Bailout Problems
It should be clear by now that the Democrats can pass this bill now, if they choose. They don't need the votes from Republicans in the House and so far the Senate Republicans, unless perhaps rallied by McCain, are showing no sign of forcing a stalemate. So why isn't it done?
Because the Dems are looking for political cover, in case the bill turns out to be a fustercluck. And with the bill being fine-tuned by Chris Dodd and Barney Frank - two of the primary architects of the current housing mess - who do not appear to be putting partisanship aside, it's hard to see how the end result of all this can be anything else.
But hey, in a few months we'll have a new administration and things will be different, right?
posted by VermontGuy @ 6:16 AM
8 Comments:
So why isn't it done?
Presumably because the House Republicans only showed their hand at 4pm yesterday. You expect the Democrats to say, "oh, ok, I guess this bailout is now completely our responsibility. Let's just pass it!" in the space of 16 hours?
There's nothing stopping them. Unless, of course, they're more concerned about sharing the blame than doing what they think is right.
And come to think of it, why would they support a plan coming from an administration they despise? Why haven't they come up with their own plan instead of riding the Paulson Express?
Oh, that's right. I forgot. What was it Harry Reid said?
"No one knows what to do."
Be realistic. Of course they're concerned about sharing the blame if this doesn't work. Everyone who's up for re-election is worried about that. A deal was worked out where everyone was unhappy, but everyone had cover. One side pulls out at the last hour, giving them an enormous potential p.r. weapon in the upcoming and 2010 elections, and the other side is supposed to just continue with a plan they never liked to begin with as though nothing happened? There's nothing uniquely democratic or republican about that scenario -- the same thing would have happened if the party affiliations were reversed.
For all I know, the House Republicans are absolutely right and Paulson is completely wrong -- he sure has been seemingly wrong on EVERY SINGLE POINT for the last 3 months.
Agreed re your last point. You know how to tell when you're in a righteous clusterfuck? When Michelle Malkin and DailyKos are in accord about what (not) to do in a situation.
When they say: "We don't know what to do," they're being honest, because ultimately no one really knows. All decisionmakers are in a position of having to make momentous decisions on limited information and historical comparisons. They also know that, not only will deserting Republicans use the bailout against them if it turns out badly, but they will also use it against them in the next 5 weeks before anyone has any idea how it will turn out if they (the Repubs) do not have to commit now. They also believe sincerely that if the Repubs were able to use this bailout to get re-elected poor policy will lead to more disasters. It would be idiocy and incompetence not to force the hand of Repubs who hope someone else will take care of the problem and leave them free to blame them for results later.
So as anonymous above makes super clear, the Democrats are putting politics above country.
Wrong. Politics affects country, as Repubs seem to understand when they insist on getting Democrats to, for example, back an invasion of Iraq.
Particularly when your major focus with this legislation is calming panic in international markets. To be effective in that goal, it has to be seen as an "American" solution rather than a "Democrats" solution.
So much for "The Democrats can pass this bill by themselves. . ." -- the REVISED version just failed in the House, 205 for, 228 against. (And that's after they tried to give Republican House Leadership what they wanted.)
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