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Political Wisdom: Big Failure Turns to Bigger Blame Game

    • A triumph!

      For spineless lawmakers from Regan on who have been unable to resist the lobbying of the greedy and wholly responsible for this mess.

      Are you now prepared to concede that we are all to a degree socialists? For without government intervention, capitalism unchecked ALWAYS results in chaos.

      Another exasperated non-American (in this case, Australian)

      I wish us all well.

    • McCain has added a new twist to his campaign rhetoric: "Country First". When his campaign starts to tank, he lets the entire US economy go down with it!

      Shame on McSame!

    • Neither McCain or Obama could "lead" this. Though they are the titular heads of their parties, until one of them is elected they have no real power. The fact that McCain was trying to give the appearance of "leadership" speaks volumes about the fantasy world he apparently lives in. Obama shrewdly stayed on the sidelines and prepared to give the credit for any deal to those who deserved it. On the other hand McCain prepared to claim credit for any deal as a sign that he is "the great leader". Well another hand grenade has blown up in his face and at some point he will learn. Barack Obama has more judgment and instincts than he ever thought possible.

    • It is about time that lawmakers reflect the overriding will of the people that private businesses who make bad decisions should bear the entire burden of making bad decisions. After all, everyone else does, why shouldn't they?

      What IS disturbing is that the only thing that seems to encourage a lawmaker to make a decision based on the will of the people, is fear that they will not be reelected to their job. At other times of the year, they are willing to betray those same people in favor of political gain or funding for themselves from the lobbyists, some of whom are within their own peers...

    • To say what we truly have a free enterprise system with all the overt and covert restrictions placed on it, is as bad an exaggeration that infusing and supporting one part of one industry makes for socialism. Our Dears Fannie and Freddi basically got into this mess, they were the social engineering playpens of the Democrats. No one heeded the Repb's and McCain's projections of this demise in 2005.

    • I listened to Pelosi and she p*ssed me off, a registered democrat. I would love to hear the democrats take some credit for the blame; they fail to admit that had they not blocked efforts to regulate Freddie and Fannie, we might not be in this mess today. I believe in giving credit where credit is due, country before party, and the dems are failing to take credit for their failures in oversight and regulation.

    • Pelosi's comments angered me, a registered democrat. I get tired of hearing all the blame put on the other party, when I know that the Freddie-Fannie failure can be laid firmly at the feet of the Democrat Party that blocked efforts for greater regulation and oversight that the Republicans attempted to institute as early as 2005. They were warned and failed to heed. Country before party, credit where credit is due!

    • I too am a registered democrat, and I was offended not only by Pelosi's speech, but by a week of Pelosi, Schumer, Frank and Reid repeatedly hogging the spotlight around Paulson. All we needed was for Jimmy Carter to show up and give the bailout his blessing. I love those folks, but the only one who could get elected outside of Massachusetts, New York or San Francisco is Reid.

    • A revolt of the common man, or at least the threat as such as leveled against his congressman. Asolutely fascinating. One thing is for sure: Obama has played his campaign far better so far than McCain has (Palin? Really??). If that's an indication of one's ability to lead this herd of cats, he's certainly past that test. My bet: Obama by a material margin in Nov. The Biden/Palin debate will seal it.

    • What failure? A failure to pull of a heist of the century? I'd say! I could not believe it, but it's true - American democracy is alive and well. All those crying for a bailout - go back to your cubicles and start packing, losers. Can't live on borrowed time and dime too long, you know?

    • Isn't the story here the dramatic defections of the Democratic caucus. Clearly one expected "No" votes from many House Republicans - but 95 "No" votes from the House Democrats is unbelievable.

    • Everything Pelosi said was true. The job of house members is not to get angry at people that say things that offend them. The job of house members is to help our country move forward. Once again the Republicans are doing their best to move our country backward.

    • Pelosi and Frank's are failed leaders and should resign. Frank's actions caused the financial mess and then he fails to deliver on a bailout.
      Both need to go.

    • A question to all of you that think Fannie and Freddie were the cause of the meltdown. Why are the banks affected Investment banks and not commercial banks? Commercial banks are buying up investment banks. Commercial banks are regulated by the states which have more strict regulatory requirements. Investment banks are not.

    • If the problem was about sub-prime loans wouldn't the commercial banks have been failing also. WaMu and Wachovia are S&Ls. My mortgage is with Wells Fargo so I know that commercial banks also do mortgages.

    • If you think that Fannie and Freddie are the source of this mess then you just plain don't understand or don't want to understand the problem. Someone ought to come up with a slogan like "It's the Derivatives Stupid". If we're going to play politics on the source of the problem, how can hope for a solution that's not political. We've have real estate debacles before. What's different about this one? The Derivatives. Trying to blame the poor slobs that have gotten thrown out of their houses isn't going to solve this. Figuring out how these derivatives operate and explaining it to the American people will go a long way in assuaging their fears. Why there is still panicky withdrawing is because no one will level with depositors as to the extent of the problem and how perhaps time would fix it

    • I'm not a specialist in the type of derivatives that the gov proposes to buy. But I'm willing to guess that some of them amount to pure "bets" between parties on future events like whether a mortgage will fail or not. What that means is that there is actually a winner and a loser. What's happening now is that we have a number of players at the World Series of Poker. But they are so evenly matched that we don't know who going to draw the winning hand or better yet who may have the winning hand already. But depositor are effectively yanking the players stake before the "river" can be dealt. That way everyone loses instead of someone losing everything, someone losing something and someone winning what's left. Why couldn't Bush or Paulson undertake a similar kind of explanation?

    • It did start with Fannie and Freddie, because without the implicit (now explicit)government guarantee on the underlying mortgages, there would have never been such a huge derivatives market. I lay the blame at Barney Frank's feet. He allowed Fannie and Freddie to go unchecked for years (just read the WSJ for crying out loud) because they helped keep him in office (and who knows what else).

    • Calf. Democrat's 14 voted No, Pelosi's home state. She needs to resign.

    • I read Pelosi's speech and agree much of the "blame" stuff was stupid and unnecessary, that's no excuse for someone switching their vote because of an onrush of the vapours. This is just a concocted excuse for guys who were going to vote No anyway. Once again the GOP leadership distorts reality to pander to the stupidest elements o ftheir constituencies.

    • Holy cow! D'jya see the droopin' earlobes on Pelosi? Yick! Gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble

    • Oh no, the sky is falling! Look, this bill is ridiculous - JPM isn't going to start writing crazy loans again if they can sell old mistakes. They will breath a sigh of relief and keep the same underwriting standards. This economy blows, all the bankers know it, and they won't start lending even if they can get rid of their mortgage hangover.

    • The republican wusses got offended by Pelosi so they fcuk up the world economy! And where is super Mc, putting country first? Where is the leadership? The Republicans, Bush and McCain have destroyed this country and they are taking the world financial system down with them.
      They should be rounded up and taken to Gitmo. No habeas corpus for republican economic trrists.!

    • I just wish that Congress would have had the same guts to cut the funding for the war in Iraq , the same way they defeated this financial rescue bill .
      While this rescue bill is to wright our deregulated and bankrupt financial system ; the appropriation for the war in Iraq was to profit the military-industrial complex and the oil industry speculators , not the people on main street .
      In both instance , main street , me and you ,are going to pay for the war and Wall Street ,like it or not .

    • 1)First of all, it is time that everyone realizes that the mess we are in is a result of the greed of the citizens (what they call now "main street) not just wall street. Everybody played the game of buying a house (that they couldn't afford in many cases) with the bank's money betting on house prices going higher. Ooopps !! The price went down !! Hey Mr Bank, here is your house. I will not take the loss !!.
      2) Politicians in the US have degraded to levels seen probably in the less respected third world countries. They only care about themselves.
      3) These same politicians and "leaders" that have erased any respect from the world to this country, today lost maybe the last opportunity to gain back some leadership.
      4) The "bailout" was for the citizens not for wall street. And they killed it

    • You wrote: “Look, the Democrats did deliver a majority of about 60 percent of its caucus’ votes for the bill…But c’mon: 60 percent? So, while (James) Clyburn is up there now praising that 60 percent and decrying the GOP’s 67 percent nay votes, there’s still no explanation for why the Dem leaders could not keep their coalition together.”

      Percentages is one way to stack it--
      but 133 Republican no's was a lot more than 95 Democratic no's. Every vote matters.

      Besides: the GOP is supposed to be known for its extreme party discipline; where is the
      do-or-die urge to do what one is told-- when it really matters to save the country?

    • TERM LIMITS. We need Term Limits for Congress. This toxic climate (is this familiarity breeds contempt?) is a result of these people working too long and in some cases developing a nasty view of their 'across the isle' colleagues. Fresh faces with fresh views every so often is a good thing.

      As an example:
      Nancy Pelosi has been in Congress since 1987. 21 years.
      John Boehner has been is Congress since 1990. 18 years.

      This is too long!! These people over time end up despising each other. How can they get anything done?

    • Pelosi, Frank and Democrats vote with failed Bush administration 100% on spending $700 billion to bail out Wall Street. Barney Frank and fellow Democrats resisted all Republican efforts to save FannieMae in 2004. CSPAN has video. Pelosi can even get 94 of her own to sell the taxpayers money away.

    • ......and people wonder why the House and Senate have worse ratings than Bush

      proof is in the pudding

    • Why should Democrats pass a compromise bill all on their own, and let Republicans off the hook? I'm shocked more Republicans don't support Bush and Paulson. It's not like this is a partisan Democratic bill. If you want Democrats to pass a partisan Democratic bill without Republican support, then they will want to add a lot more provisions to the bill. But I think Democrats would prefer to let the Republicans share in the "credit" for this bill. But that means Republicans have to step up to the plate and support their own administration and vote for it.

    • The blame game is the only game Obama knows. Liberals are losers, their social agenda is detrimental to the US.

    • Yes , jj (at 8:49 pm) ,the proof is in the pudding.
      We keep electing and re-electing them .
      We the people are the one who should deserve a much lower rating than Bush or Congress,just for allowing ourselves to vote repeatedly for those clowns .

    • Not all of us are under the Obama ether !

    • The blame for this mess is shared by all involved: people who spent well above their means, Wall Street and banks who prodded those who could least afford to the credit, and policitians who lacked the foresight to be prepared for the inevitable crash of the house of cards. For the congressmen and congresswoman who voted on the basis the rescue plan violated their principles or believed it was not the right solution, let's at least acknowledge they showed some character (regardless of their political affilation or whether we agree or disagree with their decision). For those representatives who claimed Pelosi's speech was the reason for the decision to vote against the bill, they should be removed from office. That is absolutely the most insane reason to support their decision.

    • I totally agree.

    • Lets see market lost 777 pts today, thats about a trillion dollars. $700B bailout starting to look cheap. Oh well, this is a democracy. I hope the "free market" ideologues resolve their issues soon.

    • I personally like to have some control over my environment like AC, running water, heat, levees, dams, but democracy is worth being at the mercy of a "free market". Good thing I have a brother that has a farm with a natural well, lots of fish, a fireplace and cattle to eat. Hope the idealogues are prepared.

    • Democrats voted in the majority to support an unpopular GOP-proposed solution to a problem that festered under GOP leadership. But two-thirds of the House GOP begged off before skipping town in the middle of an emergency.

      Sorry, but the Dems are undeniably providing the adult leadership here.

    • Lets talk about some of the other effects of the "free market" ideology. When big bus becomes challenged by a smaller more efficient company, they have unlimited financing from unreg banking, they buy it up, assimilate it, no more competition. Great for spurring innovation. With no gov. intervention we now have businesses that are "too big to fail". Love the effects of "free market" ideology. So we let them fail. So now instead of the bus suffering the entire population suffers because these companies are so big that they have way too much power. Oh yea, and the problem is not the "free market". Its greed and corruption, a few bad guys. Love this free market uncontrolled environment. Such excitement. What a great ride. Now we are governed by big business instead of the people.

    • Now big business, with its power and control operates on two fronts. Hires lobbiests to influence the gov. to stay out of their way and buys advertising to convince the people that all of our ills are because of big gov. They "have" to go to overseas markets because of gov. regulations. Not their fault. Even though reality is they are not regulated. They are being forced to other countries because of gov. taxes even though they pay few taxes. It becomes a matter of big business survival not survival of the people. And they form this unholy alliance with both the people and the government and work one against the other to remain in power. Love the "free market" ideology.

    • And of course, we believe that big business is protecting our interests not an elected government. We trust big business and not our government. Its our government that is selfish and greedy not big business and "free markets".

    • In London they bailed out failed banks then broke them up into small pieces. Now they aren't too big to fail.

    • A&D 6:31, etc.:
      You know, to first misstate my point about Fannie and Freddie, and then to dismiss the roles of both agencies (which WERE JUST NATIONALIZED!) as well as their congressional enablers in this mess... followed (incredibly!) by your: a) likening our current financial situation to a big poker game, and ; b) admitting that you don't know what you're talking about (on this point, btw, you are correct) further supports my belief that you are a feeble-minded, crayon-eating purveyor of nonsense. Just be glad stupidity isn't painful, and that Crayola is still in business so that you won't starve.
      Peace, and don't be hatin'!

    • Well Todd, my comments were not addressed at you in particular. I'm sorry I offended you but the truth is the truth. And if you don't like the poker analogy, that just tough. Because it's actually pretty accurate. Fanny and Freddie failed because they couldn't get financing to support their mortgage portfolios. Just like Wamu and Wachovia. The problem is the derivatives that these guys carried which are super sophisticated hedging instruments. The problem is that only a few people really know how to value them which has made them untradeable. The mortgage derivative market is 20 trillion versus a 12 trillion mortgage market. Starting to get the picture? Somebody needed to explain this to the American people rather than just call them bad loans and blame foreclosed Americans for the problem

    • First of all, a huge f*** you to Nancy Pelosi for not getting 96 Dems on board and launching into an attack of the current administration (hey, lady, you have been in charge for 2 years - you let it happen or did nothing to change it). Then another to the House Repubs for whining, "someone said something bad". Grow up and do what's right. If they had said they still had issues, that would be one thing. They only said it was b/c Nancy Pelosi said upsetting things. Boo freakin' hoo. And a big global one for going home for 2 days and leaving a mess - how much of Congress is actually Jewish, maybe 10 - 15%? Fine, if you are observing the holiday, please join your families and get up to speed when you get back. Everyone else work around the clock.
      You all stink!

    • Pelossi, the Dems. could have passed this if she wanted to. The longer she stalls action, the better it is for Obama, her guy. She is a smart politician, and knows exactly what she is doing, insulting the Reps. in her little speech, is all of her plan, to keep the heat on,while Obama rises up in the polls.Pelossi, the rat,had 20% of sale of paper going to ACORN in the original bailout plan, the Republicans caught that,and had it taken out,of the revised bailout.Pelossi does'nt care anything about the American people, her only drive is to get Obama into the White House, then we would have Obama,Pelossi,Reed running our country, God help us.

    • A&D 1:12: oh, you weren't addressing your comments to me? You must've been talking to the other guys that mentioned the GSEs, who were...oh, that's right, there weren't any!
      I'm never disappointed by your posts: generally a bunch of random half-facts wandering aimlessly about, looking for some sort of conclusion...and this is no exception. And your concern is touching, but don't worry about offending me. You've just beclowned yourself, as usual. Tell you what: why don't YOU explain it all to the American people? Just go on public access and yell, "Mortgage markets! 12 trillion vs. 20 trillion! Derivatives, stupid! Iraq! Get the picture?" You have no idea how any of this works, and have said so yourself, you fanciful little mountebank. Now go finish your crayons.

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