Senate is debating housing rescue plan --

[gateley]

link on front page

www.cnn.com


It's getting a little contentious. :7

Haven't seen/heard Joe, but Dodd will be up in a couple of minutes.


PS -- Reed seems to be the MC ==

Dodd is up now!

[gateley]

1. Update -- Biden voted "aye", as did the "good guys".

Vote still taking place. Very few "nays" but those that are (Kyl, for eg just voted 'no') are Reps.

[gateley]

2. Update #2 -- Hillary just voted "aye".

[gateley]

3. They just had another vote -- Again, good guys "aye",

I'm not sure if this is the last vote or not..

Hillary was my belwether because she was wearing turquoise - so I saw her hanging around between votes. Now she's gone, so I don't know if that means finis or not.

The only other person that stood out was some guy in a yellow suit! Must have been some southern republican -- don't see him anymore, either.

My screen is to teeny to locate Joe, although I did see Kerry after his vote.

I need a life.

[PatSeg]

4. I slept late this morning

so I missed the whole thing. That's okay though. I spent too much time yesterday watching the "not impeachment" hearings. Addictive.

[gateley]

18. I couldn't bring myself to watch the "not impeachment" hearings --

I thought they would piss me off too much.

Were they aggravating beyond belief?

[PatSeg]

20. Not too bad

but really, really long. There were some memorable moments, but had to sit through a lot of crap. They went on for five hours.

[gateley]

22. I had heard that rather than being about impeachment, they

were going to cover a number of topics, which is what got me :grr: to start with.

Did they even acknowledge a possibility of impeachment, or was it OFF THE TABLE?

[PatSeg]

23. It was called "Limits on executive power"

and they were not allowed to discuss impeachment. There were all kinds of "rules" but I didn't see the beginning so I don't know what all the rules were. There were some insightful testimonies and a couple of really smug jerks defending the Bush administration.

[Muttocracy]

5. lemme know if you figure out where to get those "life" things ;-)

[PatSeg]

6. I had one of those once

and believe me, they are highly overrated.

[Muttocracy]

7. LOL! more trouble than they're worth?

I'll stay low maintenance then :)

[PatSeg]

8. And they can cause an excessive

consumption of alcohol which can get a bit expensive!

[jillan]

9. What? The Senate is working on a Saturday?

fainting here.....

[PatSeg]

10. I know

I was surprised when I heard that yesterday, but there really is an emergency situation in this country. It is pretty scary.

[Muttocracy]

11. well, there are banks to take care of, ya know... nt

[jillan]

12. Want to hear something that makes me sick?

I retired 1 1/2 yrs ago from Bank of America after working there for 25 years.

Because of all this shit, I have lost 1/3 of my pension....so far.

I don't know what to do. A wise investment rep once told me that the only people that lose $$ in the market are the ones that panic and sell. When the market goes down, you need to wait it out.

I'm freaking out. If I cash out now, I lose big time. But my losses are only going to get worse.
Was really counting on that money when I'm old enough to draw on it. And as I face another birthday, that time is getting shorter.

Think about this, Bank of America is one of the banks that is great shape. I can't even imagine what the employees of some of the weaker banks are going thru.

Damn this facist administration!

[Muttocracy]

13. oh that's terrible. I just try not to look at my retirement acct too much

but I have some time to wait with it.

Bank of America was not nice to my mom (made some errors, pain to correct); I helped her transfer her accounts to another bank.

They closed one of their local branches here - and one of the local banks bought it and is expanding it!

[jillan]

14. They got to be such a terrible company to work for.

The last 5 years I was employed there, I was absolutely miserable.

Loved my customers tho and they loved me. I was the employee that would've helped you with your mom's accounts. When I first started we were taught that it is easier to please the customer sitting in front of you than it is to find a new customer. Unfortunately all management cared about was their bottom line. We were not allowed to reverse fees without a manager override....but I never listened to them :P I left there to care for my dad in his last year of his life and never looked back once...even tho I needed a job and they wanted me back. No more. They can take their corporate bs and have someone else put up with it, not this girl.

Just want my retirement money out of them.

[Muttocracy]

15. you're a good one - maybe you can find a nice credit union to work for?

:hug:

[jillan]

16. I think what I want is to do something that has a little more meaning.

I have some ideas up my sleeve.

Don't think I could stomach another 'screw the customer' type of a job.

[Muttocracy]

17. that's why I was thinking credit union - one of the ones here does good work

helping out low income people, people fixing up their credit getting a chance etc. You could probably help out non-profits - they need help managing and raising money.

I hear we may have a new government soon too :)

[gateley]

19. I honestly don't know what I'd do if I had any money left in a retirement fund.

We've (the U.S.) never been in a situation like this before, so I'm not sure if 'history' will apply this time around. :hug:

[PatSeg]

21. I worked for brokerage firms

many years ago and that investment rep was right. I saw the same thing happen over and over again to small investors - they'd panic and sell low. That said, I have to say I'm not sure about today. I've never seen anything like this and I think there are some companies that aren't going to make a come back.