The Election Will Be Decided Tomorrow.

Barack Obama has gone on record saying he does not support giving a blank check to Bush and Paulson for the Bailout. I was extremely glad to hear him say this, along with his outlining important provisions needed in a reasonably fair Bailout proposal. However, we need more than words right now. We need the Democrats in Congress to put actions behind their words, because what they do tomorrow is going to decide the election.

If the Democrats in Congress fold once again, and allow Bush to have close to a trillion dollar blank check that rewards Wall Street and cripples Middle and Lower Class America, while shifting even more power to the Executive Branch and absolute power to The Treasury, then they will have shown that they are not willing to stand up for us when it most matters. We remember the last blank check they gave the Bush Administration against the wishes of most Americans, and we are still paying for this, and will continue to pay for this for many years to come.

The change we need is for the Democrats in Congress to stand up to the Bush administration once and for all, regardless of the negative spin, blame or bullying they might be subjected to from Republicans in Congress and in the Administration, in order to best serve the interests of American people. If they are unwilling to do this, then they are no better than the Republicans. At least the Republicans are true to their word when they essentially tell us they intend to screw us in favor of Wall Street and Corporate interests. The fact is, many would rather have the evil they know, than the evil they don't know.

If the Democrats stand firm tomorrow and insist that the Bailout proposal is unacceptable, and that it be revised to contain provisions which will protect the average American from solely shouldering the responsibility for the mass burden of debt, then we will know they are truly on our side. If they do this, while refusing to reward those who are largely responsible for this mess by proposing a temporary fix along the lines of the plans outlined by Obama, Sanders and Reich, and promise this will be followed regulation and oversight of our financial institutions in the form of long term legislation, then I guarantee you Barack Obama will win in a landslide.

I would suggest further that the Democrats put a really good speaker on the floor (Biden?) who is known to passionately fight for the cause of the working man, so that all the reasons they are going against this particular Bailout proposal are laid out bare before the American people. We know that The Bush Administration is going to try and blame them for a global meltdown if they do not pass this bill ASAP, but the American people need to know what the long term consequences this bill will mean before it is passed, rather than to be 'Shocked and Awed' and 'Mushroom Clouded' into going along with this as they were with IWR, only to deeply regret it after it is too late.

This is not FISA. Democrats will not be able to justify this betrayal like many of us were able to justify the FISA vote. This will demoralize hundreds of thousands of Democratic voters when we need every single person to be on board in order to win. Tomorrow we will find out who is really on our side. It's moments like these that test the true character of a candidate and their party.

Doing nothing will probably collapse the financial system. We need an alternative.

collapse some very large, bloated financial institutions that are operating with no rules and no restraints and certainly not in the best interests of anyone but their executives.

The financial system will collapse if this type of bailout becomes routine.

Let the "free market" rules apply. If you can't make it on your own the government isn't going to help you. No socialism for the financial industry.

Every institutional investor on the planet is stuck with derivative based "securities" on the balance sheet, put there by guys whose livelihood depended on creating balance sheets with a certain level of return. The derivative based "securities" were high risk, high return items that compensated for the low but realistic return on stable investments.

By institutional investor, I mean banks, brokerages, pensions and even state and national governments.

This is what doing nothing will collapse.

However, the situation this week is no more dire than it was six months ago. This no strings bailout bill is just a massive cash grab by Wall Street before the whole business collapses. They know this very well.

Yes, we do need to shore up balance sheets if we want these things to survive, and we do need these institutions in a cash based economy. We also need to end the abuses within the financial industry that created the need for it. We need to abolish the casino of derivatives trading, of selling debt as security, and of basing our consumer economy on putting people into debt because their wages are inadequate to support it.

Doing nothing does mean a second Great Depression, one that will be far worse than the first because this country can't borrow its way out of it.

However, doing the wrong thing also will lead to this, although it will be stalled for a few weeks. The wrong thing is a blank check with no strings attached.

The bailout needs strings the size of suspension bridge cables.

VALUE to any other corporation? EVEN AT BARGAIN BASEMENT PRICES?

So, I ask you why would WE CITIZENS WANT TO BUY THEM?

This is just a vicious cycle of THEY (the financial gurus) do something so outrageous that it flies in the face of sanity while they make billions, then WE are required to bail them out because it will cause a GREAT DEPRESSION if we don't save them, then THEY use their billions of $$$ to come up with some other method of stripping our pockets, then WE are supposed to bail them out again.

it's ground-hog day, Warpy.

do you?

Yes, there needs to be a bailout. The need is a desperate one because these institutions are insolvent and will collapse without one, taking your savings and your weekly paycheck and pension and 401K with them. Do you really think you want that? I don't.

People are deluging Congress with phone calls and mail. Nobody wants Paulson's blank check because it has no oversight and doesn't prevent these conmen from doing it all over again. Both of those need to be supplied to any bailout that does pass. We know that. Congress knows that. Even Stupid knows that.

Paulson is doing political posturing right now to benefit Stupid. They want to howl about obstructionist Democrats when Stupid vetoes the bailout because it comes with conditions. The best thing that can happen right now is that the bailout is delayed until a Democratic Congress is seated, preferably a veto proof Congress no matter who is in the White House.

We do have that much time. We don't have much more than that. The real debt bomb will start to explode in January. By June it will be too late.

Well done!

K&R

:patriot:

Anyway, this is what I've been reading and hearing from people, and it is how I feel inside right now. Thank you!

I'll take nothing.

it's put up or shut up time for Congress.

the first thing republicans will do is run against Democrats on that issue.

Senator MBNF supports the working man? Now I've heard everything.

You nailed it. Are they listening?

and make it clear to them that this is unacceptable, and that they will lose the election for Obama if they roll over again.

If they want to increase their majority in the Congress, this issue is critical. Roll over and play dead again and they will lose seats. If the Republicans can be painted into a corner on this, only the safest, reddest seats will remain in their hands.

You are now my favorite.

But if it happens, Democrats will be blamed (we do controll congress ya know :eyes: ).

Time to show a little spine Democrats!

Every single conservative I've raised the bailout issue with has
either been left pissed or speechless about it.

I k & R your post because I so agree we NEED the rest of the country to be heard. We are not slaves to the Master of the Universe Class.

Now is the golden moment for our party to speak for the middle class, the working class and the poor.

Are we the party of FDR or just a DOORMAT on the way to slavery.

If they do not stand up to this, then we will know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the two-party system no longer exists. If they capitulate, then we can kiss democracy good-by.K&R

Make your outrage and skepticism known.

No bailout without oversight.
No bailout without transparency.
No bailout without a plan.
No bailout without reciprocity.
No bailout without severe consequences for the criminals on wall street.

Period.

I've called and written all my congresscritters, I've written LTTEs to every paper in the area, I've forwarded to my small group of acquaintances. The only other thing I can think of to do is call RW talk shows. I just might do that.

Fax! I forgot about fax! Here's a free one:
https://faxzero.com/

Here are the fax numbers:
http://www.thenhf.com/fax_numbers_for_110_congress.htm

However, you are correct. We can not allow them to divide us again with their 'EVERYTHING WE WANT NOW...' or nothing BS.

You cannot negotiate with terrorists.

Our local right-wing radio station interviewed Republican Congressman Jim DeMint of SC this morning. He was adamantly against this bailout as pushed forward by the Bush administration and his Wall Street henchmen.

Along the same topic, it is interesting to watch the NC Senate campaign ads. The only ads linking Liddy Dole to George W. Bush are her OPPONENT's ads. No Republican wants to be linked to this administration at all.