House Republicans killed the Wall Street bailout bill today because their feelings were hurt by remarks made by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to one of their leaders:
“You’ve been on the plane for 25 hours and nobody has talked to you and they ask you to get off the plane by the back ramp. … You just wonder, where is their sense of manners? Where is their sense of courtesy?”
– Gingrich, in 1995, explaining why he shut down the federal government
Without mentioning her by name, Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla., No. 3 Republican, said: “The partisan tone at the end of the debate today I think did impact the votes on our side.”
Reacting to the Republicans’ reason for killing the bill, House Finance Chair Barney Frank, who shepherded the bill through negotiations last week, spoke for millions:
Frank said that was a remarkable accusation by Republicans against Republicans: “because somebody hurt their feelings, they decided to punish the country.”
According to the AP, in her remarks, Pelosi blamed the “right-wing ideology of anything goes, no supervision, no discipline, no regulation” for the crisis. This may be a “partisan” statement, but it also reflects historical facts.
The immature behavior these House Republicans exhibited today has a striking precedent. In 1995, GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich admitted that he had shut down the federal government because he felt slighted by Pres. Clinton on an overseas trip:
As the government budget standoff continued Thursday, House Speaker Newt Gingrich indicated the Republican hard line was due, in part, to a “snub” from President Clinton during their recent trip to Israel for the funeral of assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta called the Gingrich comment “bizarre.”
The speaker said Wednesday that tough terms in the government spending bill President Clinton vetoed Monday night were included partly as the result of pique he and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole felt on Air Force One during flights with the president to and from Israel for the funeral.
Gingrich and Dole had complained earlier about their lack of discussions with Clinton during the 25 hours of flying time. But Gingrich went a step further Wednesday by saying the incident contributed to the government shutdown.
“This is petty,” said Gingrich, indicating his displeasure at the way the two were treated. “You’ve been on the plane for 25 hours and nobody has talked to you and they ask you to get off the plane by the back ramp. … You just wonder, where is their sense of manners? Where is their sense of courtesy?”
That “snub,” the Georgia Republican said, was “part of why you ended up with us sending down a tougher continuing resolution” — the stopgap spending bill that Clinton vetoed Monday. That veto led to the partial shutdown of the federal government, now in its third day.
“Not once did either of them say, ‘Let’s go in the back and sit down and try to cut a deal,” Panetta said. “Frankly, it would have been inappropriate. Everybody knew this was about a funeral. … This is bizarre. And even if that were the case — which it isn’t — why would you want to shut down the government because you feel snubbed?”
These people have no business being in government. The problem is, they wouldn’t last a day out in the real world.
This bail-out bill is a SCAM!
It is bush’s farewell attempt at stealing everything he can from future American generations.
This guy is a known liar. Why do you trust him now? Is it because you’re so afraid? That’s what they want.
America, land of the free, and home of the brave. Those are words that are no longer true.
I’m damn glad they defeated this bill. The last thing taxpayers need is another 700 billion in debt when we can’t handle what we already have on our plate.
Besides, this entire debt-based monetary system is doomed to crash anyway. Better now than when our children and grandchildren are in charge. We made this mess, the best thing to do is let it burn, baby, let it burn.
We need to get back to a sane way of money creation — like instead of our government BORROWING money, how bout it just issues it. . . just like the original constitution designated.
There is a reason the Earth’s population are debt slaves — bankers.
You guys might want to read up a little on not-so-distant history.
The Depression was caused by the Fed following panics/bank runs started deliberately by JP Morgan and the Rockafellers. The Fed exacerbated and prolonged the crisis by shrinking the money supply. That is why depression era prices were so very low.
SHould there be a depression now, it will be because of the collapse of this debt-based monetary system (which btw was brand new after Wilson signed the FRA) which collapse, in turn was INEVITABLE. When your money supply is created entirely through debt (not talking about minting the bills here) then invariably and inevitably the ability of debtors to continue taking on more debt will end someday. Without new debt creation there can be no new money.
Regardless of whether the US taxpayer agrees to incur another 700billion in debt to inject into the markets or not, the collapse of this system is absolutely INEVITABLE.
However, the FR just today released 600 bill new money (from minting) into the market, which will flood the market with dollars and hasten the devaluation of the currency.
Therefore, unlike the 1929 depression which saw a scarcity of money, the USA will become more like the Weimar Republic, with its citizens lining up with barrels of worthless dollars to buy mere staples.
Short version: economic collapse is inevitable and the bailout would only have prolonged the inevitable, while rewarding the unspeakably greedy multi-millionaires who caused this mess in the first place.
The coming collapse may cause depression, or merely deepen the already full boar recession. What is clear is that our way of doing business and handling money MUST change or we are doomed to repeat this cycle endlessly.
So just let it fall…?
Question: What bank has consistently been in the news since the economic meltdown started, “buying” up other banks and brokerages?
Answer: JP Morgan-Chase
Question: Which bank is one of the largest, most central banks in the Federal Reserve?
Answer: JP Morgan-Chase
Question: Why is JP Morgan-Chase allowed to rule on (as the Fed) on properties to enrich it’s own self-interests, and also allowed to PRINT UP CURRENCY FOR ONLY THE COST OF INK AND PAPER AND SELL IT BACK TO THE U.S. FOR FACE VALUE PLUS INTEREST?
Answer: Because of the Federal Reserve Act, of course!
Question: Why is the USA in such dire straits financially?
Answer: Because of the Federal Reserve Act, of course!
ABOLISH THE FEDERAL RESERVE!!
P.S.
Question: What’s next, one might ask?
Answer: Start a war with Iran, of course! Remember, this is how the USA got out of the Great Depression!
Hey GetaClue:
The world is not flat!
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