Republicans to Cheney on $700-billion bailout: We're not buying it

[1corona4u]

(not sure if this was posted or not)

Republicans to Cheney on $700-billion bailout: We're not buying it


Vice President Dick Cheney trudged up to Capitol Hill today to try to convince skeptical Republican congressman that spending $700 billion to bailout Wall Street for its bad gambling habits at taxpayer expense was a good idea.

It was a tough sell.

A large number of House Republicans remained skeptical, even after a two-hour meeting with Cheney at the Cannon House Office Building.

"I don't know anyone who's sold on this rescue plan,'' said Rep. Wally Herger (R-Chico). "There's a lot of concerns. The general feeling is we have to do something, we have to be decisive. But there's concern about a bill that could be loaded up, and there's concern about whether this is the right way to go."

Some blame President Bush for not selling the idea better.

"I think they still need to make the case,'' said Rep. George Radanovich (R-Mariposa) "Is the president going to help us with our constituents and make them realize that it's not about Wall Street, that it's about every American? That case still needs to be made.''

A number of lawmakers said they didn't like the idea of rushing through a proposal they only received days ago.

Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), saying the House is now "very divided," urged a slowdown. "If Congress said, 'We're going to do something, we're not sure what, but help's on the way ... I think you can actually send Wall Street a good signal, get a little sanity injected into this."

The last time Cheney, a former congressman, played this same role in corralling support on Capitol Hill was for the war resolution that sent troops to Iraq. This time, he took with him officials from the Treasury Department and the Office of Management and Budget who warned of dire consequences if the package is not passed this week. Still, the doubters dominated. And some of the doubts stemmed from the Iraq war.


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/presidentbush/2008/09/cheney.html

[grassfed]

1. fishy

[whistle]

2. Go fuck yourself Dick!

[knowbody0]

3. these morons cried wolf way too many times

and the only ones who benefited have been them. party's over

[ShortnFiery]

4. This creeps me out, but I AGREE! It's time for the democratic leaders to WTFU. eom

[napi21]

5. I stood up and clapped when I heard that! Can you just see what

a pi**ed off Dick is acting like tonight! I bet it's the ONLY time he's ever had a group of people tell him NO WAY Bud! I"m extatic!

[FrenchieCat]

6. Wasn't that the whole point?

Send in the GOP Guy with the 9% approval rating, and let members of his party kick him while he is down, so they look like they have guts and are going against their own party.

Isn't that why McCain, if he votes, plans to voted NO on the Bail out; to severe himself from Bush.

If the Dems vote for the Bail out, they will be called tax and spend Democrats.

This is a fucking trick.

Dems better vote no on this bullshit!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

7. Mutiny on the Bounty?

[seabeckind]

8. Don't buy it

Gotta call bulls--t on this one. They probably all sat around smoking cigars and laughing about how they were going to fake out the dems.

I wouldn' trust any one of them.

[FrenchieCat]

9. I'm with you on this theory!

[SayitAintSo]

10. Little boy that cried "yellow cake" ....or......

the "BIG DICK" that cried wolf...

[JimWis]

11. Fishy is right. I have been wondering why this had to be so

rushed. And now that Cheney is pushing it - something smells about the whole deal.

[1corona4u]

12. There's this one too...read the whole thing...

There was a time when Dick Cheney could turn back a Republican revolt on Capitol Hill.

That time is gone.

The vice president traveled to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to silence a chorus of GOP complaints about Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s $700 billion plan. But House Republicans who walked into a closed-door meeting with Cheney steaming over the plan walked out just as angry, and they described what happened in between as both “a bloodbath” and “an unmitigated disaster.”

Texas Rep. Joe Barton took the unusual step of telling reporters gathered outside the Cannon Caucus Room that he had confronted Cheney “respectfully” about his concerns — a level of dissent Republicans once considered heresy under the Bush administration.

Another lawmaker present — who spoke on the condition of anonymity — said that Cheney, White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten and economic policy adviser Keith Hennessey “were in worse shape when they left than when they came in.”

Cheney’s inability to turn around members of his own party said plenty about how congressional Republicans view the Bush White House these days — but maybe even more about their discomfort with a bailout plan many of them see as an attack on their free market principles.

“It’s a sad fact, but Americans can no longer trust the economic information they are getting from this administration,” South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint said in a comment posted on Politico’s Arena forum.

“There is tremendous unease over the federal government assuming the assets that these financial institutions cannot price or manage,” said Alabama Rep. Spencer Bachus, the ranking Republican on the committee drafting the legislation.

It wasn’t clear Tuesday whether Republicans were willing to take responsibility for killing the Paulson plan — but neither were they eager to take responsibility for passing it, either.

Republican leaders are now hoping Democrats load the legislation with unrelated measures that would give them the political cover to oppose it, members and aides said. At the same time, party leaders are using back channels in the business community to gauge member support for a “clean” bill.




http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13789.html

[dchill]

13. Dick must have forgotten to take his...

custom-made Perazzi shotgun along on his hunting trip to the Hill. Palin is shaking her head in sad disgust, thinking, "Amateur."