typical loan terms; a percentage of interest and a specific payment for a specified timeframe for repayment.
Tax-payers should never have to pay for the greed of corporations or their executives. Million dollar parachutes irritate me to extremes.
By Will
September 29, 2008 3:58 PM | Link to this
Get rid of this government party differences crap.
Sit down and read the proposal, then make a sound judgement. Do not fill this thing with pet projects and pork!
I hate bailing out those irresponsible SOB’s just as well. However, there needs to be a good, Not half-@$$, cure for this sorry mess. Make it where the upper mangement suffers the most, NO MORE Golden Parachutes, NO MORE RAISES OR PROFITS for those president, members board, CEO jerks. I for one hate managers with greed and self-serving attitudes. LET THEM EAT CAKE!
By TW
September 29, 2008 4:00 PM | Link to this
Republicans don’t lead - they pander. It’s a shame the rest of the country will suffer the consequences of redstate ignorance.
Chris@3:49 - you provide a great example for my assertion. Thanks.
By Georgia Gal
September 29, 2008 4:00 PM | Link to this
I agree with Lea at 3:28 pm … I won’t be voting for Tom Price come Election Day.
By John J.
September 29, 2008 4:01 PM | Link to this
Well one thing is for sure: democrat or republican, moral executive or crooked mortgage broker, we will all have plenty of time to discuss it in the bread lines next spring. Since our “leaders” in D.C. folded today, we officially have no cards left to play. Nobody wanted the bailout, but we had no choice….so now we have yet again no choice, but to watch what our forefathers built in the last 232 years crumble to absolute and certain ruin….we’ll all good things come to an end! Good luck, you are gonna need it.
By senioadawgs
September 29, 2008 4:03 PM | Link to this
Thank you Lynn Westmoreland. Do not vote yes to this in any fashion that it currently exists. From all of the people in your district you must vote no to this bill if you ever want to get re-elected.
If the Dems. believed so heavily in this bill they would pass it. They know it will fail and they are unwilling to take to take the chance.
By Jeff
September 29, 2008 4:03 PM | Link to this
The vote against this bill will affect the average taxpayer much more than the wealthy.
This is not a bailout. Think of it as a foreclosure. The government will forclose on those lenders who have behaved poorly. The government will be able to sell the assets for a gain later.
This bill will actually make money for the taxpayers if passed.
The alternative for not passing this type of bill may yield results similar to that of the Great Depression (up to 20% umemployment).
Keep an open mind before concluding that is bad for taxpayers.
By Get Control of Yourselves!!!
September 29, 2008 4:04 PM | Link to this
People, STOP panicking!!! Get control over your selves!!!
First the fundamentals of our economy are STRONG!.
Second this is just a mental crisis. It’s not real. It’s just your perception.
Third you all are a bunch of whiners.
Fourth Government intervention is BAD for the free market.
Fifth Government regulation is EVEN WORSE for the free market.
Sixth if we would all stop whining, start remembering that the fundamentals of the economy are strong, keep the government out of it, keep the government money out of it and just wait for John McCain to take the oath of office, then everything will be alright.
You’ll see.
By DOG THE MAN
September 29, 2008 4:04 PM | Link to this
I am totally disgusted with the whole mess. $700 billion so somebody can still get a $20 million dollar bonus. Its not the people who borrowed the money fault. If you give a gun to a chimp and the chimp shoots somebody you don’t blame the chimp. And the factthat the President is pushing the bail out tells me what side of the bread his butter is on. Gas is $4.00 a gallon. Milk is $3.00 a gallon. Families can’t go to dinner or a movie. People have to choose food over Medicine. I love this country, but these politians and special interest groups are running it in the ground!!! We need a strong leader who is niether DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN BUT AMERICAN!!!!!!!
By just me
September 29, 2008 4:05 PM | Link to this
So how is Clinton responsible for the CRA when it passed through a REPUBLICAN congress? How is CRA responsible when its terms and conditions only affect certain loans? The “no-down-payment” loans were created by the lenders, not the legislation. Read the facts before you spew, please.
By avg mid class citizen
September 29, 2008 4:05 PM | Link to this
I am not considered the rich or wealthy and this bill failure hurts me/us-avg citizens more than the rich and wealthy as exclaimed above. I do not believe any of you posting these comments realize what you are doing to your retirement accounts, but continue to think that this is only for the rich and see what happens.
By Rick Z.
September 29, 2008 4:05 PM | Link to this
Thank you, Congressman Marshall, for doing your job, and for your sound explanation. Shame on the rest of the grandstanding idiots in the Georgia delegation.
By Mike
September 29, 2008 4:05 PM | Link to this
I am not sure Congress really understands the implication(s) of not voting for some kind of relief ASAP. The credit markets are already tightening up, and not voting for some kind of a plan will accelerate and cause a recession for sure, and perhaps worse. Please Georgia Congressmen, put politics aside, and find a solution.
By Irish
September 29, 2008 4:06 PM | Link to this
Oh what fools these mortals be. So said Shakespear. Oh what fools we Americans be when they can’t understand the connection between Walls Street and Main Street. Regardless of what fat cat in NYC has done to place the everyday American citizen in economic harms way the bottom line is in the long run we are going to be effected. Especially if the credit markets don’t open up soon. Congress was not pulling out the rich and famous, they were pulling out the everyday Main Street Joe what will hopefully collect a paycheck next week. You have to look beyond the idology in times like this. And if you really, really don’t think this mess is in your wallet then … ah what fools these motals be.
By Mike
September 29, 2008 4:06 PM | Link to this
I am not sure Congress really understands the implication(s) of not voting for some kind of relief ASAP. The credit markets are already tightening up, and not voting for some kind of a plan will accelerate and cause a recession for sure, and perhaps worse. Please Georgia Congressmen, put politics aside, and find a solution.
By Sherry
September 29, 2008 4:06 PM | Link to this
AJC, please check your facts. Six (6) Congressmen, including David Scott, voted YES for the bailout bill.
By Haiku
September 29, 2008 4:07 PM | Link to this
Finally, Congress is actually doing their job and questioning a bill instead of signing it with thinking. To bad they did not do this before the Iraqi War. I was starting to think that Bush and Chaney were Siths and could pull off anything without question.
By David S
September 29, 2008 4:07 PM | Link to this
I can’t actually believe that the American people finally got off their sorry asses and made their voice heard. I am so full of hope for the future of liberty and freedom in this country. If only we were able to vote none of the above in the coming election we might be able to send a real message.
Congressman Ron Paul has been speaking out against the unconstitutional and immoral federal reserve since he came to Washington 20 years ago. He warned of how the Community Redevelopment act would have these unintended consequences and how the housing bubble, fueled by federal reserved inflation (counterfeiting) would eventually burst. One can only wonder if he would be given the same disrespectful treatment today as he was during the campaign. Now he is the golden child of even the obnoxious Fox News.
Up until today I assumed that the Wall Street bullies and their puppet congressman and senators would be able to stick it to the american people once again. I am pleased to be wrong.
Yes, there is plenty for Congress to do. The Federal Reserve must go, and we must return to a gold/silver standard. All legal tender laws must be abolished so that gold and silver can compete with the worthless greenback. The Community Redevelopment Act must be abolished so banks and other lending institutions can once again lend responsibly. Anything else that Ron Paul or other Austrian economists suggest would also be prudent.
Then we need to throw the two traitors from Georgia out of office along with the two other traitors in the senate who would have voted for it given the chance. I know because I have already heard back from both of them in response to my letters.
Good job America. Now lets keep up the fight. We just might get our Republic back after all.
By thanks but no thanks
September 29, 2008 4:09 PM | Link to this
Thanks to them for voting this down (because the way it was written was completely flawed), but these republican hacks are grand standing beccause they’re collective hinds are on the line this election year. Oh so NOW they want to listen to their constituents. PLEASE…I’m not moved.
You’ve sided with Bush for 7 1/2 years and you were all on board for deregulation of the banking industry that caused all of this mess. This one act is not going to make a hill of beans to me and people like me.
Thanks, but no thanks. Too little, too late!!!!
By Buying 250K with 25K income
September 29, 2008 4:09 PM | Link to this
WHO’S GREEDY ?? Let’s get this straight- Everyone is talking corporate greed from main street to Penn. Ave. When an individual signs closing docs, aren’t they responsibe for that mortgage contract? Doesn’t that individual KNOW what their real income is? Doesn’t it CLEARLY STATE on the contract what the interest rate or ARM rates are? When you sign these legal loan docs, does one say “well, if I can’t make these payments, someone else is responsible and it is someone else’s fault, not mine??” If a bank loans a mortgage on the HONOR SYSTEM, who signed the agreement? The bank or the individual? Did the bank or a realestate agent stand over this individual with a gun and make them sign? Given that the bad mortgages were sold and bundled into securities was a scam, the real problem began with the individuals who are really responsible - IN THE FINAL RESULT they are the greedy ones. Note: there are cases where loss of a job or a hardship developed, but all in all most of these individuals had no business buying a 250k home with a 25k income, Who’s greedy?
By Will
September 29, 2008 4:09 PM | Link to this
I forgot to say in the last comment. Hank Johnson, I voted for you because I tought you were the right one to do the job. Next election, you are out!
I ask you for some help last year, and you found out I was white, and you did not do anymore for me, and that was the end of that. I DON’T FORGET!
By Johnny Mac
September 29, 2008 4:09 PM | Link to this
You bunch of whiners! Can’t you see the fundamentals of our economy are sound? This is only a psychological crisis. Free markets work. And they work best without ANY intervention from the government. NO regulation. NO money. NO nothing. Let the market work itself out. It’s all good. So, stop whining.
By Shannon
September 29, 2008 4:10 PM | Link to this
So it looks like “my” representative, Tom Price did not for vote for this … guess that means I won’t be voting for him either come November.
By Miles
September 29, 2008 4:12 PM | Link to this
Our elected officials actions will trigger a worldwide economic depression - Russia, China, Latin America, and every other global economy are all tanking b/c the US is the ship that keeps it all afloat (and we will go down first). We should bail out Corporations in order to save our jobs, maintain consumer confidence, keep access open to loans, protect our money market funds, and protect our retirement funds. You all who think the $700B bailout was for the rich and well connected are clueless - those guys have already exited the market and bought govt tbills (the only safe place to park money). It’s the people on this blog who will end up on the street. And those politicians saying the market should figure this out themselves have doomed America - the problem was created partly by Govt regulations (i.e. Fannie and Freddie, sketchy govt lending policies, etc.) and now they throw up their hands and say “let the market work it out themselves”. They drove us to this cliff, pushed us over, and hope we brought our own parachute. We are all screwed and if you don’t think so, wait until next week and see how many other institutions fail…
By GAcitizen
September 29, 2008 4:13 PM | Link to this
God bless you representatives for keeping democracy alive and looking out for the taxpaying citizens! Bush, Pelosi, Paulson, and both our Presidential candidates can go jump in a lake. We know that economically things could get really bad, but throwing 700 billion tax dollars at this problem with no guarantee of fixing it is not the right thing to do. Let the market correct itself. The short term pain is better than the longterm pain of doing the wrong thing and wasting a boatload of our money by giving it back to Wallstreet. We do not trust the fox to watch the henhouse anymore. Please keep up the good fight!
By David Gatch
September 29, 2008 4:14 PM | Link to this
Lets get too the truth. This whole mess started with programs started by Carter (70s) and the rules changed for the worst under Clinton (90s) pushing for loans to folks who should never been given a loan in the first place (Subprime) . You can also blame Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd as co-conspirators in weakening lending rules. The chickens have come home to roost. Where’s a good oak tree when you need it.?
By KT
September 29, 2008 4:15 PM | Link to this
Amen Chris!
By NoMoreLies
September 29, 2008 4:15 PM | Link to this
Too bad the Republican party was not as concerned back when they let Phil Gramm ram through his sneaky legislation that allowed the unregulated credit default swaps market to grow large enough to basically destroy economies in the first place. Just say no to more Republican stupidity and their ideology before humanity philosophy. Bunch of idiots.
By Ed
September 29, 2008 4:15 PM | Link to this
Nobody likes the situation we’re in, and we let it happen to us by voting for those politicians who said we could have it all now and let someone else pay for it later. The day of reckoning has come, and unforturnately instead of dealing directly with the situation, we’d rather get even with the bigshots who gamed the system. That attitutde will end up taking us down with them, as the whole financial system collapses. Watch unemployment rise dramatically as more companies go out of business because they can’t get loans.
By Palin Uber Alles
September 29, 2008 4:17 PM | Link to this
THIS IS EXCELLENT NEWS FOR McCAIN !!!
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and his top aides took credit for building a winning bailout coalition - hours before the vote failed and stocks tanked.
The rush to claim he had engineered a victory now looks like a strategic blunder that will prolong the McCain’s campaign’s difficulty in finding a winning message on the economy.
Shortly before the vote, McCain had bragged about his involvement and mocked Sen. Barack Obama for staying on the sidelines.
“I’ve never been afraid of stepping in to solve problems for the American people, and I’m not going to stop now,” McCain told a rally in Columbus, Ohio. “Senator Obama took a very different approach to the crisis our country faced. At first he didn’t want to get involved. Then he was monitoring the situation.”
McCain, grinning, flashed a sarcastic thumbs-up.
By David S
September 29, 2008 4:19 PM | Link to this
Dave,
Sorry to upset your math fantasy, but our current debt of 11.3 trillion is only 38,000 per capita. If you do the math, it works out to only 425.00 per person. In the states we call a billion 1 with 9 zeros. In Europe, they call that same number a thousand million. They call a billion a million million or a 1 with 12 zeros. One way or the other there is no doubt that the american people would spend the money better than Wall Street, but that is the same principle when compared to the government.
Why do we give them 2.3 trillion of our dollars every year? Are they doing the right thing with it? To ask right now is to answer. That’s what doing away with the income tax would mean, and of course, just like the financial situation, only Ron Paul is on the right side among elected officials.
Now dont’ you wish we could start this whole election season over again???
Go Ron Paul.
By GoodScout
September 29, 2008 4:20 PM | Link to this
You Repuglicans can try and blame Clinton, Carter, FDR and whoever you want, but we all know YOU were the party in control of Washington for the past eight years, and YOU drove us into a foolish war in Iraq and into the Second Great Depression.
As Harry Truman said: “How many times do you have to get hit on the head before you figure out who’s doing it?”
Well get this. We’ve figured it out. The GOP must GO.
By Darrell
September 29, 2008 4:21 PM | Link to this
I say let the Dow crash and burn. Thank you Georgia’s congressional delegation for voting no!!!!!!!!!!!
By Darrell
September 29, 2008 4:23 PM | Link to this
I say let the Dow crash and burn. Thank you Georgia’s congressional delegation for voting no!!!!!!!!!!! Take this ACORN.
By Truth Squad
September 29, 2008 4:23 PM | Link to this
SHERRY YOU ARE WRONG. AJC IS CORRECT.
By Bryan
September 29, 2008 4:23 PM | Link to this
Dave,
There is only one minor issue with that plan: 85 billion divided by 250 million is not $425,000
By Always Carter and Clinton
September 29, 2008 4:27 PM | Link to this
It’s always Carter and Clinton, Carter and Clinton with you people. So we’re to believe that 12 years of Carter and Clinton couldn’t be undone by 20 years of Reagan, Bush and Bush? I don’t know what’s sadder - the fact that that might be true or the fact that it’s just a lie and you beleive it. The truth is that there were six years when Republican’ts controlled everything and did nothing. Oh wait they did make Terry Shiavo suffer a few extra weeks. Morons.
By hayda
September 29, 2008 4:29 PM | Link to this
Dave, you might want to check your math.
By Will
September 29, 2008 4:31 PM | Link to this
The ones who sign for what they can not afford are STUPID! Their actions were not of greed.
By Sabrina
September 29, 2008 4:33 PM | Link to this
I am from Central GA. and I am a democrat but I will NOT being voting for Jim Marshall again. Bush is an idiot and all these CEO’s that got us in this mess should use THEIR money to get us out not tax payers and certianly not those already struggling in middle class trying to get by with gas, food and cost of living already high enough to break you.
I will not support 8 years of bad leadership with another 4 of the same and I DO NOT SUPPORT BAILING OUT IDIOTS THAT DON’T KNOW HOW TO NOT BE GREEDY !!!!!
By Senator Saxby Chambliss
September 29, 2008 4:35 PM | Link to this
I know many of you in the Banking community that gave me money to buy my vote are upset but let me set the record straight, my policy is cash only NO REFUNDS. It is not my fault that there are actually some Republicans in the House who think they work for the taxpayer not lobbyist. Just remember thet with Saxby Special Interest Chambliss is always on the LOBBYIST side not the taxpayer.
By GOP Guy
September 29, 2008 4:37 PM | Link to this
I am a Republican and I will vote for either the libertarian or Jim Martin instead of Saxby because of this bailout bill and his support of it. Every other vote I cast will be for Republicans. Saxby isn’t a Republican - he’s at best a RINO and, at worst, a communist!
By Sabrina
September 29, 2008 4:39 PM | Link to this
I am from Central GA. and I am a democrat but I will NOT being voting for Jim Marshall again. Bush is an idiot and all these CEO’s that got us in this mess should use THEIR money to get us out not tax payers and certianly not those already struggling in middle class trying to get by with gas, food and cost of living already high enough to break you.
I will not support 8 years of bad leadership with another 4 of the same and I DO NOT SUPPORT BAILING OUT IDIOTS THAT DON’T KNOW HOW TO NOT BE GREEDY !!!!!
By mikegadawg
September 29, 2008 4:40 PM | Link to this
yeah, it does all go back to the damn “housing for all mentality” of Clinton that got us in the mess with billions of dollars of worthless loans. So, for all those blaming the policies of the Bush Adminisration, this was started way before he came along. And, Im no Bush fan. And for all you guys that want government and taxpayers to stay out…….one warning….credit is freezing up…small business, small to mid major industrial is going to suffer and you havent seen anything yet when unemployment hits 10%+ econcomic growth is going to freeze up and it aint the “fatcats” that are going to suffer….it’s all you dumbass middle class fools in gas lines every weekend.
By GOP4EVR
September 29, 2008 4:40 PM | Link to this
I’m just comforted to know that this mess was caused by Carter and Clinton and that nothing could have been done in the last eight years to prevent this from happening.
By John
September 29, 2008 4:41 PM | Link to this
YOU BIG DUMMIES WANTED BUSH IN OFFICE FOR THE PAST 8 YEARS AND LOOK WHAT IT HAS DONE. HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT, BANKS ARE FALLING AND SO IS WALL STREET. GAS IS OVER $4 A GALLON. THANK YOU SO MUCH ALL YOU W. LOVERS, YOU DID THIS TO THE REST OF US WHO KNEW BETTER AND VOTED FOR SOMEONE ELSE.
By Myself
September 29, 2008 4:42 PM | Link to this
Wasn’t it Jeb Bush and buddies that we bailed out in the S & L in the 80’s and now it is the Bush’s other buddies that we are bailing out now on Wall Street. I have in my recnt years voted mostly for Republicans, but this year I will take my chances with a Democrat in the White House. Obama, Don’t let me down.
White Male from Atlanta.
By Left to Right
September 29, 2008 4:43 PM | Link to this
Anyone who owns a business, should have supported this bill.
Anyone who works for an employer other than the government, should have supported this bill.
Anyone who owns a home, should have supported this bill.
Anyone who has any investments, should have supported this bill.
And for the quasi-libertarian “freedom loving” posters who are celebrating: the Democrats are now going to pass their own bill (without regard for Republican votes because they don’t need them) that will fully fund ACORN, nationalize the banking system et.al. ALL of which your tax dollars will now pay for. You have won a pyhric victory. True conservatives know that sometimes there are no good choices, just less bad choices, and the smart thing to do is accept the least bad alternative.
After all, Reagan (remember him?) was willing to bail out Chryseler.
By Manny
September 29, 2008 4:44 PM | Link to this
I am appalled, simply appalled. Not that the bailout wasn’t passed. I was really iffy about it in the first place. And if you’ve voted your conscience, I can truly understand that.
But what bothered me is when the Republicans came out and came to the microphone. They started talking about how Nancy Pelosi offended them during a speech and that’s why they voted no. Out of all things, why did they come to the microphone, transcript of the speech in hand, crying about how she hurt his feelings? If it was good for the country, vote for the bill. It doesn’t matter what they said. If it’s not good for the country don’t vote for the bill. But let’s not go on TV whining about how Nancy Pelosi was partisan in her remarks. That just sounded weak.
I’m not for the bill, either. I thought it was bad for the country. I thought that it was rushed. And I didn’t think that anyone could make the case for it that satisfied the average taxpayer. Plus, there was no mortgage relief. Talk about that. Or that it promoted Socialism. Or that you wanted insurance backing, Or ANYTHING except that someone spoke in a partisan manner and you were offended. That just sounded pitiful.
By mikegadawg
September 29, 2008 4:46 PM | Link to this
yeah, it does all go back to the damn “housing for all mentality” of Clinton that got us in the mess with billions of dollars of worthless loans. So, for all those blaming the policies of the Bush Adminisration, this was started way before he came along. And, Im no Bush fan. And for all you guys that want government and taxpayers to stay out…….one warning….credit is freezing up…small business, small to mid major industrial is going to suffer and you havent seen anything yet when unemployment hits 10%+ econcomic growth is going to freeze up and it aint the “fatcats” that are going to suffer….it’s all you dumbass middle class fools in gas lines every weekend.
By T-Bone
September 29, 2008 4:48 PM | Link to this
As soon as your work shuts down because they can’t get financing for inventory, payroll, etc., and you get laid off all you who screamed at your politicians to vote no will be screaming to your politicians to “do something!” Well, they just tried and your ignorance forced them to vote no in order to keep their jobs. At least they’ll have jobs. The rest of us, well, that’s another story.
By Anna El Gammal
September 29, 2008 4:51 PM | Link to this
I am a 68 year old woman living on a very small social security check and income from investments i am appalled by Congressmen Broun and Barrow’s vote today to defeat the bill. They are most likely worried about their pay check but both need a primer on how the defeat of this will bill make me and thousands like me much poorer. I hope they will not be elected in November
By Anna El Gammal
September 29, 2008 4:53 PM | Link to this
I am a 68 year old woman living on a very small social security check and income from investments i am appalled by Congressmen Broun and Barrow’s vote today to defeat the bill. They are most likely worried about their pay check but both need a primer on how the defeat of this will bill make me and thousands like me much poorer. I hope they will not be elected in November
By Anna El Gammal
September 29, 2008 4:53 PM | Link to this
I am a 68 year old woman living on a very small social security check and income from investments i am appalled by Congressmen Broun and Barrow’s vote today to defeat the bill. They are most likely worried about their pay check but both need a primer on how the defeat of this will bill make me and thousands like me much poorer. I hope they will not be elected in November
By brian
September 29, 2008 4:54 PM | Link to this
For those of you that are crowing on here about no bail-out for the Wall Street fat cats, I’d like to remind you all of that retirement device most of you now have called a 401k. In all likelihood it is stuffed with shares of various stocks.
If you weren’t looking at the market today, when this bill failed to pass, a very large part of that 401k shrank about 5%. if the market goes into complete freefall, you may see that retirement fund of yours shrivel 40-50%.
But hey, we showed the Wall Street fat cats what-for didn’t we?
By Dave is DUMB
September 29, 2008 5:00 PM | Link to this
Dave - you need a lesson in math.
700 billion divided by 200 million people = $3500 per person.
700000000000 / 200000000 = 3500
By Churchill
September 29, 2008 5:02 PM | Link to this
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and his top aides took credit for building a winning bailout coalition – hours before the vote failed and stocks tanked.
The rush to claim he had engineered a victory now looks like a strategic blunder that will prolong the McCain’s campaign’s difficulty in finding a winning message on the economy.
Shortly before the vote, McCain had bragged about his involvement and mocked Sen. Barack Obama for staying on the sidelines.
“I’ve never been afraid of stepping in to solve problems for the American people, and I’m not going to stop now,” McCain told a rally in Columbus, Ohio. “Sen. Obama took a very different approach to the crisis our country faced. At first he didn’t want to get involved. Then he was monitoring the situation.” McCain, grinning, flashed a sarcastic thumbs up.
“That’s not leadership. That’s watching from the sidelines,” he added to cheers and applause.
Wisely, in retrospect, McCain initially had been more modest. On Sunday, he said on ABC’s “This Week” that congressional negotiators deserve “great credit” for the bipartisan deal. “”It wasn’t because of me,” McCain said. “They did it themselves.”
But at almost the same time, McCain senior adviser Steve Schmidt was saying on NBC’s “Meet the Press”: “What Sen. McCain was able to do … was to help get all of the parties to the table. There had been announcements by Senate leaders saying that a deal had been reached earlier in the week. There were no votes for that deal.
“Sen. McCain knew time was short and he came back, he listened and he helped put together the framework of getting everybody to the table, which was necessary to produce a package to avoid a financial catastrophe for this country.”
On Monday morning, McCain campaign communications director Jill Hazelbaker said on Fox News that the deal would not have happened “without Sen. McCain.”
“Sen. McCain interrupted his campaign, suspended his campaign activity to come back to Washington to get Republicans around a table,” Hazelbaker said. “Without Sen. McCain, House Republicans would not have appointed a negotiator, which would not have moved this bill forward.
“It’s really Sen. McCain who got all parties around a table to hammer out a deal that hopefully is in the best interests of the American taxpayer.”
After the vote, commentators were harsh. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews said: “He’s like a cavalry commander who said ‘Charge!’ and the Republicans went into retreat.”
By Bloodhound111
September 29, 2008 5:08 PM | Link to this
After years of portraying himself as a “conservative” Democrat, Marshall finally showed himself as the socialist lapdog to the liberal democratic leadership that her really is.
By brian
September 29, 2008 5:09 PM | Link to this
For those of you that are crowing on here about no bail-out for the Wall Street fat cats, I’d like to remind you all of that retirement device most of you now have called a 401k. In all likelihood it is stuffed with shares of various stocks.
If you weren’t looking at the market today, when this bill failed to pass, a very large part of that 401k shrank about 5%. if the market goes into complete freefall, you may see that retirement fund of yours shrivel 40-50%.
But hey, we showed the Wall Street fat cats what-for didn’t we?
By BiteMe
September 29, 2008 5:10 PM | Link to this
Pelosi is a skank. Real leaders get things done they don’t posture and primp rather than pass legislation. Will someone please get this old wart bag out of there!!!!
I just read the text of her speech and it’s not worth leaving in an outhouse on a dark night. She apportions credit where it’s not due and blame before it’s time. She is no leader and if she had an ounce of integrity, she would resign for having failed her nation in its hour of need.
I want to puke.
By Bob
September 29, 2008 5:21 PM | Link to this
I’m a conservative and I oppose this bailout, and am glad it did not pass. It’s not because I oppose Bush or Pelosi or McCain, though I don’t favor any of them. It’s because this is a stupid idea that will make a bad problem even worse.
The market needs to correct itself. What is not valuable will be jettisoned, and what is valuable will be pursued…unless the worthless activity is propped by Congress cranking up the printing presses and blowing “money” at the worthless activities.
What we need is real production, and the best way to do that is to reduce taxes. A reduction in the capital gains tax will open the door to a major influx of capital into the markets.
The sky is not falling. The market is doing what it would have done long ago in smaller increments had it not been propped up for so long by Washington at the behest of New York. Why give those boneheads our trust to fix the problem they caused in the first place?
By BigT
September 29, 2008 5:29 PM | Link to this
Time to bring the troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan. The terrorists have won. Our economy is now in shambles. You can’t find gas in Atlanta without hours of waiting. Thanks “W” you have really cemented your legacy now. Just go away and take your henchman Sonny with you.
By Mark
September 29, 2008 5:30 PM | Link to this
Both parties are at fault. The “Big Two”. The same two parties that brought you “Obama vs. McCain last friday. Where were the others, Nadar, McKinney, Barr, Ron Paul, Joe Walsh. Why can’t we hear from them? The same two parties who can not figure out one of our other problems, ie Immigration, Health Care, job training, Energy, Iraq, Drugs, …… are now trying to figure his one out in a few days. Good luck!
By JARRETT
September 29, 2008 5:30 PM | Link to this
“POLITICALLY CORRECT” Pressure lead to politically correct lending for morons whom showed no proof of their ability to pay back a loan has lead to this - I’m not so sure that this is such a crisis afterall - so who is really the moron the lender … or the borrower?
By Hitman
September 29, 2008 5:35 PM | Link to this
Anyone who is against the bailout bill does not understand how the economy works. After the historic drop today on Wall St. maybe people will realize that main st. is tied to wall st. Or maybe people are just too stupid.
By Borat Obama
September 29, 2008 5:38 PM | Link to this
Big T, you’re a moron, and that’s probably a compliment. I’m sure Bush was on the phone…”No gas for Georgia”….God have pity on idiots like you.
By Jack Barnes
September 29, 2008 5:39 PM | Link to this
The ignorance of Georgians is evident in most of these responses. They are not smart enough to realize that the stock market crashing and bank failures worldwide will result in massive job losses, house values plummeting further, businesses failing, no credit available for even people with good credit. When we all stand in soup lines in another GREAT DEPRESSION you yahoos take a good look in the mirror. Cut off your nose to spite your face.
By tim in smyrna
September 29, 2008 5:45 PM | Link to this
It is obviously too easy to blame Bush or Clinton or just the congress. However, if we could step back, take politics, socioeconomics, race, prejudice, out of it; we would all admit this started when people with decent jobs at best, high debt ratios, and generally speaking high risk borrowers were given loans they couldn’t afford.
The rationale was that we would help those folks who had never afforded it to live the American Dream. Clinton and Bush both supported it and bragged about an increase in minority ownership. But the truth is greed caused folks to try and make money off of these “bad” loans.
If you’re going to make bad loans, at least make sure only predatory lenders are making them. When Fannie and Freddie started making these bad loans, it legitmized them. Fannie and Freddie were theoretically the regulators to keep this from happening. But they didn’t. And once folks bougfht into the Feddie and Frannie wouldn’t make bad loans myth, the snowball started rolling really fast.
Sure Clinton and Bush deserve blame even though I believe their motives were pure. Sure, homebuyers who couldn’t afford loans they were taking out to blame. Sure, greedy bankers are to blame as are greedy developers and builders. There is plenty of blame to go around.
Now, though, we need to find a soltuion and it needs to be done this week. I own two small businesses and have perfect credit. I pay all my bills. but we need a line of credit to run our businesses. If the credit dries up much more, I’ll have to cut back or go out of business. I have cash but without credit it’s hard to keep a business stable or grow it.
We need a solution this week. Let Wells Fargo be a part of the soltion as they seem to be about the only bank that is run like a bank anymore. I don’t care who gets the credit but they really need to find a solution ASAP. I respect a No vote a little; but a few more No votes and we will be in a depression.
By Borat Obama
September 29, 2008 5:45 PM | Link to this
Something HAS to be done. First things, though….Nancy Pelosi…shut the F up!
By Jack
September 29, 2008 5:48 PM | Link to this
TO GOP 4EVER,
You are a mindless mother f-cker. Going all the way back to Jimmy Carter to blame dems for this mess. We had 12 years of repubs running Congress and 20 of 28 years of repub presidents since Carter. WTF did they do ? Deregulated banks !!! you dumb sh-t. People like you are why GA is LAST in education in USA!!
By DonA
September 29, 2008 5:48 PM | Link to this
Greed, blind ambition, and a variety of other personal vices got us into this mess and that is non-partisan.
Thank you house members for voting this flawed plan down. Wall Street got us into it, they should get us out.
By Borat Obama
September 29, 2008 5:51 PM | Link to this
Probably would have passed had Pelosi shut the F up for once.
By DJ
September 29, 2008 5:56 PM | Link to this
Well, all I have to say that we have been in a DEPRESSION for the past 8 years. There is no sense for the American taxpayers to bail out Wall Street and these financial giants…all for them to do this AGAIN! They have to be held accountable for their actions and they need to make a plan to bail themselves out. If this massive bailout were to have passed, we would have added $700,000,000,000.00 to the national debt that us, already $9,858,269,345,963.16, and is growing by $2,320,000,000.00 every day. Jobs are being shipped over to places, like India, because the government has approved for multi million dollar tax breacks for those contries that have shipped jobs elsewhere. The only way that is going to be resolved if to bring our jobs back to the American people. The mortgage lenders purposely put people upside down on a loan to make more money. Giving Wall Street and these financial giants (who give their CEO’s multi-million dollar bonuses every year) isn’t going to make these issues go away. But, make matters worst before they get better, IF they get any better!!!
By Jack
September 29, 2008 5:57 PM | Link to this
The notion that the bill would have passed if Pelosi just hadn’t hurt the republicans feelings.Boo hoo. We need grown ups in Washington not these cry baby republicans who hurt America because Nancy hurt their feelings. What a bunch of bedwetters the republicans are!!
By Borat Obama
September 29, 2008 5:58 PM | Link to this
Wow, Jack. You seem pretty smart yourself. (That was sarcasm in case you’re too stupid to understand)
By dmcadam@comcast.net
September 29, 2008 6:02 PM | Link to this
The gas “crisis” that we are experiencing in the Atlanta area is very instructive here.
If the “crisis” on Wall Street is not real, it may become real because of the way we react to it. So far our government has had to step in several times to protect us from a collapse. The public began to panic through withdrawls on money market accounts, so our govt. now guarantees these accounts.
The drop in the Dow today may induce further panic selling. I hope not.
Some of the posters here correctly point out that Bush, and Paulson have no credibility or political clout. With the bail-outs, failures and consolidations of so many financial institutions that have already occurred, it makes it difficult for members of congress to know how their corporate lords want them to vote.
Keep in mind that Chambliss and Isakson have received more than $1.5 million in campaign contributions from banking, finance and other Wall Street interests for their most recent elections.
Gosh, Chambliss and Isakson must be very sad now that much of that money may not be available for future races. It is indeed a somber day in Georgia.
By Red Phillips
September 29, 2008 6:06 PM | Link to this
You can not fix a problem CAUSED by Federal Reserve “money” created out of thin air and government meddling with more Fed “money” created out of thin air and more government meddling. Aboilish the Fed and return to sound money. That is the solution. Not more Fed counterfeiting.
By TriGuy
September 29, 2008 6:06 PM | Link to this
Sometime in the next 6 months, when the Dow rockets down past 8000 (and no one’s 401K is worth bupkuss), when unemployment and inflation are in double-digits, and foreclosures start reaching the 25% mark … I want to hear again about the principled votes against this measure. This is going to be one vote all the “no”s will want to take back.
By JR
September 29, 2008 6:14 PM | Link to this
REPUBLICANS AND GEORGIA CONGRESSMAN ARE RETARDED!!!!!! WHEN THIS RUINS THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM FOR A DECADE, WE KNOW WHO TO BLAME!!!!
By Employer
September 29, 2008 6:16 PM | Link to this
I employer 150 workers who make between $30,000 to $60,000 per year. I have a bank funded line of credit that I have to use in order to pay those workers bi-weekly while I wait for payments from my clients. My line of credit is what keeps these employees receiving timely paychecks. I will have to layoff 150 employees if my line of credit drys up and I cannot pay my employees. This is what we are facing, it’s all about jobs people. It’s all about you, not wallstreet!
By Shocked
September 29, 2008 6:17 PM | Link to this
I am shocked at how ignorant most of you sound! Nobody WANTS to bail out the “Wall Street Fat Cats”. Are all of you too ignorant to understand that if we don’t bail these companies out then pretty soon YOU might be foreclosed on? You might lose ALL of your 401K retirement value! For goodness sake try to see the big picture here people!
By Shocked
September 29, 2008 6:18 PM | Link to this
I am shocked at how ignorant most of you sound! Nobody WANTS to bail out the “Wall Street Fat Cats”. Are all of you too ignorant to understand that if we don’t bail these companies out then pretty soon YOU might be foreclosed on? You might lose ALL of your 401K retirement value! For goodness sake try to see the big picture here people!
By Employer
September 29, 2008 6:19 PM | Link to this
I employer 150 workers who make between $30,000 to $60,000 per year. I have a bank funded line of credit that I have to use in order to pay those workers bi-weekly while I wait for payments from my clients. My line of credit is what keeps these employees receiving timely paychecks. I will have to layoff 150 employees if my line of credit drys up and I cannot pay my employees. This is what we are facing, it’s all about jobs people. It’s all about you, not wallstreet!
By Roy
September 29, 2008 6:30 PM | Link to this
The Republican Party should be embarassed over their failure to act responsibly. I point the finger towards my representative as the reason my 401k continued to plummet today. The banks are not willing to admit their loan portfolios are collapsing as reported on Cramer today (Wachovia). They need a lifeline and not the kind Regis gives. Pass the bill!
By Airrion
September 29, 2008 6:30 PM | Link to this
Hitman, I agree with you. People who are happy that Wall Street is not getting bailed out don’t understand the economy and how it works. I have a Bachelor’s of Science in Finance and yes this would have a catastrophic affect on our country. Namely the Finances of the middle and lower class. These same Republicans who are voting against it have enough money and resources to not really be effected if banks and our whole system of credit go under. It’s not about bailing out Wall Street are a few top CEO executives. (They already have enough money to be ok regardless) it’s about bailing out our whole financial system as we know it. Every thing is interchangeable. If the mortgage industry and these banks are not stabilized we will see more loss of jobs and foreclosures. We are not just bailing out Wall Street; we are Bailing out Main Street! Wake-up People.
By Adam
September 29, 2008 6:32 PM | Link to this
Ha! The House Republicans just handed the White House to Obama on a silver platter. As long as the economy stays in the toilet, Dthe Dems are guaranteed to clean up in November!
By Airrion
September 29, 2008 6:33 PM | Link to this
Hitman, I agree with you. People who are happy that Wall Street is not getting bailed out don’t understand the economy and how it works. I have a Bachelor’s of Science in Finance and yes this would have a catastrophic affect on our country. Namely the Finances of the middle and lower class. These same Republicans who are voting against it have enough money and resources to not really be effected if banks and our whole system of credit go under. It’s not about bailing out Wall Street are a few top CEO executives. (They already have enough money to be ok regardless) it’s about bailing out our whole financial system as we know it. Every thing is interchangeable. If the mortgage industry and these banks are not stabilized we will see more loss of jobs and foreclosures. We are not just bailing out Wall Street; we are Bailing out Main Street! Wake-up People.
By Irish Potatohead
September 29, 2008 6:35 PM | Link to this
I lent $20 to my friend Bob last week. He isn’t able to pay me back. Frankly, we both knew he wouldn’t be able to pay me back when he asked for the money. Luckily, I can dial 800-BAILOUT to ask the US Congress to get me the $20. Since Bob won’t pay me back, you will. Is this a great country or what?
By Robert Moore
September 29, 2008 6:35 PM | Link to this
David Gatch and all you diehard fools love to ignore facts. Ronald Reagan, Newt Gingrich, both Bush’s bear the great majority of responsibility for this. They repeated the mantra over and over and over “Government is the problem”, “Regulation is too heavy a burden on business”, “Ownership society”, and let’s not forget debt; mountains of debt. Reagan thought supply-side economics made sense. It didn’t work. George I continued the policy although with a bit less enthusiasm. Bill Clinton took the risk needed to bring budgets into surplus and begin paying off debt, then here came George II. I think the Republican party should drop the elephant and go with an ostriche with its head stuck up its arse. You folks are suicidal. You couldn’t have done a better job destroying America if you had been secret Jihadists or Marxists.
By Peter Rogers
September 29, 2008 6:46 PM | Link to this
I can’t decide whether the overwhelming majority of the Ga delegation has no spine or no brains. I suspect they have neither. They”re going to be voted out anyway for getting us into this mess, they might as well act in the best interest of the country instead of their own perceived best interests. Their vote will hurt most Americans, rich, poor or middle class. They are a pathetic lot. I am ashamed to be from Georgia.
by GA Voter
By Peter Rogers
September 29, 2008 6:46 PM | Link to this
I can’t decide whether the overwhelming majority of the Ga delegation has no spine or no brains. I suspect they have neither. They”re going to be voted out anyway for getting us into this mess, they might as well act in the best interest of the country instead of their own perceived best interests. Their vote will hurt most Americans, rich, poor or middle class. They are a pathetic lot. I am ashamed to be from Georgia.
by GA Voter
By g winburn
September 29, 2008 6:49 PM | Link to this
How dare the people of Ga. that we elect act as if they have no responsibility to the people that put them into office. You can believe that you will not go back in when it is your time for reelection.
By g winburn
September 29, 2008 6:49 PM | Link to this
How dare the people of Ga. that we elect act as if they have no responsibility to the people that put them into office. You can believe that you will not go back in when it is your time for reelection.
By Hey Soose
September 29, 2008 6:56 PM | Link to this
OMG, are you people that F’ing stupid. It wasn’t the Republicans that caused this to fail. The Democrats have the majority, and could have passed it easily. The Demokrauts voted it down, too, because they didn’t want to take total responsibility in case it failed. So swallow that you ignorant Dimokraout koolaid drinking SOBs.
By ray pettit
September 29, 2008 6:57 PM | Link to this
To all of those saying that this is a Republican Party bailout of their Wall Street buddies,haven’t you noticed that Nancy Pelosi ,Barney Frank,and Christopher Dodd are the ones who are really pushing our ignorant president to support it?
By FinanceBuzz
September 29, 2008 6:59 PM | Link to this
Ladies and gentlemen, our economic ignorance in this country has come home to roost. I am with Rep. Marshall on this and I am a staunch conservative Republican. It stinks to have to bail out either side. But the implication of not doing so goes further than these parties. The financial system is inextricably linked to the economy as a whole and if it crashes, like a man falling off a cliff while tied to another, both go crashing down. Millions of innocent bystanders promise to suffer. But can Americans see the intricacies here? Can they see beyond their wealth envy - another characteristic along with economic ignorance that the Democrats feed off of? NO! They cannot see this as more than bailing out the hated rich. The jealousy these people, their affinity for class warfare coupled with their economic ignornance clouds their ability to consider the broader implication of the current situation in which we find ourselves.
What is sad is that this time the Democrats got it right and it is the Republicans, in not knowing when to stand on principles - principles in which I strongly agree - and when to be practical and do the wrong thing for the right reason. Thanks, GOP. Over the next month as Americans watch their retirement funds and other investment wither away, as they begin to see the personal impact, in their typically irrational way, they will blame you. Thanks to you, we will soon be saying President Obama.
By JP
September 29, 2008 7:05 PM | Link to this
*By Jack Barnes
September 29, 2008 5:39 PM | Link to this
The ignorance of Georgians is evident in most of these responses. They are not smart enough to realize that the stock market crashing and bank failures worldwide will result in massive job losses, house values plummeting further, businesses failing, no credit available for even people with good credit. When we all stand in soup lines in another GREAT DEPRESSION you yahoos take a good look in the mirror. Cut off your nose to spite your face.*
May I add that your 401K and other retirement plans have been taking it in the shorts.
Our next President is going to need a new BIG welfare program and where is he going to get the money for that? Failing small businesses that can’t get credit?
Vindictiveness sounds good now. I just hope you feel the same way in six months.
By Teacher
September 29, 2008 7:07 PM | Link to this
I’ve read all of the comments on this site. My heart goes out to those ready to retire. I’m worried about the future. I have a home that hasn’t sold in the last 2 years in Georgia. I’m renting the home now and a townhome where I live now. I sold my second vehicle. I dropped the price of my home by $35,000.00 to try to sell it and I’m a single mom paying for a daughter in college. I know how to tighten my belt for times like these. But what do I do if my student’s parents can’t pay their taxes - will I have a job as a teacher. This could be reality. Yes, the proposal was bad. There is something in it that our representatives are fundamentally opposed to. I trust them to look out for me. PLEASE rewrite another proposal ASAP - we need a moving economy where homes sell and people keep their jobs. BE AMERICAN. CHOSE THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD, WISDOM, AND A SOLUTION - not politics. This is serious business! These are serious times that will affect each of us and could potentially restructure the American way of life. BE WISE … please.
By Political Foreskin
September 29, 2008 7:09 PM | Link to this
FinanceBuzz, just admit you dont know the hows and whys of this credit crisis. Anybody who could explain it is taking the fifth, because they are the thieves.
Moron.
You couldn’t explain a leveraged board on a playground. (it’s called a see saw, stuntwit.)
moron. “Duhh…The american people hate the rich and that explains everything. duhhhhhh……”
RETARD!!
By Peter
September 29, 2008 7:13 PM | Link to this
Well folks this is Bush Policies, and we didn’t get burned today, with exception to EVERYONE’S Retirement, be it in the market or not…….
Go to those who didn’t cave today…..cut the thing to make sense !
By D.BETTANY
September 29, 2008 7:20 PM | Link to this
As an Australian watching the USA with interest in this time of economic crises, I am heartened to see that you appear to have Political leaders that listen to their electorate people and consider all the issues before making a decision. To vote on such a huge issue without taking into account all the issues would not be right. Better a Wolf for a politician than a nodding donkey. The USA is the land of the free because of its strong democracy and this seems to be a good example of this democracy in action.
By stock
September 29, 2008 7:30 PM | Link to this
This is a ploy by the republicans to make a scene that they are against Bush due to his diminished popularity. They are trying to get re-elected by distancing themselves from bush.
By Not stupid
September 29, 2008 7:34 PM | Link to this
Every month when I pay my mortgage payment, I pay something called a Mortgage Insurance Premium. Doesn’t that mean that the bank will be paid if I defaulf on my mortgage? I don’t have a subprime loan, but don’t those people pay mortgage insurance and shouldn’t the banks and mortgage companies be covered? If this is not the case, somebody help me understand. Why are we bailing out anybody?
By Rufus
September 29, 2008 7:38 PM | Link to this
Chris, you’re one of the few true voices of reason here. The blame for this “crisis” lies at the feet of the 535 scoundrels on Capitol Hill. They, over the past 50 years, created it it by their attempts to make everyone economically equal. Now that the chickens have come home to roost, they want us to bail them out. The Democrats could pass this bill without the Republicans, but they don’t have the courage to take the heat for this turkey. Thank goodness we have reps who realize that they still work for “we the people.” Too many are addicted to the money they get from all those”ACORNS” that fall not too far from the tree.
By Lee
September 29, 2008 7:38 PM | Link to this
I have never seen such stupidity in my life. The capital markets lost 1.2 trillon just today. Over 5 trillion is this year alone. Everyone thinks 2300.00 per american is a big deal in the grand scheme of the 700 Billion Package. Wait until they see their IRA, Brokerage, 401k and Pension Statements. Multitudes will lose 23,000, many will lose 230,000, and a few will lose 2,300,000. Wake up! Main ST. is Wall St. And it is just beginning. Today marked the day that the capital markets begin their true descent. You have seen nothing like the losses that are coming. Wealth will truly be wiped out now that Republicans held to their big guns…way to go big boys! You really showed everyone your intelligence. What about the losses in jobs and multiple sized businesses? Is Homebanc, Integrity Bank, Wachovia not enough for you guys? This is just the beginning. How about land and real estate values?…it is pathetic. What does it matter if the price of oil comes down and no one has a job to drive to? How can the Ga. Congress be so stupid?
By Chris
September 29, 2008 7:40 PM | Link to this
Wrong Hank, Clinton started this huge mess when he appointed Frank Raines to run Fannie Mae, then they forced banks to lower lending requirements so anyone who wanted a loan could get one. Fannie didn’t care b/c they were raking it in until the bottom fell out when it was discovered they overstated earnings. (Raines left w/ $50 mil) Now he’s an “economic advisor” to Obama.
By Graham McGhee
September 29, 2008 7:45 PM | Link to this
Now let’s hold on a minute, here. Now I’ve read some of the above comments, and I watched that Stock today, and it’s troubling. It’s real troubling. These firms did exist and won’t now. They’re broke, washed away in the harsh current, of disaster, like a ship sinking in a hurricane.
But this ship is the ship that brings you and me, jobs, and goods, hope of better tomorrow, the stuff that we all live on. They fight the market, in hopes of securing a decent profit, against increased global competition, rising costs, etc. I need someone investing on Wall Steet, so the homeowner will want goods and services, that millions of us live on. I need the banks to lend the business owner money, so the business owner will pay people and allow them a place to work and “piece of the dream.”
This is something certainly for the history books, and we’ll talk about it from here on out, but they’re will be good and bad business on Wall Street, and right now, we’ve had some real “doozies,” and the system will deal with them. But something positive must be done quick , if we’re to keep people working, so they can get paid, then bring the money back to the tiny communities, and pay the grocer, rent, gasoline, etc.
Without the big business people, doing what the big business people do, they “little people” are sunk too.
By Rhonda
September 29, 2008 8:19 PM | Link to this
The only questions I have are these… To those who rejected the bill, what is your plan? I know that it takes ‘time’ to legislate but I am quite sure that they all knew this was coming while they were at their summer homes on beach fronts. What is the alternative? Where are they planning on going with the economy? And if everyone didn’t know the DOW was down 778 points today and believe me poor people’s money was not tied up into that. People who go to work every day to have money for their retiement will go to their 401(k) sites and have a heart attack. And since they couldn’t afford the medical insurance their job provides and the fire station in the neighborhood has closed, Johnny American may as well have just jumped out the window! And since everyone has an opinion has anyone for or against this so-called ‘bailout’ written to their Congressman? I have! This economy affects everyone whether rich or poor, CEO of a bankrupted business and the employees that work for him. So please if we are depending on these people to govern for US, then they should here from US!
By Rhonda
September 29, 2008 8:30 PM | Link to this
The only questions I have are these… To those who rejected the bill, what is your plan? I know that it takes ‘time’ to legislate but I am quite sure that they all knew this was coming while they were at their summer homes on beach fronts. What is the alternative? Where are they planning on going with the economy? And if everyone didn’t know the DOW was down 778 points today and believe me poor people’s money was not tied up into that. People who go to work every day to have money for their retiement will go to their 401(k) sites and have a heart attack. And since they couldn’t afford the medical insurance their job provides and the fire station in the neighborhood has closed, Johnny American may as well have just jumped out the window! And since everyone has an opinion has anyone for or against this so-called ‘bailout’ written to their Congressman? I have! This economy affects everyone whether rich or poor, CEO of a bankrupted business and the employees that work for him. So please if we are depending on these people to govern for US, then they should here from US!
By Darryl Moler
September 29, 2008 8:42 PM | Link to this
Throw the no voters out- They are misguided to vote against such a measure that most economist say is needed. I don’t like the idea of bailing anything else at my expense, however by not doing this, Congress has shown that politics and re-election is a more important objective then taking measures to protect all Americans. Welcome to the next Great Depression.
By BigAl
September 29, 2008 9:06 PM | Link to this
Why is everyone breathing in all of this smoke. And mirrors - Look in the mirror. All of the geniuses calling the reps and us idiots and speculating that the stock market will fail and your 401K will fall - QUIT CRYING - YOU are the reason of this growing problem. Let the poor businesses fail so that the strong will survive. YOU are probably the same cry-babies that pulled out all of their money because they have no idea what all of this means. If you do nothing, only the strong survive and we grow. Stocks are only directly tied to speculation.
You can disagree and strive for socialism, but even Pelocy knows it doesn’t work - she just knows us Americans are dumb enough to vote for her rhetoric. I ain’t.
By Daryl Bonner
September 29, 2008 9:14 PM | Link to this
Please - quit making this mess about Democrats and republicans. If you are wise you know how we got into this. The important question is how to get out. We want guarantee’s that the taxpayer money will not go to shore up investments made by Saudi terrorist. That rich wall street execs that made 12 million dollars for 18 days work, will not profit for their blunders. Finally that the bulk of the rescue plan should average people not washington politicians and new york fat cats
By nobama-nosocialism
September 29, 2008 9:16 PM | Link to this
This vote was about America saying no to an anti-capitalism bill that would’ve been an opening to socialism: doesn’t bode well for nobama in November. Investigate Christopher Dodd. Investigate Barney Frank. Pull the plug on Pelosi.
By JD
September 29, 2008 9:24 PM | Link to this
It’s time for a good, old-fashioned Depression to separate the whining, spoiled corporate elite from the strong, rightfully proud, hard-working Americans who pay their bills on time. Let’s hpe that not only the overpaid excutives lose everything, but also that Joe Six-Pack who falls behind on his mortgage loses everything, too. Let’s hope the banks go under one by one. Why? Because the ethical, hard-working Americans will survive and thrive while the rest will do the world a favor and commit suicide. Social Darwinism. Period.
Thank God, we live in a state where the elected representatives mostly listen to their constituents. The people of this country know a self-serving sycophant like Hank Paulson when they see one. He has been defeated. Wall Street will be in ruins in a few days. Hallelujah!!!
We will be free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we will be free at last!!!
By JD
September 29, 2008 9:28 PM | Link to this
It’s time for a good, old-fashioned Depression to separate the whining, spoiled corporate elite from the strong, rightfully proud, hard-working Americans who pay their bills on time. Let’s hpe that not only the overpaid excutives lose everything, but also that Joe Six-Pack who falls behind on his mortgage loses everything, too. Let’s hope the banks go under one by one. Why? Because the ethical, hard-working Americans will survive and thrive while the rest will do the world a favor and commit suicide. Social Darwinism. Period.
Thank God, we live in a state where the elected representatives mostly listen to their constituents. The people of this country know a self-serving sycophant like Hank Paulson when they see one. He has been defeated. Wall Street will be in ruins in a few days. Hallelujah!!!
We will be free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we will be free at last!!!
By Tom
September 29, 2008 9:30 PM | Link to this
.
It is like a little microcosm of the House of Representatives right here.
We have a dilemma. Let everything crash and see what’s left of the United States or try to put together some sort of expensive bailout that eases the disaster but by no means eliminates it.
The S&P 500 lost 700 billion dollars today from the taxpayers but the US House of Representatives stopped a 700 billion dollar bailout from the taxpayers.
.
By steve
September 29, 2008 9:31 PM | Link to this
I’m amazed by how many people parrot the talk radio pundits about how higher taxes cause small businesses to eliminate jobs don’t understand in the slightest how many small businesses are going to go completely out of business because they can’t borrow enough money to survive day-to-day as a result of the fear and ignorance of these 11 congressmen.
By mrdonut
September 29, 2008 9:37 PM | Link to this
Preciate it. GA legislators don’t want to help the working man by voting yes for the bailout. Then make Wall Street suspend trading until a bailout can be agreed upon. Each time Congress rejects the bailout, Wall Street drops like a stone, dragging my 401k down with it. Thanks for thinking about the working man.
By Leadership is a Forgotten Virtue
September 29, 2008 9:41 PM | Link to this
This is the saddest day in American history in my 45 years of participation.
No one will read this as it is buried in an insignificant section of an insignificant medium.
If however, future generations of students are researching the pivotal moment of the decline of the Amercian civilization, perhaps an electronic record will surface.
Look at ourselves. Look at these comments laced with vitriol and hatred and blamesmanship.
What you witnessed today was a total failure of leadership. “I saved my political a* at the expense of the country” is the doctrine that prevailed today.
Look, lets set the record straight. EVERYONE is to blame for this mess. Roosevelt created Fannie Mae and every administration since broadened its powers, created new ones (Freddie Mac), pushed a liberal housing agenda, and ended up lending a whole bunch of money to people who couldn’t pay it back. Wall Street complied by packaging it, re-marketing it, and owning it….and earned large fees for doing so. And WE, the American consumer, fat with the idea that EVERYONE has a birthright to an 18th Century King’s existance, borrowed every dime we could to have it.
Well guess what…. the party finally ended. This isn’t complicated. You have two choices….basic choices.
We use the Federal government and its financial credibilty to let the air out of the ballon slowly and restore order to the market place.
The market will restore order, quickly, brutally, and with zero regard for the CARNAGE that ensues!
Now, you class warfare idiots and the equal idiots on the far right who are staunch market proponents finally have some thing to agree on……its just that you are dead wrong!
The differences today versus 1987 or even 2000 are SPEED. The world has broadband. I can wake up and check the Hang Seng and instantly move $1.0 billion dollars between markets. With speed like that, global panic can sweep us and wipe out TRILLIONS of dollars of wealth in days. As I write this, the NIKKEI has been open for 30 minutes and 5% of it’s value is gone.
Now you class warfare types may say “so what”, a bunch of rich guys get taken out, who cares?
Its not that simple my unaware friends. When this locks up over the next few days and the ensuing chaos erupts, your simple mindedness will look….well simple minded.
Just remember this day….while we looked to Washington for leadership, a bunch of whiney-assed politicians like John Barrow (who should know better as he was educated at Harvard….Scott too since he went to Wharton), these guys covered their sorry asses with an uninformed electorate and voted to save their jobs.
I only hope that the melt down occurs quickly enough to shove these SPINELESS B******* back into oblivion where they belong.
If we get rid of the political class in this country and get back to Jeffersonian ideals of the citizen-servant, then we will cure this crap.
I hope I’m wrong, but fear I’m not.
By Tom
September 29, 2008 9:45 PM | Link to this
.
Many were buying packaged mortgages from Freddie and Fannie but many other were buying them from other financial institutions as well. Freddie and Fannie is about 50% of the US mortgage market. Others were buying packages of mortgages put together by big investments banks thinking they were high quality because the credit rating agencies (Fitch, Moodys S&P) saif it was AAA. Then they bought insurance for dirt cheap from companies like AIG. The insurance was cheap because it was AAA grade.
In the end, the holders of this crap are 401Ks, bond mutual funds, money market accounts, hedge funds, foreign banks and governments, and pensions. They all go down together now.
There is a class warfare element to all this beyond just politics of blame.
50% of Americans are invested in the stock and bond markets through either direct investments, 401Ks, or pensions. The perception is they stand to benefit while the 50% that have no involvement will be taxed to pay for it. The 50% with no investments tend to also hold the majority of bad mortgage loans.
The reality is the 50% that have investments somehow are also the most likely to make investments that create jobs. Many of those jobs go to the other 50%. That won’t be happening for a while.
Everybody will get to share in the pain. Deciding to take the pain and destruction now is the pure capitalist way to do it so I can suupport it on those grounds.
I don’t think Premier Paulson is clueless one bit. Keep in mind he is the former CEO of Goldman Sachs and made a killing selling the paper that is now taking down America. He knows exactly what it is, how far the tentacles reach, and how fragile it is. He also is wirth a half a billion dollars and can go buy an islad in French Polonesia in a couple of months and be done with the whole mess.
You can assume he is 0% invested right now.
.
By A Voter
September 29, 2008 9:51 PM | Link to this
We elect these spineless jellyfish to look out for our interest but, they will always look out for their own interest first. I will be remembering those who voted against the bailout bill come election time. I hope they have a plan B now that they have totally screwed up plan A. I just hope plan B isn’t another great depression. It looks like tomorrows stock market will be a repeat of today, thanks for putting the general populations interest first
By Hillary
September 29, 2008 9:57 PM | Link to this
Hello!!!!! Every month when I pay my mortgage payment, I pay something called a Mortgage Insurance Premium. Doesn’t that mean that the bank will be paid if I default on my mortgage? I don’t have a subprime loan, but don’t those people pay mortgage insurance and shouldn’t the banks and mortgage companies be covered? If this is not the case, somebody help me understand. Why are we bailing out anybody?
By Steve
September 29, 2008 9:59 PM | Link to this
I blame the homeless … .
By Tom
September 29, 2008 10:04 PM | Link to this
.
There is a reason I refer to him as Premier Paulson or Czar Paulson. All this was forseen coming. The ponzi assumed housing prices would always go up.
A large amount of the credit default swaps were taken out by foreign banks and governments. The same people who loan our Federal government the money to survive.
.
By Marietta voter
September 29, 2008 10:57 PM | Link to this
It’s not the voter and main street that didn’t understand the need for this vote - it was the members of the House who voted against this. You have put the American people into a terrible position which can only be relieved by the passage of some form of bill. Wake up Georgia delegation. **Thanks to Marshall and Bishop.
And Gingrey - YOU WILL NOT HAVE MY VOTE IN NOVEMBER!**
By Think
September 29, 2008 11:51 PM | Link to this
A lot of conservatives on this board seem to be blaming Democrats for this crisis. If Republicans thought all of this stuff was so bad then why didn’t Bush and the GOP Congress do anyting about from 2002-2006. Democrats controll Congress, but they have a hard time passing legislation because they don’t control the west wing. Democrats haven’t had that big of a monopoly on power for that long in a generation. Conservatives in Georgia are perhaps the most delusional group of conservatives in the country. You blame Democrats for things that happend on Republican watch. You advocate for deregulation and then when it blows up in your face you somehow find a way to blame Democrats. Give me a break.
By Steve
September 30, 2008 12:01 AM | Link to this
.
For Days Congress has been telling us this bill must pass, and if it doesn’t the whole country faces dire straits …
Well the bill didn’t pass today, so what did Congress do?
THEY WENT ON HOLIDAY ! ? !
.
By gary
September 30, 2008 12:16 AM | Link to this
Too many of the people posting on this site have no understanding of how money flows through the economy or how much the drop in value of the stock market impacts every person with a 401k, 529 (college savings), or other stock/bond investment. The vast majority of investors are saving for retirement and college for their children. The wealthy are a very small portion of the total number of investors. the people that will be seriousl hurt by the continued meltdown aer the middle class, not the rich. We are alo the ones that will have to pay the taxes to fund the bail out. Paying for the bailout over 10-15 years will be far less painful thatn paying for the loss this week. If we lose our 401k, 529, and other retirement investments, we will be living on Social Security (does anyone believe that it will be there?). The bailout is a terrible option, but this pain is much better than the financial sucide that our useless and spineless congressmen want to serve us. As with another poster, my plan was to retire in 2-3 years. With the current financial meltdown (ad tomorrow’s), I will be working for several more years. Or, I will be unemployed with no financial reserves to support my family. This is not the result that I have worked 30+ years for. Now is the time to vote the spineless congressmen out of office. We have to have leaders that will vote for what is best for the country, not protect their jobs without concen for the average person.
By Tom
September 30, 2008 12:49 AM | Link to this
.
The S&P 500 lost 700 billion dollars today from the taxpayers but the US House of Representatives stopped a 700 billion dollar bailout from the taxpayers.
.
By Ichabod Crane
September 30, 2008 1:04 AM | Link to this
It is pathetic that eleven of our Congressmen chose to do what was politically expedient instead of doing what our nation desperately needs. One wonders whether they will be so self interested and so ignorant next week when our currency is worthless. Imagine a world where your local McDonalds demands gold for your favorite supersized order? It’s coming thanks to the morons in the House.
I hope that we will have the courage to turn them out of office in November.
By Ichabod Crane
September 30, 2008 1:08 AM | Link to this
It is pathetic that eleven of our Congressmen chose to do what was politically expedient instead of doing what our nation desperately needs. One wonders whether they will be so self interested and so ignorant next week when our currency is worthless. Imagine a world where your local McDonalds demands gold for your favorite supersized order? It’s coming thanks to the morons in the House.
I hope that we will have the courage to turn them out of office in November.
By Ichabod Crane
September 30, 2008 1:08 AM | Link to this
It is pathetic that eleven of our Congressmen chose to do what was politically expedient instead of doing what our nation desperately needs. One wonders whether they will be so self interested and so ignorant next week when our currency is worthless. Imagine a world where your local McDonalds demands gold for your favorite supersized order? It’s coming thanks to the morons in the House.
I hope that we will have the courage to turn them out of office in November.
By Warren Patten
September 30, 2008 7:40 AM | Link to this
I’m very proud of our 11 patriotic Congressmen. The Federal Reserve will handle the mess without my money. I’ve already lost my house and will pay for my mistakes as the bankers should. The two jerks that sided with big money may have to depend on their 401K when they lose their jobs.
By Gordon Pitney
September 30, 2008 9:41 AM | Link to this
Why are we talking about the politics of this bill rather than the bill itself. Last I looked our government didn’t have a 700 Bil. savings account to buy what are bad assets. We are talking new money here so the inflationary impact will be astronomical and the assets will increase in value along with everything else that we purchase.
By Dolly
September 30, 2008 9:42 AM | Link to this
How incredibly disappointed I am to be represented by 11 individuals with no courage and insight in such a critical time in our history. And how furious I am with myself that I foolishly thought they would do they right thing by us. This is not the best plan, nor do I feel confidence at all in my president. But it is clear we don’t have the luxury of time and hindsight. Negative things will progress so quickly that all of us will be hurt. And 11 congressmen from Georgia with no COURAGE to stand up to those of us who don’t get it and do the right thing will have willingly participated in hurting these same people they represent.
By Diana from S GA
September 30, 2008 9:50 AM | Link to this
It’s obvious that the “Party System” is no longer serving in the best interest of our country. It is also obvious that you can not “spend your way out of debt”. Greed, Arrogance, & the “entitlement mentality” got us into this mess. All of us need to re-evaluate our priorities and realize that “God is still in control”. Hopefully, this will bring all Americans to their knees in prayer! If not, then we deserve what we get!
By Diana from S GA
September 30, 2008 9:51 AM | Link to this
It’s obvious that the “Party System” is no longer serving in the best interest of our country. It is also obvious that you can not “spend your way out of debt”. Greed, Arrogance, & the “entitlement mentality” got us into this mess. All of us need to re-evaluate our priorities and realize that “God is still in control”. Hopefully, this will bring all Americans to their knees in prayer! If not, then we deserve what we get!
By Diana from S GA
September 30, 2008 9:52 AM | Link to this
It’s obvious that the “Party System” is no longer serving in the best interest of our country. It is also obvious that you can not “spend your way out of debt”. Greed, Arrogance, & the “entitlement mentality” got us into this mess. All of us need to re-evaluate our priorities and realize that “God is still in control”. Hopefully, this will bring all Americans to their knees in prayer! If not, then we deserve what we get!
By gordon Pitney
September 30, 2008 9:56 AM | Link to this
Why are we talking about the politics of this bill rather than the bill itself. Last I looked our government didn’t have a 700 Bil. savings account to buy what are bad assets. We are talking new money here so the inflationary impact will be astronomical and although the assets will increase in value so will everything else that we purchase but certainly not our paychecks. Stop with this “the sky is falling” mentality maybe we should send all this money back to the people rather than give it to the same companies that created this problem and therefore put us all at risk.
By lINDA
September 30, 2008 10:05 AM | Link to this
wE HAVE GOT TO STOP LEETING THESE OFFICALS RUN OVER US. WHAT ABOUT THE EVERYDAY PERSON WHO IS SPENDING HOURS IN THER CAR JUST RYING TO FIND GAS -ARE THES BIG WHEELS DOING THAT-NO WE PAY FOR THERE GAS-AND THERE HOMES. WHAT ABOUT US AMERICANS WHO WORK OUR BUTTS OFF AND THE GOVERNMENT JUST WNATS MORE AND MORE OF OUR PAY CHECKS-ITS TIME STOP THIS AND LET THE REAL AMERICANS DECIDE NOT TO BAIL OUT WALL STREET-ITS JUST ANOTHER WAY FOR THE BIG WIGS TO GET A SEVERANCE DEAL WITH LOTS OF OUR MONEY - I SAYS NOT TO THIS BAILOUT LET WALL STREET PAY THER DEBTH.
By Gordon Pitney
September 30, 2008 11:29 AM | Link to this
Can we stop talking about the politics of the bill and talk of the bill itself? Last I looked our government doesn’t have 700Bil. in a savings account somewhere so we are talking new money in our economy. This equates to roughly 2-2.5 mil per person in this country. Assuming this money will “trickle down” to you and I the inflationary result will mean higher prices for everything with no change in the paycheck (if not a reduction due to higher taxes) Stop with the “sky is falling” mentality
By Will Jones
September 30, 2008 1:18 PM | Link to this
Please go here for my response, as this “Post” reply was: Got an error: Bad ObjectDriver config: Connection error: Can’t connect to MySQL server on ‘mt-db’ (146)
By ys
October 2, 2008 10:00 AM | Link to this
VOTE YES FOR THE BAILOUT BILL! Don’t you understand that by voting NO you are hurting the working people? People are losing their jobs, pensions, 401-K, etc. It affects everyone, like it or not. This is not a Republican or Democratic vote, this is for us, the people, to save our country! VOTE YES!
By blue dog
October 4, 2008 2:21 PM | Link to this
I had plans to retire in a few yars “BUT” my plans have changed. As a far right voter and thinker I still beleive the bail out was to insure the US would not bankrupt under Bush’s watch. When I go to the polls in Nov. and see incumbent beside a name I’ll vote for what ever is on the other ticket. Incumbent means they already know how to steal!
By bev. blanchard
October 8, 2008 2:55 PM | Link to this
October 8,2008 my question to all the people who were elected on our behalf. where have you been? you may point the finger at everyone else. but where were you?? this problem did not just happen over night. it has taken years. so again where have our elected officials been???? certainly not looking our for the citizens who elected them. as usual our elected officials are just there to find a way to line their own pockets. while the average citizen works hard and tries to save for the future. but after this weeks our future doesn’t look to bright. unless of course you are in congress. they have money for their future. ours.