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| The Beltway Crash |
The Wall Street Journal
America has survived a feckless political class in the past, and it will again after this week. But Monday's crash and burn of the Paulson plan on Capitol Hill reveals a Washington elite that has earned every bit of the disdain that Americans have for it. This crowd can't even make sausage. The 228-205 defeat reflects badly on all concerned, starting with the Democrats who run the House. The majority party is responsible for assembling a majority vote, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi failed in that fundamental task. Her highly partisan speech on the floor -- blaming "right-wing ideology of anything goes, no supervision, no discipline, no regulation" for the financial distress -- is no excuse for Republicans to vote no. But it is indicative of the way she has governed for the past two years -- like Tom DeLay without the charm. The cynics are saying Ms. Pelosi deliberately tanked the bill by giving 95 Democrats a pass, knowing failure would hurt John McCain, and given her track record we can see why people would believe it. Read the article.... |
| 3 Steps to Change the Nation's Future |
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by Dave Ramsey
We are at a crucial time in our country's financial history. Congress defeated the $700 billion bailout plan on Monday. However, they are revising it and trying to push it through again. Dave is supporting an alternative plan that will keep our nation from going even deeper in debt.
Read more.... |
| Why and What's Next? |
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by Gary Bauer
I want to revisit a point from yesterday's report. What is the explanation for both solidly liberal Democrats and solidly conservative Republicans voting no on yesterday's economic rescue plan? This is an important distinction because it tells us everything we need to know about the difference between the two parties.
Liberal Democrats voted against it because it did not include billions for leftwing groups, union giveaways, and more money for risky mortgages to low income households. At the same time, many conservatives voted no because they did not like the massive government intervention in the market. They feared that there were not enough taxpayer protections, even though similar efforts in the past have actually worked out well and many believe the government will recoup most, if not all, of the money invested.
You can be proud of Republicans for improving the bill, but here's the problem we have now. There is no doubt about which side is being blamed for this crisis. The leftwing media and its political allies are blaming Republican policies and the free market. Since this crisis exploded on our TV screens, Barack Obama has taken commanding leads in the polls. The latest Rasmussen daily tracking poll has Obama up six points over McCain - 51%-to-45%. Virtually all the major media outlets are spinning yesterday's vote as a defeat for McCain.
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| A Letter from John Cornyn |
Tonight, the United States Senate will vote on The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. The bill is designed to immediately address the web of complex and broken financial relationships that are choking the economic system, and avoid a systemic financial collapse that would devastate the economy and have severe consequences for all Americans.
My office has fielded thousands of calls on this subject this week. I appreciate so many taking the time and effort to share their thoughts with me on such an important subject. I know many of you are extremely upset about the idea of the government doing any type of bail out for Wall Street, and I completely agree with you. I also regret that the Administration mishandled early communications on this plan, seeming to focus on a bailout of finance industry firms instead of concentrating on the need to protect the interests of Main Street. It is difficult to consider approving any proposal after this uneven performance.
If we do nothing, however, the potential consequences are dire. My concern is not with the Wall Street financier who gambled and lost. It's with the 60-year-old worker nearing retirement and seeing his savings disappear, and the small business owner who cannot make payroll because his credit line has been frozen, and the untold numbers of employees who could find themselves unemployed.
Read the letter.... |
| Statement from Governor Perry on Protecting Taxpayers |
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In a free market economy, government should not be in the business of using taxpayer dollars to bail out corporate America. Congress needs to take off its partisan gloves and work together to bring both short and long term stability to the credit markets. They need to stop blaming each other and start thinking about solutions that put the taxpayers of this country first. |
| Wall Street's Masters of the Universe Are Dethroned |
by Ben Macintyre
Wall Street looks the same: the same sharp-suited brokers swinging the same monogrammed attaché cases; the blue-jacketed traders smoking and gossiping outside the Stock Exchange; the same air of ambient wealth, gambling and nervous expectation.
Yet Wall Street has changed for ever, and everyone on it knows.
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| Economists Raise Concerns About Bailout Plans |
by John R. Lott, Jr.
Interviews conducted with a dozen prominent academic economists, Obama supporters as well as McCain supporters, found little support for the bailout bill. Indeed, even the one economist who supported the proposal passed by the Senate Wednesday night had serious reservations.
Jonathan Berk, an award-winning finance professor at Stanford University and a strong opponent of the bailout plan, expressed the concerns of many: "I have never been so frustrated, I have never wanted to speak out publicly before on these political issues, but politicians don't know what they are doing, they know nothing about these issues."
The economists did not all emphasize the same reasons for the current financial crunch and they all did not agree how serious the problem is. But there are a number of similarities that can be seen in all their answers.
Read the article.... |
| Economic Bailout |
Watch a video that pieces together the policy issues and congressional manipulation that fueled the economy into the 'bailout' state we see today. | |
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Let Your Congressmen Know What You Think
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