What is Digg?43 Comments
- SpenderH, on 09/29/2008, -1/+19YAY HOUSE REPUBLICANS!!!!
- DDayDawg, on 09/29/2008, -3/+18Wow, can someone explain to me why the Democrats, supposedly the party of the people, voted to back Bush and screw us while it took the Republicans to keep it from happening? It the Dems were looking for a way to hand control back to the Republicans so soon after getting it they sure picked the right way.
- DukeLeto2, on 09/29/2008, -1/+16So that means the House Republicans are the only conservatives left... It truly is the last bastion of the Republic!
- Crusis, on 09/29/2008, -1/+14Truly a sad day in our nation when we head at full speed toward socialism by nationalizing risk, and only a few brave men and women stand between us and becoming just like the Europeans. These people took the risks, let them eat it.
- Igotabeeme, on 09/29/2008, -1/+9 Nancy Pelosi showed just how worthless she really is by making such a partisan speech b efore this vote. I hope the Congress keeps votring it down. At the same time they should send out a posse for Franklin Raines and Jim Johnson, the legalized burglars of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
- tisk, on 09/29/2008, -2/+10You know the bill will come back around again :(
- odigity, on 09/29/2008, -1/+9I don't care about parties. Parties are a trap.
I care about the individuals who voted, and how each voted. If they happen to Republican, that's irrelevent, because being Republican doesn't actually mean anything consistent, and because both national parties are owned by the same special interests in general.
So, thank you to all *individual* Congressmen and women who voted No. Assuming you don't try to sneak another one through next week, you have my gratitude. - wjsmall, on 09/29/2008, -1/+7Don't play if you can't pay. Why should the taxpayers bail out greedy corporations that have been mismanaged for years? Let these businesses fail. Survival of the fittest. Thank God for the Republicans and conservative Dems.
- sgspurr, on 09/29/2008, -1/+6What an idiot Pelosi is.. trying to pass a "bipartisan" bill, then attacking Bush as responsible..she is the dummest!!!!!
Of course the mess has nothing to do with all the banks failing due to the loose lending practices imposed by the democratic congress.
The people creating the mess want us to give them $700 billion now to solve it! yeah, right!
How did she lose anyway? don't the dummocrtas have a majority in the House?
Maybe some of them are smarter than we think
Stephen (Go McCain/Palin) - synarchy, on 09/29/2008, -0/+5Democrats to Try Again on Bailout (not even two hours after the first one was rejected)
http://digg.com/business_finance/Democrats_to_Try_ ... - DreKor, on 09/29/2008, -2/+7To be fair, a bunch of Democrats voted against it, too.
- EcadSGO, on 09/29/2008, -1/+6Once again the "Speaker" couldn't keep her hateful, vile trap shut long enough to get this piece of crap bill shoved down the American peoples throat.... thank God. I for one cheer the right thinking men and women of both parties who put America first and corporate greed and partisan ass covering last at least this one time. IF an economic down turn of "mammoth" proportions ensues it is a bitter pill we must all swallow but it is a situation that we all as Americans must take responsibility for. We get the government we deserve. I hope this will be the wake up call all sober minded voters will heed and start taking seriously our responsibility to put level headed leaders into office.
- badqat, on 09/29/2008, -0/+4To be fair...yay to the 40% of house democrats that also saw through this sham! And yay to the 60% of house republicans who did likewise!
- bot1, on 09/30/2008, -0/+4What is the Root Cause of the “Mortgage Meltdown”? (Social Activism)
While it is true that there’s corporate greed on Wall Street, it is important to understand the chronology of how our Country got into the “Mortgage Meltdown” mess: The Mainstream Media would have us believe there was insufficient government intervention by the Bush administration, which did nothing while “Rome burned”. That couldn’t be further from the truth! We must look at the root cause:
• The Democrats in Congress over the last 20 years pushed the mortgage industry so hard to increase minority homeownership, that it undermined the country's financial foundation to achieve its goal of “social activism”.
• The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, at the urging of Congressional Democrats, produced a manual in the early 1990’s that warned mortgage lenders they can no longer deny urban and lower-income minority applicants on such "outdated" criteria as credit history, down payment or employment income.
• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac encouraged and praised mortgage lenders – like Countrywide and Bear Stearns – because they adopted weakened policies toward minority applicants.
• Fannie Mae agreed in 1999 with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to commit half its business to low- and moderate-income borrowers.
• A September 1999 New York Times article says that Fannie Mae had been under increasing pressure from the Clinton administration to expand mortgage loans among low- and moderate-income people and that the corporation loosened its lending requirements to comply. The article warns “In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980s."
• Greg Mankiw, chairman of President Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, was concerned in 2003 with weakened underwriting standards; Congress ignored him. The Wall Street Journal quoted Congressman Barney Frank, D-Mass., as criticizing Greg Mankiw "because he is worried about the tiny little matter of safety and soundness rather than 'concern about housing.'"
• Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, rejected a Bush administration and Congressional Republican plan for regulating the mortgage industry in, saying, "These two entities – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – are not facing any kind of financial crisis." According to a New York Times article, Frank added, "The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing."
• Fannie and Freddie were enmeshed in accounting scandals that led to turnover at the top. The SEC’s chief accountant told disgraced Fannie Mae chief Franklin Raines that Fannie's position on the relevant accounting issue was not even ``on the page'' of allowable interpretations.
• Alan Greenspan in 1995 said. "We are placing the total financial system of the future at a substantial risk." The Senate Banking Committee passed a Fannie and Freddie reform bill . The bill gave a regulator power to crack down, and would have required the companies to eliminate their investments in the risky mortgages to low income borrowers. But the bill didn't become law, for a simple reason: Democrats opposed it on a party-line vote in the committee, signaling their "commitment to the poor". Republicans couldn't even get the Senate to vote on the matter.
• The Democratic Senators who protected Fannie and Freddie, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Christopher Dodd, have received high levels of financial support from them over the years. Obama received more than $125,000 in campaign contributions from employees and political action committees of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, second only to Dodd, the Senate Banking Committee chairman, who received more than $165,000. Hillary Clinton received $75,000
• The Mainstream Media won’t let you know that Senator John McCain was one of the three cosponsors of S.190, the bill that would have averted this mess. - badqat, on 09/29/2008, -1/+5Believe it or not, the true "libs" opposed this as well...what you basically had were the libs and conservatives banding together to defeat the centrists/apologists/CYA players...
- DukeLeto2, on 09/29/2008, -0/+4Actually, I can't believe it!... j/k
I didn't mention the "libs" in that reply but certainly this is truly the people that don't have a banking interest versus the bought-and-paid-for usual suspects. I am very proud of my country today! - Rosey1, on 09/30/2008, -0/+4CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, BUT 100 DEMS VOTED AGAINST IT
Most on Wall Street have NO idea how much RAGE there is against them. Even among Democrats. You have to understand that the phones of the Representatives (and Senators) were ringing off the hook with anger against Wall Street.
I think many Americans would be willing to lose their job, to see Wall Street executives go to jail. That's how much anger there is.
We have far too many "financial professionals." Just like lawyers. The MBA is a useless degree, taken to manage other people's money by manipulation and greed.
There are two sides of this downfall (call them lights at the end of the tunnel):
1. Oil prices will crash to less than 50/bbl
2. Travel bargains (for those who can still afford it) will multiply
3. Restaurants will appreciate your business, instead of ignoring you or taking you for granted
4. Financial organizations will FIRE or lay off tens of thousands of employees, who will be forced to get a REAL job
5. People will ask for discounts even at deparment stores (I do) and walk away if they don't get them (I do, too)
The next time you buy something, DEMAND a discount. I don't care where it is. If you don't get it, don't buy it.
It's time that consumers were appreciated for their dollars.
sanjosemike - EZLA, on 09/29/2008, -1/+4Well thank you Obama for "call me if you need me" and being bought and paid for by the financial sector and your support of ACORN that caused this mess, Oh, and for suing Citi-Bank to make more sub-prime mortgages,
McCain was the only one to get the Republicans a voice otherwise this boomdoggie would have been passed with 20 billion going to ACORN and making Paulson the new emperor with Buffet and Obama in the background to collect! They watered down the Insurance provision which would have taken this off of taxpayers and on to the very companies that sold the junk! - ysaberi, on 09/29/2008, -0/+3Any representative that votes in favor of a bailout is either extremely uneducated about the issue they are dealing with or just plain crooked. Either way they should be removed from office if they voted in favor of this.
- EZLA, on 09/29/2008, -1/+4The Democrats that voted against it have safe seats, Plus, the SS under Pelosi told them to do it!
- badqat, on 09/29/2008, -0/+3Agreed...you can't tell anything by the (D) or (R) label...it means nothing.
- mcrunch2, on 09/29/2008, -0/+3Pelosi and the dems could pass anything they want but they aren't willing to take the blame so they won't pass it by themselves (the dems have a majority). That is the sham - they have no confidence in their own legislation or leadership of the house.
They also don't want to be seen voting with bush since they will have no one to bash if they do it. - that is a BIG joke on them! - mcrunch2, on 09/29/2008, -0/+3Sure, it will pass on Fri. This is just political since the dems are too wimpy to take the credit/blame themselves. They want the repubs vote/cover so they can point fingers.
- mcrunch2, on 09/29/2008, -1/+4When were they ever the party of the people? Repubs freed the slaves. Martin Luther King was a repub. The dems are the richest and contribute the least to charity between dems and repubs. Most in congress are self-serving, hence their low approval rating. pelosi and Reed are jokes for leaders...and yet they won't step down and let someone lead who can really do the job.
- mcrunch2, on 09/30/2008, -0/+3Misleading title: dems in house didn't grow anything. They in fact, have none as they won't pass the bill without republicans also voting for it to give them cover for the blame game to follow. They are also scared to vote with bush which will probably mean some of them will lose their seats. This $700B started as a socialist dream come true with the original paulson-democrat bill. In its final form, it will be more realistic with almost no taxpayer risk but the dems will still have to get a pair to get it passed. With 'Pelosi In Charge', its likely to be a circus...could the dems have picked someone more incompetent?
- richmomz, on 09/30/2008, -0/+3Everyone PLEASE take the time to thank your congressman/woman if they voted against this bailout. The media has been crapping on the "NAY" voters all day long, and just a few kind words to remind them that they did the right thing by following their principles, not giving up on free market capitalism and listening to their constituents can make a huge difference - especially if the bankers make another try next week!
- mcrunch2, on 09/29/2008, -0/+3Its not just greedy corporations. Its also the government putting its hand in the pie with quasi-governmental-free-market entities like the fed and fannie and freddie which are given unfair market advantage and government perks.
many lawmakers are simply trying to fix something before someone investigates how they were tied into the corruption. - mcrunch2, on 09/30/2008, -0/+2She can't lose if she doesn't want to. They are wimps and don't want to take all the responsibility/blame for their party. They will also be voting WITH the 'all evil' bush - something that makes them cry like babies. I'm glad to see that pelosi, and everyone who put her in as leader, is getting EVERYTHING that they deserve. :)
- Echota, on 01/05/2009, -1/+3On Monday morning, McCain campaign communications director Jill Hazelbaker said on Fox News that the deal would not have happened “without Sen. McCain.”
“Sen. McCain interrupted his campaign, suspended his campaign activity to come back to Washington to get Republicans around a table,” Hazelbaker said. “Without Sen. McCain, House Republicans would not have appointed a negotiator, which would not have moved this bill forward.
“It’s really Sen. McCain who got all parties around a table to hammer out a deal that hopefully is in the best interests of the American taxpayer.”
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/14088.ht ...
Well thank you John McCain! Mr."the fundamentals of the economy are strong!"
Obama/Biden 08! - mcrunch2, on 09/30/2008, -0/+2you guys obviously didn't read what happened at the meeting where reed and pelosi put forth the OBAMA to 'chair' the meeting with bush and he screwed it up so bad people were yelling and such. ha - these congressmen are such a crock!
- AUH2O, on 09/30/2008, -1/+3We know the heart of this mess started with Fanny Mae & Freddie Mac. And we know that in 1992 they were mandated by Congress to increase their purchases of Mortages to low income and medium income borrowers. This law is calle the Community Investment Act - or CRA. In 1998, President Bill Clinto "supercharged" this law - despite warnings from GOP congressmen. Failure to comply meant your bank might not be allowed to expand lending, add new branches or merge with other companies. Banks were given a so-called "CRA rating" that graded how diverse their lending portfolio was.
In the name of diversity, banks began making huge numbers of loans that they previously would not have. They opened branches in poor areas to lift their CRA ratings.
Eventually, the lower down payments and reduced documentation were used by people of all income levels to purchase more homes than they could possibly afford. but it didn't matter, because Fanny & Freddie would buy these "sub-prime" loans & bundle them into securities - like CDO's and CDS's. Incidently, these "securities" are what led directly to the collapse of AIG & other large financial institutions.
So that's how yesterday’s soft and cuddly government program has become today’s financial chainsaw massacre. Economists and financial experts interviewed pointed especially to the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA) and the Associated Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) as major culprits. Thomas DiLorenzo, Ph.D., an economics professor at Loyola College in Maryland, who specializes in housing finance, said, “I think they [ACORN and the CRA] were very major contributors to the current crisis. For 30 years they compelled banks to make loans to unqualified people.
Indeed, Mr. Obama has extensive connections with the granddaddy of activist groups, Acorn (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), which has gotten millions in government grants for its low-income housing programs. In 1992, Acorn hired Mr. Obama to run a voter registration effort. He later became a trainer for the group, as well as its lawyer in election law cases. Acorn’s political arm has endorsed Mr. Obama while its “voter education” arm has pledged to spend $35 million to register people this fall — despite a history of vote fraud scandals that have led to guilty pleas by many Acorn employees.
In 2004, another attempt was made to reign in Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac & the CRA (first tried in 2000 by Richard Baker R-La.). Democrats turned the hearing into an attack on the regulatory committee that questioned their practices. If you don't like the message, shoot the messager. Hear & see for yourself - I'm not making this up:
http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/Democrat_Liberal ...
So consider, if you will, the following: 1) ACORN’s role in our current financial crisis through lobbying efforts and lawsuits, their shady leaders, their voter fraud activities, and the fact that they are funded largely (now) by the taxpayers of this country. 2) Barack Obama’s intimate involvement with ACORN as a “Community Organizer” and hired counsel for the organization. 3) Democrat Senators Christopher Dodd and Barney Frank’s involvement in appropriating 20% of the last ‘Housing Bill’ to ACORN. 4) Democrat Christopher Dodd’s sweetheart deal with Countrywide. 5) Democrat President Bill Clinton’s expansion of the CRA (pushed by ACORN), which created a large portion of the current economic disaster. 6) Top Democrats (Dodd, Obama, and John Kerry) receiving the vast majority of lobbying funds from Freddie & Fannie employees. And that’s not even all of it, folks. A person could write a book about this fiasco, if they had time. Yet the Democrats and Barack Obama would like you to believe that we’re in this mess soley because of greedy and power-hungry corporations. They have the greed and power-hungry part right, they just need to insert “government” and “shady non-profits” in place of corporations. Where, oh where is our media?!?!?!?!?!? This has nothing to do with Democrats vs. Republicans, but rather evil, greedy, power-hungry government monsters (who happen to be mostly Democrats and evil taxpayer-funded non-profit scumbags) against the taxpayers of America. So why are our main news sources neglecting to give us this information? - badqat, on 09/30/2008, -0/+2In my case, I oppose any bailout that utilizes taxpayer dollars, or places the citizens of the United States on the proverbial hook at a later date through more debt.
The original proposal offered up by the house republicans is the way to go. Let the companies who take advantage of any bail out to be the ones on the hook, proverbial or otherwise.
And granted, I'm not wild about that either, because I do believe it's outside of the interests of the powers granted to the federal government...but I'd be willing to see something like that pass. - inactive, on 09/30/2008, -0/+2why is everyone cheering? They'll just tweak this bill a little a pass it on Thursday, or next week...
you people don't understand politic do ya? - mcrunch2, on 09/29/2008, -0/+1and their biggest 'friends'.
- ThinkOutTheBox, on 09/29/2008, -1/+2The only thing that can be done is to give all the people that are in debt to the banks on their mortgages and credit cards generally give them enough money to get out of debt. The housing market is so over inflated that the mortgages are worthless. The collapse of the economy is inevitable. The only choice is to bail out the failed investment banks and face hyper inflation or not bail them out and face deflation.
If you look at the other news around the world Sarkozy is set to talk to his banks and insurance companies, Another bank in the UK had to be nationalized and another bank in the Netherlands had to be semi nationalized. This is the failure of a Fiat debt driven economy. The economies are based on how much we spend and not on how much we save.
This bailout was only moving the worthless toxic debt to the American government from the private sector. What was going to happen is this bailout happened is that the countries would have started dumping the dollar as the world reserve currency and adopting he Euro. Then the American Government would have gone into default and we would have hyper inflation.
- AUH2O, on 09/30/2008, -1/+2That's how yesterday’s soft and cuddly government program has become today’s financial chainsaw massacre.
We know the heart of this mess started with Fanny Mae & Freddie Mac. And we know that in 1992 they were mandated by Congress to increase their purchases of Mortages to low income and medium income borrowers. This law is called the Community Investment Act - or CRA. In 1998,
President Bill Clinton "supercharged" this law - despite warnings from GOP congressmen. Failure to comply meant your bank might not be allowed to expand lending, add new branches or merge with other companies. Banks were given a so-called "CRA rating" that graded how diverse their lending portfolio was.
In the name of diversity, banks began making huge numbers of loans that they previously would not have. They opened branches in poor areas to lift their CRA ratings.
Eventually, the lower down payments and reduced documentation were used by people of all income levels to purchase more homes than they could possibly afford. but it didn't matter, because Fanny & Freddie would buy these "sub-prime" loans & bundle them into securities - like CDO's and CDS's. Incidently, these "securities" are what led directly to the collapse of AIG & other large financial institutions.
Economists and financial experts interviewed pointed especially to the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA) and the Associated Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) as major culprits. Thomas DiLorenzo, Ph.D., an economics professor at Loyola College in Maryland, who specializes in housing finance, said, “I think they [ACORN and the CRA] were very major contributors to the current crisis. For 30 years they compelled banks to make loans to unqualified people.
Indeed, Mr. Obama has extensive connections with the granddaddy of activist groups, Acorn (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), which has gotten millions in government grants for its low-income housing programs. In 1992, Acorn hired Mr. Obama to run a voter registration effort. He later became a trainer for the group, as well as its lawyer in election law cases. Acorn’s political arm has endorsed Mr. Obama while its “voter education” arm has pledged to spend $35 million to register people this fall — despite a history of vote fraud scandals that have led to guilty pleas by many Acorn employees.
In 2004, another attempt was made to reign in Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac & the CRA (first tried in 2000 by Richard Baker R-La.). Democrats turned the hearing into an attack on the regulatory committee that questioned their practices. If you don't like the message, shoot the messager. Hear & see for yourself - I'm not making this up:
http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/Democrat_Liberal ...
So consider, if you will, the following:
1) ACORN’s role in our current financial crisis through lobbying efforts and lawsuits, their shady leaders, their voter fraud activities, and the fact that they are funded largely (now) by the taxpayers of this country.
2) Barack Obama’s intimate involvement with ACORN as a “Community Organizer” and hired counsel for the organization.
3) Democrat Senators Christopher Dodd and Barney Frank’s involvement in appropriating 20% of the last ‘Housing Bill’ to ACORN.
4) Democrat Christopher Dodd’s sweetheart deal with Countrywide.
5) Democrat President Bill Clinton’s expansion of the CRA (pushed by ACORN), which created a large portion of the current economic disaster.
6) Top Democrats (Dodd, Obama, and John Kerry) receiving the vast majority of lobbying funds from Freddie & Fannie employees. And that’s not even all of it, folks. A person could write a book about this fiasco, if they had time.
Yet the Democrats and Barack Obama would like you to believe that we’re in this mess soley because of greedy and power-hungry corporations. They have the greed and power-hungry part right, they just need to insert “government” and “shady non-profits” in place of corporations.
Where, oh where is our media?!?!?!?!?!? This has nothing to do with Democrats vs. Republicans, but rather evil, greedy, power-hungry government monsters (who happen to be mostly Democrats and evil taxpayer-funded non-profit scumbags) against the taxpayers of America. So why are our main news sources neglecting to give us this information? - Waiting2awake, on 09/30/2008, -0/+1That is like blaming a complete building collapse on the loose shingles, while ignoring the rotting wood inside.
Yes, you are correct that that generous leading program was the start, in so much that it inabled those corporations to place worthless mortgage paper(That they were forced to take and earn moderate income from) and create good paper mortgages(An illusion created by those corporations) and sell them ubiquitously throughout the entire market without disclosing the crumby paper they were built on..
SO yes - it is the corporations fault, and they and their shareholders should pay for it - not the average consumer/taxpayer. - odigity, on 09/29/2008, -3/+4Stop being fooled by false ideology and party platforms. That's all marketing, and it's about getting elected. It has no relation to behavior in office.
- inactive, on 09/30/2008, -0/+1Well said.
- badqat, on 09/30/2008, -1/+1MBAs do not simply just act as financial professionals who manage other people's money through manipulation and greed...
- inactive, on 09/30/2008, -0/+0So how does this explain the increase in the cost of housing compared to the increase in wages over the last 30 years?
What about the impact of health care system and inability to pay for medical treatment?
How does this reverse the entire systematic militarization of our government and economy over the last 40 years, causing our economy to run on no bid contracts overseas.
How about the entire market being dependent on the oil market and petrodollars, and many powerful republicans being heavily invested in oil?
What about the federal reserve printing money as a private entity, monopolizing the production of monetary units, completely unconstitutional?
What about spending money in areas that doesn't improve the motivation and productiveness of a society, such as the war, no bid contracts, building permanent bases in Iraq, lobbying, cutting education, healthcare, etc.
So sick of seeing "ITS THE (insert party name here)'s FAULT!"
Its a two way street people.
Shut up. - ramiro, on 09/30/2008, -1/+1Nope, they were just afraid of risking their reputation on an unpopular bill.
- inactive, on 09/29/2008, -4/+1Do you people all oppose this bill in particular or the general idea of a bailout? Something needs to be done to avert an economic catastrophe, and unfortunately we're past the point where a few regulatory tweaks can fix this.
Buried for the headline, and for the fact that this is a dupe.
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