Bailout Bill Fails to Pass House

This afternoon, the House failed to pass the most current version of the $700 billion+ financial bailout bill by a vote of 228-205. Kudos from the R.C. Blog to those Conservatives, led by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), as well as Democrats, who together saw the poorly-crafted and rushed bill for what it was -- a feeble attempt by the Bush Administration, the Democrat House leadership, and the moderate Republicans to keep the world's financial markets from falling further, not from solving the problem.

Today's defeat of the bill was a positive step and sent a message to the House leadership and the White House that most of America is not in favor of the government's plan to nationalize/socialize our country's leading financial institutions, at least not without some checks and balances and guarantees that once these firms return to strong performance, the taxpayers get the first rewards -- not the CEOs, lobbyists, or members of Congress.

The Congress and Federal Government need to get out of the business of providing unlimited financial support, bailouts, incentives, and plum financing to private enterprises. It has been going on for decades and is spiraling completely out of control with this latest problem. If Congress sets a precedent for federal bailouts of private companies that have a tremendous impact on the economy and stock market, who will be next? Ford? GM? United Airlines? The auto and airline industry already get significant "financing" and incentives from the government, but they'll come looking for much more after this bailout package passes.

Am I happy that the markets crashed and burned today? Of course not. But it was a small price to pay to be sure that the final version of the bailout bill, which will ultimately get through, has all the unnecessary "fluff" pulled out of it to ensure that my children and their children are not caught holding the tab for the greed of CEOs, traders, Congressional members, and citizens who got in WAY over their heads with mortgages and equity lines. Just because my neighbor decides to buy a $500K house and a $60K car with money he/she does not have should not put me in a position to pick up the shortfall.

Finally, I listened to House Speaker Pelosi both this morning and this afternoon (and laughed...)as she blamed the Republicans for (1) causing the entire financial mess and (2) voting against the bailout bill. Isn't she the leader of the Democratic party in the House? Today's vote only needed a simple majority, which the Dems hold comfortably. If she was doing her job instead of making excuses and blaming others, she should have been able to unify her own party and get this bill passed without even one Republican vote. Perhaps she should look in the mirror before throwing accusations at the other side (actually, she probably shouldn't...).

The real reason it didn't pass today is that the Dems are afraid, very afraid. They don't have the guts to attached their majority status to such an important and controversial piece of legislation. They loved taking over the majority, as long as it only meant getting basic and non-controversial legislation through the House. Time for Madame Speaker to stand up and lead her party. This should be fun to watch....