By almost all accounts, the defeat of the bailout / rescue bill stunned those both inside the beltway, on Wall Street, and across the nation. Many political analysts projected that the bill would be approved by the U.S. House of Representatives by about a 80-100 vote margin. The reality: bill defeated, 228-205 and the stock market plunged a big seven zero zero and more.
Public policy analysts, professional and otherwise, will spend ample time investigating the reasons why the bill failed, but in a crisis such as this one, congressional leaders, save for reviewing their mistakes, do not have time for the stuff of graduate seminars in public policy: they need to get a rescue bill passed.
Now what?
Well first, don't panic. As George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) said during the bank run on the the Bailey Building & Loan in the movie, It's A Wonderful Life, "Now just remember that this thing isn't as black as it appears. Now, we can get through this thing all right. But we've, we've got to stick together."
House Minority Leader, U.S. Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, sought to blame House Speaker U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi's, D-California, speech on the House floor for driving a number of Republicans against the bill in the final minutes of debate. But that is a thin argument, if ever there was one. Among House Republicans, the vote was 65-133 against, and Boehner's reasoning does not account for the 100-plus Republicans who voted against it.
In other words, within the space of a day a 100-odd Republicans found a reason to vote against a bill to stabilize the credit markets in the nation's most serious financial crisis since, arguably, the 1929 stock market crash, that they were otherwise in favor? It's just not plausible. What's more plausible: a majority of the Republican caucus intended to vote against the bill, period.
Or as U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Massachusetts, offered as a rejoinder to Boehner's assertion: if it's necessary to feverishly praise members of the Republican House caucus on the floor immediately before the vote to secure the rescue bill's approval, he will gladly do it.
Still, the defeat hardly means the Democrat House caucus is blameless. Ninety five Democrats voted against the bill -- only 140 voted for it -- each an embarrassing vote total in reference to a much-sought piece of legislation backed by the Congressional party in power.
The first norm of the House for the majority party is to make sure you have 'defection room' on controversial legislation -- enough votes to win even if some lawmakers get cold feet late -- or don't bring the bill to the floor. Perhaps the urgency of the legislation prevented that. But to have 95 Democrats vote against a bill so-sought by the Speaker of the House, the leader of their caucus? It is an historic embarrassment for the Speaker, for the House Democratic caucus, for the Democratic Party, and for the nation.
But in Washington, as in baseball, during the season there's always another game tomorrow, i.e. there's still time to pass a rescue bill this nation needs. There is still time, in that the Dow dropped 'only' 777 points Monday.
If the House Leadership, both parties, can get a modified rescue bill passed and over to the Senate, the nation will avoid that devastating Dow drop and credit market rout that no one wants to see.
Here's hoping that George Bailey, or at least the spirit of George Bailey, shows up in Washington real soon.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-30-2008 @ 10:04AM
JCH said...
LMAO. The vote was not an embarrassment for Nancy Pelosi. But nice try.
It was a movie. Real life is more like Potter, and Potter wants a crash. Why, because he's mean and stupid and reactionary. So is the mob.
It's the mob that harangued congress with angry phone calls. It was an angry, unthinking, irrational, ignorant bunch of fools.
Look what they posted here. Bleeding is good. No understanding of stocks and ownership. No understanding of equity. No understanding of credit. No understanding of the incredible human toll their nasty, irrelevant, petty little pet peeves with the system will mean.
GWB, for the first time in 8 years, finally has one issue right, and his idiot supporters betrayed him. Good grief, what a comedy.
Potter sits there with his mountain of cash waiting to buy up the community for pennies on the dollar. In a movie, Jimmie Stewart won. During the Great Depression, Potter won.
9-30-2008 @ 12:36PM
BetteRose Ryan said...
At some point we have to make people responsible for the actions they take. The stock market is nothing more than legalized gambling; betting a business will succeed or fail.
We have money in the market and we are willing to take the chance that we will both have to return to work or sell off or cut back to make it if the bailout is not passed; however we don't want a bailout. We want to have faith that businesses and bankers have to take responsibility for what they have done and will do.
I only wish we could make the congress take the responsibility for what they have done to contribute to this mess.
As long as we bail people out, they will continue to make poor choices.
9-30-2008 @ 1:10PM
Lori Dabney said...
Nonsense, they will pass something tomorrow with or without congress, they have more to lose than we do! I can also do withoout government housing, the government has to many of their fingers in my life as it is. we have nothing to fear but fear itself and that is all we have heard since 911. i,m exhausted from their political bull! how do you know when a politician is lieing? his mouth is moving!
9-30-2008 @ 2:24PM
notworried said...
Congressmen voted the way the people wanted, Elections are coming they have to listen to the people. We are not writing a blank check to bail out your mistakes. The market will crash, home prices will drop but this time we will be buying it all up pennies on the dollar not the rich, at least the fiscally responsible companies. It will all come back but this time with the middle class owning the assets. Bummer scare tatics won't work this time America is mad and paying attention.