The Great Schlep
The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.
Labels: 2008 elections
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Labels: 2008 elections
Thank you for contacting me about our country's financial crisis and the proposed recovery legislation. Today the House defeated this legislation, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, by a vote of 205 to 228, despite my support.
Like you, I do not have any interest in "bailing out" Wall Street firms and business leaders who have speculated recklessly, endangered our country's consumers and homebuyers, and resisted regulation that would protect the public interest. My concern is for Main Street - for the people depending on a sound economy and the availability of credit to buy a house or car, to run their business and meet payroll, and to save for college and retirement.
Like it or not, we are all in this together, and the entire economy is threatened as we teeter on the edge of a 1929-style meltdown. Today Wachovia Bank, a North Carolinamainstay, collapsed. But this goes much deeper than bank failures. Last week, the City of Raleigh could not find a buyer for a $300 million bond, and Wake County cancelled its planned $472 million bond issue for school construction, Wake Tech, libraries, and open space acquisition. Both have AAA bond ratings.
Although President Bush lacks the credibility to be of much help, I take the dire warnings of economic analysts very seriously, particularly in light of everything that has happened in the last few weeks. But I could not support Secretary Paulson's request for a blank check for $700 billion to purchase mortgage-backed securities and stabilize the markets.
I thus became part of the intensive discussions over the last ten days to rewrite the Treasury plan in several critical respects. The legislation which came before us today would:
o Provide strict independent oversight and accountability for all activities undertaken by the US Treasury
o Release the $700 billion in installments, with multiple reviews along the way
o Make certain that the entire $700 billion is recaptured by the Treasury and thus by the American taxpayer, by requiring that taxpayers share in any profits resulting from the government's help and providing for assessment of the financial industry for any remaining losses
o Forbid "golden parachutes" and limit other compensation for executives of participating financial institutions.
o Require the government to work with participating institutions and loan servicers to help deserving homeowners negotiate reasonable repayment terms and stay in their homes
The defeat of the bill prolongs and perhaps deepens the crisis. Coordinating with the Senate, the House will need to return within days to try again. Perhaps the economic situation will then lead some members to reconsider. Perhaps the bill can be changed in ways that attract a majority; I certainly have a list of improvements I would like to see. But considering the members who voted "no," I will want to scrutinize carefully any changes designed to attract them.
I am committed over the next few days to continue working to avert financial collapse and get the best possible deal for America's taxpayers and homeowners. I welcome and share your concern about this situation and will be glad to hear from you at any time.
Sincerely,
DAVID PRICE
Member of Congress
Public sentiment remains against this bailout, but the public wants something to be done to address the current crisis. We have some breathing room. Since we're now doing "Government By Dow", I should point out that the Dow is up 266 points as I write this (10:00 a.m. PT). So the markets don't think the world will end today.
So it's time to craft a progressive solution to this problem and ditch the GOP. We have the majorities. Show some leadership. Pass a bailout plan with Democratic support, and then dare Bush to veto it. If things are as dire as he claims, he won't have much of a choice.
Labels: 2008 elections, David Price, economy
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A rescue for the U.S. financial system unraveled on Thursday amid accusations Republican presidential candidate John McCain scuppered the deal, and Washington Mutual was closed by U.S. authorities and its assets sold in America's biggest ever bank failure.
As negotiations over an unprecedented $700 billion bailout to restore credit markets degenerated into chaos, the largest U.S. savings and loan bank was taken over by authorities and its deposits auctioned off. U.S. stock futures fell by more than 1 percent.
The third-largest U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase & Co said it bought the deposits of Washington Mutual Inc, which has seen its stock price virtually wiped out because of massive amounts of bad mortgages. The government said there would be no impact on WaMu's depositors and customers. JPMorgan said it would be business as usual on Friday morning.
Labels: 2008 elections
Barack Obama has a two-point advantage over John McCain in the traditionally Republican state of North Carolina.
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the Tar Heel State shows Obama attracting 49% of the vote while McCain earns 47%. A week ago, McCain held a three-point edge. This is the first time in eight Rasmussen Reports polls that Obama has held any kind of a lead in North Carolina, though the candidates were tied once as well.
The candidates have now been within three points of each other in six of the last seven polls. The sole exception came in August when McCain held a four-point advantage. Nationally, the race between Obama and McCain remains close in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.
Labels: 2008 elections
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NBC's Kelly O'Donnell reports, advisors say they are also reaching out to Obama Campaign Manager David Plouffe to discuss pulling ads as well. (That can be difficult once they are in station traffic rotations.)
McCain advisors say they will do all the debates but the schedule is up in the air.
They also deny that there is a political calculation in this and say without action the country could slide into a Depression by Monday and added "we'll see 12 percent unemployment" if action is not completed.
Labels: 2008 elections
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Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Wednesday said he will break off from campaigning to help on a Wall Street rescue plan and asked that a Friday night debate with Democrat Barack Obama be postponed.
McCain, in a statement to reporters, said he would suspend his campaign on Thursday to return to Washington and called on Obama to join him, saying he had spoken to the Democrat.
He said he did not believe a current $700 billion rescue plan would pass the U.S. Congress in its current form. He urged President George W. Bush to call for a bipartisan meeting of lawmakers to try to find an agreement.
"It's time for both parties to come together to solve this problem," he said.
It is a pretty tone deaf thing to say on a day when the Dow loses more than 500 points -- its worst session in seven years. And it is looking increasingly false, Donald Luskin's horribly timed best efforts to the contrary.
But still, is what McCain said any different than what Obama might be saying a year from now if he's in the Oval Office and -- as many expect -- things continue to go south? What's he going to tell the American people then? "This economy is going down in flames! Head for the hills and hide the children!"
McCain senior advisor Mark Salter told reporters Wednesday that the Arizona senator’s decision followed two days of discussions with colleagues on Capitol Hill, who told him that the bailout plan from Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson faced an uphill fight.(Emphasis added)
He also said that McCain called President Bush today and told him of the plan, but would not characterize the president’s reaction to the proposal.
The McCain campaign will suspend airing all ads and all campaign events pending an agreement with Obama, though Salter did not know whether John McCain will suspend fundraising activities.
He added that McCain would take part in the debate as scheduled if Congress reached agreement on the measure by Friday morning.
Labels: 2008 elections
A voter may enter a voting place to vote wearing political items as long as they proceed to vote in a orderly and timely manner, and do not attempt to electioneer within the voting place. A voter wearing a t-shirt saying "Vote for X" who shouts "vote for X" or places his
T-shirt in the sightline of voters asking support for "X" is obviously electioneering and will be asked to refrain from the conduct at once, and if they continue will be removed.
A voter that has a political cap, T-shirt, or button and does not electioneer within the polling place will be allowed to vote in a normal matter.
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Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke bluntly warned Congress on Tuesday it risks a recession, with higher unemployment and increased home foreclosures, if it fails to act on the Bush administration's plan to bail out the financial industry.
Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee that failure to act could leave ordinary businesses unable to borrow the money they need to expand and hire additional employees, while consumers could find themselves unable to finance big-ticket purchases such as cars and homes.
The Senate Banking Committee listened in silence as the nation's central banker sketched his scenario.
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Dear American:
I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.
I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.
I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.
This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.
Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.
Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson
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