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The U.S. House has voted down the bailout package, 205-228. By and large, Republicans voted against the bill, while Democrats voted for it, though the Democrats voted for it by a rather small margin. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has already dropped more than 500 points, just shy of five percent, since the news broke.
Presumably, the House leadership will start working on a new bill, but given that the Republicans wouldn't vote for this one, the one that contained all kinds of concessions the GOP had been asking for, it's pretty hard to imagine what kind of bill would somehow pass.
Consider this an open thread for your dour doomsday predictions for the state of the world economy. Is it time for cocktails yet?
AP Photo/Richard Drew
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Thank god I rent. OTOH, there goes plans for grad school, cuz' I won't be getting any student loans anytime soon. If this gets worse , I plan on having my tin cup and plate ready for the breadlines.
Cocktails?? Who can afford cocktails?
We are F_ed......Hello living in Metro tunnels and savory rat soup.
Hmmm, time to call the HR department, I want to rethink my 401k contributions.
" . . . it's pretty hard to imagine what kind of bill would somehow pass."
The Democrat leadership in the House can pass any bill they want if they have the support of their own members. I find it hard to believe you try to put this on the minority party in the House.
*sigh* A new chapter in Profiles in Courage, I guess... :/
So WTF is Obama voting "present" on this? WTF is that sh!t all about?
Screw cocktails: Miller High Life, limes, kosher salt. All the buzz of Corona at half the price.
kippers: yes, because god forbid we expect House Republicans to actually be responsible. It's a tough lift for all the members, and both parties have to chip in votes.
Ouch. I can feel parts of my 401K in pain today.
Forget High Life, monkey. I'm gonna start making prison hooch in my toilet with a moldy piece of bread and the fruit samples I'll steal at the farmers market.
I haven't seen anything this bad since the great Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice collapse of '83.
The Democrat leadership
I always stop listening when people don't know how to properly use Democrat or Democratic.
None of them want to put their names on the line in case we look back at this plan and realize it was an utter failure, but seriously, someone needs to do something, like, yesterday! Feeling more disgusted than usual with Congress...
I'm glad this failed. I hope this never passes. There is no reason for us to use taxpayer dollars to bail out Wall Street.
The market will fix itself, in time. It might take 7-10 years, but we'll be fine. This American instant-gratification bull stuff just gets on my nerves.
Big, successful banks will buy the failing ones and, over time, things will be back to where they were 3-4 years ago. We'll never be back where we were right before the bubble popped, but that's a good thing!
Stop dwelling on the bad news guys. Remember the 'skins beat the 'boys yeasterday. Who cares about the end of the world.
I agree with nogard13. The only way to teach these corporate execs to take responsibilty for their own risk-taking is for the Federal Government not to be an enabler. Tough love.
Financial apocalypse! Maybe!
I'd be surprised if a bill isn't passed by the end of the week. With an election coming up, the only thing that would make incumbents look worse than passing a bad bill would be not passing one at all.
Whenever I see those photos of traders on the floor with their anguished expressions, I always wonder if the face has anything to do with the news. I mean in this guys case, maybe he's got his money in a safe investment but he just thought "ahh sh*t, today's my anniversary!" or "damn my nose itches" or "does my breath still smell like onions?"
Uh no offense Monkey 'cause I usually love your stuff, but this bill that failed was the before the House...not the Senate...
LOL
You know what is going to real fucking funny is when these employers of these constituents, of these nay voters, misses payroll as their short term loan fall through. Then what is going to get real ball tickling funny is when white collar workers start getting furloughed (fired) when their fortune 500 company (hell any employer that that isn't the Federal Government) misses their payroll too. Its a big shit sandwich and Wall Street is taking the first bit, we are next in line.
I hope my grandpa remembers how to make that milk-white rice-sugar concoction his mom fed the family on during the Depression. Inquiring grandchildren want to know!
RJ, what will really be hilarious will be the DCist commentary once the feds start RIFfing or more local governments do 2-3 week furloughs. Except I won't be laughing because I'll be in the failboat as well. At least I have moonshine in my fridge.
This is a good thing. The wall street needs to know that we will not pay for their mistakes. Not so good for the people that may loose their jobs, but thats a short term problem.
Around 3p, a coworker of mine goes "I'm gonna take a leak. Wanna bet the Dow drops twenty by the time I get back?"; it dropped twenty before he even got to the door.
From Roll Call: Asked about the next step, Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said it would be up to those who opposed the bill.
That means basically, "Screw you guys... I'm going home."
Blame has somehow gone to Pelosi for her "partisan" remarks before the vote. So republicans who got their feelings hurt reacted by BEING PARTISAN and voting against it.
By and large, Republicans voted against the bill, while Democrats voted for it...
man, I know dcist plays to a primarily democrat-supporting readership, but that seems awfully misleading...
from the numbers, it seems that if just 12 of these folks voted the other way, it would have passed... and it could have been 12 members from either party...ah well, hopefully additional time leads to a better bill...
This all sounds a lot more like a Republican meltdown than Pelosi's problem. The Republican administration begged for this to be passed, the Republican nominee said he was suspending his campaign to help get it passed. Then the Republicans in the House scream "socialism" and rebuff their aforementioned colleagues.
This is a GOP train wreck of the highest order.
OldPosterKnownAsCranky, it can't be a financial apocalypse, at least, not in terms of DCist's definition of 'apocalypse' - because that'd mean that someone would be giving out money for no good reason.
Crap, closed my bold tags incorrectly. Hope I didn't break the page!
I think Captain Easychord has a point, but you've gotta also look at the bigger picture here. The Republican leadership either promised more than it could deliver or Republicans who said they'd vote for the thing changed their minds because...Pelosi gave a partisan speech? The Democrats promised 120 votes and delivered 140. McCain himself said he'd deliver 100 R votes, but that's another story entirely...
Stimphy, I want to know what you do that your job is so secure you aren't worried about losing it.
Bethesda: The best moonshine is served room temp. Fridgerating it is way too East Coast Elitist.
For all you peoples saying they are glad this hasn't passed..... this mess has made it impossible for small businesss to get credit. Like it or not, that's what fuels a crapton of investment, jobs, growth, at every level of the economy, but particularly at the small to medium-size business level.
Just saying we should 'tough it out' is fairly stupid, as this is primarily a crisis of credit, and most (but not all) experts say this bill would have freed up credit pretty quickly. Without credit, we go tits up very quickly, as the effects get exponentially worse.
Pelosi gave that speech because she knew she wasn't going to get the needed R votes that both the President and McCain both said they were going to get 100. Failed by 35. FoxNews MeMe's have picked up on the "Pelosi's speech killed it," when really, the Pres. can't even get 100 votes? Lame duck indeed. Basically, those R's and some D's didn't want to give this shit sandwich of a bill to their constituents.
Wow, now that's some great bi-partisan reporting! Congrats on making this the official liberal blog. Funny how the Wall Street Journal isn't quite as biased!
Hillman, many small and large businesses were aware of the funny practices going on and stayed out of it. Many companies refinanced, got good lines of credit in advance for the next few years or secured decent credit lines even two years ago as the rates started inching up and are probably in good for the next 3 years. Smart business people were watching out for the next couple of years at least a year ago.
Most consumers and smaller businesses are going to need to be careful about spending and learn how to work a balance sheet, not stretch their spending too far. For me, the cost of local tax rates and fuel - causing inflation is much more of a concern.
I think this government bailout of shady lenders or the practice is basically ill advised, unnecessary and continuing a precedent of more stupid government tricks - like printing more money, unnecesarily subsidizing and nationalizing businesses, presumes it's listening and knows WTF is going on, and coddles the taxpayers.
If this is an apocalypse, does that mean we get free ice cream?
Basically, those R's and some D's didn't want to give this shit sandwich of a bill to their constituents.
In other words, basically, those R's and some D's just want to get re-elected.
yippie-kay-yay, motherfuckers!
Who knew that this mess could spawn such divisiveness, rancor and subsequent bitterness!?!?! Astonishing!
Let the world markets tremble and tumble. Let the worthy small business person sweat some more. How long have we known that the leading cause of bankruptcy in our nation is not irresponsible credit nor faulty mortgage but medical expenses? We've done nothing about that, so what, really, is the rush here -- considering that the brain trust saw the storm clouds gathering for a year? And let's not forget we have an MBA CEO at the helm!
I keep my moonshine in a damp cave. Can't wait to hear the riff on that!
"Smart business people were watching out for the next couple of years at least a year ago."
I hope there is some truth to that, but I fear that you overestimate the intelligence and the assets of the average American small business.
As one that is pretty routinely having to secure credit, I can tell you that in many instances you cannot secure credit 'in advance' without a definitive goal. You can only run up so much on lines of credit, especially if you don't have any plans for impending growth.
And I think many will find that the credit sources they've 'secured' in the past come with fine print that makes them a lot less secure than they may have thought.
It was a crap bill that the Bush administration fumbled in every possible way from day one.
They - quite literally - made up a ridiculous number in order to scare lawmakers and the citizenry int acting without thinking.
Problem is the number was too huge. Taxpayers are unwilling to fork it over to rich people and it scared the crap out of brokers and they all pulled their money out of funds.
If they want another stimulus package let them pass one. This treasury raid of a boondoggle should be taken out back and put down.
Pelosi is a deranged lunatic. She actually claimed in a speech before the vote that there was "no regulation".
How can anyone possibly be that stupid? She makes Bush look like a genius.
I wouldn't mind seeing someone slap her around with a copy of the US Code.
When will people realize? Democracy doesn't work.
4 letters yo...
F
U
C
wait, that was three. I might as well be a congressman who can't count.
we'll be fine. we still have hands with which to make stuff. we still have legs with which to walk.
Good thing I invested in that up and coming Baltimore Opera Hat Company...
we'll be fine. we still have hands with which to make stuff. we still have legs with which to walk.
Speak for yourself. My helper monkey Diderot raided what was left of my 401k, hotwired my Segway, and is even now riding it to Cancun. I can barely tap this out on my iPhone.
Kippers: Only a third of the Republicans voted for the bailout, compared to well over half the Democrats.
Start counting the jumpers...
Main Street > Wall Street > Pannsylvania Avenue
Forget the old ways, brother, all the old hatreds. The end is coming to this devil, this Creature of the Wheel, keeper of the Infernal Machines of Debt. We shall cleanse the Earth of this financial pestilence. Ah! Here is the instrument of cleansing, my brethren. And nothing quite cleanses like FIRE.
[zombies wheel out flaming turd catapult]
The Democrat leadership in the House can pass any bill they want if they have the support of their own members. I find it hard to believe you try to put this on the minority party in the House
You can save that nonsense. That may play with the rubes back in the district, but folks here actually have some brain activity. This is DC, not Douchenozzle Falls, MS.
We can start making Soylent Green out of stockbrokers and finance executives.