Monday, September 29, 2008
228 members of congress grow some balls
And refuse to pass the Wall Street Enrichment Act, even with the TARP (satirically renamed "TRAP") provisions.
It rather encourages me that some members of Congress are unwilling to spend a year's worth of WWII in a single day. I'm not shocked it was so few, I was downright surprised that a majority refused....If the Senate can't vote until Wednesday at the earliest, why the rush to vote in the House? Let the representatives of the people - AND THE PEOPLE - read the darn bill before voting on it, for a change. The last rush vote I recall was the Patriot Act, and we know how that turned out.
So far as I can tell from here, capitalism continues to work, overexposed banks are being bought by saner banks at enormous writedowns on assets without it costing the taxpayer a cent.
Regional banks are doing ok. People are still doing their daily lives. There are still help wanted ads. Wall Street isn't Main Street, and NYC is not the center of the world, despite what some think.
Compared with the true cost of handing over financial control of the country to five elite bankers, shortly before a major election, a little delay and thought before fully embracing fascism is in order, don't you think?
Here's some Ron Paul for ya - on Bush's speech and on the House floor this morning, not that you'll see a word of his quoted in the mainstream press.
Paulson said one thing, early on, that really tweaked me. He said: "Credit is the lifeblood of the economy" - and I said, at maximum volume, at 2 in the morning -
And debt is the Albatross hung around all our necks!!
Oh, yea, before I forget, in the middle of all this kerfuffle Congress passed another 600+billion spending bill, with a major increase of military spending for the occupation of Iraq, and also agreed to hand over 25 billion to the automakers.
Where in God's name is the money for any of this going to come from? Can't anybody add?
Bonus link: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Update: US savings deposits spiked sharply upward in the 2nd quarter. And people were always bitching about the US having the lowest savings rate in the world.
Hey! We're saving money in banks and not investing in wall street! That sounds prudent. I wonder in what banks those deposits are going? ¶ 12:27 PM
