The Political Voices of Women

Here is a guest post from community member Anita S. Lane.  You can read more from Anita at her blog Unconventional Politics.

[If you would like to be a guest blogger on The Political Voices of Women, just join our community, and start posting.]

Today, in a rare moment of representative democracy, the U.S. House of Representatives listened to voters and failed to pass the $700 billion bailout bill. While it may have been a bombshell to many, the fact is, it was American Democracy at work.

Legislators across the nation were bombarded with emails and calls from constituents saying, “Do not pass this bill.” According to the Rasmussen Consumer Index, fifty percent of Americans oppose the plan, and 63% of Americans worry that the government will do too much.

Today, legislators listened, and they responded. But this is in no way the end. The way I see it, the decision to stall the vote until Thursday is an opportunity to get it right.

Ever been in a crisis? If so, you’ve heard those you trust—whether a clergy member, financial planner or therapist—tell you, “Never make major decisions in the midst of a crisis.” And we’re all familiar with the term, “haste makes waste.”

Three days away (back home closer to their constituents) just may do our congressional leaders some good. It will allow each of them a chance to step away, clear their head.

The bottom line is, everyone in Congress is admitting that the current bailout bill is a “bad” bill they don’t want to pass but feel they must. But, what’s so wrong with having the courage to say, “This bill is bad, but I believe we can do better…and we must.”

This congress has an opportunity to not settle for the lesser of two evil bills (Paulson’s and now the enhanced version). Congress has an unprecedented opportunity to say, “We are committed to the American people. We are elected to be the best possible stewards of taxpayer dollars. We will not sell the taxpayer short. We can do better and we will.”

Come back on Thursday— huddle, compromise, study, research, write and rewrite, ask tough questions, demand answers, and compromise some more— and then come back with a plan that you can vote for with dignity. Popular legislative sentiment is that to “do nothing” is unacceptable. No. To do “just anything” lacking any real confidence in its merits or assurances of its success, is unacceptable.

Congress, please, for the sake of the American people, go back to the drawing board.

This is an interesting question. Are you better off than you were eight years ago? Do you know anyone who is? Just wondering. Let me know in comments.

So, the bailout was rejected, and the DOW tumbled 777 points.  Is it the end of the world as we know it? Let’s take a closer look at the bailout. What are the pros and cons? How did we get here? Who is to blame? And, most importantly…What do you think?

My personal (non financial expert) opinion:  If you don’t have much money, you probably haven’t lost much.  If you have a bunch of money, you might have lost a bunch.   Of course, as always, the middle class will be hurt the most from this crisis.  They are already struggling, and bailout or no bailout, the middle class stands to pay the greatest price.  But, that’s just my opinion, and I’m no financial expert.

Understanding the bailout…

How does this affect the presidential election?

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From Market Watch…

The U.S. House rejected on Monday a proposed $700 billion financial bailout package supported by the Bush administration, the Federal Reserve and the congressional leadership of both parties. The vote was 205 for and 228 against. The rejection of the plan could mean disruption in financial markets and another attempt by officials to craft a compromise plan that will get a majority vote. The administration had been pushing for quick movement on the bailout, which officials have warned is necessary to avert serious consequences for markets and the economy. Some critics said the plan was a giveaway to the very companies that created the crisis, while others said it amounted to socialism.

UPDATES…

From The New York Times…

In a moment of historic drama in the Capitol and on Wall Street, the House of Representatives voted on Monday to reject a $700 billion rescue of the financial industry.

From The Moderate Voice…

In a major upset, the US House of Representatives has voted against passage of the $700 billion bailout bill. The vote was 228-205 against. Democrats voted 141-94 in favor of the measure while Republicans voted 131-67 in opposition to the proposal. There are now discussions as to whether or not a new vote sometime later today.

Reacting to the news, the Dow Jones is down by a range of 400-600 points. At one point the drop was over 700 points so it does seem that the market is stabilizing somewhat.

Henry Paulson is disappointed about rejected bailout…

Rachel Maddow…

From The Associated Press…

A White House spokesman says President Bush is very disappointed in Monday’s House vote rejecting the administration’s rescue plan for the nation’s financial industry.

“There’s no question that the country is facing a difficult crisis that needs to be addressed,” said spokesman Tony Fratto. He said the president will be meeting with members of his team later in the day “to determine next steps.”

Bush is “very disappointed” with the vote, Fratto said.

Erin Kotecki Vest from BlogHer - Bailout Measure FAILS House Vote

Here is Nancy Pelosi on a failed free market…

What a crazy day in politics.  Here is a quick video roundup of how John McCain saved the economy today.  Oh, sorry…He didn’t really “save” the economy.  I’m not quite sure what he did to the economy today, or if he actually has suspended his campaign.  Let me know what you think.Doesn’t seem like McCain has suspended his campaign.

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Historic Bailout of Financial Industry is near.  Or is it?  John McCain is talking to the president right now, and I am sure he will have this whole economic meltdown thing straitened out very soon. Well, I’m not entirely sure.

See AP Video…

Video of McCain’s photo-op, with President Bush and Barack Obama.  McCain suspended his campaign and hopes to delay tomorrow’s debate so he can save our economy with photo-ops?  I wonder how that’s workin out for him?

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Here is the video of President Bush addresses the nation on the U.S. economic crisis and discusses plans to solve it…

McCain to suspend campaign and delay debate to solve the economic crisis???

From Associated Press…

Republican John McCain says he’s directing his staff to work with Barack Obama’s campaign and the debate commission to delay Friday’s debate because of the economic crisis.

In a statement, McCain says he will stop campaigning after addressing former President Bill Clinton’s Global Initiative session on Thursday and return to Washington to focus on the nation’s financial problems.

What is going on????  Does McCain think he can ride in on his white horse and seemingly fix the economy???   Is this political theater???

Here is a guest post by community member Deb Della Piana from Turn Left.

[If you would like to be a guest blogger on The Political Voices of Women, just join our community, and start posting.]

It’s election season, and I’m not about to let up on the McCain-Palin ticket. If I put these two at the larval stage, I’m giving them too much credit. To show that I’m not just a one-issue voter when it comes to McCain and Palin, the issue of women’s rights will not play into the article (but only this one time). I’ve done that article before, and there are other reasons I’d never vote for this ticket.

We already have people in government who believe they are above the law (one resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue right now) and it looks like McCain would like to add one more. Initially, Sarah Palin said she would cooperate voluntarily with the ongoing abuse of power investigation against her. Suddenly, the Alaska legislators are under pressure to wait until after the election to continue the investigation, and her husband is now going to ignore the subpoena he has received. I wonder if he’s getting pointers from campaign advisor Karl Rove about how best to ignore a subpoena and get away with it. It doesn’t take much in America these days, particularly if you’re an elected official. We’ve lowered the bar here to the point where we should all be doing the limbo.

McCain campaign spokesman Ed O’Callaghan is falsely accusing the supporters of Barack Obama of controlling the investigation. The fact is that the investigation was recommended prior to Palin’s selection by a bi-partisan Legislative Council, the vast majority of whom were Alaska Republicans. There’s no way this investigation should be delayed until after the election. If McCain chose this woman as a running mate with full knowledge of the accusations against her (and he says he knew from the beginning), then let the chips fall where they may.

McCain wants to distract, not inform. If he distracts, you may not learn that his plan is to privatize and cut Social Security approximately one percent per year, along the lines of the proposed Bush plan. Workers who retire ten years after the McCain plan is put in place would see a ten percent reduction in benefits from the very beginning.

Next on the McCain-Palin hit list is the nation’s health care system. Their plan would effectively dismantle the employer-based coverage that protects most American families by converting health care benefits into income on which employees would have to pay taxes. The idea is to force millions of Americans into the non-group market where costs are high and services are limited. Benefits that millions now have would be lost. This is what the Republicans call the ‘free market’ system, much like the one currently bringing down Wall Street at the taxpayers’ expense.

John McCain’s confusion about who’s who in the world continues to embarrass. This from a candidate supposedly superior to Barack Obama in the foreign policy field. When asked if he would commit to a meeting with Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, McCain refused. Apparently, McCain thought Zapatero was a Latin American autocrat. Randy Scheunemann, McCain’s foreign policy advisor, denied it was yet another McCain gaffe, but rather an intentional policy position with regard to Spain. Why would McCain refuse to commit to a meeting with a Democratic NATO ally with 1,000 troops serving in Afghanistan? Either McCain is intent on hiding his confusion from the public or he is upset (as is President Bush) that Spain pulled its troops from Iraq in 2004. Someone should point out to both George Bush and John McCain that there sometimes are repercussions when other nations find they’ve been deliberately lied to.

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Here is a guest post from community member Marcella Peralta Simon.

[If you would like to be a guest blogger on The Political Voices of Women, just join our community, and start posting.]

How did we get into this mess and what sort of neat soundbites can Obama provide in ads and in debates?

Banks were flush with cash from the 90s boom and had to do something with it. They did some risky things with other people’s money and a few individuals made out like bandits while others lost their houses and life savings. The administration (Phil Gramm and co) did not want to interfere with the private sector so they were basically asleep at the switch. Things got so risky that whole companies started to implode, affecting global markets (when the US sneezes, etc.). Now, they want the taxpayers to bail out these banks and buy up their bad debt.

Obama can say under his tax policies, you will pay less for this bailout but under McCain’s proposal, you will pay proportionatly much much more. The people that made this happen and benefitted from this irresponsible excess will not be penalized under such a plan, you will. Also, banks have lobbyists crawling all over to make sure they get the best deal from the government, where are your advocates?

Its a start.

P.S. Nothing made me angrier than to hear Carly F smugly blame the Democratic Congress for this mess, after she lost big money for HP shareholders and walked away with a golden parachute.