What should Congress do next about the financial crisis?

What about McCain? In your statement you mention Bush, Obama, Pelosi? This is a republican President who brought this to the house. All these years, the republicans sided with Bush, McCain over 90% of the time, and the only reason it didn't pass, is because the Republicans are scared about losing their jobs. Stand up and see what is happening! They politicized this from the start. Give me a break!

When the people actually mobilize, these folks do exactly what the voters say...especially before an election.

It is time for Obama to float his own plan, and see if they will do it. He's the only credible source of leadership in that town.

Uh...I think you forgot McCain?

Christine, it was Bush that initially brought about this recovery plan, but it was the Dems who retooled it for congressional vote.

Also, it was not just the Republicans who voted it down on re-election fears, it was the dems as well.

Another thing to consider is that the DEMS have been running congress for the last 4 years. Stop blaming the Republicans exclusively. We also need to ask ourselves if the Government should have a hand in regulating everything. That' would be Socialism, and not what our founding fathers had in mind.

Use your brain and realize that this crisis was not only a bi-partisan effort, it was the greed of Wall Street and the ignorance of the American public to make purchases they could not afford in the long term.

And to you Schwannomin, stating that Obama is the only credible source of leadership truly shows your ignorance. Obama also endorsed the bailout. Obama is nothing more than a lawyer and can barely function without his teleprompter and speach writers.

What's credible about him? He just assured everybody that it was him who put together the guidelines of the bailout plan which was put to vote....

He's (Obama's) the only credible source of leadership in that town.

I almost spit out my Mt. Dew on reading that quote...another person that honestly believes the "you 95% will never see any tax increase" line, coupled with the "by the way, you'll all have free health care, better roads and bridges, better education, more jobs, more income"...and this will all come from just that 5% that will get the tax increase - very interesting, and quite amusing.

Reminds me of many of the other "you'll get everything and not pay anything" ideas that have been sold in the past.

(And he himself has already said many of those "you'll get" plans will already be scraped for a while, and that the troops may need to stay for a while, and...and...and...".

Face it, we enjoyed the prosperity of a booming internet age and the boom of a "flip this house" decade, and those that weren't paying attention are sinking the boat for those of us that were.

The supply/demand markets will correct themselves, but it will be painful (and we have, unfortunately become a nation that can't tolerate any pain what so ever). We live a "when times are great I want in", and "when times are bad, you shoulder the responsibility".

Rather immature really...

To Ray-387461:

I'm sure leaving out McCain's name was just an oversight, right? You couldn't possibly believe that his hands are clean in this mess, considering he toed the Bush line consistenly from Day One, and considering that it was a Republican Administration supported by a spineless (until today) Congress that allowed this to happen in the first place.

You selectively lay blame as it suits your agenda. The concensus, even among GOP leadership, was that McCain did absolutely nothing positive during his little hiatus in DC to resolve the crisis, and may even have been instrumental in its ultimate failure.

Somewhere along the line, the "Straight Talk Express" ran off the rails, and everyone is beginning to figure it out.

We are seeing a repeat of 1929...

Hoover had a sense of what to do but did too little, too late. This was aided and abetted by the Republican Congress.

It took 3 more years of desperation for Roosevelt to do what needed to be done.

John Boehner should be keel-hauled, tarred and feathered for providing absolutely no leadership.

Our "Representatives" have failed us, and failed the world, because that lack the courage to do the "right thing". It was nothing for them to get is into Iraq without batting an eyelash (with a few exceptions).

ACE and everyone else. Stop the blame game. It got us to this point. Start being independent minded. Become Americans not little mechanical toys for either party. It is not negative to say that America may have to find out what greed really means. Not just the stock market but all of us who have spent and spent on trival cr@p for years to keep this false economy for failing long before now.

The blame game exist and it comes down to who is responsible for all this lousy governing of our country. Also Democrats have only seen count them 2 years of some kind of getting their word in edge wise in a hostile for Democrat house and senate.

Christine-513111 - Because it is a Democratic controlled Congress??? They could have passed this w/o the Republicans!

If they want $3,500 dollars of mine on the line, they better be sending me $3,500 in stock certificates.

Why wouldn't even the republicans follow the decider in chief?

Please stop is that attitude that will ruin the country. The hate for Bush and the foolish righteous indignation on the left has paralysed this country in a game of upmanship. Get the blindfold off: THEY ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE; Pelosi, Obama. Frank, Dodd, Mc Cain. Stop the bickering and get to work, stop saying it did it you did not, and just get it done. Don't be so stupid. The people who took that they could not pay are as guilty as the banks who issued them. We are all RESPONSIBLE. If I hear Wall Street vs Main Street one more time I will scream we are all the AMERICAN STREET

ACE 2010

THE DEMOCRATS HAVE ONLY BEEN IN CHARGE OF THE HOUSE FOR 2 YEARS AND IT STILL TAKES REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS TO VOTE SOMETHING THROUGH. BUT WE NEED TO STOP POINTING FINGERS AT EACH OTHER. WHATS DONE IS DONE AND THE ONLY THING WE CAN DO IS MOVE FORWARD AND FIND ANOTHER WAY TO PASS THIS IN A BIPARTISIAN MANNER THAT WONT BAIL OUT WALL STREET BUT WILL HELP OUT US CONSTITUENTS.

This appears to be more of a crisis than it was last Friday. Stocks are falling at record levels. Why is McCain, who is so concerned for those of us he talks down to, still compaigning? Oh, so many lies.

To Ivonne-411507:

Get what done, exactly?

The dems for the most part, were for the decider's bill. The repubs were not. How do you propose to get things done? Dissolve the govt?

Scott in Florida, you've been drinking the liberal propaganda kool aid, my fellow American. Tell me, which Clinton policies made our economy thrive?? It was the dot.com bubble of unprecedented proportions that falsely propped the economy up for a few years. If you look at the facts, the economy was already heading south before he left office. Convenient partisan reporting keeps you sheep in the clouds.

Who pressured financial institutions to restructure loans and relax restrictions so more lower income people and minorities could afford homes???? Don't keep spouting either parties lines, READ, RESEARCH, find the truth. This really isn't that complicated of an issue. Lenders were allowed, no, FINANCIALLY encouraged to make these loans, liberal, socialist politicians gloated that the "deserving" were finally able to own a home. SOCIALISM, COMMUNISM is a FAILED philosophy, this is a simple and prime example of why. Anyone in finance, economics, or the like knew the golden rule of 20% down on a mortgage was solid lending practice, and minimized risk to financial institutions. These banks didn't do this on their own, they were in bed with the Washington elite who have been pushing these social reformist attitudes down our throat since the 60's. Don't take my word for it, go back and look at the changes in regulations, policies, and laws for the past years.

I agree with you, Ivonne. In fact, I'll go one further and say we all created this mess together. When the banker smiled at your "foolish" concern about making the payments on a house you just knew you couldn't afford and showed you how low your payment would be with an ARM loan, and then you signed on all the lines, you were part of the problem. When shysters on TV tell you how to flip houses with no money down and you decided that was your fast track to riches, you were part of the problem. Our "leadership" is obviously dysfunctional and that is also our fault. This is a country that enjoys a good fight. Well we got what we voted for. A divided congress that worries about getting re-elected more than salvaging our economic power. When we say Dems control congress, it's by only the slimmest of margins. Our president has no power, so now it's up to congress to work it out. Get back to work, boys and girls. No dessert until you've finished what's on your plate. NOW!!!! Or you won't have a re-election to worry about. Senator Obama....SHOW US what you can do. Prove to us you've got the stuff to pull this out. Reach across the aisle, as you tell us you're capable of doing. Fill the vacuum. As Lou Dobbs says "doesn't anyone deserve a government that works?"

Why wouldn't the Democrats follow the leadership? I suspect because it was a bill from the Bush Administration. This was not a Democrat bill; it was sponsored by a Republican President. Philosophically and ideologically, what this bill asked for is contrary to what the Democratic Party stands for. When would a Democrat do anything to help those that have hammered the Democrats' constituency all these years? Why should any Democrat vote for it? Pelosi tried to get as many as she could to vote for it. I would bet that she told Boehner that it was going to be nearly impossible. Boehner said he had done the same, and would deliver. Didn't he say that McCain's influence had saved the day? It is apparent that he was wrong. To say that comments made by the Speaker so offended some Republicans that they voted against it requires that we suspend reality. Does he think that we are all stupid? The Republicans did this purely for political reasons. With a 30% positive presidential approval rating, the last thing any Republican running for office wants to do is look like they support this President, never mind their own contributors. And who will pay? Not the investment bankers and mortgage companies, but you and I.

To all the folks who are exhorting congress to do something, and no desserts etc, do YOU know what needs to be done? And not things like throw folks in jail etc, that is not possible unless they broke existing laws (not just being greedy/stupid). That's good venting, but it does not solve anything.

First of all, the Democrats do not control Congress. I am, frankly, sick and tired of running into this misconception over and over again. Democrats have a majority. A slim majority. They would need a 2/3rds majority to control Congress. They do not have that. Ergo, Democrats do not control Congress. It's not a matter of opinion, it is a fact. Democrats do not control Congress..

Phew. Now that that's off my chest...

This package did not have enough Republican support. Again, that's a fact. Thus, the package failed. It failed due to lack of Republican support. Republicans voted against it: 2 to 1. It failed due to lack of Republican support.

Could the Democrats have passed it on their own? Maybe. But that would've defeated the underlying goal of this being a bipartisan measure. It was important that it be bipartisan. Everyone spoke about the importance of it being bipartisan for days; about how the American government had to show a unified front in supporting this bill. Bipartisanship was the objective.

Bipartisan support was not achieved due to Republicans voting against the bill: 2 to 1. The majority of Democrats voted for it. The majority of Republicans voted against it. Therefore, clearly, this bill failed to pass due to lack of Republican support.

Now, the Republicans who voted against it had valid reasons to do so. The people they represent told them not to. They listened to those people. That's what they're supposed to do, isn't it?

But now--and this is my problem--while they followed the will of the people they represent and tanked the bill, they're now trying to claim that it wasn't actually their fault it tanked. It was the Democrats fault. It was Barack Obama's fault. It was Bill Clinton's fault. It was the Gnomes of Zurich, it was L. Ron Hubbard, it was the Terrorists... it was anything they can think of, other than themselves.

Give me a break. Please. The Republican spin on this is absurd and insulting.

Part of being a leader is accepting responsibility. Where are the Republicans who're saying, "I voted against this because it was the right thing to do"? What is so horrible about that? Why is it that, whenever I see a Republican on the news, they're spouting (insipid) excuses, rather than showing some backbone and admitting they voted against it because they don't agree with it?

Republican Representatives: You voted against it because Big Bad Nancy Pelosi hurt your delicate sensibilities? No, seriously, is that really the narrative you want to promote on this?

There are good reasons to be for this measure. There are good reasons to be against it. It isn't an easy decision for anyone on the Hill. But one thing I expect from the members of Congress--be they right, middle, or left--is a measure of testicular fortitude and voting for things based on principle. Not due to this kind of partisan nonsense.

Honestly, members of Congress, you need to grow up. If this is how you're doing business, 15% approval rating should be no surprise, really.

The best thing the government can do in this whole thing is go get the hell out of the way. The only thing the government can do to help the present mess is to make it easier for business to operate. There needs to be oversight, but only to the extent that stops the kinds of "book keeping" that got us here. Stop pushing for everyone to have everything. People need to work and EARN what they have, not expect it to be served up on a silver platter. The best thing that can happen is for congress to cut corporate taxes, (Remember that the US has the 2ND highest corporate taxes in the WORLD!!) countries that have cut those taxes have booming economies. This allows companies to be able to price their products more competitively with the rest of the world. As you should all know companies may write a check to the government for taxes, but we are paying those taxes for them when ever we buy a product. Cutting taxes has worked every time it's been tried, even by a democratic president that would never be elected by dems today, JFK.

No wonder Congress has an 8% approval rating. I am embarassed when I watch Barney, Nancy and Harry posturing. The sad part is that they really believe the garbage coming from their mouth. Too bad for them the 90 or so Dems didn't get in line w/ the 3 Amigos.

Ace, since when have the Dems controlled Congress for the last 4 years. The last time I checked it was a little less than 2 years. Am I wrong?????

Ace2010 et. al.

You people need to get your facts straight. This is the second time I've read something to the effect of "the DEMS have had control of congress for the past _____— (insert fraudulent number here)." The democrats have had congress FOR TWO YEARS. Let me repeat - TWO YEARS. If you plan to bloviate your ridiculous agenda - at least get the facts right. Dems in Congress for the last two years....two years, not 4, not 6, not 8, not 10, not 12 (that was the Republicans) - two years my friend.

What in the world are you talking about????????????

didnt mccain ride to the rescue last thursday so who failed

The answer here is that you cannot trust a Republican member of the House of Representatives. The Democrats put up the votes that they promised to provide, knowing the risk of voting for the Bill. McCain said he led the House Democrats to vote for it, but he did not - they don't trust him either. The Republicans in short lack integrity - voting to get re-elected rather than what is right for America.

The "deal" was that if 1/2 of the Democrats voted for it, then 1/2 of the Republicans would vote for it. The Democrats more than delivered despite the risks of voting yes. The Republicans broke their promise. Heck, so many Democrats did the right thing that even less than 1/2 of the Republicans needed to vote "yes". Apart from that 1/3 who voted yes, House Republicans are cowards in my opinion.

what part don't you understand?

@ Scratch

No one has controlled Congress with a 3/5 majority for about 28 years. So, the whole the republicans have controlled Congress for "x" amount of years doesn't hold water as well.

As for the vote, let's use real numbers instead of hyperbole: Dems: 140 (Yay) - 95 (Nay). Repubs: 65 (Yay) - 133 (Nay). Also, note that the Dems have 37 more votes than the Republicans. So, everyone claims that this bailout bill is the right thing to do and all of the Democrats leaders come out in total support for its passage, but 40% of the Democrats vote against it. They, in effect, but some kind of "bipartisan" necessity over the needs of their country and the "little" people they claim to serve. If this bill was so important, who cares if it had bipartisan support, or not. I thought the country was more important then these petty concerns? Apparently, it's just politics as usual for BOTH sides of the aisle. These people got us into this mess by forcing issuance of sub-prime loans, then shielding Freddie and Fannie from regulation and now they want to play politics with the solution.

If you have a representative that has been in office for more than one term, you should vote them out! This is the type of government we get when we don't have term limits on these offices; life-long politicians that create an environment of self-interest and unethical behavior that puts our country and every citizen in peril. Don't let them just blame Wall Street, tell them the blame lies with each and every member of Congress.

Ray, don't you understand? It wasn't the Democrats who voted this down. It was the republicans. I heard someone say that 61 democrats wouldn't vote for it. Well, 135 Republicans DIDN'T VOTE FOR IT. Bush's own party didn't vote for it and McCain...What a joke. Using the whole "let's go to the White House and sit down together"....act to try to make himself look presidential. Let's face it. McCain screwed up the talks on Sunday and Monday. We've allowed GREED to take over this country and we have no one to blame but ourselves. Karl Rove kept us so busy fighting over abortion, stem cell research and gay marriage that we forgot that we had a country to run. We allowed it to be stolen by the neocons like Dick Cheney. I've seen some of the homes of these "bailed out CEO's" and it's obscene. One estate in Palm Beach looks like a Hilton. One of the Enron crooks' estate is probably 300-400 feet wide. This country IS OURS, YOU KNOW. "Render to Caesar what is Caesar's and render unto God" our devotion and our faith. Keep the two apart and get on with fixing this mess.

Christine-513111
The Democrats did not need even one Republican vote to pass this bill so don't blame them. The only reason they wanted Republican votes is to protect democratic seats who can say "I voted no" The 1994 election is proof when Clinton strong armed house dems into voting against the peoples wish on gun ownership rights, many voted with Clinton and lost their seats because of it.

Your in denial...
Republican policies have always been against regulation and oversight...
Mccain and his ideology paved the Way for this disaster!
Include the Iraq war too!

You voted for Bush right? You have already shown your hand sir!
Bush and McCain are one in the same- lost brothers of the same skin...

Real change means dump the GOP ticket!

Ray you moron

Dems delivered 60% of their votes; Reopublicans could even come up with 35% of theirs; Blame McBush and his obscene grandstanding

Another thing to consider is that the DEMS have been running congress for the last 4 years. Stop blaming the Republicans exclusively.

The Dems have had a majority for 2 years but not enough to override a veto.

It's not that there aren't Dems who are corrupt. It's just that most of the corruption I have seen from the past 12 years has been from Republicans...not to mention, the credit default swaps were in Phil Gramm's brilliant piece of legislation *intense sarcasm* which followed the Republican ideology "let businesses regulate themselves".

I can't believe that anyone at this point would be stupid enough to think that MORE deregulation is a good idea..but then again I did hear McCain, Gramm, Bush, and Luskin ( ALL Republicans) tell America the economy is fine. That was just a week and a half ago.

The Dems were the ones warning America for MONTHS that the economy is not well, only to be ignored and ridiculed by Republicans.

We also need to ask ourselves if the Government should have a hand in regulating everything. That' would be Socialism, and not what our founding fathers had in mind.

I beg to differ... both capitalism and socialism were parts of the Constitution. What's the pupose of being the United States? So the poor and middle classes can go fight to defend the rich people's assets when the need arises?

I don't think so.

Introducing the Preamble to The Constitution of the United States

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

they do not want full responsibility, it has to be partisan.
As I said the money should go to individual states to solve their foreclosed homes by refinancing or selling and create jobs and keep the economy going.

Oh? And why did John McCain say today that this same package HAD to be passed?? I guess you thought he was against it too.

Ace and to everyone else

The Dems have been in charge of the house since 2006 and it takes years to recover from the Bush Admin's destruction of the world. I am not sure who is worse, Bush or Hitler. It is a fearful world out there and it have been on a downward sprial since the news of the foreclosure since last year. I agree with all those who suggest that we need to stop pointing fingers because pointing fingers at each other is not going to fix the problem!

Additionally, I really want to know what congress should do? This is a diaster that almost seems impossible to fix.

"No one has controlled Congress with a 3/5 majority for about 28 years. So, the whole the republicans have controlled Congress for "x" amount of years doesn't hold water as well."

Problem is, "Devil Debater", I never said they did. That's a Straw Man. If you've made the assumption that I'm one of these people who can only think in binary, you're mistaken.

The point is: Congress is Congress. Just because one party holds a slim majority doesn't automagically absolve the other party of responsibility when something fails. That's just an absurd notion. And yet, that's what a lot of Republicans (and people posting here) are trying to peddle.

Since my last post, a Republican Rep from California actually came out and essentially said, 'I voted against this bill because I think it's wrong'. So far he's the only one I've seen. And I say: good for him.

"If this bill was so important, who cares if it had bipartisan support, or not. I thought the country was more important then these petty concerns?"

Because, allegedly, the concern was not petty. According to the principles, a bipartisan effort was critical in order for it to pass. There had to be a shared responsibility and a demonstration of unity.

I'm not personally proclaiming any judgment on the importance of that. This is just what Washington said was important over and over again during the whole lead up to this.

So, again, under that condition, for good or ill, the Republicans didn't deliver. The Democrats delivered more than their half, and the Republicans did not deliver theirs, not even close. The opposition to this bill was overwhelmingly Republican. The Republicans tanked this bill, no hyperbole about it.

And maybe that was a good thing. But the apparent widespread unwillingness to say so, coupled with the attempt to blame the other side is, I think, cowardly.

"This is the type of government we get when we don't have term limits on these offices; life-long politicians that create an environment of self-interest and unethical behavior that puts our country and every citizen in peril."

I'm inclined to agree.

But who then would have the experience to lead? ;)

The Democrats did follow they brought the votes they said they would. They want this to be a bi-partisan bill which it should. Republican deregulation was a big part of this mess. They should have to take ownership also. They shouldn't be able to weasle their way out of this one. ACE2010....THE DEMS HAVE BEEN CONTROLING CONGRESS FOR 17 MONTHS NOT 4 YEARS. SO DON'T EVEN GO THEIR.

What happened to the overwhelming calls for "no bailout!" ? Why is everyone bashing the politicians and calling for a renegotiation of the bailout they didn't want! Have we all become McCain?

WTF?

The Dems have had a majority for two years, but it still isn't enough of a majority to override the presidential veto. Get your facts straight before you start pointing fingers.

This is what I've been saying for years, the Republicans Looted the Vaults when they were in power, now they don't give a Damm, were in debt for ever, now they want to play politics,need to throw these Republican Bums out of Office, they don't care about you or me
they only care about there own power hungry-self, they lie, lie , lie, there arrogants is unbelievable to blame this on Obama and the Demacrats, they let America down today
with there "No Vote", what Arrogants, "No Republicans in 09". Yes on Obama in 08.

They did. It was the Republicans that thwarted this bill.

Ahh, have you been following the news?? The Deomcrats did vote for it. It was the Republicans that voted against.

With people like you voting it is no wonder this country is in such trouble.

MAYBE IT'S A BLESSING THIS THING DIDN'T PASS. WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES TO DOING NOTHING? NOBODY HAS SPELLED THAT OUT IN PLAIN ENGLISH.

ALL THEY HAVE SAID IS A BUNCH OF BIG WORDS FULL OF SPECULATION. WHY HAVE STOCKS DROPPED SO LOW NOW? BECAUSE THIS BIG CREDIT BALLOON IS BURSTING AND IT'S A CYCLE THAT WILL RUN IT'S COARSE. IT PROBABLY WOULD HAVE HAPPENED ANYWAY.

ONE THING IS FOR SURE...ALL THOSE RUNAWAY CREDITORS THAT ARE GOING BROKE, NONE OF THEM DESERVE A DIME TO RESCUE THEM. ESPECIALLY IF THEY EARN MORE THAN 250K A YEAR...NO BAIL-OUT FOR YOU...DO NOT COLLECT $200.00, PROVE YOUR INNOCENCE OR GO TO JAIL.

IF THIS 700B$$$ CHECK HAD BEEN CASHED, IT WOULD ONLY BE MORE DEBT ON TOP OF AN OUT OF CONTROL DEFICIT. AND WE'LL BE PAYING IT BACK FOR GENERATIONS.

WHY KEEP GIVING CREDIT AND LOANS TO COMPANIES THAT CAN'T PAY THEM BECAUSE THEY LED PEOPLE TO BELIEVE THEIR MORTGAGE PROGRAM WAS THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD? IT WASN'T THE PEOPLE WHO MADE THE HOME PURCHASES, BUT THE UNSCRUPULOUS CROOKS WHO CAME UP WITH THE PROGRAMS.

A MORTGAGE COMPANY ONCE ASKED ME WHICH PROGRAM I WOULD PREFER TO BUY MY HOME (A.R.M. OR CONVENTIONAL) SOUNDED LIKE THEY WANTED A BODY PART (ARM) SO I SAID CONVENTIONAL.

ONE THING IS FOR SURE, THIS PROPOSAL HAD A BAD SMELL FROM THE BEGINNING, WITH NO CHECKS AND BALANCES, NO OVERSIGHT, NO QUESTIONS ASKED. IF THAT HAD BEEN APPROVED WE REALLY WOULD BE IN A WORLD OF HURT. WE WOULD HAVE BEEN ROBBED, EYES WIDE OPEN AND THE THIEVES WOULD HAVE ONLY USED A PEN AND SMILING IN YOUR FACE ALL THE WAY TO OUR BANKIS AND THEN CLOSED THE DOORS BEHIND THEM FOR GOOD.

THIS IS TOO MUCH LIKE ONE OF THOSE CREDIT CARD COMMERCIALS..."WHAT'S IN YOUR WALLET?" CASH OR PLASTIC?

Just look at the market reaction - here and abroad. That is the reaction of doing nothing!

This is a total Republican fiasco.

They were the deregulators, remember?

Both sides voted against it. I say good! The market is trying to recover and we are trying to stop it from doing so. Where's the logic in that.

If it wasn't for Greenspan under Clinton's watch we wouldn't be going through this now. The housing bubble created at that time was doomed from the beginning.

The Bush administration tried, the WRONG way - go figure, to slow the situation by deregulating and actually made it worse.

If people learned to live within their means and quit borrowing this wouldn't be happening.

I find it ironic that over in Europe banks are being Nationalized like it is some kind of patriotic duty on the same exact day we were to vote on this bailout of these Bankers failed economics. Can we say Socialism?

Bankruptcy will correct the market. It is better to jump out the second story window now then to jump off the roof. You can not correct bad debt with legislation. More legislation is only going to stifle the market further and create a second Great Depression.

All the things being tried now have been tried in the late 20' and early 30's and guess what? They didn't work. They are not going to work now.

It is like Bush, Bernanake, and Paulson opened up the History book from the Great Depression and said, yep, that's what we are going to do - which is fail!

The people that let us get further into this mess are the so called experts now trying to fix it. What idiot believes these chumps are really experts? You want experts, get a third party like Mises Institute to counsel you.

I hope you people realize what huge favor Congress did for you today. Get out of front of the Marxist TV and do some research for yourself for Christ sakes.(http mises dot org )

As for all this fear mongering going around about 401K, school loans, pensions, small business, no pay checks, loosing millions of jobs, etc., that is exactly what was prevented today. You dump that kind of loot into the market and the dollar crashes.

I guess no one wants to talk about the 700k billion the fed already dumped in the market a couple months ago, or the the recent 600k billion they just dumped into the market, all without congressional consent. That seemed to work real well didn't it? Go back and listen to Pelosi statments early today when she said Paulson and Beranake were already dumping billions into the market before they went to congress. They can't fix this by dumping money in it. Get it through your heads people!

More money means more inflation. To much and you collapse the dollar. Collapse the dollar, which is used as the global currency to trade with, and you will have a bigger problem then what we have now. You think this is scary? This is peanuts compared to what will happen if we have a global crash!

Cemorela, I agree with you. And I readily admit I am one of the constituents calling and sending e-mails the past few days begging Congress to reject the bailout. The government has already "infused" the economy with more than 13 billion and everything is still a mess. I'm not willing to add more and HOPE that it works. Let the market self-correct. We'll all feel it, but we were going to anyway.

I don't know what you people are thinking but this Bailout actually doesn't solve the problem.. In Fact it would end in a much worse situation because taxes would rise and inflation would soar through the roof so fast that it would literally kill any benefit this could ever offer.. People still won't be able to afford their loans or mortgages either way.. In Fact this Bill does nothing to fix the problem and only serves as a KEY CARD to continue doing the same thing vs changing it. It will only get worse and crash that much harder the next time around because the economy is a CRIDIT/DEBT economy where people are pretty much living on Credit cards and debt.

The only way to fix the problem is to let it crash completely..Let everyone who screwed up lose their shirts.. Why? Because without crashing or people losing their shirts nothing will ever be done to really fix the problems that caused it in the first place. Bailing Out seems to be common practice these days giving CEO little to care about and Companies an EASY BUTTON out with Taxpayer money.. Hell the interest on 700 billion alone is insane. Who's next? The auto industry? Let them fail people.. It's better that way.. Otherwise you are just opening Pandora's Box to this in the future.

Yeah you might have to cancel your cable tv and internet or move in with your family to support each other.. But at least there will be motivation to get people off Credit and debts they can't afford to ever have! Might actually drive this nation to develop rules and regulations to prevent this..

As of right now I see no solution offered in the bill to fix this.. In fact it could crash again 2 years from now for all we know.

MadMiche.

I hope the market correcting it self does not end up with the rate unemployment going up and banks closing and companies not being able to borrow the money for your pay check and that is just in our country what if the Saudis and the Chinese are able to come over here and buy everything that is having a fire sale, which means they can buy bonds at maybe 30 cent on the dollar or even lower, Yea we are going to feel it alright.

I feel cheated. I am a responsible American; I pay my bills on time, I do not have any credit card debt, I am not living above my means but, I am struggling just like everyone else. I do feel badly for those Americans that are struggling, but... why should I pay this? Why should I pay just because these Americans lived for years spending spending spending, never thinking about the consequences? As for the banks, I understand all the ins/outs of the economy and what this is doing to us ALL, however, again, why should I have to pay for this? Someone made the reference that the Government is like a overbearing parent that fixes everything when these Corps. mess up. Where is the lesson in that? It will happen again and again because there will be no consequences with this bail out plan.

Pelosi delivered what was promised. A bill that satisfied the Presidents people and the votes. The Republicans thought they had enough votes to pass it. Democrats came up with 15 more votes than promised. How you have Reid in there makes it like a political ad. The senate had nothng to do with passing the bill in the house. It was a lousy bill and good democrats and Republicans refused it.

Republicans put Country Last and getting re-elected first.

People vote for those able to decipher what's good vs bad,

not to put our country in peril because the common man

doesn't understand all the intricacies. Unfortunately the

House Republicans couldn't handle the truth spoken by

Speaker Pelosi and reacted as spoiled brats !

It wasn't only the Repulicans who didn't vote for this, it was also 1/3 of the Democrats. Maybe the majority who voted it down know something that we don't. Good interview on GMA this morning with both a D and R who voted it down because of other things that need to take place first with loosening the accounting regs for banks lending to one another and to get the mortgage crisis in check first - then think about providing money to people who truly don't deserve it.

The reasoning is simple. Someone actually looked at it and said it was the wrong thing to do.

The reasoning is simple. Someone actually looked at it and said it was the wrong thing to do.

Ray

The question is why the Republicans, whose president got us into this, didn't tell us until the last minute of how massive the problem was, didn't come vote for it. It was the President and the Republican house that didn't get it done despite saying they had negotiated the package which although no one would like, was still acceptable enough.

This failing had nothing to do with "good" or bad Demos or Repubs. It has to do with 30 out of 38 representatives in tight political races knew they would be fired in a month if they passed this bill. There is nothing "good" about that thinking except job protection. And never forget, they will do whatever the callers, writers and e-mailers demand...unless they've already won the election.

It is time for a responsible leader who will put Main Street ahead of Wall Street. It is time to elect Barack Obama. And in Ohio, we start tomorrow.

I think Congress does not get it! They are arguing and pointing fingers. Those who voted against are trying to keep their jobs. The Dems who voted yes are angry at the Reps who voted against because they promised to support and did not. They are missing the whole point!

Fix the Bill, make it palatable for Main Street. In their haste to find look good, they are shoving a lousy solution down the throats of main street in the hope that they look good for the upcoming elections... Main street no longer trusts any of them, we want something that will benefit us for a change!

To all you kool-aid drinking leftwing nutbags who think the democrats are innocent in this financial mess watch this...and then STFU!!!

ExT

on youtube

watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs

paste in the search this text...Shocking Video Unearthed Democrats in their own words Covering up the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Scam that caused our Economic Crisis

ExT

Alot of us are already scraping bottom to survive. Why should we continue to bail out the rich. Throw all the crooked CEO's of the banks into prison, sell their houses that they don't deserve and give the money to the people.

Jennifer~

You took the words right out of my mouth. Jimmy Crickets I wonder if any of these people really understand that it is folks like US who are going to feel the pinch of this recession turning into a DEPRESSION!!!

ALL the FAT cats sitting up there in Congress won't feel the pain like us simple folks!!

Oh well Jennifer,

Just like casualty of wars, this is casualty of greed and stupidity.

No bail out. Enough miss-management.

JENNIFER 544100 IS RIGHT. None of us want to bail out Wall Street or the Dems or the Rep but the people we sent to Washington to protect us -didn't, as usual. But as usual the taxpayers are being ask to bail them out and WE HAVE TO DO IT. It won't be the big shots on Wall Street, the Senators or Congressman or the President who will be standing in food lines - it will be us. It will be your Mothers and Fathers, your Grandparents who saved all their lives to enjoy retirement who are wiped out. It is your kids who can't afford to go to college, or buy a car or buy a house. It will be all of us middle class Americans who pay the price unless we do what we always do...But I'll be damn if we should let any of them get away with this. The Ballot Box is our weapon of choice. Vote and if the new ones don't work - get rid of them and try again. There has to be someone honest with brains and street smarts still out there. Maybe Bill Gates should run the country for awhile.

Catrose your high minded interest amazes me. I work everyday and live from paycheck to paycheck and if somebody through hard work is able to make money and improve his life more power to him. That means I might be able to do it to.
strong>The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery. -Winston Churchill

When people stop getting paychecks they will be saying what?why didn't congress do something,then it will be to late to fix,with or with out a band aid that could possibly make U.S alot of money if the republicans keep their greedy little hands off of it,Republicans have carried the deregulation ball for years and now pretend they even know what to do is ludicrous,some in congress on both sides are only worried about re-elction at this time,so I doubt anything will get done,this has to be a group effect,all Americans in power need to stop the C.Y.A mentality and take one for America and show real leadership,Wall Street needs it's leash back and letting it crash and burn will not only hurt wall street,I wish people would have worried about all the money Bush was borrowing B4 this Mess and maybe this crisis wouldn't have hurt so bad.Bush and his lies,have now put him in the little boy that cried Wolf too many times syndrome

Catros, Off w/their heads! You sound like you want a witch hunt or another French Revolution. You just sound bitter. Some Wall Street execs. are honest and worked hard and they got screwed too. Nobody wins here. But your attitude is just plain sour grapes.

READ all of these comments and posts from us, Washington. We are sick and tired of the quagmire that our government always seems to find itself in. You vote yourselves raises at our expense annually, but do not look out for our best interest. We demand that our politicians look out for the United States first and foremost. Take care of our citizens first. Foreign aid needs to be paused and put back into the US first. President Bush, I personally don't dislike you as a person, but your philosophies and advice you have received over the last eight years, well sir, just stink. I think it is time that President Bush start saying Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayers, we are very sorry for misleading and misguiding our great nation for an extended period of time. Time to call the taxpayers, Sir and Ma'am. I am going to hate to see what else is going to transpire after the current administration leaves office. What other basket of stinky eggs is waiting in the back room. I am trying to keep this post civil, but if you were in my vicinity right now, Mr. President, and Congress, you would hear this old guy's opinion with vigor and little restraint.

I agree. Those people who are so concerned that we are 'bailing out' Wall Street don't know what they're talking about, but they will if we go into another depression like we had in the 1930s and 40s. And what is the garbage some people are spouting that the $700 billion should be given to the people? That is ridiculous! We're not on welfare and this is NOT a possibility so they may as well quit dreaming and get real.

Do you all really understand what is going on here?!! This is not just a bail-out for Wall Street. This is to get liguidity in the market so that we can run our small businesses, buy our cars, houses, etc. Without some kind of help our economy will slow to a crawl. Look at the DOW down almost 800 points today!! This will affect main street America so everyone needs to stop looking at it like it is only helping Wall Street. Yes, they caused alot of this, but so did American greed. If you want to have money to function, you all better hope that some type of deal happens soon. I am so tired of hearing people say just let it happen and let Wall Street repair itself. WALL STREET CAN'T REPAIR ITSELF, THERE IS NO LIQUIDITY IN THE MARKET!!!! NO MONEY!!!!! People wake up!!!!

Also, they are not giving the whole amount at one time. They are doing it in increments and only if it is needed. So all you Republicans need to call your Reps. and tell them to vote unless all you farmers, ranchers, retired people, and middle class americans want not to have anyway of funding any of your needs!!!!! NO MONEY, NO FUNDING!!!

I am doing that now. You think this bailout is going to make your life any easier? Your living in a fantasy if you think so. I have 5 kids, a mortgage, 2 car payments, 3 credit cards, cheerleading, gymnastics, college tuition, school fees, utilities, a lot of laundry, a lot of groceries, memberships to the health clubs, insurance payments, I buy stock in the company I work for, and this list could go on for a solid page. You know what? I budget my money. I work for a retail store and we all know we don't make crap in retail. I am not a manager or even a supervisor. I don't work on the side or make money on the internet. I work 35 hours a week. My better half is a secretary and makes less then me. You know what? I am glad this bill failed because I know the market will get better quicker then if government messes with it. I know a little about economics, and it isn't much, but I know the implications of what will happen if this market gets bailed out.

Do your research away from the TV and you will see the BS they keep feeding you.

The markets collapsed in the 80's and we had a lot of banks close then. We didn't have a collapse and go bailing out wall street. We left it to the market to correct it. And it did. Same has to happen now. Quit listening to all this fear mongering. Things are tight and that is about as bad as it's going to get for main street.

Read that bill you guys thought had to pass today. There was no protection in it for the housing market, or any corrective steps to prevent this from happening again, amongst other things!

Here's something else, all those congressman today said they didn't like this bill or what was in it, but concluded they would vote for it. You not see something very wrong with that? They were only voting for the bill out of fear! Fear of the market because they don't understand it!

I agree with what you said about the small business's and the working man and women because they are the ones that will suffer because of this bill not being passed I don't like the idea of this bail-out but look at mess it could cause more lay-off's which could mean people can't make their house payments,car payments, the price of food going up higher than what it is already. I agree those congressmen & women that didn't vote for this bill were only worried about being elected again but I bet if they were voting for a raise in their congressional pay they would all vote for it that's both Dem's and republicans. Those that voted against it were just thinking about themselves not us.

Actually, Clinton is the one who wanted Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to make these ridiculous loans. It was nice idea for everyone to own their own home, but see where that got us!!!!!

Hardly, it was Bill Clinton wanting all the minorities to have a chance at home ownership. He forced some major changes in our lending practices. Here, take a quick trip down memory lane:

Sandie - 591805

Are you serious? Bill Clinton. This is all crap that has been the fault of the current administration and the fact that our government has been forced by Bush, Cheney, Rummie, and Rice to waist BILLIONS of dollars in Iraq. All four did a heck of a job.

So much attention has been shifted away from homeland issues. Also, the Republicans have deregulated too much in the belief that big business and the capital markets will watch themselves. Its like leaving your front door key in the front door, putting up a sign, help yourself.

Clinton left the economy in excellent shape and Bush has ruined it. Clinton left a surplus and BUSH wiped that out in no time and has put our great grandchildren in debt to China and the Middle East.

The "Decider" made some horrific decisions. But that should be expected from someone who stole the election.

4 months left until Crawford gets its village idiot back.

If you check the Democrats have the majority rule in both houses

and every time they tried to pass something the Repugs would use the presidential veto or parliamentary rules to block it. They blame the Democrats for not doing anything. What a bunch of lieing hypocrite!

Christine, are you so blinded by hate that even when presented w/facts you can comprehend them??? The Dems got us in this fix years ago and they are trying to still push earmarks now. Open your blind eyes!

please watch this,, and then call, fax or email your congressman,, stop this bail out, its a travesty that YOUR grandchildren will still be paying for,, we'll never get it back...

Freedom from the Insaniac McCaniac Repubs!

Christine review the CRA history which is what started this downhill slope. Let's see Carter, Clinton, Frank, Dodd and Obama. Go take a look who was the lawyer for ACORN, who received more contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac. Once you do this let's talk.

I hope Obama wins the election. Then the Dums,Oh I mean dems will have All three houses. Who will they blame then? Bush raised this issue back in 2003 but nobody listen and Barney Frank opposed him. The NY Times Archives to this day still has the article, very interesting read.... Dums, oh, I mean Dems, go read the article....

Thank you for being the voice of reason here. Every one has an opinion but nobody does their homework!!

Do your homework. It started w/Clinton and his party. Freddie and Frannie everyone deserves a home even if they can't pay for it. Research Dodd and Frank and then come back to the message board with something intelligent to say. The Dems. don't need the Reps. to pass this bill. They are the MAJORITY. They just don't want to take the blame if it fails.

sandie-591805, Norrie-592203, Ivonne-411507. Really you 3 out to live in the real world and stop with the revisionist history. In order to make themselves look good the Republicans use the burn and torch method to get you to believe it was all the Democrats problems.

Why didn't this get voted thru. It is very simple, those that voted yes would have been targets during the election and could end up losing their seat. Those that voted no basically are saying we do not want to tackle the hard issues. Oh by the way didn't McCain suspend his run for office to make sure that the bill would be tweaked so it would pass. Well how did that do.

The bailout may not be the greatest thing, but no action is even worse. If you go with no action then you basically are saying that you do not care for others who may be less fortunate than you and may not be able to weather the storm from this.

When did we stop caring for our fellow man.... It started when you listen to the soundbites and the opinions of those on TV and not by thinking yourself. You started to beleive in the few who are leading you like sheep to the slaughter.

America was once great and to be great again we have to make a change and not leave the status quo. Give Obama a chance, maybe he will impress you. If your not then vote him out in 4 years. We have the power but don't use it. What is the power. It is our vote. You don't like what is happening, then vote that person out and put a new one in place. If you don't then you have no one but yourself to blame.

You people who say the Clinton party is the one that started this. Just remember who controlled Congress by a huge amount during the Clinton Admin. Republicans, so it they wanted it stopped they could have stopped it.

What Sandie doesn't remember is that it was Bush who started pushing for loans to minorities and the creation of reverse redlining by the mortgage companies. It was Bush who in 2004 proudly announced that his plan had worked and that more people owned homes than ever in history. Check out the CNN Mortgage Meltdown show - which discusses the problem in depth with a variety of non-partisan folks, including a creepy John Shibley from Lenox Financial, a sub prime broker, who honestly tells you that greed from financial institutions and Wall Street brought here - deregulation is not your friend.

So if I hear you all correctly, the Republicans have done nothing wrong over the last 8 years? The Republican congress has done nothing wrong in the last 14 of 16 years they held control over the congress? It is all Bill Clinton's fault? Ha, I laugh at your naivete. When I stop laughing I'll get back to ya!

That's what this was all about. Folks we have already have paid the tax dollars for this. this is just redirecting the funds to payoff a more urgent financial issue. In doing so what you do is initiate rules that help to deter more stringently this from happening again. which is what this bill was about. Any financial institution that needed to be bailed out had follow detailed guidelines. the Govt took ownership stake to secure that when the market recovered and business paid back or were sold the Govt received a portion of the profit to be reimbursed for the bail-out.

This would have saved a lot of Americans 401K and retirement investment accounts but now look what is done. More Americans will take a hit. It yours and my money at stake. I still have time how many of you are trying to retire now or within the next 5 - 10 year? I bet the majority of you. You have already lost and now you have lost more because this bill hasn't passed. My own mother is all stressed out worried about her retirement and she is retired now. Most American have no understanding of the financial market. Read the "Creature From Jekyll Island" talks about your modern financial system and how it was created in a meeting on Jekyll Island. The plan should have passed.

It is amazing how Congressmen and woman are worried about there jobs. The job is doing whats best for Americans even if you do not get re-ellected. Most Americans do not posses the financial competence to understand what is happening. This is about maintain commitments of both parties. In the end we got ourselves in this as the consumers and the businesses being greedy. If American exercised financial intelligence they wouldn't be in the this situation in the first place. Don't over extend yourself, accept not have the best of everything even when you can't afford it, better yet drop the "at any cost" attitude and except no. Because so many of us have bad credit a sub prime had to be created to keep the economy strong. If a large segment of the Americans can not meet the requirements for credit who can I sell too? Thus a high risk market had to be created. Unfortunately Americans feel so intitled to have so much that they do not care what the risk are until they end up on the street. Now they want cry about it.

Our markets is global and this rippling accross other countries as the global markets plung and Banks fail in Europe and in other countries.

This is a very logical answer - and correct. This is no longer about Wall Street. This is about all of us and the desire to get even with those that created the problem doesn't fix the problem. All debt, from mortgage debt to credit cards to car loans is intertwined. What we have is like a barrel of apples that we now know has a dozen bad apples in the barrel. But the barrel is sealed, so we don't know exactly how many or where they are. So, there is little demand to buy that barrel. And, now, the market is projecting the same problem to every barrel - driving down all of their values.

This is a problem but now we exaggerate it due to FASB 157, which requires companies that own these mortgages to mark them down on their balance sheets to these same fire sale levels, destroying their balance sheets, which is exactly what brought down Lehman, Bear Sterns, WAMU, Wachovia and others.

Here's a few things they need to do immediately
Suspend FASB 157 now
Have the FDIC immediately guarantee deposits up to $250,000
Lower interest rates by a half point to 1.5%
Flood the market with liquidity, including expanding collateral to include other assets like auto loans, business loans, etc.
Pump emergency money in through the Small Business Association
Get every business association on the phones railing their politicians for non-support
Have the Fed guarantee interbank loans

From a market standpoint, immediately ban all naked shorting on all stocks, including market makers and specialists

JMHO

Please check the math. That is what is going around, but it is wrong. Please use a calculator. It is really about 2500-3000 per person. Not 400K.

Your math is off. 85 billion divided by 200 million is only 425. Not 425,000.

85000000000 divided by 200000000 is 425. Not quite the windfall your plan requires.

Robin - EXACTLY!!!! Why is Washington so stupid!!!! I, as most would do, is pay my mortgage off COMPLETELY with that money...so everyone is better off - me, as no more mortgage payment, my bank as they get all the mortgage money back and don't lose out due to forclosure, and the govnm't even gets some of it back due to taxes...

Very good ideal, everyone will get something this time!!!!

But what you are overlooking is the $700B is used to buy up loans where the property is currently worth less than the loan amount. In most cases of a bailout, the loans are later sold when property values once again rise. So this money isn't just thrown away for a nationwide party, it is invested in the likely hope that 10 years from now the government will recoup all that money and more. And for those who have no sympathy for Wall St...I absolutey agree with you. But you have to realize that those are your pension funds and 401Ks that are being decimated along with the big boys' salaries. What will you do at retirement when your savings are wiped out? Certainly you can not rely on Social Security.
Unfortunately we have to save the fat cats to save ourselves. Anything else is short-sighted and irresponsible.

Nice try. Your dividend equals 4,250.00. I could still argue that it might be better in my (and my fellow citizen's) hands. But it would serve as a pretty short term stimulus to the economy. This is a credit crisis and we either need to devise a remedy for that or decide we don't want to and let the markets act accordingly. I don't think your medicine matches the disease.

sorry I can't pay off my mortgage with $425..apparently we need to spend the 700 Billion on education. sad thing is even after someone corrects the math others still believe it.

Firewashington - You could pay off your mortgage with $425?? If this is the case, you need to stop complaining.

I think before you call Washington stupid, you need to do some math and rethink your comments.

I'm suddenly intensely curious about all those reasons this Birk Plan would "never work"

This kind of mushy logic is not helpful.

It does point out a fundamental lack of education regarding math; finances; taxes; and general knowledge base.

What this country needs to do is save money and reduce their credit debt. Life is not free; there is no free lunch; freedom is not free. Once you become a credit slave your life belongs to others who do not care how you are going to make ends meet.

Grow up America. A nation of savers still may save this nation.

Good Luck.

Your talking only about 85B. how about the 700B they just Rejected? add them both together

I don't know which is worse, the fact that Robin blindly copied/pasted her "we could all have $425,000" message from the many that are spilling around the net without checking the math, or the fact that 5 people (at the time of this posting) have voted for her comment without checking the math either.

This would be the lack of accountability or responsibility that you'll see me go on and on about in most of my news vine postings...

YES!!! I resent being called "middle class"! All people put in this catagorie are just as good as any other US citizen even if we don't make millions of $ a year. Given the chance, many problems could be solved. Welfare, mortgages, and so on down the line. Services such as health care could be paid for and over all a fresh start for everyone, not just the greedy CEOs just waiting for us "middle class" people to bail them out so they can do it again!

Grease69,

785B / 200M is still only $3,925 (b4 taxes). Don't know about you, but that would only cover 2 payments on my mortgage, so I'm still going to say that the math is wrong and that the posting was sad, but not nearly as sad as the others that posted (like blind lemmings) with "yeah, that's awesome" type postings...

your math is wrong

When the general public has math skills like Robin (dropping 3 zeroes), it's no wonder that our financial institutions are in such a mess.

Rep_Kon's are poor in higher mathematics like simple division, but this is ridiculous!

If you had any Dem's in your neighborhood you could have checked your arithmetic. $85 Billion/200 Million DOES NOT equal $425,000.00 !

As pointed out several times already, your math is totally off, but maybe China could loan us the 84,915,000,000,000...

typical republican fuzzy math - and we wonder why our kids are loosing their shirts to the Indians and chines. No MATH!

I agree with you, in principle, though your math is way off.

A better idea: give the american people (taxpayers) tax-free money. give them their share of the "bailout" idea. Ive heard a few figures, anywhere between $3,000 - $5,000. So for the sake of this argument, lets call it $4,000, once again, tax free. The reason for it being tax free is to avoid pushing people over into the next bracket, which would cause more problems then it would solve. If $4000 does not seem like a lot of money to you, you probably support the proposed bail out plan. This is why this plan would be better than the current wall street bail out:

Money in the hands of the people will always be better spent than in the hands of wall street hedge fund managers (which, BTW, would also recieve this $4000). this money could be used for anything but, I'm sure, it would be used to stop homes from being foreclosed, or it would be used to prevent small businesses from going under, or, it might be abused. but this seems like a smaller risk than giving this money to the people who have abused our whole economy and credit!

The current theory is this: give the money to the banks, the banks will take risk again, lending more money to businesses and future home buyers. but this will exacerbate the problem! The problem is credit to begin with!

Instead, give the money to the people in order to attempt to quell debt. get people even again, or at least back on track. it sucks, but people are going to be forced to accept the popped bubble in equity. We must encourage saving! banks with savings are happy banks! that is how we will see more loans. The whole point here is not to encourage more lending, but to diminish debt. Why does no one else see this problem?

Do we really need another Great Depression to realize that runaway credit is the main cause of inflation of money and devaluation of personal savings and worth?

Hm I have one problem with this.....I'll get the money now, but I'll be paying it back in taxes for YEARS...You DO understand this money has to come from SOMEWHERE?

I hope those that go 425 also check the math and get the education.(more like 4,250) My thing is if the middle income people go 40,000.00 they would have to use to pay on bills because it would be set up as such and higher and lower tax bracket would get less. (Much like the earn income credit only middle income get the bulk for once) It would maybe not pay off mortgage but it would give the bank more confidence. It would help some people get a bit of time they could call theirs payment but us who are not behind could pay on principle and save so when we pay back at least we saved on interest. Yes the lower and upper could get zero if they are to low or to high but 500 thousand could get 40,000 and the other tax payers percentage of and it would still boost economy plenty. When I divide 700billion by 200million this can be done. Not using all 700billion. Better to loan to our fellow citizens than CEO'S.

Cheryl: I can't imagine being forced in to your situation, although most Americans are one medical crisis away from ruin and don't know it. Our health insurance policies are simply discount coupons -- $5.00 off of a $50,000.00 oil change -- the vermin in congress and the vermin on wall street have no clue and haven't a care about how we're doing.

Good luck to us all!

I agree one hundred percent. let Bush and those crooks in Washington get the money from their stocks, bonds and probable Swiss accounts. How can an agreement be made by a plead coming from the one who got us in this mess in the first place. He will be out of office soon, if this bailout don't work than what happens. If Secretary Paulson has a plan, why did'nt they have a plan before all this mess started. They did'nt care than and they don't care now. The heck with us hard working people who just want to live comfortable and not worry about where our next meal, next mortgage payment, whether we will keep our jobs or not. the lairs, crooks and corruptive politicans just don't get it.

4 banks failed today. Wachovia and 3 in Europe. This is real.

Thank you Steve

It is the classic BOY WHO CRIED WOLF....No one sane should believe Bush or the Republicans.

He has lied too much to be TRUSTED now with TELLING the TRUTH....PERSONALLY ECONOMIC

PARITY has also been the ISSUE. the !% who controls the wealth in this country after today are still

going to be WEALTHY..WALL STREET ROBBER BARONS are not "jumping out of windows"

This was the LAST HOORAY for the Bush Followers to get their LAST BITE out of the American

Economy before their LEADER IS OUT OF OFFICE....They fear Obama may win and their other

BOY...McCain will not be there to protect them STEALING from US any more...the CRISIS is the

..........JIG is UP and the GIG for BUSH and McBUSH is OVER.

I TOTALLY Agree!!!!!!!!!!!
Let me cut to the chase. The biggest robbery in the history of this country is taking place as you read this. Though no guns are being used, 300 million hostages are being taken. Make no mistake about it: After stealing a half trillion dollars to line the pockets of their war-profiteering backers for the past five years, after lining the pockets of their fellow oilmen to the tune of over a hundred billion dollars in just the last two years, Bush and his cronies -- who must soon vacate the White House -- are looting the U.S. Treasury of every dollar they can grab. They are swiping as much of the silverware as they can on their way out the door.
This is from Michael Moore.

I just don't understand why Bush think we are stupid. If congress don't know what to do, than let some of us everyday people get in there and show them. Don't they know that Bush is a lair and thief. Tell us where and how the money will be distributed. We don't know. Most of the failing banks has been bailout a month ago. Who is left. It is smelling real foul to me. Bush want his failing administration to handle this bailout out. I think not. That's why alot of the Republicans are not voting, they know the deal. Wake up Democratics and wait a bit. the sky has not fallen yet. Bush is going to take the money and run and leave the mess for Obama. He probably just to instugate another War somewhere. that's just how dirty Bush is.

thank you for an intelligent comment.....it may help some people put this in prospective. We cannot brush off banks failing as if it will not affect us all. That seems to come from those who have no knowledge of history (the great depression.)

Mr. Small Business: Thank you. No one seems to realize full impact of this crisis. A lot of them think by letting Wall Street and the Banks fail all will be OK. It will be people like you and me and the millions of people like us here in the USA and all other the world who suffer. The big shots will walk away, as usual, unless after we get a deal done we go after those who cheated and lied that lead to this. But first we have to get back on our feet financially.

Mr. Small Business,

I would like to hear from you and other small business owners. I am trying to understand if the bailout package will benefit small businesses. From reading the posts here and elsewhere, most seem to believe only Big business will benefit.

Nobody likes the bailout, but what makes you feel as if the benefits will trickle down?

-Desire to support the greater good

Well said. I read a comment today that said, "If businesses can't function without borrowing money, then they aren't worth saving anyway." This kind of ignorance merely appeals to the same people who buy into the flawed math that would give every taxpayer enough money to pay off their mortgage.

We may not like it. But, passing this bill is actually freeing credit so that the many businesses who require an operating loan to cover expenses during a normal business operating cycle can keep paying you and me on time.

I believe that BOTH McCain and Obama should stand up and hold hands and take full responsibility for telling Congress to pass this legislation (or a quickly modified form).

I appreciate your comments, it seems as though people think by doing nothing that they won't be affected. There is a definite domino effect to all of this, but thinking that Wall Street execs would be the only ones to go down is not realistic, regardless they won't suffer a bit.

The purpose of the 'bailout' plan was to trade $1 worth of mortgages for 30-70 cents in cash. The government holds the mortgages for 5-7 years, collects the interest, sells them for profit or break-even or until maturity. $700B is used to purchase $700B worth of assets that may appreciate (the only way the final cost is $700B is if the value of all mortgages bought goes to $0).

With some of the mortgage assets off their books repalced with cash, the banks would then be able to loan out the money again. With no help for the credit markets, there is no market for the mortages, and banks will not be able to loan. The same scenario Mr. Small Business faces will be felt by anyone who wants to buy a house, get a car loan, get a student loan, start a business, run their farm (or other seasonal business), or has a business line of credit. It does not matter what your credit score is, or if you need the money, or is you are a responsible borrower.

The people who got rich from irresponsible lending and risky investments are already out of the game. It is not fair, but that's life. Get over it.

Yesterday people were supposedly against the Paulson plan 99-to-1. Now only 40% of the people in this poll oppose a 'bailout.' And that's after the market only drops 700 points. The ONLY reason the market is not dropping another 2000 points is that many investors believe that a rescue bill of some sort will get passed in the next month.

What will happen to the economy when nobody can buy a house, pay for college, or afford to retire?

BTW, the AIG 'bailout' is only $400 per adult, which was LENT to a solvent and profitable company at an interest rate of 12%, AND the government will own 80% of the company! Can I pay $800 and get a double opportunity at that investment???

Why in 56 years are you still depending on credit? It is time we stop depending on credit...
It was a matter of time before this happened. I am sorry for the people who believed in you, but not for you. You helped make this mess.

"Why in 56 years are you still depending on credit? It is time we stop depending on credit...
It was a matter of time before this happened. I am sorry for the people who believed in you, but not for you. You helped make this mess."

This ignorance of standard business practice is why the average American cannot comprehend the complexity or necessity of a bailout. Credit is not a bad thing, and it is a necessity for any profitable business. It is the abuse of credit that created this mess.

Would it strengthen the US economy to buy up the bad assets (you KNOW the government will never see a profit on them, or even break even) with the stipulation that 80% of any further loans made by the benefiting financial houses be made ONLY to US-held businesses with no outsourcing?

Mr small business man? Why would a 56 year old business still need to borrow operating capital? I too run a small business with 23 employees so I am qualified to question the logic behind a business not having capital after 56 years the first lesson learned is don"t take all the money for ones self. If my bank failed to loan me money with your track record I would find a new bank, yours is gone any way.

I couldn't agree with you more , this is EXACTLY what needs to be done... seems so simple, doesn't it? I really wonder why in the heck so many make it seem so complicated. Perhaps common sense is in need of a bailout...

Obama supported the bailout.

You Obamaites really do have your head in the sand. If an asteroid hit China it would be Bush's fault.

Your messiah is following the crowd like everyone else on capitol hill.

Hell Jennifer, McCain supports the bailout also. Where is your head??

Obama supported it? Hmmm seems like he was actually the cautious one on the bailout. He wanted main street taken care. McCain wanted more money for the ceo's the rich, etc.. Obama was saying HE wanted to see the plan in full. He didn't run like a coward, he didn't "suspend" his campaign. He didn't look like an idiot by canceling a interview with a tv show host then going on 2 other shows and NOT returning to DC like McCain did! McCain is a fool and old!

Lets see Jennifer.. Bush and his cronies went to capital hill crying wolf and they got caught. .. They wanted a blank check to be able to run off into the night with NO oversight, No accountability.. Even the Repugs revolted today. 133 voted NO.. WHY??

This bailout stinks and it has Bush's and McCain's finger prints all over it..

$700 Billion should start a massive Public Works project to get American's working to rebuild America. Those on Wall Street got themselves into this mess, now they should get themselves out it!

Obama isn't to blame. BUSH IS!!!

Wake up and stop drinking the kool-aid Jennifer!

YOU HAVE NO CLUE, PAULSON WANTED TO BE ABLE TO PUT THE MONEY WHERE EVER HE WANTED WITH NO OVERSIGHT FROM CONGRESS AND THAT RIGHT THERE WAS A SCAM IN ITSELF. THE ONLY ONES GOING DOWN ARE THE MORTGAGE COMPANIES. THE ECONOMY MAY GET TOUGH BUT IT'S STILL BE BETTER THAN GIVING THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN FEEDING OFF AMERICANS FOR YEARS MONEY FOR SCREWING UP. THIS A FREE CAPITALISTIC SOCIETY AND THE GOVERNMENT HAS NO BUSINESS GETTING INVOLVED IN THIS.

correct!

Someone needs to explain to me how the figure 700 billion became the only way that we could bail out our economy....I run a business of 100 employees...if I was going to propose a plan to my owners that involved spending, the first question they would ask me is who we are spending this on....can anyone name the recipients of this bailout and how they were chosen...or is it first to fail wins....This could have passed if all of the details were really explained

Ron, your comment is the only one of the bunch that makes sense and agree with you. As previouly commented, we have a government in all its Branches, that is self-serving. We don't have a goverment for the people and by the people for very long time. I call it "gradualism", and little by little we the People of this great Republic are loosing in many areas: freedom, financially, productivity, respect, etc. etc. Everything that is going on for decades, remind me again and again of the Monopoly game. You can buy houses, hotels, and accumulate "wealth", but at the end of the game, all go back into the BOX. In real life, we cannot take it with us when we die anyway. As somebody else mention, we Americans are very resilient people, and will be fine at the end of this mess. Every political candidate for Congress, or for President, promise the "moon", and few of them are able to accomplish what they promise. We can only try to live a day at a time. Greediness, immediate gratification, selfishness, and the "evil" of money have all been rampant for centuries, culminating in the demise of complete civilizations. I don't agree with the bailout, and hope it will not pass. For the 95% of the population that Obama promises a tax cut, I don't think is going to make any difference anyway, regardless if the bailout passess or not. Banks, Insurance Companies, large Corporations, and Las Vegas, NV, can go bankrupt, as far as I'm concerned, let them pay for their excess, and greediness. As for me, and my family, I will vote for new congressmen/women, and will see were my hand falls at the time of voting for a "new" President. Think stepping stone, rather than stumbling block. There is still abundance in this country and abroad, rather than scarcity. It's just a frame of mind, piece of mind, that is all I want.

All of the politicians, both sides of the aisle are beholding to special interests and their political aspirations and re elections. The dems didn't want to stand alone even though they had enough votes to get this through because they feared they would be held responsible for their decisions if it failed. Not a lot of confidence in their own decision making ability. Fire them all, both sides and get people in there that have economic backgrounds and are educated to lead. Sick of the personality litmus voting and celebrity spoiled ruining this country.

I could not agree more.

The people need to take back this Country and the quickest way I can think of is to go after the media.. They lie without flinching to promote their ideals, start a public boycott of every advertiser that supports a politically slanted news show, talk show or drama. Not just the shows that are slanted to your opposition, but the ones that are slanted in your beliefs as well. Hit them in the pocketbook and they will demand big changes or they will advertise elsewhere! Make them tell the truth without their opinions and make them tell it all! If people stop watching the advertisers will stop paying!

The internet is a most powerful tool and with it I believe we can turn elections by disclosing the truth. We must be careful to not forward any email from anyone without varifiing it's accuracy!