The day began with an agreement that Washington hoped would end the financial crisis that has gripped the nation. It dissolved into a verbal brawl in the Cabinet Room of the White House, urgent warnings from the president and pleas from a Treasury secretary who knelt before the House speaker and appealed for her support.
“If money isn’t loosened up, this sucker could go down,” President Bush declared Thursday as he watched the $700 billion bailout package fall apart before his eyes, according to one person in the room.
It was an implosion that spilled out from behind closed doors into public view in a way rarely seen in Washington.
By 10:30 p.m., after another round of talks, Congressional negotiators gave up for the night and said they would try again on Friday. Left uncertain was the fate of the bailout, which the White House says is urgently needed to fix broken financial and credit markets, as well as whether the first presidential debate would go forward as planned Friday night in Mississippi.
The talks broke up in angry recriminations…
In the Roosevelt Room after the session, the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., literally bent down on one knee as he pleaded with Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, not to “blow it up” by withdrawing her party’s support for the package over what Ms. Pelosi derided as a Republican betrayal.
“I didn’t know you were Catholic,” Ms. Pelosi said, a wry reference to Mr. Paulson’s kneeling, according to someone who observed the exchange. She went on: “It’s not me blowing this up, it’s the Republicans.”
Mr. Paulson sighed. “I know. I know.”
What a fracking soap opera!
Read the details. Enjoy it over your morning coffee.
What page are we on?
http://tinyurl.com/34btr4
#56 has it right. The Dems have the majorities to pass and a Pres who’ll sign. The only reason they want the Republicans is to share the heat if it all blows up. They don’t need them to pass bill.
This article shows the volume and tenor of the emails going to reps and Senators from voters…
Good little read.
Sorry ’bout that.
Here is the article.
Paddy, why hand over leadership to the group that wouldn’t lead when they were in the minority?
They shouldn’t do anything more than helping to stop a run on a bank.
#67, The banks used to be able to handle that themselves. They did a find job in 1903. Then they got regulated and the Fed said, “We’ll take care of you,” and we ended up with what happened in 1929.