Lawmakers are probably not going to hear about how important it is to bail out Wall Street, back in their home districts - unless, of course, their district is Wall Street.

Not that many people even have 401Ks. More people have mortgages. My bet is the lawmakers hear from them, and about considering a bailout from the bottom up.

Of course, there's always the nationalization solution. I'm seeing it suggested more and more. It's worked in other places throughout the world, whereas the Herbert Hoover solution of bailing out Wall Street - well, we know where that went.

Buy yourself a newspaper, aka "Hoover blanket" - winter is on its way.

So let me get this right?

Not one Airzona representive (REPUB or Dem) in the house voted for the bailout?...Great leadership from the Senior Senator from the same state.

and they should all be fired. they dont care a single bit about the american people...but then again, they dont rely on 401ks...not when you marry a billionaire pharma dude.

Maybe the reason that the bailout failed today is because no one wants it. Have you thought about that? I know this is the War Room and all but maybe today was actually a triumph for democracy and principle instead of craven political calculation.

While we're cheering for the Little Guy in the face of such big, bad Wall Street investment bank oppression and would-be financial largesse, let's not forget that Joe Sickpack is not entirely without blame in this debacle. Millions of people who should have known better applied for and got adjustable rate or negative amortization loans that deep down they knew they couldn't afford, foolishly assuming that appreciation would continue forever.

Couldn't read the fine print? Sorry, Jack. You're a grownup and if you can sign papers for a $400,000 house, you can take the time to read the entire contract. Falsified your financial information because you knew your lender was handing out mortgages like condoms on Prom Night? It's your ass. Add to that the entirely voluntary $17,000 in credit card debt the average American family carries and Main Street has some guilt in this whole mess, too.

No, the average Amuricun didn't have squat to do with investment banks bundling bad loans together to create mortgage-backed securities, or with WAMU and Wachovia getting neck-deep in shit because of shoddy lending practices. But let's not pretend the public is simon-pure here. We're all part of the problem, and we all need to be part of the solution.

By the way, according to the Los Angeles Times, about 50 million Americans have 401(k) accounts. That means members of Congress will DEFINITELY be hearing about them when they go home to campaign. Hope they brought ear plugs and aspirin.

This is completely disingenuous. It was only a 6% drop. Not even in the top ten of downturns by percentage. The crash of 87 was a 25% drop. We survived that fine and we will survive this too.

How about listing the 15 Republican Reps who pledged their vote to the party whips, then reneged when they heard what Pelosi had to say (supposedly). Perhaps pressure should be put on them!

I'm curious, is there a level of crisis that would excuse Jewish members of Congress for not taking a work break during one of their Old Testament hoe-downs? Another 9/11? An outbreak of anthrax? Mushroom clouds on the horizon? Meltdown of the economy? What does it take? Surely ol' Yahweh would give 'em some wiggle room, wouldn't he? Can a scholar in such matter please enlighten me?

The bill won't pass as long as our Toddler Republicans stay away because someone said something mean about them.

Good point and very true, except in one detail. Wall Street did not bundle BAD mortgages. They bundled mortgages, period. There was an actuarial assumption built into the bundles that a certain percentage would default, and the yield-to-maturity was calculated accordingly. Due to shoddy mortgage lending practices, that assumption was incorrect and that's what brought the whole thing down. But whenever you mention these bundles, it's important to remember that there are lots and lots of good loans in them that will not default. That's why, at the end of the day, there's a good chance the American tax payer will make money on this deal.

Point well made. Yes, the loans were of all varieties, and it's easy to forget that the great majority of Americans are NOT in foreclosure and are not subject to horrific rate resets. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out as to how the taxpayer will receive return on investment, so to speak, from whatever bailout package is passed.

One thing I would like to see is this: if you receive some kind of mortgage relief from a bailout because you got in over your head due to poor judgment or a "play the appreciation lottery" attitude, your FICO scores should take a corresponding hit. In other words, a mortgage holder bailout should be weighted so that there's some punitive cost for the irresponsible borrower. Corrective and preventive measures shouldn't be limited to Wall Street.

Poster Chilly Dog writes of a 27% drop in the 1980s versus a six percent drop today. However, drops take more than one day sometimes. And, the stock market is just one indicator.

We are in worse shape now. Watch. Your stock market was down over ten percent before today, in the short term. Don't try to bandy percentages; preserve whatever wealth you have left!

I’m thinking this woman has never taken an economics class on the free market system. However perchance she did, it was most likely taught by a communist.

Subject: The New Speaker's Wisdom

Oh yeah........apply THIS philosophy to your retirement fund.

Published: October 22, 2006

Nancy Pelosi condemned the new record highs of the stock market as "just another example of Bush policies helping the rich get richer". "First Bush cut taxes for the rich and the economy has rebounded with new record low unemployment rates, which only means wealthy employers are getting even wealthier at the expense of the underpaid working class".

She went on to say "Despite the billions of dollars being spent in Iraq our economy is still strong and government tax revenues are at all time highs. "What this really means is" that business is exploiting the war

effort and working Americans, just to put money in their own pockets". When questioned about recent stock market highs she responded "Only the rich benefit from these record highs. Working Americans, welfare recipients, the unemployed and minorities are not sharing in these obscene record highs". "There is no question these windfall profits and income created by the Bush administration need to be taxed at 100% rate and those dollar redistributed to the poor and working class".

"Profits from the stock market do not reward the hard work of our working class who, by their hard work, are responsible for generating these corporate profits that create stock market profits for the rich. We in

congress will need to address this issue to either tax these profits or to control the stock market to prevent this unearned income to flow to the rich".

When asked about the fact that over 80% of all Americans have investments in mutual funds, retirement funds, 401K's, and the stock market she replied "That may be true, but probably only 5% account for 90% of all these investment dollars. That's just more "trickle down" economics claiming that

if a corporation is successful that everyone from the CEO to the floor sweeper benefit from higher wages and job security which is ridiculous". How much of this "trickle down" ever get to the unemployed and minorities in our county? None, and that's the tragedy of these stock market highs."

"We democrats are going to address this issue after the election when we take control of the congress. We will return to the 60% to 80% tax rates on the rich and we will be able to take at least 30% of all current lower

Federal Income Tax taxpayers off the roles and increase government income substantially. We need to work toward the goal of equalizing income in our country and at the same time limiting the amount the rich can invest."

When asked how these new tax dollars would be spent, she replied "We need to raise the standard of living of our poor, unemployed and minorities. For example, we have an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in our country who need our help along with millions of unemployed minorities. Stock market windfall profits taxes could go a long ways to guarantee these people the standard of living they would like to have as "Americans"

A Bush spokesman responded to this interview by saying "Mrs. Pelosi has set a new standard for the spin business".

Feeling smarter yet?