House Bailout Bill...It's Losing
— DrewM

Time has expired but they always run long. Right now it's 196 Yes, 221 228 No.

They are going to need to find some switchers to pass it.

Republicans are yelling for order...in other words to call the vote.

Update 1:50 eastern...228 No votes. They are holding the vote open but can they find 10+switchers? Only 65 Republican Yes votes.

1:54: Dow down 700 but regaining some.

2:00: They are still holding the vote open. They got two to switch so it's 207 Yes, 226 No. Republicans are still yelling for the vote to be closed.

2:04: Package fails in House 205-228. Let the economic and political fall out begin.

Anybody got a Plan B? I guess we'll see if Paulson was Chicken Little or some one we ignored at our own peril. I hope at the least we'll see some changes like getting rid of 'mark to market' (though there is no market for MBSs so I'm not sure how much that helps at this point).

Of course this is DC so nothing is really permanent. They may come back with something else later this week or next.

Reason? [ace]: Speculation that Representatives were annoyed that they were being bull-rushed to do this today whereas the Senate won't be voting until Wednesday or Thursday. Reps figured, "Why can't we have two or three more days, too?"

Posted by: DrewM at 09:46 AM | Comments (267)
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Did Paulson Pull The $700 Billion Number Out Of His Ass?
— DrewM

Um, maybe.

In fact, some of the most basic details, including the $700 billion figure Treasury would use to buy up bad debt, are fuzzy.

"It's not based on any particular data point," a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. "We just wanted to choose a really large number."

In that case...Mission Accomplished!

I guess thereÂ’s two ways to look at this. The first is maybe it wonÂ’t take $700 billion worth of buyouts to unlock the credit markets. ThatÂ’s seems unlikely however. If you give the government x number of dollars to spend, they will spend every penny of it. Also, the types of instruments the Treasury is allowed to buy with this money is so wide, there will be lots of pressure from all over the country to spend the money.

The scheme "[a]llows the government to purchase troubled assets from pension plans, local governments, and small banks that serve low- and middle-income families."

So in addition to rewarding irresponsible lenders and borrowers, we taxpayers are now to be "protected" by buying the toxic debt of states, cities and municipalities. It's one thing to throw a life-line to the credit industry; local governments, by contrast, have the ability to cut spending drastically or raise taxes if their inhabitants want government services. Elected politicians are then accountable for runaway spending and mismanagement.

Potentially more frightening is the fact that it could also mean $700 billion isnÂ’t going to get the job done.

I know this is complex stuff and uncharted territory, so the idea that no one knows for a fact what the magic number isnÂ’t surprising but itÂ’s still pretty worrisome. I mean, if youÂ’re spending that much money and taking on that level of liability, youÂ’d like to have some confidence you are getting your moneyÂ’s worth, right?

And as a note, I know that this is an asset purchase and it theoretically could break even or perhaps turn a profit. ItÂ’s not as if we are just infusing $700 billion into the economy. ThatÂ’s the job of the Fed.

$700 billion here, $680 billion there and pretty soon youÂ’re talking about real money.

Posted by: DrewM at 08:22 AM | Comments (57)
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Democrats In 2004Â…There Are No Problems At Fannie Mae Or Freddie Mac!
— DrewM

Caught on tapeÂ…Republicans warning about the problems caused by handing out mortgages like candy on Halloween and Democrats claiming those concerns were simply a way to stop poor people from getting homes.

Behold video you wonÂ’t be seeing in the MSMÂ…

As Ace says, the Democrats built the bomb that ripped through the markets.

I think the worst thing about this bailout plan is it makes it nearly impossible to argue for free market solutions to problems going forward. Regardless of how much of the $700 Billion is actually spent or recouped, it will be thrown in the faces of people who say, ‘let the markets work’.

I’ve tried to explain the roots of this problem to several people and their eyes just glaze over. They don’t want to hear about the Community Reinvestment Act, ‘mark to market’, mortgage backed securities, Franklin Raines and all the rest. They just know that Wall Street came hat in hand looking for their money (okay, it was more like a stick up with a gun to our heads and dire threats if we didn’t fork over the money).

And letÂ’s not forget to follow the campaign money.

RELATED: The House is debating the bailout bill right now and Barney Frank is managing the bill for the Democrats. It's enough to make you throw up. You can watch it online (it will be therapeutic for you if you have low blood pressure problems).

Posted by: DrewM at 06:47 AM | Comments (84)
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Gore Calls for "Civil Disobedience" to be Used to Prevent the Construction of New Coal Plants (Aurvant)
— Open Blog

Because, ya know, one crisis just isn't enough.

Speaking at the opening plenary session of the Clinton Global
Initiative Annual Meeting in New York, Gore said: "If you're a young
person looking at the future of this planet and looking at what is
being done right now, and not done, I believe we have reached the stage
where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of
new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration."

Civil Disobedience? That's such a vague term isn't it? What exactly is the limitations of such "disobedience" I wonder? Well, at least he's leaving room for those Clean Coal plants right? The ones that specialize in low carbon emissions and being eco-friendly? Right?

But Gore, who said that "clean coal" was like "healthy smoking", is convinced that we need to change our habits now.

Ah. The Gorebot calls for the disruption and protest of building new Coal Plants unless they have carbon capturing methods and sequestration, but then turns around and basically says it's just as bad. Instead, Gore wants the nation to adopt a universal national transmission grid that would operate completely on Wind, Solar, and Geothermal power. That's all well and good except for the fact that those technologies are extremely expensive and are no where near as efficient as Oil or Coal. Like many have pointed out over and over, we have plenty of usable energy resources for immediate use (Coal and Oil) and we would't have to invest billions of dollars in the expansion of new technology that isn't nearly as beneficial economically, but don't try to explain that to the Global Warming crowd or rest assured that you'll be on par with holocaust deniers by the end of the hour.

Another interesting blip in the story is that Gore talks about those "carbon companies":

The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner went on to heap criticism on what he
described as "carbon companies" who "spend money convincing the
stock-buying public that the risk from the global climate crisis is not
that great". He argued that this amounted to "a form of stock fraud
because they are misrepresenting a material fact".

Isn't that exactly what HE did? Didn't his carbon credit company, which went under with Lehmen Brothers, do exactly what he was being so critical about? Correct me if I'm wrong on that one, but it sounds to me that Gore is trying to slide his way out of that mess because he was so invested in it himself.

I don't know, but that whole "civil disobedience" thing sounds like desperation if you ask me. Considering the rise in critics against the GW crowd it would seem that Gore is trying to switch from falsifying science to just outright physical threats against the fossil fuel crowd. It's pretty much all they have left anyways.

Posted by: Open Blog at 06:33 AM | Comments (49)
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Top Headline Comments 09-29-08
— Gabriel Malor

Oh, what a happy Monday! Anyone else get the feeling that this week is just going to be so wonderful?

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:35 AM | Comments (65)
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Dear Kat: I Have Mommy Issues (Kat-Mo)
— Open Blog

Open Blog? A little something to break the doom and gloom.

Dear Kat,

I am a grown woman with three children, a wonderful husband and a thriving career. Yet, every time I see Sarah Palin on TV or even hear her name, I break into a cold sweat, feel nauseas and fly into an unhinged, violent rage. My children are so afraid that they lock themselves in the closet (I swear, it's not me) and my husband goes in to his private office to "take care of business". Although, I had no idea that we had a 33% ownership in a porn site.

more...

Posted by: Open Blog at 08:51 PM | Comments (54)
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Nancy Pelosi: Bad Party Guest (Kat-Mo)
— Open Blog

I just caught a snippet of Nancy Pelosi's press briefing. She said, and I quote, "tell Wall Street the party is over."

Is Nancy talking about the party where she, Barack Obama, Chris Dodd and Barney Frank showed up, swilled all the good liquor, double dipped, left water rings on your heirloom side table, invited a bunch of people you didn't know, got drunk and then freaked out all your friends making weird faces, telling the same bad joke over an over and making passes at everybody who walked by?

Actually, it's worse than that. Nancy is like the Tenant Association President that you have to invite to the party or she'll be calling the cops on you by 10pm. Then she shows up with all her friends, swills your good liquor, looks down her nose at your friends, goes home, gets up in the morning and sends you five separate letters regarding the various violations she drunkenly noted as you were shoving her out the door.

Like the dying fern plant in your window and the fake ficus in the corner you stole from your office that doesn't meet the apartment complex's "green" guidelines for offsetting your carbon footprint.

That your carpet has a wine stain by the couch (that she put there) that must be cleaned up within 24 hours of notification or you will be fined $1 billion payable to "Nancy Pelosi".

That your car is three years old and uses gasoline when the Tenant Association's rules state that the car must be hydrogen powered and less than two years old. Association rules indicate that the car must be bought from an approved dealer and approved loan company. Just mention that you're a "friend of Angelo's". Nancy and friends will get their cut at the next share holder's meeting.

That your apartment has a maximum capacity of 25 people, per the local fire code she helped to push through, and, after she showed up with her 10 uninvited friends, you were over capacity at 35. It is entirely your fault that you did not monitor the door, even though she used her Tenant Association Master Key to let herself in.

That, per Tenant Association rules, Chapter 19, Section 33, Subsection 88, paragraphs (AH=BO), you are not allowed to have any unapproved political signs or affiliations in your window, on your car, in your email or on a personal website. Violations are subject to eviction and prosecution by the "Truth Squad". Chapter and section available for review in German only.

You know, it is your fault. When you were taking the tour of the building, you really should have paid attention to all those glassy eyed, zombie like people making the "O" sign with their hands every time they passed each other in the hall.

You have to admit, though, it takes a giant set of shiny, brass balls to announce that the party is "over" after she cashes your tenant association checks, swills all your liquor and leaves her friends passed out on your couch.

Posted by: Open Blog at 09:16 PM | Comments (94)
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New Version of the Bailout Bill
— Gabriel Malor

It's my understanding that the house.gov site is still down. The latest version is available in PDF here. If that goes down, Michelle Malkin is hosting the same version here.

To make it easy on servers, you might consider saving it to your harddrive rather than downloading it again every time you decide to look at it.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 03:43 PM | Comments (192)
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"Religion: Islam"
— Ace

AP CAPTION: 20 months ago: This registration document, made available on Jan. 24, 2007, by the Fransiskus Assisi school in Jakarta, Indonesia, shows the registration of Barack Obama under the name Barry Soetoro into the Catholic school made by his step-father, Lolo Soetoro. The document lists Barry Soetoro as a Indonesian citizen, born on August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, and shows his Muslim step-father listed the boy's religion as Islam.(AP Photo/ Tatan Syuflana)

Truth Squad this.

If prosecutors are going to threaten those who "lie" about Obama, I guess we'll just have to start preparing the truth-is-a-defense-to-libel ground.

A lot of people thought that even though the Danish cartoons may have been excessively provocative, the fact that the cartoons were met with a threat of violence demanded they be displayed. If only to send the message that threats would not shut down free speech.

I hope many of the same people react similarly here.

Even those who believe that calling Obama a Muslim is an unjustified smear should acknowledge, I hope, 1) there is certainly enough question about Obama's early upbringing that to threaten prosecution for noting these questions is out of line, and 2) such threats must be demonstrated to be not only outrageous but guaranteed to result in the opposite outcome than the threats are designed to produce.

I hope I don't need to remind anyone that George W. Bush has been called 1) brain-damaged from cocaine overdose 2) a war criminal and 3) a murderer throughout his candidacy and term of office without threatening to prosecute any of his critics.

Are the rules different for Barack "Religion: Islam" Obama?

Posted by: Ace at 12:50 PM | Comments (268)
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A Different Kind of Politcs: Obama Goons Hack Macsmind Site
— Ace

Don't call us Stalinist or we'll shut you down.

Thanks to CJ.

Posted by: Ace at 12:34 PM | Comments (35)
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