I'm glad that's coming from a democrat, too. She sounds a lot more level-headed than her leaders do.

--Ron

Amen, Congresswoman Gillibrand. Amen.

Who in the Congressional Black Caucus is "vulnerable"? As far as I knew, any member of the Congressional Black Caucus, from John Conyers, to Charlie Rangel, to Shiela Jackson-Lee to the CBC's Chairman (and mother of the disgraced and soon-to-be imprisoned ex-mayor of Detroit) Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick, would be re-elected, even if they were dead or in handcuffs. Is any member of the CBC "vulnerable"? Or are they just vulnerable to saying to the Speaker of the House, "You gotta give us more if you want our votes..."?

If there are vulnerable Democrats in legitimate swing districts, it is because the Democrats have won outsized victories in the last two Congressional elections, and there are now a large number of Democrats from districts that aren't very large-D Democratic.

Anyway, I still blame Pelosi.

Is there a single serious economist or financial markets expert who believes that "executive compensation" is what was behind this crisis?

Sincerely,

E

Let me just say Rep Gillibrand, that we in New York City are tired of carrying upstate New York around like an economic anchor.

I know I sent my congressperson and Senators (not that Dianne Feinstein can be counted on to do the right thing) telling them not to vote for this bill. No golden parachute payments, LOTS of oversight and control, full equity stake for the money paid out so we may one day reap back what is being 'loaned'.

The only way I could make money on my 401K would be to take out a loan and pay myself back in interest, otherwise it's nowhere near what it was worth a year ago. I am probably going to be working until the day I drop dead.

Fuck them and I hope they lose everything and have to start over just like so many other Americans. Americans who are still stupid enough to vote these bastards back in office.

if you saw Udall's performance on This Week you would understand why he voted against the bill.

He was constantly on the defensive and could

Not explain why we should support the bill.

There have been thankfully few days in American history which to quote Roosevelt "will live in infamy". Sadly history may call this day one of them. And House nay-sayers like Gillibrand who insist on blithering campaign sound bites while the American economic house is burning will be remembered for nothing except the vote they have cast today.

I could write a book on the the reasons why these "Main-Street-not-Wall Street" politicians are wrong; I'm sure many better students of economics will. Here I'll limit myself to the one that bugs me the most. There is a positively COMMUNIST line of rhetoric that these politicians embrace every time a microphone is shoved in there face: that all of these Wall Street 'fat cats' are greedy and rapacious and that what is happening now is something like "justice". Let's ignore for the moment the fact that most of these business elites will still be worth millions tomorrow while unemployment could very well TRIPLE among the middle-class that these congressional hypocrites are supposedly standing up for. This rhetoric completely misses the whole principle and point of capitalism.

Capitalism is supposed to be about greed. The rewarding of ambition and risk-taking with money is the whole point! This was what built America and this is what is now developing the world. Capitalism is the most meritocratic and productive philosphy in human history. There would be no Wall Street or Main Street to fight over today if it were not for capitalism, which at its heart, is the motivation of greed.

Now before anyone prepares a flaming rebuttal please read on.

Obviously things have gone disastrously wrong. But I do not blame Wall Street greed and I do not blame capitalism. That would be like blaming water for running down hill. Instead I blame the President, his administration and Congress. Here's why. It is the job, indeed the DUTY of any honest capitalist to make as much money as they can. They are building the market and the nation as they build themselves. However, IT IS THE JOB OF GOVERNMENT, to regulate that market in a way that ensures that the power of capitalism is channelled in ways that build the nation, and promote market stability. Not all market activities are capitalistic. The more complex a market becomes, the easier it is to distort it in all kinds of unproductive, and unstable ways. In the past decade we have seen the rise of a whole range of uncompetitive, highly speculative and unregulated market instruments which have badly warped the traditional interactions between buyer and seller. We have seen their collapse in the past several weeks. In the meantime under the guise of "Pro-market," our "Anti-Government" government officials have gutted regulatory safeguards and even our ability to monitor the market. They ignored the rising storm, and continue to ignore it today.

By refusing the pass the repugnant but NECESSARY bailout today, these few congressmen have quite simply betrayed America. They have chosen loyalty to some abstract, and WRONG interpretation of capitalism over the real interests of their own country. Let's hope there are enough grown-ups and realists left in government to, in the coming days, make the hard decisions and restore the markets to its correct place and principles.

on the reasons to vote aginst the bill. I'm sure they stand in strong contrast to the republican objections which center around the idea that we should just hand over the money they asked for no strings attached. Or maybe it was really because the poor widdle babies were so upset over what Nancy Pelosi said. In either case screw them.

Oh, Elephantman I don't think anyone has suggested the crisis has anything to do with executive compensation - excpet for the common thread of so many CEOs losing money for their companies and then walking away with a golden parachute. (See Calry Fiorina for just one example) It would be fair to exact some limits on that compensation and the ability to blow up a company and walk away the richer for it- if wall street is expecting the tax payer to bail their asses out. I know they don't like it but they oughta lump it.