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Look at the ticker for the day after the bill passes the House.

Steady decline...

Now perhaps America will wake up and smell the coffee?  

It's sad.  Very, very sad.

Wish they would have thought this through...

Things have been pretty volatile for a while  - today's 1.5% change may or may not mean something.  

September unemployment figures released show another 159,000 jobs lost.

Never good for the market.

Not liking any of this......I'm gonna be working when I'm 99.

Jacke 8-)

No me.  I'm gonna retire right now and get me some of that free Obama money.

I can be just as lazy as the next guy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bill reams Barneys ass (and I think he likes it....LOL)  ;D

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As far as my income is concerned...I am at the poverty level.  Actually below it.

But I OWN my house...no mortgage.  I have some Mutual funds in an IRA.  I got my statement today.  I lost 6 Grand in the last 6 weeks.  I am so scared.  I know it's the exact wrong thing to do, but my gut tells me to take what's left and put it under my mattress, lined with a fire-proof cover.   :(

Linda, believe it or not, I pulled the kids money out of their savings acct.'s (left $50 in each) at the beginning of the summer and it's now locked in a fireproof safe.

I was going on a gut feeling.  Jesse thought I'd lost my mind.

David Brooks: GOP NYT Columnist:

In 1933, Franklin Roosevelt inherited an economic crisis. He understood that his first job was to restore confidence, to give people a sense that somebody was in charge, that something was going to be done.

This generation of political leaders is confronting a similar situation, and, so far, they have failed utterly and catastrophically to project any sense of authority, to give the world any reason to believe that this country is being governed. Instead, by rejecting the rescue package on Monday, they have made the psychological climate much worse.

George W. Bush is completely out of juice, having squandered his influence with Republicans as well as Democrats. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is a smart moneyman, but an inept legislator. He was told time and time again that House Republicans would not support his bill, and his response was to get down on bended knee before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

House leaders of both parties got wrapped up in their own negotiations, but did it occur to any of them that it might be hard to pass a bill fairly described as a bailout to Wall Street? Was the media darling Barney Frank too busy to notice the 95 Democrats who opposed his bill? Pelosi’s fiery speech at the crucial moment didn’t actually kill this bill, but did she have to act like a Democratic fund-raiser at the most important moment of her career?

And let us recognize above all the 228 who voted no — the authors of this revolt of the nihilists. They showed the world how much they detest their own leaders and the collected expertise of the Treasury and Fed. They did the momentarily popular thing, and if the country slides into a deep recession, they will have the time and leisure to watch public opinion shift against them.

House Republicans led the way and will get most of the blame. It has been interesting to watch them on their single-minded mission to destroy the Republican Party. Not long ago, they led an anti-immigration crusade that drove away Hispanic support. Then, too, they listened to the loudest and angriest voices in their party, oblivious to the complicated anxieties that lurk in most American minds.

Now they have once again confused talk radio with reality. If this economy slides, they will go down in history as the Smoot-Hawleys of the 21st century. With this vote, they’ve taken responsibility for this economy, and they will be held accountable. The short-term blows will fall on John McCain, the long-term stress on the existence of the G.O.P. as we know it.

I’ve spoken with several House Republicans over the past few days and most admirably believe in free-market principles. What’s sad is that they still think it’s 1984. They still think the biggest threat comes from socialism and Walter Mondale liberalism. They seem not to have noticed how global capital flows have transformed our political economy.

We’re living in an age when a vast excess of capital sloshes around the world fueling cycles of bubble and bust. When the capital floods into a sector or economy, it washes away sober business practices, and habits of discipline and self-denial. Then the money managers panic and it sloshes out, punishing the just and unjust alike.

What we need in this situation is authority. Not heavy-handed government regulation, but the steady and powerful hand of some public institutions that can guard against the corrupting influences of sloppy money and then prevent destructive contagions when the credit dries up.

The Congressional plan was nobody’s darling, but it was an effort to assert some authority. It was an effort to alter the psychology of the markets. People don’t trust the banks; the bankers don’t trust each other. It was an effort to address the crisis of authority in Washington. At least it might have stabilized the situation so fundamental reforms of the world’s financial architecture could be undertaken later.

But the 228 House members who voted no have exacerbated the global psychological free fall, and now we have a crisis of political authority on top of the crisis of financial authority.

The only thing now is to try again — to rescue the rescue. There’s no time to find a brand-new package, so the Congressional plan should go up for another vote on Thursday, this time with additions that would change its political prospects. Leaders need to add provisions that would shore up housing prices and directly help mortgage holders. Martin Feldstein and Lawrence Lindsey both have good proposals of the sort that could lead to a plausible majority coalition. Loosening deposit insurance rules would also be nice.

If that doesn’t happen, the world could be in for some tough economic times (the Europeans, apparently, have not even begun to acknowledge their toxic debt) — but also tough political times.
The American century was created by American leadership, which is scarcer than credit just about now.

This was done on Wednesday before today's vote. No matter your feelings, it's interesting. It's hard not to like this guy.

Charlie

Good stuff Charlie

Some people will do anything to get elected!

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That is one of the ugliest things that I have ever seen.  ROTFLMAO!!!!!!

Quote:

IRS undercover operations: Privacy invasion? The bailout bill also gives the Internal Revenue Service new authority to conduct undercover operations. It would immunize the IRS from a passel of federal laws, including permitting IRS agents to run businesses for an extended sting operation, to open their own personal bank accounts with U.S. tax dollars, and so on. (Think IRS agents posing as accountants or tax preparers and saying, "I'm not sure if that deduction is entirely legal, but it'll save you $1,000. Want to take it?") That section had expired as of January 1, 2008, and would now be renewed. Starting with the so-called Anti-Drug Abuse Act in 1988, the IRS has possessed this authority temporarily, with occasional multiple-year lapses. A 1999 internal report said the IRS had 126 "trained undercover agents" working in field offices at the time. This is the first time that such undercover authority would be made permanent. Sens. Max Baucus (D) and Chuck Grassley (R) have been pushing to make it permanent for a while, claiming (PDF) in April that: "Undercover operations are an integral part of IRS efforts to detect and prove noncompliance. The temporary status of this provision creates uncertainty, as the IRS plans its undercover efforts from year to year." There's another section of the bailout bill worth noting. It lets the IRS give information from individual tax returns to any federal law enforcement agency investigating suspected "terrorist" activity, which can, in turn, share it with local and state police. Intelligence agencies such as the CIA and the National Security Agency can also receive that information. The information that can be shared includes "a taxpayer's identity, the nature, source, or amount of his income, payments, receipts, deductions, exemptions, credits, assets, liabilities, net worth, tax liability, tax withheld, deficiencies, overassessments, or tax payments, whether the taxpayer's return was, is being, or will be examined or subject to other investigation or processing, or any other data received by, recorded by, prepared by, furnished to, or collected by the Secretary with respect to a return." That provision had already existed in federal law and automatically expired on January 1, 2008. What's a little odd is that there's been little to no discussion of the IRS sections of the bailout bill, even though they raise privacy concerns. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said this week: "I will continue to work with congressional leaders to find a way forward to pass a comprehensive plan to stabilize our financial system and protect the American people by limiting the prospects of further deterioration in our economy." He never mentioned the necessity of additional IRS undercover operations.

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wrote on Oct 3^rd, 2008 at 6:17pm:

Bill reams Barneys ass (and I think he likes it....LOL)  ;D START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

That video was sweet.  Frank has had that coming for a long time and deserved every word of it.  Frank and his butt buddy were neck deep in playing fast and loose with Fany Freddy loan policies and are a big part of the cause of the current problems.  

All I ever see with the loud mouth Dems is finger pointing.  Time and time again.  Just once I'd like to hear one of them to say "yea, it was me and I fucked up"  Same thing with the Repub's.  They should both shut the fuck up, suck it up and do the job they were elected to do.

-P.

Bob that's a scary thought to me. I lived thru the McCarthy years and saw a lot of lives ruined because of the "communist threats". We were all suspicious of our neighbors because we didn't know what a communist really looked like. We were told they could be anyone, so were were susupicious of everyone.

Today the IRS is going to be our watchdog (as well as the other govt. agencies)? Ok case senerio.... I sell a piece of property and finance it. I report interest (have to report from whom). The name isn't exactly "Main Street American" so it gets flagged as a "possible terriorist" plot. I'm on the LIST.... I didn't do anything wrong - the guy I sold the property to was born and raised in America, owns a business and bought the property in good faith, but... oh well, you get the jest of this.  

We've got to protect our country, but KGB tactics are NOT the answer. This is WRONG and needs to be taken out of this bill or a new law taking it out needs to be written. Congress needs to be accountable to US. I will be writing my Congressman and Senators immediately and giving them a piece of my mind on this. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Hugs BD

Of course I can't watch the video but like all the shit from 9-11, like wire tapping, and the like, it's terrifying and Congress went along with the Emperor out of fear.

This crap has always been done but it's not been codified. Like other forms of pretending that the 1st Amendment shouldn't be taken seriously, let it be. It's always done but don't make it legal or easy.

Charle