This is the best of all possible outcomes, my friends. I am beside myself with glee. Why? Stay with me here.
The Democrat party controls the House, and yet, they couldn’t pass the bill.
“WASHINGTON (AP) – In a stunning vote that shocked the capital and worldwide markets, the House on Monday defeated a $700 billion emergency rescue for the nation’s financial system, ignoring urgent warnings from President Bush and congressional leaders of both parties that the economy could nosedive without it.”
So, since the Democrats control the house, they should have been able to pass the bill on a party-line vote, correct? Wrong. 40% of democrats voted against the bill, and the Republican coalition fell apart, partly because of this divine gift of a speech that Nancy Pelosi gave before the vote.
This is the worst Speaker of the House in History: Remember, her approval rating has been as low as 14%. This time, however, she helped the Republicans snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. You see, the Democrats only wanted the Republican votes as a fig leaf to hide behind, and now hey have nothing whatsoever to hide their shame.
The Democrats who voted against the bill had an entirely different agenda than the Republicans who voted against it. Pelosi’s partisan beat-down forced enough Republicans to do the right thing to derail the bill, but for the Democrats, it was the lack of leftist provisions and slush money for leftist groups like ACORN that made them vote against it. Strange bedfellows, indeed.
So, the Democrats will have to offer up a far worse, more leftist version of the bill now; one that will be able to appease the hard left and pass on a party-line vote. That’s exactly what they are already planning to do.
“WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives are going to try to move another financial rescue bill after a $700 billion plan was rejected in a House vote, a senior House Democrat said on Monday.”
The thing nobody is talking about is that investigations are going to happen over this mess, and heads are going to roll. Almost all of those heads will have “D is for Democrat” on their foreheads. The first subpoenas have already been issued.
“NEW YORK (Reuters) – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the U.S. mortgage finance giants that were taken over by the government this month, said on Monday they were subpoenaed for documents as part of a federal grand jury investigation into their accounting.”
Of course, the stock market has nose-dived.
“NEW YORK (AP) – Wall Street plunged precipitously Monday, at one point sending the Dow Jones industrials down more than 735 points as investors feared that the failure of the government’s financial rescue plan in the House will force the country into a worsening credit and economic credit risis.[sic- Beef]”
This isn’t the “worst” of it, however, as I’m virtually certain that McCain-Palin have no chance of winning the election in this climate – seriously, it would take a real Deus ex Machina miracle for the Republican ticket to win now, and I don’t see it happening – but even that has long term upsides.
Let Obama and Biden preside over the hearings, commissions, investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of their fellow party members. If McCain and Palin do it, everything will be, “A RethugliKKKan Fascist, Racist, Witch Hunt” /leftard. If Obama and Biden do it, it may lead to the mighty governmental collapse I’ve been praying for for the past ten years, and then the Democrats may need a generation or more to get back into power. And, trust me, they won’t look, sound, or smell like the Democrats of today when they do. And that, my friends, would be a very, very good thing.
So, be of good cheer. I am.
UPDATE: Carl Rove, the magnificent bastard of the right, and ultimate boogeyman of the left, explains the vote to John Gibson, blow by blow.
Rove is brilliant.
The Tizona Group 
September 30, 2008, 10:23 am at 10:23 am
Maybe… and no one else could sell a war with Iran except Obama.
I’m just sick and tired of this crap… and the wonders it’s all doing for my investments.
September 30, 2008, 2:45 pm at 2:45 pm
It doesn’t seem to be doing McCain any good in the polls 😦
September 30, 2008, 7:33 pm at 7:33 pm
At the end of the day, both sides of politics have played their part in this mess. On the one hand, you had Obama and the Democrat-controlled House in bed with the Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae cronies knowing full well that it was irresponsible and foolish to be giving out these sub-prime loans. But everyone was getting rich. CEOs departed with their golden parachutes, Obama’s and other Democrats’ pockets were lined whilst all the while they all well knew that this would get them much needed votes say, come around November (for different reasons but despite whether the bubble had burst before or after the election). So it’s no wonder the House failed to act – even with McCain and Obama’s barely-noticed, er, warnings. And that Obama still has some of these cronies as his top advisers stinks to high heaven.
Still, Bush and the other Republicans should have been less reckless and/or careless about all this, too. McCain reckons he saw it coming… and that it would be bad. Why didn’t the Republicans kick up one all mighty stink before, back in 2005 when McCain et al. made their warnings and when they were actually able to do something about it? They did? Well obviously it wasn’t big enough.
Effectively, they didn’t do what needed to be done. And then control of Congress went to the Democrats.
Too late.
Whilst the basic idea of letting the market ‘do it’s thing’ is better, it’s obvious now more regulation had to be implemented, say, about two or three years ago before this sub-prime folly gathered momentum.
The Republicans didn’t when they had the chance and then with the House controlled by the Democrats and with all the extra votes they were effectively buying, what really could have been done post 2006?
This Leftist so-called noble idea of having everyone owning their own home has indeed proved to be what the Right always knew – a stupid Leftist fantasy. As with so many ‘noble’ Leftist ideals, it simply didn’t work in the real world.
Once again we have seen that the Left will never learn this lesson. And suffer the Righty who chooses to be more practical.
So. It looks like the Democrats will win this election. Blaming Bush is just too easy for so many who are already dissatisfied. A win. But at what price?
Still, I hope the Republicans/Right have learned their lesson; in future, they will have to be stricter and more regulatory when it comes to the US financial system. They’ll have to be more willing to stick to sound principles, even if a few almighty dollars aren’t made in the short term. They were? A hearing here or there does not count for actual legislation which they failed to pass in time.
And the Democrats/Left will have to learn their lesson, too; DON’T GIVE MONEY TO PEOPLE WHO PROBABLY CAN’T AFFORD TO PAY IT BACK!
Both sides are to blame. This humble blogger thinks the Democrats are more so but, like South Park once noted, it’s like choosing between a shit sandwich and a turd burger.