NunoftheAbove

Transcript

What a shame more Republicans couldn’t have shown the same mettle as McCotter.

Well, maybe not, but certainly almost everything else that can be packed into a bill that absolutely has to be passed in order to avert the known universe falling into a financial blackhole.  Among the things that has been thrown in are:

• Tax credit for R&D for innovations in the technology sector which had expired but will now be restored under the bailout plan.
• Tax credits for alternative energy sources including solar and wind power.
• Tax relief for victims of flood and other natural disasters
• Expansion of the child care tax credit
• Increased aid to rural school systems
• Exemption of more families from the the alternative minimum tax

Plus even more earmarks courtesy of Hot Air

New Tax earmarks in Bailout bill
- Film and Television Productions (Sec. 502)
- Wooden Arrows designed for use by children (Sec. 503)
- 6 page package of earmarks for litigants in the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident, Alaska (Sec. 504)

Tax earmark “extenders” in the bailout bill.
- Virgin Island and Puerto Rican Rum (Section 308)
- American Samoa (Sec. 309)
- Mine Rescue Teams (Sec. 310)
- Mine Safety Equipment (Sec. 311)
- Domestic Production Activities in Puerto Rico (Sec. 312)
- Indian Tribes (Sec. 314, 315)
- Railroads (Sec. 316)
- Auto Racing Tracks (317)
- District of Columbia  (Sec. 322)
- Wool Research (Sec. 325)

The estimated cost of all these “sweetners” is $100 billion.  Another reason why Congress’s approval ratings are hovering around 10% and that is on a good day.

As Chucky Schumer said, “it seems there is broad bipartisan support” for the bailout.  No wonder, there is something for everyone hidden under the cloak of national economic meltdown.

Nancy Pelosi couldn’t get enough Democrats to agree to the bailout bill so she needed Republicans in order to get it passed.  So what does she do in order to engender some bi-partisan support?   Blame the Republicans and specifically President Bush.

When was the last time anyone ever asked you for $700 billion?

It’s a staggering figure and many questions have arisen from that request. And we have been hearing a very informed debate on all sides of this issue here today. I’m proud of the debate.”

$700 billion. A staggering number, but only a part of the cost of the failed Bush economic policies to our country. Policies that were built on budget recklessness when Pres. Bush took office, he inherited Pres. Clinton’s surpluses – four years in a row budget surpluses on a trajectory of $5.6 trillion in surplus. And with his reckless economic policies, within two years, he had turned it around. And now 8 years later, the foundation of that fiscal irresponsibility, combined with an “anything goes” economic policy, has taken us to where we are today.

They claim to be free-market advocates, when it’s really an anything goes mentality. No regulation, no supervision, no discipline. And if you fail, you will have a golden parachute and the taxpayer will bail you out.

Those days are over. The party is over in that respect.

Democrats believe in a free market. We know that it can create jobs, it can create wealth, many good things in our economy. But in this case, in this unbridled form, as encouraged and supported by the Republicans — some Republicans, not all — it has created not jobs, not capital, it has created chaos. And it is that chaos that the Secretary of the Treasury and the Chairman of the Fed came to see us, just about a week and a half ago. It seems like an eternity, doesn’t it? So much has happened. The news was so bad. They described a very dismal situation.

Source

Well, Madame Speaker, you are right about one thing, the party is over.  Today, you got the lights turned out and you were the one left standing in the dark.

Republican Mark Pence contends that the vote today not in terms of the failure of a bill but as a victory for the American people.

“Today Congress took a stand for the American taxpayer and free markets. The American people rejected this corporate bailout and today the People’s House did likewise.

“It is now imperative that Congress come together and develop a response to the crisis facing our financial markets that reflects the American people’s belief in personal responsibility and fiscal discipline.

“There are alternatives to the massive federal bailout that Congress rejected. I look forward to working with my colleagues in both parties to develop a response to this crisis that puts taxpayers first and preserves the essential freedom of the American marketplace.”

The final vote had 94 Democrats voting against the bill.  An important message should be clear to the Speaker from this vote–you are only one vote and can not pass any legislation without the support of others.