So let me get this straight. Americans from all points on the political spectrum are united in opposition to the Bush administration's BS bailout proposal. They're telling their legislators to take their time with this, not to rush it. Many economists say a bailout isn't necessary at all. But George Bush gets on television last night to try to scare the pants off everyone, saying the "entire economy is in danger," and the Dem-controlled Congress quickly passes a bill. Sound familiar? Yes, it's deja vu, and it stinks.
Once again it looks like the Bush administration has played Congress like a fiddle. Even though Bush has had a bailout plan in the works for months, it waits until right before the congressional recess to roll-out a sparse "plan" and urges Congress to pass it right now or else. And the Dem-controlled Congress blinks once again.
The New York Times reports that Americans are united in opposition to the bill, and legislators are getting an earful from their constituents:
Americans’ anger is in full bloom, jumping off the screen in capital letters and exclamation points, in the e-mail in-boxes of elected representatives in the nation’s capital.
"I am hoping Congress can find the backbone to stand on their feet and not their knees before BIG BUSINESS," one correspondent wrote to Representative Jim McDermott of Washington.
"I’d rather leave a better world to my children — NOT A BANKRUPT NATION. Whew! Pardon my shouting," wrote another.
Mr. McDermott is a liberal Democrat, but his e-mail messages look a lot like the ones that Representative Candice S. Miller, a conservative Republican from Michigan, is receiving. "NO BAILOUT, I am a registered republican," one constituent wrote. "I will vote and campaign hard against you if we have to subsidize the very people that have sold out MY COUNTRY"...
Around the country, Republican and Democratic voters are rising up in outright opposition to the White House plan or, at the very least, to express concern that it is being pushed through Congress in haste.
So what's Congress going to do? Push through a bill in haste of course! MSNBC reports that a "deal is near" between Congress and the White House to pass a bailout bill. And it looks like the Dems are willing to give Bush pretty much what he wants, with perhaps a little window dressing added:
Congressional Democrats said they were prepared to drop one of their most contentious demands: new authority for bankruptcy judges to modify the terms of first mortgages. That provision was heavily opposed by Senate Republicans.
In addition, Democrats also are leaning toward authorizing the entire $700 billion that Mr. Paulson is seeking but disbursing a smaller amount, perhaps only $150 billion, to start the program, with future funds dependent on how well it is working.
Even better, the Dems are working hard to get the bill rushed through by Friday, so that McCain won't be forced to back down from his political stunt to skip the debate if the bill isn't passed by Friday:
Lawmakers from the House and Senate are reportedly due to meet at 10 a.m. ET Thursday to discuss a deal on the bailout. NBC reports that a final deal will not necessarily be announced as a result of the meeting, but could be announced as soon as Thursday afternoon.
I have to say I'm deeply disappointed by this entire bailout mess. Things are being rushed through so fast that we all know there will be plenty of surprises in the bill that will be revealed down the road -- surprises that none of us will like at all. And I'm willing to bet money right now that it will eventually come out that this bill was all a scam by Bushco to raid the Treasury one last time before W. is kicked back to Texas. It's like Congress has learned nothing from the last eight years. This was an opportunity for Dems to show true leadership, and in my little ol' opinion they've failed. Lucy has pulled out the football yet again.