Bailout overwhelmingly rejected by the American people. Sure to pass.

[bushmeister0]

Paulson and Berancke are making the rounds in the House today trying to get wavering Republicans onboard before they show up in front of the House Financial Services Committee at 2:30, the NYT reports. They're not having much success, apparently.

The NYT:

"Many lawmakers said they felt caught between the administration’s urgent insistence on quick action by Congress and the distaste among constituents for using taxpayer money to prop out big banks and other financial institutions.

'I am trying to address the concerns of the people who are calling me,' said Representative Gary G. Miller, Republican of California, as he left the meeting.

'Truly, my calls are 150-to-1 against it,' Mr. Miller said. 'Overwhelmingly, people in the private sector are looking at this and saying it’s just a big bailout for a bunch of fat cats on Wall Street.'"

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/25/business/economy/25paulson.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Of course, I seem to remember the phone system of the Congress crashing several times in 2002 before the Congress voted to approve the Iraq invasion, too. The mail, e-mail and phone calls were also overwhelmingly against, but look whay happened.

This isn't what democracy looks like.

[pleah]

1. K&R I heard that, too. When they pass this monster, and they will, I hope

they at least put some safeguards in place that actually work.:-(

[bushmeister0]

2. Yeah, they thought they did that with the patriot act, too.

Watch out for shit like this.

The NYT article says this asshole Representative Thaddeus McCotter, Republican of Michigan and chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, wants to eliminate the "the capital gains tax on the types of distressed assets that the Treasury is hoping to purchase, as a way of encouraging the private sector to increase liquidity in the market."

Hey, why not elminate them altogether? In for a penny, in for a pound.

[pleah]

3. I have the feeling that these hearings are just for show.

We are going to get screwed no matter what.

[bushmeister0]

4. Of course, they are. You know Cheney is pulling the strings in the background.

Darth already has the bill all written up, all it requires is the rubberstamp.

Fear, fear, fear, the American people demand it, fear, fear, fear, hurry up and sign it.

[pleah]

5. Exactly! n/t

[bushmeister0]

6. Interesting article on polls regarding bailout at LA Times

"Asked whether the government should use taxpayer dollars to rescue financial firms whose collapse could have adverse effects on the economy, 55% of the poll's respondents said they did not believe the government should be responsible for funding a bailout plan. . .

Other polls have found that voters want the government to do something to prevent a financial collapse, even though they don't like the idea of footing the bill. A poll released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, for example, found that 57% of respondents think the government is doing the right thing by intervening to stabilize the economy.

The contrast between the Times/Bloomberg poll and the Pew survey probably reflects the different wording of their questions.

The Times/Bloomberg poll asked respondents whether they believed it was 'the government's responsibility to bail out private companies with taxpayers' dollars.' A majority said no.

The Pew poll, by contrast, asked respondents if 'investing billions to try to keep financial institutions and markets secure' was the right thing to do. A majority said yes.

'These were two different questions,' explained Susan Pinkus, director of the Times Poll. 'One asked whether the bailout was the right thing to do. The other asked if it was the government's responsibility.'"

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-econpoll24-2008sep24,0,5343090.story

If they can just keep the people confused long enough, they can get away with it.