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One of the reasons I could not say NO any louder yesterday was because the Congressional Internet system was so overloaded all I got when I tried to email our Representatives was a message " our engineers are working on the problem". I finally got through to Pearce and Udall but never could contact Wilson.
It occurs to me that the reason it was 90% "no" prior to the vote was that congressional leadership (of both parties) were portraying the bill as a done deal. Now that it actually failed those who were in favor of it are being heard.
On the other hand, I've read estimates that 80% of all calls/letters/emails to congressmen are fakes done by political campaigns and special interest groups so who can say?
I wonder what percentage of people against the bailout are liberals who are against corporate welfare/bailing out the fatcats and what percentage are conservatives who think it amounts to socialism.
if you want to bundle that with a Wall Street bailout,
This is why direct democracy is a bad idea. There are a lot of situations where repeating simple slogans isn't the right answer. This is one such situation.
It's not a "Wall Street bailout". Calling it a "Wall Street bailout" is deceptive, misleading, and an empty slogan.
Some economists may not think that we won't see 25% unemployment if we do anything, as your last post indicated, but there are a lot of other well informed and educated people who think we will see 25% uemployment.
Do you really want to take that risk? Or should we act to stabilize the system - to bail out every american who has saved money or who has a job.
Remember, it was those same simplistic slogans - cut taxes for the rich - eliminate government regulations - free markets solve all problem - that got us into this mess. Isn't it time to try something a bit smarter?
All of the additions that the Senate is adding to the Wall Street Bill can be and probably should be done separately from the Bailout Bill.
These changes do not alter the original bill.
I think that any Senator who will benefit from the passage of the bill should excuse themselves.
I believe a lot of money is being made off the stock market now.
The Senate's version is 'Lipstick on a Pig'
Friends,
I've seen some entertaining chain emails in regards to this bailout plan, and the idiots in mainstream media aren't offering any intelligence in more than one way, so In all seriousness, I have been watching this unfold over the last 3 years and I understand the economics pretty well, and we're in trouble. Both sides of Washington are completely failing (the blame trail is so wide, I doubt there is a single person in D.C. that is clean), Paulson is an idiot, and Ben Bernanke should really, really know better (he's an academic scholar of the Great Depression). So! Here's where we are:
The Europeans strategy for this Global situation is injection of capital into the system - staving off the market temporarily (will cause inflationnary pressure).
The US Plan is fundamentally flawed and will delay the crisis till after Jan 1 (buying toxic assets). There is the beginning of a silent-run on banks that is happening right now. (for non FDIC insured deposits, or deposits that exceed FDIC limits for guarantee which is about 63% of deposits at the moment).
We have 2 options an L shaped recession that lasts 10 years (like Japan) or a U shaped recession, I think we all want the U.
This is what really needs to happen:
1. US Treasury must buy preferred shares of companies (taxpayer ownership) while requiring dividends to be eliminated, and common shareholders to match dollar for dollar capitalization of these firms. (NOT TOXIC ASSETS, and not a Credit Default Swap)
2. The FDIC must do a temporary blanket guarantee of ALL deposits as they are right now. Stem a silent run on the banking system. QUICKLY!
3. Government program to convert debt to equity - debt reduction plan (similar to what was done during the great depression)
This needs to happen soon. (HOLC type program)
If this isn't handled properly, we WILL have a protracted severe recession like Japan's (10 years L shaped).
The LIBOR rate is currently at around 6 percent (the rate at which banks loan each other money) That means the interbanking loan channels are breaking down completely (it should be comparable to fed rate or around 2%) None of the banks trust each other right now. Everyone is scared and it will soon turn into sheer panic. International banks are in even worse trouble due to the lack of transparency in accounting rules there. It should be noted, that it will be healthy and necessary for banks to consolidate. We will probably have a third less banks by the end of this.
Please Forward the Calomiris plan to your House and Senate Representatives. This is the only responsible and workable action that must be taken.
Please Read Charles Calomiris's Plan and Nouriel Roubini's analysis for more information:
Charles Calomiris Plan - Professor Financial Institutions at Columbia University
http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q...php?q=node/
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Nouriel Roubini - Professor of Economics New York University Stern School of Busi
Robert, the main point I get from your post is the complexity of a solution to our economic problem. Our politicians are acting too fast on adopting a proposal to the problem.
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