Are Dems trying to avoid a midnight executive order on bailout?

[kurt_cagle]

One thing that occurred to me, and that I'm not seeing on DU, is that few people have considered the possibility that Bush is just waiting out the clock, expecting Congress to go home in order to do last minute electioneering, at which point he will issue an executive order giving Paulson his "emergency finance plan" by fiat. The Dems recognize this, and are trying to set up a realistic alternative before they adjourn to avoid precisely this course of action. Bush has certainly not been shy to use executive orders before (after all, isn't that essentially what the bail out plans for Freddie and Fannie were?) and his contempt for congress has been manifest from the beginning.

[mike_c]

1. can he actually do that? Congress controls appropriations....

That part of the Constitution is pretty unambiguous.

[bean fidhleir]

10. Exactly. Not even BushCo is that stupid.

Talk about climbing out on a limb and then sawing it off, oy!

[JDPriestly]

2. Let him do it. Then the blame goes on the Republicans.

Democrats need to realize that there are third party candidates out there who will oppose this suicide pact. Democrats need to pass credit card relief and foreclosure relief and let the fat cats eat their vomit.

[bdamomma]

5. well I guess some Americans are awake they are blaming the

repigs for this mess. go to quick vote:

http://www.cnn.com/


http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Meltdown_Voters_blaming_GOP_for_financial_0922.html

[WarbirdForObama]

3. Let him do JUST that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then, even the Rethugs will be calling for his head.

Has ANY President even had a 0% approval rating, or 100% disapproval?

[Sebass1271]

4. i have think of a different perspective on this bail out

crap.. how about if republicans are doing this to put Obama again on the fence and waiting for his VOTE to get him!!.. if he votes for it it will the american ppl that he is for the same lobbyists mccain is.. if he votes against it, he will be accused of not wanting to support the american ppl who are currently hurting..

This vote for Obama will not be a win win for him.. To me, this is all A TRAP!

[dysfunctional press]

7. who votes first, mccain or obama?

are states called on alphabetically, or in the order they became states, or something else?

how does it work in the senate?

[JDPriestly]

9. There should be no vote. That takes care of it.

This should not be decided in the last two months before an election. It is too important.

The bill does not end the foreclosures, so it won't help ordinary Americans or relieve them. And the super-rich who invested in these infamous securities can wait. So what if they have to sell their Lamborghinis or put off buying a new set of golf clubs. They won't starve.

The entire point of this proposal is to tie the hands of the next president and to prevent change in D.C.

No. No. No. Write your Congresscritters right now and often.

[Jim__]

6. Where does the president get that power?

The power to make recess appointments is in the Constitution. I'm not aware of any power to appropriate money during congressional recess.

[dysfunctional press]

8. from dick cheney's over-active imagination

[kurt_cagle]

11. Ordinarily ...

a president does not have this kind of authority ... however, with Congress having given the nod to Paulson trying to help shore up Freddie and Fannie, etc., it looked to me like the assumption had been on Treasury's part that they already HAD a blank check to provide a bailout that differed only in magnitude, and it had been their intent to essentially push this through only as more of the same. BushCo had assumed that Congress would cave without argument, they didn't, and many (most) of the opposition came not from the Dems but from their own party.

The Paulson bailout plan is a flagrantly blank cheque, and nothing else - there is no substance, no real plan, it amounted to "give all of the authority to Hank Paulson and he'll fix the mess". It wasn't intended to stand scrutiny, it was there simply to be a prop to wave in front of Congress to get them to vote out of panic. Moreover, Reid had already announced earlier that Congress would be adjourning for the election season, and the intent of Bush was that they would react in their own self-interest, sign the bill without looking at it, and go home.

I think it was a major miscalculation on their part, and one I'd probably trace to Cheney. Now, the attention has shifted from the crisis to the bailout, and people are becoming angry about the deception.