Is the House bill exactly like the one the Senate passed, or is it going to commitee now?

They could have used some lubricant...

Well, it is a great day. Something was done. I was reminded of this quote:

"The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout 'Save us!' And I'll look down, and whisper 'no.' They had a choice, all of them. They could have followed in the footsteps of good men like my father, or President Truman. Decent men, who believed in a day's work for a day's pay. Instead they followed the droppings of lechers and communists and didn't realize that the trail led over a precipice until it was too late. Don't tell me they didn't have a choice. Now the whole world stands on the brink, staring down into bloody hell, all those liberals and intellectuals and smooth-talkers, and all of a sudden nobody can think of anything to say."

From Watchmen, by Alan Moore

Everyone who supported this egregious crime against the American taxpayer should now be officially forbidden to complain about any of the following (that's you too, Mr. Leonard):

- slow economic growth

- high interest rates

- inflation

- a weak U.S. dollar

And finally:

- No announcements of surprise will be allowed when the same people who got us into this mess expect us to bail them out again in a matter of years or even months. It will again be urgent and a matter of life and death. The only thing that will have changed is that the dollar amount will be even bigger.

"Only" 200 points?

The passing of the bill was probably already mostly priced in to the markets- there was no real doubt it wasn't going to pass today.

Uh, have you read Watchmen? You're quoting a psychopath.

You blew it, Amerika. There is no longer any way for the U.S. to avoid totalitarianism or a repeat of the Depression.

You had better pray, to gods that do not exist and will not hear you. Hungry? Eat your bible.

Make that 172 (unless Republicans count double now).

How long before we hear about the big Executive Suite parties at Goldman and Morgan???? Will we be invited?

This thing was simple thievery, first to last. Paulson just handed his pals at Goldman and Morgan a free, lifetime pass. Must be nice.

And now we face 20 years of recession, just like Japan did.

I can't believe that the yes-votes in the House, let alone the Senate, can look themselves in the mirror this morning. And, yes, I think Obama being in the tank for this piece of shit is reprehensible... but, he's trying to win an election, and at least he's not lying continuously, like McCain seems to be.

first, the vote was 263-172, not 272 (which would have defeated the bill and added about a dozen states the union), and while the DOW was up 200-some points BEFORE the vote, it was only up 100 points (or less) AFTER the vote.

And there will be more bailouts to come - many more.

Everyone who signed on should have their name embossed right next to their vote on Iraq. If your name is on both lists, you should never hold office again.

We are, again, no longer a 'representative' democracy. Forget about a direct democracy. The Elites rule. Long live the Elites!

It's amazing what a little ... well, okay, a lot of lipstick can do.

As all the Thieves in Chiefs line up to congratulate themselves for the "bailout", it is left to the rest of us to explain to our children and grandchildren (who will pay dearly with their standard of living and indeed, as the RepubliCrat war machine cranks up, their lives) how this came to pass.

Expect the depression to last longer and be much deeper as a result of this action. The lesson for all Dems and Pubs alike is that nothing can be allowed to change business as usual in the cesspool on the Potomoc. Obama is a lightweight who will go along to get along with whatever the DC power brokers want. McCain as "maverick" is a fiction that only the lumpentariat could buy.

The only ray of dim light is that the anger, indeed hostility, of the public comes from both the right and left. If genuine liberals and conservatives (as opposed to the psuedo-imposters) finally wake up to the entire rotten scam there could still be meaningful change. It won't come from Obama, McCain or the RepubliCrats. It will require a populist uprising against both DC parties.

Noch weiz ich an im mêre
Daz mir ist bekant,
Einen lintrachen
Sluoc des heldes hant,
Er badet sich in dem bluote:
Sîn hût wart hurnîn,
Des snîdet in kein wâfen:
Daz ist dicke worden schîn.

Das Nibelungenlied

As a Democrat I am steaming about this bill! So much for any possible school loan or anything of value to the average.

THERE IS NO INCENTIVE TO BE A MIDDLE CLASS AMERICAN ANYMORE!

I'm not at all happy this Senate-amended bill passed.

But I don't believe that the *outcome* of it is necessarily going to be a total disaster.

The economy is going to tank, new laws or no new laws. We are all going to suffer a great deal. There is no reason to believe that this bill, or ANY bill, could prevent that.

It is possible that this new legislation will help *some* people in the USA who actually need help--it wasn't perfect, and I didn't want those 341 pages of crap from the Senate to pass, but I think it would be completely unjustified to pretend that "everything might've been fine" if this specific bill hadn't passed.

the cries on wall street are for further rate cutes, right now.

Dow is in negative territory.

i apologize. trying to work too quickly

but i think it got the gist right.

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous than standing armies... If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of currency [i.e. The Federal Reserve] ... the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of their property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." - Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826

"A world banking system was being set up here... a superstate controlled by international bankers... acting together to enslave the world for their own pleasure. The Fed has usurped the Government." - Congressman Louis McFadden on The Federal Reserve