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.
#30 “You’ve never worked for a company that used “revolver” to run its operations?
Well, all I can say is your statements says a lot about your knowledge in that matter….”
No, if you have competent financial management you plan ahead for slow periods and don’t require revolving lines of credit.
I can see that your usage of this says a lot about your ability to predict finances and run a company.
The Republicans are going to bail on the agreement so they can distance themselves from both Bush and the Democratic majority in Congress. They will let Bush and the Democrats take whatever painful action that must be taken, some kind of bailout using our tax money. Then, at election time, they will be able to say “hey, we voted against them taking your tax money!”
Totally cynical and pure gamesmanship, but it will fool some people.
Awww… Don’t these politicians look cute (and pathetic) fighting against each other for the favour of their lobbying masters/campaign financers?
#32
Which still can be a win for Democrats. If they don’t pass the bail out and Wall Street tanks, then they can we tried but it was the Republican’s who stopped us, and the election continues to be about the economy. If they do pass a bail out and Wall Street takes a big bounce, then Democrats can take credit for it.
All and all, I’m still of the belief if Obama made the right choice to stay out of the fray.
The election should happen on time with no problems even if we have the mother of all crashes.
However my take on a bailout is that the people who were in charge at the companies bailed out go out the door with nothing.
The boards get replaced.
Then whatever is left gets sold to somebody that doesn’t need bailing out.
I would prefer tarring and feathering and riding them out of town on a rail but modern laws are kind of whimpy.
Well, you’re reading a statement by someone who started his company from just me and has grown it to 6 employees and gross sales well over $1M.
I have never taken out a loan, asked for a line of credit, or laid anybody off (I have fired a couple of slackers, though).
I do have a credit card with a $3K limit which is paid off promptly every month but we only use that to keep from having to carry cash around and buy office supplies online. We’ve never paid interest on a single penny.
It was grown strictly on cash-flow. I anticipate being a $10M in the next 5 years — again, strictly on cash flow.
It is possible to grow a business in such a fashion. Just make sure you watch your money.
If I, a dumb country boy, understands what RISK is, then those jokers on Wall Street certainly do.
They need to be reminded.
No Bailouts, No Compromises, No Kidding.
Side Note:
I am curious how these senators and congressmen are going to answer their constituents’ questions on why they voted for a bailout when 99% of them said, “No!”
I foresee a large turnover next election if a bailout happens.
This bailout would be an easier sell if we weren’t already upside-down on a 20-year mortgage on Iraq.
#31 Paddy, Paddy, Paddy… A lot, I’ll repeat, a lot of companies use revolving credit facilities, staring with big publicly traded to smaller companies. It’s often much more cost effective to use it as your source of working capital, especially in a manufacturing sector…
#34 “If they don’t pass the bail out and Wall Street tanks, then they can we tried but it was the Republican’s who stopped us,”
That would work except for 2 facts:
1) The Pres won’t veto.
2) The Repubs in congress can’t kill the bill on a straight up vote and aren’t threatening a filibuster.
The Dems are in control on this one. For good or ill.
#38 “It’s often much more cost effective to use it as your source of working capital, especially in a manufacturing sector…”
I’ve been an exec in a manufacturing company. Like I said, if you manage finances correctly, it’s not needed.
Your example is that many companies large and small are mismanaged.
#39
Exactly, Paddy-O, which is why the Democrats are resisting passing something without the Republicans being on board too.
The Republicans want to avoid any responsibility for doing anything, in case it goes wrong, then they can blame the Democrats.
Yeah, that’s leadership… as I said, 100% political posturing and gamesmanship.
#41 “Yeah, that’s leadership… as I said, 100% political posturing and gamesmanship.”
Well, the Dems wanted to have the leadership position in Congress. Now that they have it, it is time to LEAD, not follow the minority. If they don’t want to be responsible for leadership decisions then they should turn control over to the minority…
It’s clear the Congressional Republicans have no interest in solving this problem, only using it for partisan political advantage.
42,
The Democrats are actually trying to (to my amazement), but the GOP is only interested in the political future of McCain.
Ands don’t quote me his 2005 speech on regulation. One of my biggest peeves with McCain is that he sold his soul and principles to get the GOP candidacy.
#44 “The Democrats are actually trying to (to my amazement), but the GOP is only interested in the political future of McCain.”
As I posthat?ted earlier (you didn’t read or understand it) the Dems can pass this bill without the repubs and the Pres will sign.
What don’t you understand and
#42
Sure Paddy-O, that’s a sucker bet you’d love the Democrats to take. The Republicans need to get on board with a solution with the Democrats. This is a SERIOUS problem threatening our nation and we need EVERYONE working to solve it, not using it for their own petty political purposes.
#46 “The Republicans need to get on board with a solution with the Democrats.”
Umm, no they don’t. Lead or turn over to those who can.
They need to act or turn over control. Leadership is a bitch.
#47
Yeah, you’re full of it, Paddy-O.
Should America turn leadership over to a party that, during a major crisis in America did NOTHING to fix the situation, and in fact made it worse, in order to score partisan political points?
I think not.
#48 “Should America turn leadership over to a party that, during a major crisis in America did NOTHING to fix the situation”
If the current party in power doesn’t act they will have done NOTHING. They already have the lowest approval rating in history for being a do nothing congress.
Sounds like they both suck.
But, act or lose the leadership come 2 years…
Thanks for playing, Paddy-O. Great willfully obtuse act you got going there.
Pelosi is between a rock and hard place.
When the sh*t hits the fan (and it will), she will be blamed because:
A) She did something that didn’t work.
or
B) She did nothing when she could have (doesn’t matter it wouldn’t have worked anyway).
She’s f**ked because in either case, the repubs had no hand it (other than past offenses but that’s another story).
Bye, bye, Nancy.
Obama may win the election but you got snookered into losing the house back to the repubs.
Aren’t two-party systems great?
#50 “Thanks for playing, Paddy-O. Great willfully obtuse act you got going there.”
In other words. You can’t come up with plausible excuse as to why the Dem leadership refuses to … lead. Except, that they aren’t leaders…
#51 LibertyLover
I’ll take that bet. After the next election, the House will be Democratic, regardless the outcome of this bailout. Now, if it goes horribly wrong, they may not have as large of margin, but even that I doubt.
This thing is confusing. No one party is going to take all the hits.
“Wolf!”
“Wolf!”
“Wolf!”
“God damn it, for the last time, ‘WOLF!'”
“What the F&@# is wrong with you guys. I said ‘WOLF!!!!'”
“I’m telling you: wolf. That’s it: wolf. What part of wolf didn’t you understand?”
“Are you just going to stand there and let me die out here because I may have used the word ‘wolf’ in some distant past reference?”
“Look, I’m just the messenger. But the message is ‘wolf.'”
“Hear me out. You got to underst… HOLY MOTHER OF GOD…”
#52
You know why, Paddy-O. You know what games the Republicans are playing. You just pretend not to. That’s willfully obtuse. I’m not wasting my time.
I’d have more respect for you if you admitted that yes, the Republicans are going to take advantage of this national crisis to score political points, and they’re gambling that the voters won’t notice how sleazy that is, and punish them at election time.
#55 “You know what games the Republicans are playing. You just pretend not to. That’s willfully obtuse. I’m not wasting my time.”
Part of leading is being brave. If the Dem leadership thinks the plan is good, pass it. If they don’t, they just need to say so.
Sheep concern themselves with games. Leaders take the initiative and LEAD.
You don’t get it. I don’t care about “games” just correct decisive action.
Yep==fun how the politics is following the business model.
Over the past 5-6 years, if you were a bank, mortgage house, stock trader and you did not match the Lehman Bros leveraged profit taking because of the irresponsible risk involved, YOU GOT FIRED!
Now, the same thing is going to happen to our politicians.
Sheep is not quite the right metaphor, unless that applied to the American voter. The sheep want to be “lead” but only down in the valley where the grass is green and their is lots of water. Wolves too–so don’t take us up farther on the hill, thats too difficult.
The more we learn about this it is instructive to see how EVERYONE did cause this. Still, the buck finally lands on BushCo’s desk and all he can do is request a blank check. Dipshit.
#57 “Still, the buck finally lands on BushCo’s desk and all he can do is request a blank check.”
Yep. And, now we’ll see if the Dem leadership is stupider than W…
I don’t think the executive pay provision is a good idea. Most likely the existing executives will be sent off, and you still need to have good people running the companies. They’re not going to show up if the government is setting their salary.
If Paulson wants this deal so badly, then he should be forced to resign. Same with the executives that want the bailout.