Robert Borosage: After the Revolt

[marmar]

from OurFuture.org:



After the Revolt
By Robert Borosage

September 29th, 2008 - 6:11pm ET



The fix was in. The leadership of both parties in Congress, both major presidential candidates, media poobahs, financial statesmen from Warren Buffett to Bob Rubin, all weighing in to support giving Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson a $700 billion revolving fund to bail out Wall Street.

And then Americans said, “stuff it.” The bill was incredibly unpopular. Calls against were running as high as 200 to 1, with venom. With Americans struggling—their salaries not keeping up with the cost of gas and health care, their homes losing value, their savings exhausted, their credit cards maxed out, foreclosures and bankruptcies on the rise—giving the Treasury Secretary, the former head of Goldman Sachs, $700 billion to try to bail out his friends on Wall Street was a very hard sell.

So in the House, the vote counters went to work. In both parties, to the extent possible, members in contested districts were to be given permission to vote against the bill. Those in safe districts were expected to vote for it. Leadership labored to assemble a bare bipartisan majority to pass it. But that increased the influence of progressives on the left and conservatives on the right who had relatively safe seats. Members of the Progressive Caucus split 50-50, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi produced the 150 votes she promised. Conservatives, eager to distance themselves from Bush, revolting against House Minority Leader John Boehner’s leadership and hoping to blame Democrats for the mess, bailed out on the bailout in large numbers. Pelosi wisely decided not to try to force it through with Democratic votes only.

But Congress can’t walk away. Something must be done. The markets were already indicating the Paulson plan was inadequate. Conservatives are truly out to lunch. Their plan featured suspending capital gains taxes (as if investors would then rush to put their money in the banks’ toxic paper), and further deregulation, letting banks hide the current value of their assets by suspending mark-to-market rules. That actually made it into the final bill, but it hardly would increase confidence in Wall Street. Rather than making further compromises with the conservatives who simply don’t get it, Democrats should put forth a plan that is far bolder and that deals with the real problems. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2008094029/after-revolt

[GetTheRightVote]

1. Thank you for the posting, I signed the petition, no problem.

:grr:

[blue neen]

2. We see so many differences of opinion, it's hard to decide what is right or wrong.

I'd liked his explanation.

[lib2DaBone]

3. Conservatives and top 1% starting to feel Recession....

Stocks are too expensive, gas is too expensive and groceries are too expensive. This week the economic elites and people who still have cushy jobs, are starting to feel the pinch. Suddenly.. they don't like it. If you have been unemployed and sleeping in your car the last two years.. you know what is going on. Now, the Lexus drivers and fat cats are getting a glimnpse of the reality they have created.. and oh the humanity....
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Tent Cities in California
Pattie Barnes, 46, greets her dog at her Chirstmas-decorated caravan at a tent city for the homeless in Ontario, a suburb outside Los Angeles, California, Dec. 19, 2007.