September 26, 2008

FLASH: Ruh-Roh. No deal. Monkeys going to go nuts now.


Batten down the hatches HP'ers. It's gonna get wild now...

Get some popcorn and watch the monkeys go nuts.


Wild day, no deal


A high-profile White House meeting on Treasury’s $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan ended on a sour, contentious note Thursday after animated exchanges among lawmakers laced with presidential politics just weeks before the November elections.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson came up to the Capitol hours later to revive talks, but House Republicans did not participate, and Democrats warned that the whole process could collapse unless President Bush gets them to come to the table.

“Unless this fourth leg shows up at some point, this could fall off very quickly,” said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.).

At the White House, in fact, House Minority Leader John Boehner had bluntly warned about the lack of Republican support for the massive government intervention: “I can’t invent votes,” Boehner said. But House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) angrily accused the minority of trying to undercut Paulson by crafting a late-breaking alternative proposal—with the tacit support, Frank said, of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

Both McCain and his Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama, would leave the White House without comment, and the meeting was described as among the wildest in memory. A beleaguered President Bush had to struggle to maintain order and reassert himself. And when Democrats left to caucus in the Roosevelt Room, Paulson pursued them, begging that they not “blow up” the legislation.

The former Goldman Sachs CEO even went down on one knee as if genuflecting, to which Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal.) is said to have joked, “I didn’t know you were Catholic.”

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Angry W. House meeting roils Wall St bailout talks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Negotiations in the U.S. Congress toward a massive bailout for Wall Street fell into disarray on Thursday night after a contentious White House meeting, with lawmakers later offering conflicting reports about the position of presidential candidate Sen. John McCain.

The White House meeting -- attended by McCain, Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama, President George W. Bush and lawmakers from both parties -- "devolved into a contentious shouting match," according to a statement from the McCain campaign.

"At today's cabinet meeting, John McCain did not attack any proposal or endorse any plan," the statement said.

Senior Democrats said they came away from the afternoon White House session with the impression that McCain was backing an entirely new Wall Street rescue plan, one differing markedly from a Bush administration proposal under discussion for days.

Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee and a participant in the White House gathering, said negotiations could be set back by the confusion.

"House Republicans, in some kind of arrangement with McCain, went off to wherever. I don't know whether they're ready to negotiate this. Their thing was some totally different mortgage insurance plan ... that would clearly delay this for a week or more," Frank told reporters.

Anonymous said...

Dodd says White House meeting was a disaster

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Sen. Chris Dodd, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said Thursday that bipartisan meeting with President Bush at the White House on the mortgage rescue plan was nothing short of a disaster.

In an interview on the CNN cable news network, Dodd described a meeting in which Democrats were blindsided by a new core mortgage proposal from House Republicans, with the tacit backing of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

"I am not going to sign on to something I just saw this afternoon," he said. Dodd said Republicans and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson had to decide what they wanted to support. The whole meeting "looked like a rescue plan for John McCain," Dodd said. He said he was simply going to pretend that the meeting had never happened.

Anonymous said...

“We were ready to make a deal,” Mr. Frank said later [ NY Times ]

Rank and file republicans just revolted. I don't think they could take much more of this....

Formosan said...

So who's deal will screw us the least? Dodd/Bush/Paulson or the McCain/Revolting Republicans plan?

Anonymous said...

All politics with McCain

Anonymous said...

The former Goldman Sachs CEO even went down on one knee?

Maybe he should be down on both knees?? lol

Anonymous said...

The problem is that these welfare queen heroes, like the disgusting Barney Frank the the crook Dodd, don't understand crap about finances and want to make a quick decision just to make McCain look bad.

I watched the entire hearing and not one of those stupid Democratic senators were able to ask tough questions, letting Paulson get away with a bunch of senseless explanations that added to nothing.

The best way to put a price on that cancer paper is by discounting their cash flows. Anyone who had basic Finance class in college knows that. Now ask any of those stupid Democrats in Congress if they know what discounting cash flow is. Ask them how to calculate a simple Net Present Value problem. They want to hurry and blow taxpayer money with securities without knowing the value of it, creating a reverse auction that benefits only Paulson's and Dodd's banker buddies. Not only that, the bill is rigged with union goodies that the Democrats in Congress are hiding from the sheeple.

I say get the cash flow of all those mortgage-backed securities, and then discount them to find their real value. Then use them as collateral to lend money to banks. If the collateral is bad, cash flow stops, the bank has to pay back. Simple, no need for reverse auction and bills. So I'm going to make easy for the dumb democrats in Congress:

1. Zero all that crappy mortgage-backed paper
2. Calculate their cash flows
3. Discount cash flows to present value
4. Use that for collateral to lend money to banks in trouble
5. If cash flow stops, banks are liable for paying it back with interest

Glad to help, you bunch of crooked and dumb Democrat politicians

Anonymous said...

Paulson on his knees? I guess his plan really is to "blow" the economy!!!

Anonymous said...

Where is Cheney?

Not bombs or death involved = uninterested?

Anonymous said...

I can't believe I'd ever say this (if I lived in the US I'd be a Nader supporter, so this is saying a lot), but I've got to hand one to the GOP congressman who are going back to their roots and sticking their heels in. Old school libertarian conservatives are OK in my books compared to nutjob religious whackos and wallstreet yes-men any day.

Anonymous said...

Democrats in the House aren't going for this shit either. My Congressman's (Ken Salazar) office told me today that the input from constituents is running 12:1 against the Paulson bailout. Bush climbed out on a limb with Paulson and Bernanke, and McCain showed up with a saw.

LOL, now the democrats look like fools for getting in bed with Bush and Wall Street.

Anonymous said...

Senator Shelby is my new hero.

Love him (and Ron Paul).

Lost Cause said...

If a deal was reached today, then McCain must debate tomorrow. Who is really surprised by this?

Thank God that his ego is bigger than his gigantic, squirrel-like jowls.

Lost Cause said...

...but I've got to hand one to the GOP congressman who are going back to their roots and sticking their heels in. Old school libertarian conservatives are OK in my books compared to nutjob religious whackos and wallstreet yes-men any day.

Too bad they are all going to be crushed like ants, as the republican invariable eat their young. Karl Rove will see to it.

Anonymous said...

Whether "bail-out" legislation is passed or not, the underlying problem still exists - consumers are spending less and less, consumers are losing their jobs,
prices for basic necessities keep going up and up.

This "bail-out" is simply a strong-arm attempt of our elected officials (our employees) to protect the ass-sets of their wealthy bed fellows - nothing more.

The mortgage crisis is just as symptom of a much deeper problem in our market - it's just the tip of a very big iceberg.

Anonymous said...

I ain't much for squeamish Repubs, but you have to admit that the Republicans in the House are finally showing some backbone, whether you agree with them or not. Democrats are in disarray, trying to upstage a Repub plan they know nothing about.

If the Repubs come up with a better bill, i'm for it.

And, when Senator Richard Shelby came out after the meeting, he stepped right up to the mic, and said "no deal". It was an end-around political move that was absolutely brilliant. Everybody was expecting Obama, with his speech, to say that a deal was done, but they got Sen. Shelby with 5 pages of economists' names, who said that the Paulson/Democrats' bail out would be a failure.

I know you're for Obama, Keith, but Obama fell for the trap- hook, line and sinker. This was also a brilliant, political move by McCain. Obama should've went to the Capitol, arm-in-arm, with McCain, and said that he was going to stay there until this bill was passed. Instead, Obama chose to give the "call me if you need me" "multi-tasked", statement, thinking that the Democratic/Paulson plan was a shoo-in. It goes to show that he and his Democratic colleagues were completely out-to-lunch with regards to their chances in passing their bailout bill. That's not too smart. Now, Obama is on the outside looking in, unless he acquiesces to McCain's original invite.

Pelosi says that she's willing to look at the Repubs bill. What choice does she have?
The Repubs have taken control of the conversation. Now, let's see if THEY can do anything with getting a REAL bill that will actually protect the taxpayer, and make WALL STREET BANKERS pay for their own messes. We shall see. If they don't, then they're soooo super minority, come election time.

Anonymous said...

.


















monkeys i'm tellin ya!













monkeys!












.

Anonymous said...

With the Feds or Treasury having the ability to inject cash at any time into the system to cover banks cash flow ,and now that money markets have some sort of insurance like FDIC ,why is this a emergency ?
Politicians can't take the time to draft something of merit for such a serious problem .

Whats wrong with other ideas ,other than Paulsons? Isn't that the purpose of Congress/Senate to come to the best decision.

It just seems to me like this was a half-backed plan by Paulson in which he just wanted to operate by the seat of the pants .

Anonymous said...

Huckabee also was critical of President Bush's handling of the crisis.

He said to lay the $700 billion obligation on the nation "in 24 hours" amounts to "holding the country hostage."

"I just think the American people ought to be screaming their lungs out, saying to Congress, not so fast. That's our money you're giving away," Huckabee said.

He said the burden of the $700 billion relief package will fall on the next generation and those in their teens and 20s.

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080926/NEWS02/809260325/1009

Anonymous said...

"buh buh buh... I'm the decider... tell em hank that i'm the decider.. i decide... i decide"

"um... well sir... it's more complicated"

"damn then drop a knee hank... do something... do a handstand"

Anonymous said...

I want the names of the elected officials who support this bailout! Name names!Obama can read the list at the debate if McCain doesn't show! We will not be scared or bullied into accepting this piece of crap bailout! Name names! So we can see who to vote out in November.

penguindev said...

It's all smoke an mirrors.

Insurance is a bailout too.
I give you 10 bucks and you give me 100 when the loans go bad = bailout.

You're out 10 bucks if they're good, but the democrats wanted equity participation which would have been the same thing.

This is all politics. The Fed can print money anyway so we're all freaking doomed.

Anonymous said...

anon.

confirmed support are:

pelosi
frank
dodd
bennet

agree - put the names out there. i'm voting against anyone you votes for this "sucker". i've been calling emailing and faxing all my congressfolks for days telling them that.

Anonymous said...

These monkeys will say anything now to get their greedy needs met.

bush says there will be wide panic on banks; bank runs, no atm money..

what else can they use as a "scare" tactic to get taxpayers to give them blackmail money?

Miss Goldbug said...

No bailout, no loans either. Enough is enough already.

Let true capitalism kill the beast of greed.

Anonymous said...

Maybe he should be down on both knees?? lol



He will by 2:00pm today!

Miss Goldbug said...

Anon said:" Bush climbed out on a limb with Paulson and Bernanke, and McCain showed up with a saw."

LOL, now the democrats look like fools for getting in bed with Bush and Wall Street.


LMAO!

Quick! who will run to the other side first!?

Anonymous said...

Yes! Who are these fools who will vote for this bailout?

They need to be thrown out on their heads onto the street.

Get them all OUT!

Anonymous said...

Penguin said:"Insurance is a bailout too.
I give you 10 bucks and you give me 100 when the loans go bad = bailout."


Exactly. Thats why this bailout plan is the straw that broke the camels bank.

How dare Paulson and bush hold a gun to our heads to agree to these terms that are 100% in favor of greedy bankers?

Fannie & Freddie, AIG. Thats enough to take on.

Screw the bankers! Let them find their own way out of the mess they created.

Anonymous said...

The wealthy folks will get their bailout. Mark my words. Even if 98% of the population screams "NO" at the top of their voice, the only voice the politicians will hear will be those of the richest 2% of Americans.