It didn't take days to get into this mess and it's not clear that the $700 billion would solve the problem, since no one is telling these financial houses that they are responsible.  No one has been made accountable.  No one has been made to explain what happened.  Just give 'em money and let it go away.  That's not right.

Obama is not listening to the American people.  He's only coming up with some flowerly words to keep his distance from this mess.  As usual, the statement is hollow in the core, no real substance.

Anyone who thinks we should pass the $700 billion bailout bill as is needs to answer a simple question: How does handing over $700 billion to Wall Street help the economy any more than, say, handing over $700 billion to homeowners, or spending $700 billion on a New Deal-style full employment program? In fact, you have to answer an even simpler question: How is handing over $700 billion to Wall Street a BETTER way to save the economy than helping homeowners or investing in the economy?

My rep, Blumenauer, campaigned ferociously for Obama. Calls to him were overwhelmingly opposed to this bill. People don't like that the bill lacks anything to help homeowners keep their homes; they don't like the very squishy guidelines about curbing executive compensation; they want very clear and strict rules requiring equity stakes for taxpayers.

It does seem strange that Pelosi with Obama's help couldn't get 10 more Democrats to vote for the bill.

This was a golden opportunity for Obama to close the deal, but he missed again.

The version today must have had some very deep seated opposition in the country.

No?  They don't have one ready to go?

A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

The pejorative suffix -aster (meaning something that is inferior, small or shallow) gives us some delightful words when it comes to name-calling. A reviewer brands a poet a poetaster (an inferior poet) and the reviewee might return the favor by calling the former a criticaster (an incompetent critic).

In the same vein, we can have a philosophaster, an astrologaster, and a theologaster. Lest we get carried away here, let's remember that a grandmaster is not an inferior grandma.

This week we'll review five words you can use to put people down.
politicaster
PRONUNCIATION:
(PUH-li-ti-kas-tuhr) Image Blocked

MEANING:
noun: A petty politician.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Italian politicastro, from Latin politicus (political), from Greek politikos, from polites (citizen), from polis (city) + Latin -aster (pejorative suffix).

USAGE:
"The politicaster is looking for small opportunities -- for such pickings and stealings as a careless public may leave for those of his kind. The great politician is looking for great opportunities."
Samuel McChord Crothers; In Praise of Politicians; The Wall Street Journal (New York); Jan 5, 2004.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Corporation: n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. -Ambrose Bierce, author and editor (1842-1914)

The fact that it sunk is due, in my opinion, to McCain's little dramatic production. To the rescue, sayeth he. He must preside and balance and go across the aisles and all that rot. The Republican candidate swoops down like Batman and saves Gotham.

And then there is Pelosi. Supposedly she is trying to garner votes from Republicans as well as Democrats. So what do she do? She says that this bailout bill represents "the costs of the Bush administration's failed economic policies -- policies built on budgetary recklessness, on an anything-goes mentality, with no regulation, no supervision, and no discipline in the system."

Great. That little gem was sure to bring dissident Republicans into the fold. What diplomacy.

The leadership is this country is so polarized, and behaves so stupidly, that I wonder if we have seen the end of the country as we once knew it.  

The public sees that.  How could they not?

I think Congress is actually doing its job.  By not passing the bill, they are reflecting the public's disgust.

Rep. Udall, who's running for Senate and voted against the bill, said in an appearance on MEET THE PRESS yesterday that the calls he received had been running the gamut from "no to hell no!"

Every American should be outraged that an era of greed and irresponsibility on Wall Street and Washington has led us to this point....

that said, why should these very same people be rewarded yet again? that is precisely what this bailout bill proposes to do, nothing more or less.

there are no provisions in it for any direct help to the homeowner's, only the banks and investment funds, the very same people, along with lax regulatory agencies, that brought us this mess.

i may be one of the few who is less than heartbroken that this legislation failed to pass, but i see it as nothing but giving more money to the people responsible for creating the problem to begin with.

And yes this whole mess comes back to even we...me and you...Mr. or Mrs. John Q Public. We have for too many years used charge cards and paid ridiculous interest rates for things we have purchased. Young people given credit cards by their parents even while in high school and not taught that the credit card originally was a way to buy a 'real need' when the pay check for John Q Public did not quite cover until the next paycheck came.  The smart user paid the bills as soon as they could and only used the charge cards for things they needed and very rarely for things they wanted. Today there are young adults and even some older folks who think that just because one card is at it limits...just go get another one...thus we have young adults who will not be out of credit card debt for many years, unless they learn to "Just Say No" to these banks who want to give you special this and special that if you just use their credit card.

The argument about what political party caused what is just political campaigning.....there are certain factors in each party that have succomb to greed.  Just remember that when you vote...vote for the man and not necessarily the party...no matter what side of the political coin you feel most comfortable laying claim to today.

We all have to do our part to correct this mess and for Mr. or Mrs. John Q Public it may mean going back to getting what you need and not spending money you do not have, thus not filling the Republican and Democratic speculator's pockets.