I respectifully disagree. Americans need to go through a major deleveraging process.

I predict this massive bailout plan will fail miserably. What if this plan has no impact on the credit markets? Will Washington politicians make another excuse for another ‘bailout’?

I hope that many of us that are also bitterly disappointed about the results of foolish actions and policies will be able to see past our anger and also work toward fixing the root causes.

“My goal now will be reforming the conditions that got us into this mess so we will not ever face this type of choice again.”

Hello Senator Cornyn,

Is this a promise or a campaign slogan?

A fellow Texan

I took the time to read the revised bill before the House. I’ve taken the time to read the bill that just passed the Senate. Sir, the people are not suggesting “inaction”. This bill is bad! I watched the speeches of the Senators before the vote last night on CSPAN. There were two Senators who have truly heard the will of the people, Senators DeMint and Shelby. Why isn’t McCain making these kinds of speeches? The people are not saying they want their representatives to do nothing, they are saying no to this bill. This crisis was not caused by Wall Street. It was caused by the policies of past presidents and congress. This liquidity crisis is a direct result of the practices of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that were encouraged by our presidents and certain members of Congress. The people are angry about this. They want more than legislation.

Nonetheless, this type of legislation makes us even angrier. How can we possibly have confidence is something that put many of the players responsible for this crisis in charge of fixing it. We all know who Paulson is. We all know who the head of the banking and finance committees are. You want us to accept legislation that is clearly designed to give those responsible for this mess a shot at redeeming themselves rather than calling for their resignations and throwing them out of Washington? Where is our Maverick?

Furthermore, we are tired of the platitudes. We already have the “HOPE for home owner’s” legislation mandating mortgage work outs. The language in the “Emergency Economic Stabilization” bill encourages the workout? I see this as meaningless, existing only to be able to say it exists. What I find troubling is that, once the government buys these mortgages, rates, terms, principal even, can be arbitrarily changed beyond that of HOPE. What I find troubling is that those people, who knowingly initialed the adjustable rate disclosure and signed their names on those trust deeds, they are going to get assistance. Where is the assistance for those who have already been foreclosed on with ruined credit and little hope for home ownership while prices are now low. There is nothing available to those people who are paying their mortgages on time and have houses that are now worth hundreds of thousands of dollars less than what they paid for them. These Americans are angry about this situation and they want more than legislation. They do not want more government meddling.

I have first hand knowledge of how lending practices change under the Clinton Administration and how they blossomed even more once Democrats took over Congress. I am a REALTOR in one of the most affected areas of Southern California, the Antelope Valley. I can tell you exactly how these policies created this situation. I am also proud to say I refused to participate in these practices and have been vocal against them for years within my industry.

Might I remind everyone, that 90% of Americans are paying their mortgages. These people resent any amount of tax payer money being used in this manner. Essentially, we are being asked to pay for the mistakes made by our representatives in Washington, to pay for the mistakes ten percent of the people made, asked to pay for the mistakes the CEOs of Freddie and Fannie made, just to keep these mistakes from affecting us. These mistakes have already affected us! It’s too late. I appalled by both the unjustice and the danger in this bill. It may give us our credit lines back, it may keep some from being laid off, it may sooth the stock exchange, but there are no guarantees and it doesn’t help those already harmed. Washington has already sent our tax dollars in the wrong direction with the bail outs of Fannie and Freddie, other financial institutions and today, the auto industry. How can we expect industries to be competitive in this global market if we are going to reward poor business strategies with tax payer dollars. STOP!

Washington needs to stop making mistakes with tax payer money!! Washington needs to get out of the free market. Washington needs to stop social engineering. Washington needs to do it’s job: keep a mindful watch over the interests and security of its tax paying, productive citizens. Rather than have Washington be the father of wellfare for industries and corporations, let the market work. With regard to the people, create incentives that allow communities to take care of their own.

We need to get the Federal Government out of welfare all together. Let the moral transactions occur between people. Stop creating a culture of entitlement. Stop removing responsibility from those who clearly need to feel it. Stop punishing success. Stop pandering to political correctness. American’s are a strong and resillient people, we are a generous people. Have faith in us, have faith in the ideology this country was built on!

Senator Cornyn, I’m a TX guy and you are my guy. My diary sitting at #2 in the Recommended List tends to echo where you are at — we needed to do this.

So, chin up, pal. I’m with you in swallowing this bitter pill.

Wait, you bail out the Big 3 Auto manufacturers routinely. You don’t care about that.

So who’s going to be punished for making the bad decisions and taking poor risks?
Wait, just the taxpayers. What with all the trillions spent on failed programs like Welfare, you don’t seem to care about that, either.

So what about the persons who have already admitted to fraud (cooking the books)?
Oh, right. They all donate exclusively to Democrats and you guys are just fine with letting Dems get away with murder (literally), let alone little things like corruption and bribery.

So what about those of us whose mortgages aren’t bought up by the government? Those of us who played by the rules and did everything right?
Oh, right. We’re part of the majority and the rich. We better keep paying our bills because there’s no help for us coming. Ever. Not even when the majority of those whose mortgages Are bought by the government go ahead and just default because the government’s taking care of them anyway.
I can’t wait for how the economy will react to that.

And I thought you guys were supposed to be doing something about all those earmarks? Don’t you care about the fact that the bill is filled with Liberal wet dreams?
No. Guess not. You LIKE folks like Specter and Chaffee and Obama. You Really enjoy working with them.

Any of you get any phone calls from your constituents? I know you didn’t listen the last time, what with the immigration bill and all, but don’t you care that “Main Street” as you call us, is up in arms over this abomination?
Stupid question. You never cared before. Why start now?

You can let Specter know that I don’t care if his opponent is a D. I’m voting against him. Better to have the real thing than a wannabe.

Conservative Principles FAIL.

-nt-

It time to move back towards winning themes:

• making this a referendum on Obama
• enery independence
• coal
• offshore drilling
• Ayers and Obama’s radical ties
• foreign policy and national security
• experience
• taxes
• Palin

This issue is a loser for us and the quicker we can put in on page two, the better.

It time to move back towards winning themes:

• making this a referendum on Obama
• enery independence
• coal
• offshore drilling
• Ayers and Obama’s radical ties
• foreign policy and national security
• experience
• taxes
• Palin

This issue is a loser for us and the quicker we can put in on page two, the better.

1) A 65 year old should not be 100% in stocks.

2) Why should MY MONEY go to bail out morons who made bad decisions. LET THEM FAIL.

3) And investigate the Dem’s role in campaign donations from Freddie and Fannie..

You said:

“My goal now will be reforming the conditions that got us into this mess so we will not ever face this type of choice again.”

So we should trust the people who got us into this mess to get us out of it? That’s not a very good plan, Senator.

Step one should be to fire every single person responsible. And yes, that means most of the House and Senate.

“The proposal we approved is significantly improved over the blank check sought by the Treasury only ten days ago.”

It’s also significantly larded up with pork. A Senate that pulls this crap doesn’t really believe that there is a crisis imminent. If they don’t, why should I?

It time to move back towards winning themes:

• making this a referendum on Obama
• enery independence
• coal
• offshore drilling
• Ayers and Obama’s radical ties
• foreign policy and national security
• experience
• taxes
• Palin

This issue is a loser for us and the quicker we can put in on page two, the better.

This socialistic bill is definitely ‘bitter’, he is right about that, but it certainly was not ‘necessary’. This isn’t an issue where Conservatives can ‘respectfully disagree’ and say its no big deal that Republicans are voting for socialism. This is supposed to go against EVERYTHING we stand for, this is supposed to be something that only the far left goes for. If we stand up and say ‘sure, they’re giving away over 800 billion of our money to foreign banks and wall street, it wasn’t the greatest thing they ever did, but hey, he’s a Republican so its OK’ then why exactly are you a Republican in the first place? Apparently for a quite different reason than I am. I’m a Republican because I support free market capitalism and strong moral values. It is immoral to steal over 6 thousand dollars from every taxpayer to give away to your favorite charity case, whether that charity case be a poor person like the liberals want to give my money to, or a rich person as these Republicans want to give my money to. And it is obviously the exact opposite of free market capitalism. I certainly hope, and expect, that this fellow will lose his re-election campaign, because by stealing over 6 thousand dollars of my money, your money, everybody’s money, simply because George Bush and Nancy Pelosi said ‘the sky is falling’, he has proven himself unfit for the job. Noone in their right mind should want him anywhere near their money, or rather whats LEFT of their money. If your response is ‘sure he’s bankrupting America, sure he’s voting for socialism, but he’s our guy!’ then my response is simply he’s ‘your’ guy, he’s not mine. I’m a Republican.

I mean that. I’m not just saying it because you are a Senator. I have respected your work in the Senate for a long time.

People are scared and panicked. I understand that. I am scared, too. Sometimes, even when fearful, we have to hold the line against the excesses of government and this crisis is due to those excesses.

To do nothing was not an option. I agree. That being said, this rescue plan will not solve the underlying causes and it has set a precedent and laid the foundations of more excesses by the government.

Time and again throughout history we have faced such crises and have solved them in the same way, leaving the underlying causes still functioning the same as before with the ability to cause more crises. I don’t believe the causes of this one will be “fixed” any more than any of the other causes have ever been fixed. Those who mandated the things that caused the problems will be the ones to prevent that happening.

What will the next rescue cost us? Double? Triple? Quadruple? Can anyone say? Does it matter?

It’s not the money; at least, not for me. It’s just a number that, when you think in terms of the GDP and worldwide wealth, probably isn’t all the much; a mere drop in the bucket. It’s what we had to give up of our few remaining freedoms to have it happen. We’ll never get those back. Once done, it will never be undone as history has shown us time after time.

n/p

and impending recession, possibly by years. So the small businessman and retiree will be screwed – slowly, and over longer period of time. Congress is merely playing roulette with taxpayers money.

Next summer when the DOW has dropped another 2000 points, and banks have tightened credit even further, the answer will be “we shouldn’t have rushed to pass that legislation last year, now here’s our latest scheme…”.

The bill does nothing to address the causes of the financial problems (Congress compelling FNM/FRE and banks to adjust lending criteria based on social program desires). Who is going to sponsor legislation to prevent such meddling in the future?

I will not support any Congressman or Senator who votes for this escape from accountability.

Senator, thank you for your input here. I am always skeptical of any official coming here because much of the time it sounds like politicking. Currently, I am a small businessman in the franchise industry. My livelihood is often the result of potential investors being able to obtain credit, whether it be a personal loan, an SBA or bank loan or even a credit card purchase. Without credit, my ability to grow in my chosen profession would be severely limited if not destroyed. I support the bailout, or as I now prefer to call it, the rescue of Wall Street. I am however opposed to the bill in it’s present form. Why, because your esteemed colleagues have gerrymandered this into a huge, pork and special interests omnibus device with little resemblance to the problem at hand.

I point out the following, critical requirements of this bill that just HAVE to be included:

(Pg 202) SEC. 207. ALTERNATIVE FUEL VEHICLE REFUELING PROPERTY CREDIT.

(Pg 205) SEC. 211. TRANSPORTATION FRINGE BENEFIT TO BICYCLE COMMUTERS.

(Pg 259) SEC. 405. INCREASE AND EXTENSION OF OIL SPILL LIABILITY TRUST FUND TAX.

(pg 279) SEC. 308. INCREASE IN LIMIT ON COVER OVER OF RUM EXCISE TAX TO PUERTO RICO AND THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.

(pg 289) SEC. 316. RAILROAD TRACK MAINTENANCE.

The list is nearly endless and while these are just topics I picked while glancing through the bill, I can just imagine the other gems that were included. Senator, I support you and as a resident of Arizona I support Senator McCain, but you know what. NO. Simply NO, this bill is another disgusting example of the asinine ineptitude of the Congress en masse to do what is right for the nation without putting your pet projects first.

Every American is going to be hit hard if the credit crashes, I daresay we are looking at a potential depression. I certainly do not want it, but I also do not want my congressional leaders acting in this fashion.

Perhaps you can ask President Bush to follow through on his promise to name the Senators that added all this nonsensical crap to the bill. I know it will never happen, lord forbid a Republican speak up.

http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/

Risk-aversion and cash hoarding remain the name of the game in credit markets, with most data points suggesting that investors remain wary of any investment riskier than Treasury assets, and lenders reticent to let go of their money.

The data points are widespread: The Federal Reserve’s weekly data on commercial paper showed a contraction in that market; funding rates remain elevated, and the cost of lending cash in exchange for Treasury bills has slimmed.

Here’s a rundown of what’s happening in key lending markets:

Three-month LIBOR, sort of a traded version of the federal-funds rate, rose overnight to 4.21%. That’s 2.65 percentage points over the expected funds rate of 1.56% three months down the road. According to RT-ICAP, the situation could be worse, however. The three-month New York funding rate, ICAP’s version of LIBOR, rose to 4.61% Thursday, or 3.05 percentage points above the expected funds rate. “Short-term bank funding is getting decidedly worse,” they write.
The commercial paper market is severely stretched. It costs about 4.5% to borrow seven-day asset-backed commercial paper, compared with about 2.5% for the past few months. The total amount of commercial paper outstanding fell by $94.9 billion for the week ended October 1, 2008, a record. It reflects the unwillingness by money-market funds to buy this paper, which is normally not considered a particularly great risk. “The purge is broad and is impacting issuers with far more predictable cash flows — regular run-of-the-mill companies in need of working capital,” writes Tony Crescenzi, chief bond market strategist at Miller Tabak.
The Treasury repurchasing market, where dealers borrow Treasurys from one another to cover positions, has tightened. Normally, when a dealer borrows Treasurys from another, they lend cash in return, which is usually paid with an interest rate at around the federal-funds rate. Because the demand for Treasurys is so tight, the borrower of cash need only pay interest at about 0.5%, according to Ward McCarthy, analyst at Stone & McCarthy Research Assoc. in Princeton, N.J. “It’s a consequence of credit anxieties and the failure of some non-Treasury markets to function normally,” he says.

In order to establish credibility for your compromise position you will have to take up the cause of REFORM with real courage and near reckless abandon. AND McCain will have to win the election first. At this moment, it appears that Republicans have been out-maneuvered yet again. McCain (and other Republican Senators) missed an opportunity as spelled out by Dick Morris to defend the taxpayer and champion the cause of Reform by seizing control the debate around the economy and defeating Obama and the Democrats.

At this point the Democrats have apparently succeeded in playing politics with the economy at the political expense of Republicans and the literal expense of taxpayers. They’ve also managed to increased the size and scope of the Gov’t in the process and Bush and Paulson and a good many other Republicans helped them. Furthermore, Congress is setting yet another dangerous precedent for adopting socialized solutions to problems that were created by socialist policies in the first place. And so it becomes increasingly difficult for conservatives to place political blame on the Democrats because Republicans were complicit, and it also becomes increasingly difficult to undo and reform those policies and their resultant problems because every socialist policy and problem is further entrenched by successive big gov’t solutions. The bailout simply strengthens the machine.

If Obama wins as the Democrats have already won in Congress, then we can all kiss our freedom and our country as we know it goodbye. Because the CHANGE will be from America as we love, it to the Chicago Political Machine Model with a dangerous Marxist Socialist Ideology. What will happen to Reformers then?

Will there come a day when your land and livelihood may be taken away for Public Energy Projects, Windmills and the like? When the voices and livelihood of radio talkshows are taken away with the Fairness Doctrine? Or conservatives or Christians are simply banished and “sent away” to Alaska to work on the Pipelines because they’re no longer tolerated by those in power?

Isn’t this crisis already here? I mean, banks have been holding these toxic securities for weeks, right? That’s why we need to act right away. But if that’s the case, why have we not seen or heard of a rash of business closings? You would think that by now these effects would be making themselves known. And for sure the MSM would be Johnny on the spot to report them. I hear the boy, but I don’t see the wolf.

You conveniently mention that The Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act passed the committee but was killed on the floor.

You forgot to mention that this was actually The Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005 and that Republicans controlled the floor in the year of its introduction as well as 2006 prior to the vote.

Perhaps congressional Republicans were too entangled by their own corruption at the time to allow this to pass. Whatever the reason, be a man and accept responsibility rather than trying to rewrite history.

The bill was filled with pork and the senateor should have said no. Pork will only make the financial crisis worse!

VOTE NO IN THE HOUSE AND STAND UP FOR YOUR CONVICTIONS.

Remember there is an election comming up soon and the taxpayers will hold you accountable for your actions.

I thought one of the biggest lessons learned from the 30s is that Government intervention into a “market crisis” only MAKES THINGS WORSE.

Principles and commitments are made for when times get rough. If you abandon them during times of crisis or difficulty, then they’re not worth much, are they?

This week has seen the top 3 names on my ballot abandon their Conservative principles. Unless Kline redeems himself on Monday with a “no” vote, I am left with little option but to find a party who actually knows what a principle is.

Are the various pork items in this bill part of the bitter pill?

The inability of you and your colleagues to practice some fiscal discipline at this critical time disgusts me.

Senator, how can you tell us that the bailout is necessary if you have absolutely no idea it will work? The premise is foolish.

Do you understand, the cost of this bill is not the $700+ billion? The cost is setting the precedent of supporting Socialism over Capitalism in times of crisis…even with the knowledge that Capitalism in a free market society works every time it is tried!!

I think you are holding out for hope that this “bitter pill” has some sort of placebo affect.

How much pork are the American people worth? Action on the Wall Street crisis is not the issue, Senator. I think most people will agree that some kind of action is necessary. We all will never agree to what that action needs to be. As a Texan, and your supporter, I understand the position that is thrust upon you, and I appreciate that you fought Fannie/Freddie in the past. But, Senator, it is disgusting to me to see the amount of pork it took to buy America. You are right, this is a bitter pill to swallow, and I fear that we Americans are the ones that have to choke on it. I pray that I am wrong.

Senator Cornyn,

I really appreciate that you took the time to post your thoughts. I agree, it is obvious that our current problems were created by the Democrats in Congress. However, you just voted to hand over ~$800 billion to the same government that SCREWED THIS UP IN THE FIRST PLACE. The failure of the Republicans to stand up AGAINST this type of pork is what has all but handed this election to Obama and guaranteed that Democrats gain seats in the House and Senate.

… of supposedly conservatives politicians making excuses for voting for liberal policies. Sen. Cornyn, the gig is up. I am a Texas resident. I am very active in GOP base politics and I will NOT vote for you in November.

There is absolutely no point in having elected officials mouth conservative principles if in the end they can be bullied into voting for more and more government intervention in the free market. This lack of courage explains why – despite the GOP controlling Congress and the White House for many years – they were not even able to defund NPR. Pathetic.

If we are going to have an ever growing, broke federal government, might as well put the Democrats in charge of the whole thing so that when things go wrong, they’ll pay the consequences. What is happening now is that free market principles are being blamed – even though they haven’t been applied – just because politicians like you, Senator Cornyn, use the label conservative.

Disillusion is not the correct word Senator. Disgust is the correct word. This bailout is an abomination.

Before striking the fear of ecomomic catastophe into the hearts of us poor little Amercican citizens, you may have first consulted with an advertising firm on the Great Bill’s name. Here’s a thought, “The Main Street Bill” or maybe “The Saving Foreclosure Bill” or lastly “The Accountabilty Bill”

For what you people up there in Washington Dreamland has done to the small businesses, the true businesses, small mom and pop stores in small towns is KILL THEM in the last two weeks. This is reality sir.

I own a small store in PA. My August was fantastic. September was off to a great start and then…BAM. ONE SALE IN TWO WEEKS. ONE. The parking lots are empty. The Great Bailout Bill at work. It’s not even passed yet. Look how well its doing for us already.

You decide that now is the time to shock the life blood out of people just when most retail stores have just spent all they have saved ALL YEAR and spent already into stocking shelves for the upcoming Christmas season. Orders were placed. BUT>>> Doomsday has come now, money is frozen, life is over due to the greed of WallStreet and the greed our Government…so kill us all.

I was raised a Republican. I believe in working hard, making my own money, not taking out loans and relying on my government. Work. Live the dream. Struggle but use your talent to succeed. Ask no one for anything. Make it happen.

Well sir, what page of this bill deals with the soured businesses of the passed two weeks. I know the people who make wooden arrows are taken care of, I know that the millionaires in the banking industries are taken care of, but again, I missed the earmarks pages for American small business owners who work til they can’t stand any more and just got slammed two weeks ago by those whom we elected to care for GOVERNMENT issues and not peoples banks accounts, whether for lining them or emptying them. Go take a walk down Main Street Sir. The pretty little stores are empty Sir. EMPTY NOW. Not two weeks ago.

Thank you Senator for all of your heartfelt kind words.

since Dennis Miller mentioned it on his show today:

With all due respect, as one of the middle class families you claim to be protecting with this (32k a year), I believe you are utterly and completely wrong in this solution.

Reinflating a housing bubble doomed to burst does nothing for the economy long term except ensure this process comes again and defers the pain NECESSARY to correct the fundamental problems that have led to this issue. That is, prices on housing and cars and other items that have soared to heights that force debt levels on American consumers that simply CANNOT be sustained.

Those prices have been inflated due to insane monetary policies this bill PERPETUATES. Aside from the gratuitous pork loaded into this bill…please, do you want to tell us that your votes are so soft you can be changed from principles on the result of a tax cut sop thrown in?…the core issue is unaddressed. Debt levels on both the national AND consumer level have to be reduced for the long term good of the economy.

For two decades the American family has been forced to spend and borrow to spend in order to make ends meet. The end to their borrowing rope has arrived. This CANNOT be perpetuated. Reinflating the housing bubble just sets up this train wreck again.

The ‘only’ viable solution is one that involves serious attempts to reduce overall debt levels. But nothing in this plan does. And unless you want to address the core cause of the issue–bad monetary policy–the best thing to do is let FF/FM DIE, and let the Free Market take it’s course. Backstop the consumer, don’t bail out the cowboy capitalists.

Senator, can we have your word that your very next proposed legislation will be the ending of the Community Reinvestment Act and the Financial Institutions Reform Recovery and Enforcement Act.

Sure, it sounds like a great plan to get more people into homes, I support that, but when banks are REQUIRED to make bad loans, the ideal of best practices fails. I’m not advocating the wholesale ending of regulation, but you know what, when politicians get involved with regulating a market they know nothing about, this is what happens.

Senator – thank you for posting this but I must respectfully disagree with you.

As a fiscal conservative, I have so many problems with this bailout. This should have been dead on arrival at the Senate among Republicans.

1. Why the rush to do this? The sky is not falling. We were told 2 weeks ago that immediate action was needed and believe it or not, we’re still here. To me, this is the Iraq war all over again – a rush to get it done, pushing it with fear based on classified material we couldn’t see and that was wrong, etc. Only this time, members of the public are given condescending sound bites about how we’re not sophisticated enough to understand this.

2. I think Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke are very intelligent men and they definitely know much much more about economics than I do. How in the world did they miss something this big until the last minute?

3. What will happen the next time a CEO makes bad decisions? This sets a dangerous precedent since they now know they can be “too big to fail.”

4. The pork alone should have caused all republicans to vote against this.

5. Let’s assume for a minute that the US taxpayer is able to recover every dime that it borrows to bailout these companies, plus the interest it has paid on the borrowed money, plus all administrative costs. What is the probability that the money recovered will be used to pay back what was originally borrowed? Even with republicans in control, my honest answer is not very likely.

In short, I’d much rather take the financial hit now than pass this disaster, it’s interference in the free markets, and the debt it will cause on to future generations.

Oh and congratulations Senator. You, other members of Congress, and President Bush have now allowed our national debt to hit 10 trillion dollars. My great-great-great grandkids can’t begin to thank you enough.

…and infuriated at those in government who keep creating messes that call for doses of bitter pills.

… of supposedly conservatives politicians making excuses for voting for liberal policies. Sen. Cornyn, the gig is up. I am a Texas resident. I am very active in GOP base politics and I will NOT vote for you in November.

There is absolutely no point in having elected officials mouth conservative principles if in the end they can be bullied into voting for more and more government intervention in the free market. This lack of courage explains why – despite the GOP controlling Congress and the White House for many years – they were not even able to defund NPR. Pathetic.

If we are going to have an ever growing, broke federal government, might as well put the Democrats in charge of the whole thing so that when things go wrong, they’ll pay the consequences. What is happening now is that free market principles are being blamed – even though they haven’t been applied – just because politicians like you, Senator Cornyn, use the label conservative.

Senator?
Do you hear the angry voices?
Here are a few priceless tidbit:

“in a time of deceit telling
the truth is a revolutionary act.
George Orwell

“I am a most unhappy man.
I have unwittingly ruined my
country, A great industrial nation
is now controlled by its system
of credit.
We are no longer a government
by free opinion, no longer a
government by conviction and
the vote of the majority, but a
government by the opinion and
duress of a small group of
dominant men.”
Woodrow Wilson – 1919

“The only difference between
a tax man and a taxidermist is
that the taxidermist leaves the
skin.”
Mark Twain

“If the American people ever
allow the banks to control the
issuance of their currency….
the banks and corporations that
will grow up around them
will deprive the people of all
property, until their children
wake up homeless on the
continent their fathers
conquered.”
Thomas Jefferson

“Who controls money
controls the world.”
Henry Kissinger – Council on Foreign Relations

“The bankers own the
earth. Take it away from
them, but leave them the
power to create money,
and with the flick of the
pen they will create
enough money to buy
it back again.

However, take away
from them the power to
create money, and all the
great fortunes like mine
will disappear and they
ought to disappear, for
this would be a happier
and better world to live in.
But, if you wish to remain
the slaves of bankers and
pay the cost of your own
slavery, let them continue
to create money.”
Sir Josiah Stamp – Former Director of
The Bank of England

“It is well enough that people
of the nation do not understand
our banking and monetary system,
for if they did, I believe there
would be a revolution before
tomorrow morning.”
Henry Ford

“We are grateful to the
Washington Post, the NY Times,
Time Magazine, and
other great publications
whose directors have
attended our meetings and
respected their promises of
discretion for almost 40 years.

It would have been
impossible for us to develop
our plan for the world if we
had been subjected to the
lights of publicity during
those years.

But now the world
is more sophisticated and
prepared to march towards a
world government.

The supra national
sovereignty of an intellectual
elite and world bankers is
surely preferable to the
national auto-determination
practiced in past centuries.”
David Rockefeller,
Private Banker
Council on Foreign Relations
June 1991

“The real rulers in Washington
are invisible and exercise power
from behind the scenes.”
Felix Frankfurter,
U.S. Supreme Court Justice

I’m from Texas. There’s no way I’d vote for Cornyn.

He’s voting for destroying the free market system in order to save it. I’m sorry. Either the free market capitalism has integrity or it doesn’t. The solution is not more government intervention. What happened to the Republicans that this is so hard to understand?

Recessions and economic contractions are part of a normal functional economy. Sure, nobody likes them, but that’s what clears out the dead wood. If you run your business, your investment bank, your church, whatever, into the ground, you should consider finding new line of work, or perhaps start over with other willing investors. Don’t come to the taxpayers asking for a handout. Your failure will open up space for someone else who can better provide your product.

Any company deemed “too big to fail” by the US government ought to be part of the US government. That’s going to be a short list, you say? Yes, as it should be. I will not stand idly by while our Congress pairs socialized risk with privatized profits.

I just can’t help myself…

Instead of trying to sell this bill to us, why don’t you start selling the idea of making people like Dodds and Franks accountable and that you will personally see to it that they are asked to resign.
Try to retain John McCain to help in your efforts.

Why not do that Senator Sir? That may actually fly before your bill does.

The vote last night has proven two things: the need for term limits and Congress has forgotten they were elected to represent the people. To cast aside the position of 80% of America shows their complete arrogance. Each person voting yes should not be re-elected. They are no longer listening to the people.

It was a pivotal moment McCain could have shown all citizens he means what he says about not supporting pork spending. One of the few things I agreed with McCain about and now we don’t even have that in common.

Palin/Jindal ’12

Sen. Cornyn I am Texan and I’m deeply disappointed in you and Sen. Hutchinson. This bill is not good for this country and has only made us weaker by increasing out dependence on foreign nations who buy our debt. I also heard that this bill contained language allowing for the bail out of foreign owned banks. This whole situation is messed up and just keeps getting worse the more you guys mess with it. In your letter here you claim the need to inform the voters but no specifics were included. I’m deeply disappointed in your decision to sell out America. I am a strong supporter of your candidacy but this has me questioning my support. I can only hope that our “heroes” in the house will stop this. We all know that our free spending President won’t stop this from becoming law.

http://www.rightsideoftech.com

Senator, I am sure this has been a difficult week and a difficult decision for you. I’m one of your Texas constituents.

But Senator, this bill is exactly what’s wrong with Washington.

• It’s loaded with junk/pork/unrelated crappolla that has nothing to do with the problem at hand. Come on; wooden arrows?

• It’s being pushed, voted on, and passed by a whole lotta people that have no idea how we got into this mess or even what this mess is, much less how to get us out of it. And no one is trying to educate America; they are too busy blaming each other and trying to adjourn so they can take their 3+ month vacation.

• It’s a huge step down the road to a form of government that We, The People, did not agree to — socialism. It’s a huge step backward for the free market, capitalism, and democracy.

• It’s being passed quickly, under duress, without time for due diligence or reflection. Act in haste; repent in leisure. (Only I’m afraid it’s the taxpayers who’ll be doing the repenting.)

• The ~way~ these deals get done in Congress — vote trading, whipping, lobbying pressures, etc. — cannot possibly by what the Founding Fathers intended when they set up our legislative branch. And I’m betting Washington and Jefferson, et al, wouldn’t have adjourned for a religious holiday while Independence Hall was on fire, either.

Do I have the answer? No. I have some suggestions, though.

• A constitutional amendment giving the POTUS Line Item Veto all the dang time. Someone on the Potomac — someone that We, The People, elect — needs a Big Ole’ Thick Red Sharpie. And if any particular POTUS does not do our will, then let’s throw the bum out.

• MAJOR reform of both parties and the whole majority leader, minority leader, whip-system. I am betting this week has been an education to most Americans. Naive that we are, we kinda thought our Senators and Reps were serving our states and districts. Apparently, this is not true. I don’t like it one bit. I’m betting I’m not alone.

• Another Constitutional amendment, giving the American electorate some say about who gets to be Speaker of the House, Senate Majority Leader, etc. If our lives are going to be at the mercy of the likes of Nancy Pelosi, then I dang well want a vote about who gets to sit in that chair.

One last point — who is yelling for the rights of We, The People? All I hear is the sound of finger pointing and CYAing.

I, for one, am tired on picking the lesser of evils. I want Patriots who believe in democracy, capitalism, the Constitution, the will of the people, and who will throw a Potomac Tea Party, if necessary.

This mess we call our government is broken, and this week’s wake-up call is making me think there may be no way to fix it other than to start over.

n/p

The people that vote for this bill will be remembered as the folks who seemed to think that showing up at a grizzly fight with pepper spray is okay. You just don’t get it, or you just don’t care. I’m not sure which is worse.

There are few votes that come along in one’s lifetime that carry such weight. This is a congressional body that spends years on bills…yet here we are…10 days after Mr. Paulson showed with the lighter fluid and his gold Zippo.

And the world…remarkably apparently….is still turning away with folks going about their lives and business. Of course everyone is stressed about the WS situation that was created through no fault of our own. Things are going to get much much worse before they get any better.

We know it. We are ready to face it. Why aren’t you?

Tossing $1Trillion at a $100Trillion dollar problem is like pissing in the ocean and expecting the color to change….sir.

Can the issues be addressed and fixed that caused this crisis?? Yes they most certainly can.

Can they be done in 10 days by a roomful of politicians that I would guess haven’t so much as balanced a checkbook in many years??

No Sir. They most certainly can not.

This bill is a charade.

I honestly see it as no more than a ploy for political cover….to spread the blame for this crisis as far and wide as possible before the reality REALLY sets in.

What did Mr. Paulson actually tell yall that set all the hair on fire that day sir?

That we had a $100T worth of deleveraging ready to rain down on our heads? You know sir…that lead cloud hanging over our head of bad risk created by instruments that the WS quants dreamed up. It’s almost certainly going to come down in a very bad way. And your 10 day wonder bill bandaid will only be remembered as the little boy with his finger in the dike.

I’m obviously sincerely hoping that enough members of the House stick to their principles to defeat this bill now and in the future. From what I’m reading I’m hoping in vain. It sounds like the arm twisting will continue until needed.

The GOP has lost its way. This whole country will pay for it. I guess this garbage bill makes everyone feel better.

The level of trust you have with the American people truly couldn’t be much lower. Isn’t it time to think of them first?
If you had been doing that all along maybe we wouldn’t find ourselves in this position Senator.

I’m thoroughly disgusted….and I’m far from alone. I will voting accordingly at every opportunity. I don’t care what party is designated after their name. It means next to nothing at this point. Why should I bother supporting the GOP when it so obvious they have no interest in living up to their own platform. I know I don’t need to quote you your own platform.

Good day and good luck. You and all of us will most certainly need it.

Will some Senator, some congressman, please please please add an amendment for the appointment of an independent commission to investigate Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac for the past 20 years as a means to learn what not to let happen again???

This is another case of Government putting it’s big fat hand into the markets. I opposed this bill from the beginning, the Government made a big mistake by even floating the idea of a bailout. Wall street is playing games with the economy, once they got the idea they were going to get a bailout, they started acting like they couldn’t live without it. First they staged a major sell-off when the House blocked the bailout, the goal was to scare Americans into supporting the bailout, they knew the majority of Americans were opposed. The next day all we heard about was the trillion dollars that evaporated, hurting retirees. The truth is a lot off the sell-off was started by the big Wall Street Banks. I didn’t hear anything about credit tightening up until Bush, Paulson and the Media started talking about it, this sent a message to the Markets to tighten up, so main street would feel the pain. Banks can’t live without the interest they derive from lending, it’s their life blood. If the markets would have been left alone, it’s true more companies would have gone under. Eventually after all the dead weight was thrown overboard, the lending would have resumed. Now we almost have to approve the bailout, to get the children of Wall Street bring their marbles back to the game. I guess Wall Street doesn’t hate a Strike as much as we thought. This is a sad day for America and Capitalism. FYI: Sen. Cornyn is one of my Senators, for now.

5

Sorry, sir.

Here are 2 Texan’s that will not be voting for you in November. I’m sure you are a great guy… but you blue it here.

Since you have certainly convinced me that my life would be so much worse if you hadn’t boldly voted “yes”, I just want to thank you for “takin’ one for the team”.

I should also note that I will be voting for my Republican house representative, ya know why?… because he represented me… and voted No.

I have no idea what you are doing. Good luck with that.

A lot of monday morning quarterbacks, a lot of “pure economic theory” zealots. But I don’t think they really grasp what will happen if our economy goes into free fall.

It’s One thing to get angry at things you only partly understand, or to get stirred up by populist rhetoric. It is quite another to look at the economic history and contemplate just what might happen with no government action at all. (and even with the bailout we are not out of the woods)

My suggestion for many people. Read some books on just how bad things were in the great depression. We can fix the problems made by a bad bill, but we cannot easily crawl out from under a total financial credit collapse.

Where did we lose site of that?

The idea that we didn’t have time to pass a good bill is a cop-out.

Grown up people stuck their fingers in their ears and said “la la la la”.

And let’s go one further, Mr. Cornyn’s chamber ADDS to the dollar figure with all of their pet projects because they believe no one would dare vote no now? “Sweet” for who?!?

Mr. Kyle, your idea that we should be able to “easily” do anything is flawed. That’s part of what created the mess.

Buying a house should not be easy. Borrowing money should not be easy.

America thinks that we can solve our problems with debt… just one more loan, then I’ll quit… really, honest this time!

It will take tough love to break this cycle… and no one should expect that love from Washington.

And just in case I haven’t made my point clearly enough… my problem is not with the “bail out”… it’s not with socialism…

it’s with a broke government thinking they have the wisdom to solve the problem by borrowing more money on my behalf. We have a debt problem, so let’s solve it by borrowing more money?!?! People have absolutely lost their selfish minds.

This is going to hurt. This NEEDS to hurt. Washington is not the problem, it’s a symptom. Wall Street is not the problem, it’s a symptom. The problem here is MAIN STREET (just ask my grandma)… and no one really wants to say that.

(I guess someone might be able to tell… this issue really has me irritated).

For those on the thread who might make the suggestion “Do you know what happened during the Great Depression? Do you want that to happen again?? (FEAR FEAR FEAR)!!!”

I say:
The lessons learned during the Great Depression have all but been forgotten.

It is valid to remind people about the Great Depression… but it’s a little late.

The lessons must be re-learned.

Congressional Term Limits