I do think Nancy Pelosi should step down as speaker or be replaced. In the spirit of the campaign as we are trying to get a new and better approach to solving conditions, she decides to make the vote a partisan issue. Lets face it, people get offended, even those who should be able to get past such comments, are human. What on earth possessed her unless she truly wanted to sabotage the vote.

In my opinion they should use this 700 Bilion to rewrite these mortgages that were or are adjusting. People can not aford these arms and the rissing gas prices. When there income becomes less and less something has to go.People ar loosing there jobs due to no ,or little business so companies lay off or terminate positions.
There credit is no marked because of repos are late pays and can not
refinance her homes and are forced into bankruptcy.
Now that they are in bankruptcy there credit is distroyed and no credit is available to them now they are just trying to get by.

As for what started it the iraq war are military is now sent oversee's.
There money that they would have spent in the U.S. is now in Iraq .

Not to mention if there money is in banks they are not here to spend it in our economy.

Eight years ago President Bush said you are not an American or patriot if you don’t vote on going to Iraq.
Then home land security was form to keep terrorists away from our broader. Little did the President know eight years later that our own congress is our in house terrorists! They did what terrorist have been trying to do for years and that is to destroy the American financial institution. In one day they voted to stick it us. John McCain you are the biggest joke in the history you are still try to blame the democratic on the vote and it was your own party who screw up again.
When will both sides get their heads out their butts and stop playing the fear game on the American people. Fear is not the problem it is the truth that both parties is not telling American people. The truth is the President, Senate, and Congress take the American people for fools like we can’t think for ourselves.

Thank you for the explaination. What should WE THE PEOPLE do now? Write letters to 'our' leaders in Washington? This is like shutting the barn after the cows got out.

Well the past is the past. What got us to this point can't be changed. We have to deal with here and now and stop trying to always bring up the past.

The truth is that none of these so called experts that I see on TV or here on this blog are actually in the room with congress or the President and have no real clue as to how bad the situation really is. They all are just guessing. So until they are in the room and know the actual true facts then anything that they say or suggest is just a guess and doesn't really matter. Anyone can give an opinion yet it doesn't make it true.

Cindy...Ga.

McCain should resuspend is campaign again since the bill didnt pass.

I worked in the mortgage business. What happened is that Mortgage lenders and Appraisers worked together to pass false information on to the lenders. It was not the fact that borrowers with poor credit characteristics were able to get loans. Lenders and Appraisers helped people get the paper they needed (FALSE DOCUMENTS) in order to satisify the lenders. Often the sellers knew about this too. They would pretend to pay the closing cost, but wold get it back when the mortgage broker would get his fees. I'm sure many of us know the story. I'm sure this is not what Fannie or Freddie intended. People need to go to jail.
Why this was allowed to continue? somebody has benefited let them pay.
Give the 700 billion to the people and they can stimulate the economy.

Those who ignore the past are doomed to repeat it.

Our country is living proof.
And for the record, congress and the President have no idea how bad the situation really is. They're guessing too. They've said so.

Mr. Jeffrey A. Miron, as senior lecturer in economics at Harvard University, you should be advising as to what to do to fix the problem, not what caused it, we know what caused it!

The government, and that includes both Republicans and Democrats as the seeds for this were sown in the'90s (read Barney Frank, Christopher Dodd, Alan Greenspan and a host of others too smart for their own good), as well as those of us who thought it was cool to get something for nothing (read no down payment, interest only mortgages, gaming the system and packaging trash which was still trash and marketing it as a silk purse, exorbitant quarterly results that lead to outrageous "compensation") and now we're surprised not only by the mess but that those who helped to create the mess cannot clean it up?

We elected what we deserved- a dry drunk, a group of thieves, and a group of politicians that still cannot do right by their constituencies. Where's Pogo when we need him?

This bill was bad law and a bad aid to fix an earthquake. Those bi-partisan representatives in the House are actually listening to the people they represent and should be appluaded for not being taken in again. The Congress is full of morons, with Pelosi the queen moron of them all. Let's vote them ALL out at their next election and start fresh! Every house needs to be cleaned out now and then.

I think that the CEO's and CFO's of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
as well as AIG and all of the other major corporations that have gone under OR are on the verge of going under need to cut their personal salaries to (I'll be generous) $50K the difference needs to be pumped back into the economy. Atleast this would be a start; and I bet the total from just these companies would amaze a lot of people!!!
As for the subprime loans.... I'm sorry that those people are losing their homes, but they needed to understand completely what they were getting into before signing the paperwork.

The Reason behind the failure of that bill is simple... The few staunch Republicans that voted thumbs down on that bill did that because of their own blinded reasoning. That upon the passing of that $700 Billion bailout by the Government. That in the bill, there was an option for a government equitable ownership of certain property as a collateral holding... In their eyes, that ownership would change the holy grail of the United States Government into a socialistic Government! These staunch Republican believers of that pluralistic patriotism and their own personal flavor of "Republican Government" has no compromise and can give no middle ground to any other thinking but their own.

Gerard Ange'
Palo Alto, California

how about this? warren buffet has asked to piggyback on fed buying these securities?? do u think they are cheap enough? do u think the govt will make a lot of $$ on this.. ABSOLUTELY yes.. warren is by far the most risk averse.. all those idiots in washington should be fired

If your child burns his/her hand on a hot stove the time to argue about who's fault it was the kitchen wasn't child-proofed or who should have been watching the child in the first place is AFTER you apply the first aid and get them to an ER.

Jeff Miron's commentary is worthless in so-far as accomplishing anything constructive. Forget about patting yourself on the back and saying "if only they had listened to me". At this point we need to deal with the immediate problem and apply whatever first aid and emergency care we can.

I agree with Mr Miron, let these greedy companies go bankrupt, leave us taxpayers out of it.

I agree! We can take the pain now, or push it out just a little further. Debts eventually have to be paid or the loan holder takes the loss. America has liked beyond its' means for too long and continuing to do so will be our downfall.

Jeffrey,

In a word, YES.

What a relief to hear some words from a fellow Libertarian!

The approx. 7% drop in the market today was a needed adjustment, and I am glad that Congress did not decide to throw bad money after bad money.

The panic inducing headlines do not help either – the market droppped about 40% in a week in 1929, and this is not even close to that.

When I was teaching 6th grade elementary school in a suburb of L.A. we teachers used an often recited question and answer, "Do you know the definition of stress? It's having the responsibility without the authority to take action." That is exactly how I feel again with this talk of a gov't bailout of our financial institutions with my tax dollars. For more than 20 years I worked two jobs so that I could afford to go to school, pay rent and save for a better future. I taught "my kids" responsibility for their choices. Seems our leaders are teaching us that avarice pays. Why should I be forced to bail out greedy coporates (let alone the outrageous earmarks) who have made irresponsible decisions. I am outraged beyond description.

Typical Libertarian pap. If we had been living in a Libertarian World the past few decades we would all be drinking poisoned water, earning Chinese wages, and having to deal with people legally smoking crack.

Taxpayers have a right to a strong government that can set rules and regulations. The CEO's have proven time and time again that they could care less about America.

Perhaps this is the best thing that could have happened. As a nation and a people we have been putting everything on credit for the last 4 decades (give or take). There was credit before and there will be credit afterwards, the difference is the banks making the loan will more diligently determine if credit is justified (can be repaid). The bailout bill was a travesty to protect institutions that have by their actions proven to be unworthy of salvage. Yes in the end we will all pay, but $700 Billion will by a lot of recovery at the low end rather than feathers for the high end. Boards of Directors take note – you were ultimately responsible.

Anyone that is still of the belief that a "bailout" isn't necessary needs to come out from under the rock. It doesn't matter at this point if we're bailing out Wall Street, Main Street or any other Street!. We need this as a short term fix until we can get this economy under some semblence of control! The job,retirement fund, and investment losses need to be curbed before the house of cards comes crashing down and we have to start the soup lines....

How about replacing bad government with good government? Since the "government" whoever that might include is responsible for setting up the criteria that permitted this crisis, and for so long and continually made it easier for institutions to continue irresponsible acts, the government should be allowed to make an attempt to fix the problem. Greed is one of the seven deadly sins, and whoever doesn't believe that, open your eyes. Cleaning house is in order for sure, but in the meantime, the American public should not be punished for the bad policies of bad government. First stop the bleeding and then operate.

Why doesn't the US government establish an Uber-fund in which private investors can buy in. This fund would keep money for 3-4 years (much like a hedge fund), and then return it plus all the profits from buying mortgage backed securities for cents on the dollar. Given the magnitude of such a fund, it could negotiate low prices for these securities: moreover, there would be no restrictions on CEO pay etc (which would make banks more likely to accept such an offer). Furthermore, no taxpayer money would be used; anyone who invests is aware of the risks he/she is taking. I think many would be willing to invest, including overseas investors, and the total amount of money would be on the order of hundreds of billions.

This is a sad day for our country. It will be like watching Rome burn. The origin of this trouble was deregulation of the banking industry. We've deregulated everything- airlines, communications, etc.- and it's all going down. Our country needs to look to Europe for their social policies and heed their example. We need to take care of our people. When the almighty dollar rules, this is what happens to society.

It should be noted that while Freddie and Fannie purchased stated income loans, they usually had pretty high credit requirements. The majority of subprime loans were not sold to Freddie or Fannie so while they may deserve their fair share of the blame, they are not the sole reasons for this mess.
I really don't understand the how mortgage backed securities ever came into place. It seems like smoke and mirrors to me. If anyone has a good explanation please let me know.
It seems unreasonable that firms who purchased these "securities" have no clue as to which loans are in default and which aren't. If mortgages remained mortgages and weren't bundled into something that they aren't, we wouldn't have become so mired in unknowns.

I think bankruptcy should happen instead of a bailout.

All I hear is how terrible people won't be able to buy on credit. WOW... then, stop buying if you don't have the cash. Live within your means. Doh... that's called balancing your check book. Americans seem too stupid to understand that rather simple concept: In and Out; if it's not in you don't spend it out - if we, the richest people on this planet, so we're told, can't afford all the goodies the American dream is telling us we should have, then we've been living in an illusion that's finally collapsing upon us.

For the moment, fear is being spread on the news. Soon your ATM won't have any cash... your credit card will be locked (a good thing if you ask me). Your 401K will go down to zero... and on and on. It's all about FEAR. They are trying to enslave us through fear. Sounds familiar?

Thank goodness this abomination didn't pass...! The solution to government meddling in the market is *not* allowing government to become an even bigger player in the market. Thankfully, about 230 or so Congresspeople perhaps weren't asleep during Econ 101.

Absolutely 100% correct. None of these firms were insolvent. This is and remains a liquidity issue. Beyond the perception of a bailout these firms should have been ordered to liquidate assets in an orderly and timely fashion to cover their obligations. Such a methodology would have let these firms solve their own problems. The root goes way back, not to deregulation, but to no regulation in the mortgage broker subculture. Packaging and sales of mortgages is only the delivery mechanism of an investment that was based on poor choices both by brokers and mortgage applicants. Patience goes a long way to derail panic. Lets not give the green light and the keys to the treasury to whatever remains of the investment banks. By the way, mark to the market and the changes to the uptick, margin, and short sale rules were initiated not too long ago. Side note: the NYSE circuit breakers (Rule 80B) changed in 1998 from those in 1988.

CIndy.......................What are you talking about?

It is sickening to keep hearing partisan comments during a time when we are all in this together, as ONE!!! To hear McCain come on and make sure he "blamed" Obama and vs versa is disgusting. As Americans we deserve better than kindergarten tactics by politicians. They all say they care about the taxpayer but when they have the opportunity to put "their" agendas to the side their colors quickly show and they have to play the stupid blame game that has gotten us nowhere. McCain and Obama...grow up!!! We don't care what you think the other guy should do or hasn't done! We want to hear what YOU individually are going to do as president if elected. Give us some credit to have enough intelligence to determine based on that who we want for president. Neither of you need to "enlighten" us to who your opponent is...your own words either bury you or lift you up...stop hiding behind your pasts accomplishments, while all worthy and admirable, it is yesterday. We want to know about TODAY and how you fit into that picture. And McCain you don't have to tell us how much you know and how little Obama knows, its a no-brainer that you are older, thus more experienced, so what? That means nothing when you keep going back to the past and using the same old rheteric and old lines. We are tired of politics, give us the real YOU and maybe we will listen! And congress should be ashamed of themselves, both parties. You play with our future all for stupid partisan credit. You all got us in the mess and you all get the blame and now you all need to own up to it and just work as ONE to get us out of it. Stop trying to get the credit for your party, we are not that ignorant. It takes two to tango and you both are equally to share in this adversity and possible future victory!

Your Govenment created the mess by deregulation and therefore your Government should pay to clean it up. And, please clean it up promptly as we, in Canada, should not suffer losses in our retirement investments by your actions. We have kept our house in order.

I pulled what little money I had out of the bank to pay bills ahead.
Glad I did-I can live without credit & Banks .Banks cannot survive without customers If the Government wants to bail out some one, They are welcome to give me $20,000.00 one time & I can pay off ALL my debts, Pay bills ahead for the next 4 years & still have money to spend on necessities like food & gas.

I agree, let those responsible for this mess pay the piper. They got us into this. 18 million for three weeks work to one banker, give me a break. Fortune magazine had an interesting comment today.....Citibank picked up WaMu....all their branches, their debt, with no money from the Fed or taxpayers. I run a business, it might be microscopic compared to Wall Street concerns, but my debt ratio to liquid capitol, (cash), and inventory, (all paid for), is less than 8%. That is the way a business should be run. Tightly and efficently.

No bailout for anybody! Just because I have a credit line on my credit card of $15,000 does not mean I should charge that much. Personal responsibility for all involved.

I find it interesting that Barney Frank and Chris Dodd are out blaming the Republicans for this mess when they were the ring leaders in passing the legislation to "encourage" banks to provide the loans to those who could not afford them. It used to be if you couldn't afford something you couldn't have it. Home ownership is earned, not guarranteed. The author is correct. Fix what got us here; as well as, providing liquidity to the credit market.

So what's the worst that can happen? The lending institutions cease to exist and there's no more credit. So our salaries increase so we can actually purchase things or the prices drop so we can acutally purchase things? I don't get it. I'm not upset that the credit industry is going bust. What does that mean, that banks can't extort any more money from us? Let's get back to using credit for the purchase of homes, cars, etc., not tomorrows dinner.

I am outraged and apposed to this Rescue Bill, especially sec. 109 & 110. Neither wall street or main street should be rewarded for their gambling and lack of fiscal responsibility.
Rick
Petersburg, AK

Barney Frank and the rest of the dems have alot of nerve attacking the GOP when it was their shielding of Freddie/Fannie 4 years ago that directly led to this mess. Why is CNN not running with that story?

Jeffrey Miron has the right idea. I can not believe Bernanke was in favor of passing this economic disaster bill. Even though Bernanke wrote a book on economics, he doesn't believe in its principles.

If Congress passed this bill we would be on the road to making our dollar worthless and no one would want to invest or trade with the United States. Then you would have a real Depression.

Now is when we find out who the real capitalists are. The free market will adjust and adapt. It is irresponsible to socialize financial loss due to poor management and privatize gains from excessive risk taking during a up market. I don't want to see my parents investments dry up when they need them, but you have to stand by your economic fundementals. The financial industry will get back to business when the promise of a free pass is denied by Congress. The only people who really understand how much financial institutions have to gain from this bill is the management of those institutions.

I was offended to learn that the $700 billion figure they came up with is nowhere near the exact amount they really need to bail out the credit markets. It's far MORE than what they'll need and instead of figuring it out, they decided to ask for "a big number" even though they know they won't need all of that money. That seriously offends me and my intelligence as an American who puts my trust in these so called leaders.

Today's vote also made me angry – and at both parties. To the Repulicans for letting someone's personal opinion of the president and their party affect their voting decision...and to the Democrats for letting sucha hot head be Speaker and bring her own views into what is supposed to be a non-partisan issue!!

Thanks for supporting America, Washington!!

I agree with you 100%. Corporations, as well as the American people, must face the consequences of their actions.

Outstanding, someone who understands you can't stop a market correction. The economy is going to suffer no matter what the government does at this point. Waisting 700 billion just adds inflation and makes it worse.

Thank you for your article.

Mr. Miron, thank you for a well thought out response that is absolutely on point. The system will fix itself and will be stronger for it. I'm tired of doing the right things and being the one holding the bag in the end. It's time for those who made bad decisions to face the music.

This "expert" is talking more out of idealogy than of reality. The concept of any kind of "Nationalization" is a four letter word for Republican economists who believe their concept of capitalism is the final word in American way of life. No wonder the country is in shambles. Europe, Asia and rest of the world have capitalism but with a doze of reality and regulation. What does this Harvard bookie know more that the rest of world doesn't?

Why is congress taking a Jewish holiday?
Why don,t we lay them all off for 3 years .And Mccain and Obama can postpone there campain donate their money to the federal government .My 23 year old son told me a year ago the banks were insolvent .Why did they not see this comming !Yes people are mad .
Most of us work pay taxes,and have a budget .We are all in big trouble!

Why dont we take all the bankaccounts of the Executive in these failing companies and put there money in the Bailout. Better yet the senators and politicians who are pushing for this bill lets put all there money in the Bailout ! If they have such a brilliant solution and are so sure that the american public can and will make money on this bailout "investment" then they should have no problem putting there money where there mouths are!

if you make bad investments you loose you money. The key is YOU took the risk with YOUR money. leave my hard earned money alone.

Why not have ivy league universities with their billions in endowments pay the bailout; after all its places like that who graduated the idiots that have us in this mess.

I always hear " the market will take care of its self " apparently the free market has been too greedy, so we all lose? Someone should pay for this and not us. Where is the marketeers to help this situation, just looking for a handout..........just brilliant! I don't know what the answer will be to this crisis, but something has got to change the way they do business. No thanks to them we are all in this mess.

Jeff Miron for President!

Thank you Jeff for enlightening us as to the truth in all of this.

Incidentally, how is it that Pelosi "torpedoed the vote" with a speech?
The GOP was so outrageously offended that they changed their minds that easiliy?

Please.

A bail out is not the answer...sometimes we just have to suck it up and suffer the consequences. There is so much corruption,
how can we know that a large percent of bail -out $'s won't go into greedy pockets. It's like preparing for a catagory 5 huricane. We'll just have to see what happens...Throwing money at a problem this big is a joke. Bail out this time and 10 days from now they'll need more than more. The big car manufacturers are next then transporation. Bush and cronies came up with the estimated amount because it sounded sizeable enough to be of some help...hog wash. If it gets bad, it get's bad...we're Americans we know how to bounce back...we're at our best in desperate times. Pray for wisdom in Government. Love the USA.

I am so glad the congress vote against this. This is another example of what this administration has been all about; cover things up. It is good some times to hit the bottom and see the true, THE REALITY. We need an administration that think, plan and act for the people and not for their own agenda. I hope the new administration investigate why we have this economic crisis; not only to point finger but reestablish new policy and regulation that we help to improved the economy and to ensure that this never happen again. Middle class is the true foundation of any society, if we allowed another administration conducted them self the way the current administration did. Rich get richer and poor people will get poorer middle class will disappeared.

Mr. Miron is on target.
We didn't get to this point in the last eight years. It has taken decades of incompetent leadership from both Democrats and Republicans.
I don't care who wins the Presidential race. I do care deeply that all of us demand our elected representatives stop representing special interests of all types at the expense of the 'common good'.
This financial crisis is because of the partisan bickering crisis I have heard almost constantly for the last 30 years.
We've all been short changed by our so called 'leaders'. And we're all going to pay for it for a long time to come.

Jeffrey A. Miron is totally ignorant.

Fannie and Fradie didn't involve in Subprime. Those subprime mortgage does not qualify for "conforming" loans.

The whole abandoning of sound lending practices was initiated and conducted by non-public financial institutions - Bear Sterns, Lehman, etc. Remember that the first to collapse was Bear Stern, not Fannie or Fradie? These two are the big victims from the private institutions' subprime lending, since the subprime affects the housing prices.

By the way, if Fannie and Fraddie go bankrupt and stop lending now, the situation would be much more scarier.

So much for market aboslutist!

It's really quite entertaining to watch all this. The Fed and congress got us into this mess because of inflationary policies and easy credit and now we expect the same people to solve the mess with the same policies. I can only sit back and laugh at the idiots in Washington while I watch the value of my gold investments go up as politicians continually destroy the dollar. There have been plenty of investors (Jim Rogers) and politicians (Ron Paul) who predicted this fiasco years ago. If Washington had any sense they would be asking these guys to fix the situation... but that would be admitting that our monetary policy is fundamentally flawed and so are all of the politicians who either support it or don't understand it.

I agree with Patsy. Credit should never be used for consumables. Credit inflated the price of goods and services. Perhaps the lack of credit will reduce the cost of goods and services. Bailouts are not all bad, recalling the Chrysler bailout as a positive process though I have always wondered why we, the people, only received some small interest payments instead of stock options for the money in the Chrysler bail out. Imagine if we, the people had become major stockholders instead of investor's. It didn't go down like that because it was a good bailout plan. Somehow this 700B plan promised future gains for we, the people. I am suspicous that it was to be set up that way because the plan will fail, otherwise investors would retain interest in the bailed out assets, not us. I say let the chips fall as they may even if they turn in to dominoes. Good times and bad times are happy times if well spent. Contrary to modern and popular social viewpoint, it's NOT all about the benjamins.

Considering the Tres Sec's wall street background and the fact that we are part of a global economy and we are so far in debt that no politician wants to admit to Im sure this was his way of making them happy. I see no point in bailing out anyone if subprime mortgages arent outlawed and all the criminal acts on wall street outlawed. Otherwise it keeps happening. These people will know hey we can get away with it. I wish the FBI investigation could be completed asap but that is impossible. These people have destroyed the integrity of our system both in reputation but also in size. There is no way in hell people who lied about their income should be bailed out! They committed fraud. You cant have something from nothing. Sometimes it takes a life altering event for some people to learn their lesson.

cindy this is an economic crisis, not a military or legal crisis. in an economic crisis, the experts are known as "economists". the guys in the room with congress and the president are the ones who are "just guessing".

id trust mr miron with a $700B decision about the economy before i would trust bush and pelosi.

I think the bailout was/is a temporary fix that ultimately would not work. They would only come back later and ask for another 700 billion.WHY? Because Wall Street is beyond the point of no return in the credit markets. 700 billion isn't going to be enough to energize a GLOBAL credit market. WAY too much debt!!!
If the credit markets collapse, it will mean real trouble for the American citizen. If their company cannot get credit, they might not be able to buy the things they need to run their company. If that doesn't happen, they might not sell anything. If they don't sell anything, they might have to cut payroll. You may lose your job is the bottom line. So your salary will NOT increase in all likelyhood if there is no credit market.
Couple that economic possibility along w/ a bunch of super rich ,super spoiled , super pissed off CEOs who get millions no matter what happens to the company and you have the recipe for the perfect market storm.

My family is already in a depression. It is about time Wallstreet starts feeling it. Hopefully Bush & McCain won't be so clueless what is happening on Main Street. The wail the new bailout was written it didn't put a cap to the CEOs, it put a cap on what they write off for these golden parachutes. They need to give them zero AND investigate them. Put some of them on trial and find out what really happened. In the meantime more research is needed so we won't get into this mess again 6 months down the road. I will vote for those that vote NAY! Be tough!

Patsy, you don't get it. Less credit available means that your salaries decrease, not increase. Companies won't have as much money to spend on operations which means more layoffs, less pay as businesses try to keep as much money as possible in house. Simple as that...

There are trillions of dollars on the side-lines waiting to be infused into the system. The system wil right itself quickly. Why? Because there will be new opportunities presented to make money. But it'll be in a less complicated way and it will no longer involve these complicated financial instruments. Obscene profits will be a casualty and that will be a plus. I would not bail these guys out. I would hold them accountable for all of their debt, but lend them money at a fair rate and make them pay it back....even if it takes years and years. Those houses will eventually become attractive and affordable for many. Write strict regulation into the bailout bill that will not let this happen again. These fancy financial instruments ought to be banned. Even the treasury secretary had a hard time understanding how they work.

Thank You, Mr. Miron & the others like you who signed a petition to Congress telling them why this mess won't be solved by throwing more money at it. BTW, the Dow dropping isn't as all-encompassing as every talking head would have people believe; it's the PERCENTAGE that's important, not the raw numbers. And just for the record, I remember when I was in college in the DARK AGES & studied the Depression of the 1930's. Two things stand out in my mind: 1. There were people who became millionaires during it & 2. We never really came out of it until WW2.

And one final observation: I don't know why everyone thinks Pelosi queered the deal. Millions of people jamming Representatives phone lines, & email have more clout that a partisian speach given by a mediocre politician. The outrage I saw & shocked my husband also who was watching with me was when the Pelosi Subutitute ( don't know her name) asked for an "oral" vote. Talk about railroading!

The banks and lending institutions' extortionist lending rates and gross usury of the American public is what has caused this financial crisis for themselves. You can't bleed blood out of a turnip. The banks can't extort anymore money out of the middle and lower class in the United States, because there isn't any left to extort. The big banks can fail, file bankruptcy, and go straight to hell where they belong, for all I care.

P.S. One more thing: I remember when Kruschev said at the U.N., "Your grandchildren will live under Communism." And, "We will bury you." Scares the crap outta me now!

What happens when everyones unemployment insurance comps runs out?... If this downturn extends into 2009-2010, how will extended unemployment insurance comps be paid for with this 700 billion going to the banks?

700 Billion dollar bail out ...... WHAT A JOKE!
All Americans should send there bills to congress !!
(bail us out) not the fat cats who did this..
All people responsible should be put in jail for this !!
Politicians is any one for the American people??
or just for there selfs!
Its time to shake up Washington !! * Obama will get my vote !
( John M..... And Palin )
Are way out of touch!

So the bill has failed; and maybe it should have. But it would have been so much better to have a well articulated objection to the legislation, as per Professor Miron, than this "petty" behavior. Embarrasing really.

United we stand divided we fall....this country is facing its toughest financial challenge since the Great Depression. It is disheartening to say the least when our elected leaders cannot come together to solve this problem. When they were needed most they reverted to back to squabling. Pelosi should have left her constant Bush bashing at home during this crisis. I am not a Bush supporter however this was ill-timed and not productive. On election day we can send a message. Maybe the American people need to gather in Washington and protest what our government has become and send a message that we are watching and will not tolerate their continuous non-bipartisanship.

Yes, the past is the past. Bush lost all credibility when he lied about the reason to go to war with Iraq! And now, that he needs credibility...... Americans do not trust and do not believe he is sincere! What a way to end a presidency! Shame.

Someone needs to explain to the people against the Bill, that today's 800 point loss on Wall Street IS JUST THE BEGINNING!

When people do not get paid, when they can't use their credit cards, when they their homes value drop like a rock..........maybe then America will shout at Congress ........BAIL US OUT!

PEOPLE DO NOT 'GET' THAT WE ARE WALL STREET AND WALL STREET ..........IS............US!

Dear Patsy:

What good is your salary increase going to be when your employer can't meet its payroll because it can't finance its receivables to fund its working capital needs and shortly thereafter files for bankrutcy protection and lays you off? Have you spent a lot of time in your company's accounting office. LOL

Credit unfortuneately is something the modern western world cannot live without – what is frustrating is that the people in the corridors of power don't have enough of a grasp on reality to realise what this means to the common man. We are probably only witnessing the beginning of the implications to come, this will roll on for quite some time and it will cost jobs, homes, businesses and will certainly ruin a lot of lives.
I am sickened by both parties posturing at the expense of the people who's shoulders they satnd on. They should be ashamed.....ALL of them.
Whatever the outcome of this crisis may be, there is one thing for sure – those well heeled Washington "servants" of ours won't lose THEIR jobs or THEIR Homes.......you'll see.

funny how Fannie operated for nearly 70 years without a hitch and Freddie for almost 38 and all of a sudden they are to blame. Gee folks you don't think the deregulation of the industry changed the scenario?
Having a govt. that reduces regulation and doesn't enforce the regulations that exist couldn't possibly be the culprit now could it?

So let me open my history book,
1) an unregulated market caused the crash of 1929
2) a deregulated market caused the S & L debacle of the 1980's
3) further deregulation and the overturning of the Glass-Steagall Act
(put in place after the depression to prevent such messes) put us in this present mess.

you'd think we'd learn
luckily for myself, I've been paying attention and have my financial house in order, but I still may get stung

hey how about this? if our capitalism is so important to our democracy, let's try these folks for treason. You want folks to stop gaming the system? Execute the ones that do. Heck make it a pay per view event and get some revenue out of it. I kid, ...................

Mr. Miron,

As an informed citizen, I concur with your observation and contacted my congressmen to inform them of my opposition to this proposal. As a Libertarian, I say "Here – Here!". This situation is deeper and older than anyone is willing to recognize, and now we're going to have to surgically remove the foot from Congress' mouth and place it in the White House's posterior.

We can & should do everything possible to help the economy
by buying American whenever possible. It can be foriegn as long
as it is made in America by Americans.

Profit motive, pure and simple.
If you want to tame greed, you've got to set up a system of incentives and disincentives (regulation) that discourages the worst excesses.

Would you run a pro-football game without a referee? Same idea.

This financial has proved what we should have known all along. Politicains are more interested in being re-elected than taking care of the citizens of our country. Obama is saying nothing. He is waiting to see which way the wind blow. McCain is in a position whereby no matter what he say Obama will attack him along with many of his party members. I do feel that McCain have the toughness to see us through these difficult times. I doubt that Obama has ever shot a gun. I think if he had more experisnce he would make a good president. He remind me of those talk show people who know just what to say to their audience. There must be someone who is concerned about the welfare of the people. Please stop worrying about the salaries. Money does not make a good manager it simply allow you to recruit a manager that can take you forward.

Frankly I find merit in advocating bankruptcy. The risky business dealings have not panned out and it's time to stop rearranging the deck chairs on this Titanic. I would like to see a program to help both lender and borrower in home loans. And I would like to see the US Bankruptcy Code amended to grant authority to the court to modify home loan agreements to keep the family in the home and keep the flow of money to the lender. But to shore up bad loans without benefitting the victims of the lending crimes is not going to fix anything.

My three cents, adjusted for inflation.

maybe this government should start asking why most of r decent paying jobs have left this country, we already know the morgage and banking industry were handing out money n the 80s and 90s 2 anyone who was breathing, as far as iam concerned that there fault, maybe they can get back some of the big pay outs 2 there managers and ceos, if this country had half the jobs back that have left this country we might not b in the shape we r, Maytag 4 example left Galesburg ILL almost 1000 jobs gone 2 mexico, this problem has been going on 4 years and now we r supposed 2 bail out another problem r government has created,

Wow, now this makes sense. Can someone get this to the candidates?

I totally agree that the corporate thieves should be held accountable for what has happened to the financial world... bring them before the judicial system and force them to give back all their ill-gotten gains and pay for their greed. We have always tried to raise our family to be responsible and have incurred little or no debt; We have paid back what we have borrowed and try to live within our means. The rest of America is going to have to do the same instead of waiting for Big Brother to bail the system out. My vote will be for Obama............

Democrats should not let up and even get firmer on the stipulations of this bill. It’s absoutely absurd to let the Sec of Treasury to continue to has access to funds that he couldn’t even budget in the first place. And the President and other Republicans wanted him to have complete atonomy over 700billion dollars w/out any kind of check and balance system. 700 billion dollars breaks down to $7000 per taxpayer. They claim to have given us a economic stiumulus package in which we have to pay taxes on at the end of the year but wants us to help companies who don’t pay taxes by increasing ours!! You have got to be kidding me!!! Hold firm democrats on your desicion, as a matter of fact add more stipulations to the bill, if not watch the market tumble. Those of us who have been struggling on the ground will make it, those who have parachutes, be prepared!!!

BAIL ME OUT. Push a button and automatically drop all current home mortgage interest rates down to a fixed rate of 6% or lower effective 1 Oct 08. Drop lower fixed rates by .25%. Work out a plan for ARM lower then agreed upon rate. Float or loan money to banks for 6 months if they are required to offer foreclosed homeowners said fixed rate, if their incomes qualify and put them back in their unsold homes. A committee to check progress bi-weekly on defaulted loan status. Reevaluate in 6 months. This will put more money in our pockets, help home owners pay for or sell their devalued homes and help restore faith in our economy. Help us help ourselves.

The reps voted against the bill because that what the people who elected them wanted. My rep was swapped with thousands of emails, phone calls calling for him to reject this bill. The banks froze credit not because they afraid to loan it, but to hold a gun to the head of congress to get what they what. Why settle for 20 cents on the dollar when you can get 30, 40 or 50 percent on the bailout. Banks have to pay interest to depositors, people with CD's, they can't pay these unless they lend money to collect interest. You better believe that the banks won't be paying interest with their money.

I see the 1800's coming back. No gas, no computer, no phones, no cars should I go on?

The bottom line is that Bush, the SEC, and all the financial giants on Wall Street created this false economy to make it look like that all this deregulation on Wall Street would somehow be good for mainstreet USA. The fact is corporate greed always takes over when unregulated and corporations almost never do whats best for the American people or the Country.

I'm sure someone else has done the math on this but I did not see it so here goes: assuming there are 200 million adults age 18 & over in our country, if you take $700 billion & divide it among them it would come out to approximately $3,500,000 (three and one-half million) dollars each. When the government has taken its portion at 37% or $25,900,000,000 (25 billion 900 million) that still leaves each of us adults with approx $2,205,000 each. If that would not be sufficient to stimulate the economy and just about everything else in this country I don't know what it would take? If the government is going to spend $700 billion, I'd feel a lot better if they'd spend it on the majority of the population rather than the so-called 'smartest guys in the room' or the so-called 'masters of the universe.' The smartest guys in the room need to be called out and prosecuted for gambling and losing other people's money and they need to pay with some time in prison and with some stiff fines – they do not deserve to keep their ill-gotten gains AND be 'rescued' by our government. They are no better & really worse than the recent criminal seen mugging an old woman in an elevator. Just as he will pay for stealing from someone, these ? (I don't know what to call these persons?) need to pay too. That's what our government ought to be figuring out – who is responsible and how can they be held accountable?

We are witnessing capital crimes committed by corporate America and no one is paying for these crimes except the middle and lower classes. This is an act to keep segregation between upper and lower classes. If the average individual committed such acts they would be prosecuted at the fullest extent of the law. But Corporate America has found a major loophole in our laws to allow these crimes to go unpunishable. So our socialistic government wants to protect Wall Street and their greed and criminalistic actions. What the government fails to understand is that we must fixed depreciating home values and the astronomical high gas prices that have lead to shortage in payment on home and auto loans. The main factor is we must curve the credit scale. With the devastating increase in bad credit in America, we have a majority of Americans who do not qualify for a loan now because of the crisis that has started of a year ago. Without the purchasing power from using credit we will stay depressed as an economy for many years to come. It is inevitable unless we make these changes. I saw this coming over a year ago and I make less than $100,000.00 a year. We have CEO in Wall Street that makes more money in 1 month than most countries make in a year. Whats wrong with this picture?

just a heads up folks
today's loss in the market (your and my $$$)
1.2 Trillion $

Bailout? Hell no!
Let these companies go bankrupt. Recesion is inevitable.
Let's not become in Japon part 2.
House prices need to go down. Stocks need to go down.
People need to live within their means.
Yes to regulation. No to stupidity and limitless greed.

Handing another $700,000,000,000 over to those who have cheated and scammed their way into this mess would be equal to treason on behalf of the U.S. Congress.

This money will not help at all those Americans out there with so much debt they will never see the end, or those who will be foreclosed on over the next several months. How will this money change personal debt so Americans have the money to make their house payments in the first place? We must first re-write the rules and regulations that decide how debt is used and offered to prevent people from taking the easy way out. The bankers and Wall Street leaches are just pimps, and our government wants to bail them out to protect their own fortunes.

If we continue to just try and buy our way out of trouble our entire nation will collapse, and the only thing left to do will be to back a revolution and start all over.

Economists from all over this country are calling this baillout a disgrace ! At what point will our congressional representatives start to listen to them. The only way to solves this crisis is for the U.S. Attorney to start doing his job and that is to file charges on all of the officers and CEO's of all the corporations involved for violation of the RICO act and for consumer fraud.

As long as it's Chapter 13 and force the CEO's of these companies to live under the stringent Chapter 13 that these same legislators inflicted upon the taxpayers they now claim to want to protect. We are not in Kansas anymore, Toto.

Yes. No bailout!!! Vote Pelosi out of office and vote in Cindy Sheehan!!

I have worked in banking 25 years and just lost my job because it went to India. The CEO's of these big banks always get off with huge perks. Today the same bank that eliminated my job has now been bought out by Citicorp. More job cuts. Our country is in so much trouble and middle and lower class once again is forced to pay for the big coporations mistakes. Our government should worry about fuel costs, help people to keep their homes, get a handle on healthcare and perscription costs. If the American people would get help were WE need it we would have money to spend to stimulate our economy. The government is dragging their feet also when it comes to alternative fuel and clean power such as WIND. The only wind we get it is from all the politicians in Washington. I am so sick of it all.

It seems that Paulson is like a "mole" for Wall St. in our govt. The Investment banks are playing a game of chicken with the house and senate, and Paulson is their negotiator.Those investment bankers are a schrewd bunch,they see the bailout of Fannie & Freddie, than how AIG was handled ( 85 B.) and a few phone calls to some of their buddies in the commercial paper markets and now we have the "Big Scare " Of course the business world needs the commercial paper aspect to function on a day to day basis, carried on by banks that offer business services. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citibank just to name a few. I would think that our (ahem) esteemed congressmen could call several of the appropriate officers from perhaps 6 of those bigger banks into a meeting and ask what does it take to keep that commercial paper market flowing. By the way... commercial paper is all short term functions of lending, 30 -60 -90 day type of loans. These are NOT mortgages, or Helocs (home equity line of credit) so there should be no fear of any sub – prime B.S. going on. I have heard that one business (Used car sales) was given a change of terms by his bank which ws more stringent ( higher costs to the businesman) than they usually had. This is due to that particular bank being , lets say overly cautious. I could say afraid...as this goes to the hoarding of their capitol. Banks only make $$$ by loaning money. But I digress, THERE SHOULD BE NO $700 BILLION BAILOUT. We'll see how serious our Gov't is about any reforms based on the amounts of indictments and jail terms handed out. Almost a year ago, Sheila Bair, the director of the Federal Reserve suggested a solution to the subprime mess, and it was swept under the rug. One sane intelligent person in the morass of me-ism in our Gov't. She should be given a lot more authority in being part of our turn around team.
God save the Republic !

Barry, unfortunately $700 Billion (700,000,000,000) divided by 200 Million (200,000,000) adults is actually only $3,500 per person. Not much of a stimulus package. Maybe it would help pay off some credit card debt, but little else.