tagged w/ 2008 Gov Financial Bail Out
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After a dramatic two weeks on Capitol Hill and in the financial markets, President Bush on Friday signed into law a $700 billion bailout bill for Wall Street. Lawmakers acted to pass the legislation amid dire warnings that the U.S. economy was on the verge of collapse. But was the bailout plan a good idea? That's a question many Americans are asking.
After reporting on this crisis for several weeks, NPR's international economics correspondent Adam Davidson says that this is indeed a severe and scary crisis.
"And the more I report it, the more scared I have been," Davidson tells This American Life host Ira Glass as part of a one-hour special report on the last week of financial turmoil.
What is clear, Davidson says, is that spending $700 billion will help. "But it's also very clear that the plan we've been hearing all about, the Paulson plan, has a lot of problems. There are a lot of things that a lot of people do not like about it."
After a dramatic two weeks on Capitol Hill and in the financial markets, President... more
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It's widely thought that the biggest gamble President Bush ever took was deciding to invade Iraq in 2003. It wasn't. His riskiest move was actually one made right after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks when he chose not to mobilize the country or summon his fellow citizens to any wartime economic sacrifice. Bush tried to remake the world on the cheap, and as the bill grew larger, he still refused to ask Americans to pay up. During this past week, that gamble collapsed, leaving the rest of us to sort through the wreckage.It's widely thought that the biggest gamble President Bush ever took was deciding... more
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"Rose City Archery does not make one penny on this," says Jerry Dishion of Myrtle Point, Ore., who is president of one of the leading toy arrow companies. "We do not save one penny."
It's the kids _ Boy Scouts, school groups, Christian campers _ who will benefit, says Dishion, who feels he's suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous media coverage.
"Rose City Archery does not make one penny on this," says Jerry Dishion of... more
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- After one spectacular failure, the $700 billion financial industry bailout found a second life Wednesday, winning lopsided passage in the Senate and gaining ground in the House, where Republicans opposition softened.
Senators loaded the economic rescue bill with tax breaks and other sweeteners before passing it by a wide margin, 74-25, a month before the presidential and congressional elections.
In the House, leaders were working feverishly to convert enough opponents of the bill to push it through by Friday, just days after lawmakers there stunningly rejected an earlier version and sent markets plunging around the globe.
The measure didn't cause the same uproar in the Senate, where both parties' presidential candidates, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, made rare appearances to cast "aye" votes, as did Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware.
In the final vote, 39 Democrats, 34 Republicans and independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut voted "yes." Nine Democrats, 15 Republicans and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont voted "no."
President Bush issued a statement praising the Senate's move. With the revisions, Bush said, "I believe members of both parties in the House can support this legislation. The American people expect and our economy demands that the House pass this good bill this week and send it to my desk."
The rescue package lets the government spend billions of dollars to buy bad mortgage-related securities and other devalued assets held by troubled financial institutions. If successful, advocates say, that would allow frozen credit to begin flowing again and prevent a deep recession.
Even as the Senate voted, House leaders were hunting for the 12 votes they would need to turn around Monday's 228-205 defeat. They were especially targeting the 133 Republicans who voted "no."
Their opposition appeared to be easing after the Senate added $110 billion in tax breaks for businesses and the middle class, plus a provision to raise, from $100,000 to $250,000, the cap on federal deposit insurance.
They were also cheering a decision Tuesday by the Securities and Exchange Commission to ease rules that force companies to devalue assets on their balance sheets to reflect the price they can get on the market.
There were worries, though, that the tax breaks would cause some conservative-leaning "Blue Dog" Democrats who voted for the rescue Monday to abandon it. The bill doesn't designate a way to pay for many of the tax cuts, and Blue Dogs typically oppose any measure that swells the deficit.WASHINGTON (AP) -- After one spectacular failure, the $700 billion financial industry... more
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- After one spectacular failure, the $700 billion financial industry bailout found a second life Wednesday, speeding toward passage in the Senate and gaining ground in the House where conservative opposition seemed to soften.
Senators loaded the economic rescue bill with tax breaks and other sweeteners for the right and left, hoping to secure approval in the House by Friday, just days after lawmakers there stunningly rejected an earlier version and sent markets plunging around the globe.
The measure has not caused the same uproar in the Senate, where both parties' presidential candidates, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, were making rare appearances to vote their support. That would send the package back to the House, where passage would require a turnaround of 12 votes from Monday's 228-205 defeat.
Leaders in both parties, as well as private economic chiefs everywhere, said Congress must quickly approve some version of the measure to start loans flowing and stave off a potential national economic catastrophe.
"Inaction is not an option," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said a few hours before the Senate was to vote. "This is not a bailout for Wall Street. It's a bailout for our country."
President Bush said, "It's very important for members to take this bill very seriously."
Even as the Senate neared its vote, congressional leaders targeted the 133 House Republicans who voted against the bill Monday.
House GOP opposition appeared to be easing after the Senate added $100 billion in tax breaks for businesses and the middle class, plus a provision Republicans advocated to raise, from $100,000 to $250,000, the cap on federal deposit insurance. They were also cheering a decision Tuesday by the Securities and Exchange Commission to ease rules that force companies to devalue assets on their balance sheets to reflect the price they can get on the market.WASHINGTON (AP) -- After one spectacular failure, the $700 billion financial industry... more
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Oh My GOD, this is classical!
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According with Michael Moore, Watching C-Span yesterday morning was one of the best comedy shows I'd seen in ages. There they were, one Republican after another who had backed the war and sunk the country into record debt, who had voted to kill every regulation that would have kept Wall Street in check -- there they were, now crying foul and standing up for the little guy! One after another, they stood at the microphone on the House floor and threw Bush under the bus, under the train (even though they had voted to kill off our nation's trains, too), heck, they would've thrown him under the rising waters of the Lower Ninth Ward if they could've conjured up another hurricane. You know how your dog acts when sprayed by a skunk? He howls and runs around trying to shake it off, rubbing and rolling himself on every piece of your carpet, trying to get rid of the stench. That's what it looked like on the Republican side of the aisle yesterday, and it was a sight to behold.
The 95 brave Dems who broke with Barney Frank and Chris Dodd were the real heroes, just like those few who stood up and voted against the war in October of 2002. Watch the remarks from yesterday of Reps. Marcy Kaptur, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Dennis Kucinich. They spoke the truth. According with Michael Moore, Watching C-Span yesterday morning was one of the best... more
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a bold bid to revive President Bush's multibillion-dollar financial rescue plan, Senate leaders scheduled a vote for Wednesday night on a version of the bill that adds substantial tax cuts meant to appeal to Republicans when it reaches the House.
The goal is to net at least 12 more House votes than the rescue proposal received Monday, when lawmakers rocked the political and financial worlds by rejecting it.
The gambit is certain to anger some conservative House Democrats, who object to tax cuts that are not offset with spending cuts. But Senate strategists assume it will gain more House votes than it will lose.
If so, Congress would be poised to pass landmark legislation giving the government billions of dollars to buy deeply discounted mortgage-backed securities that are choking off credit and roiling the markets.
The strategy is risky because some House members might see it as a high-handed move by senators. Senate passage of a bailout measure has seemed assured all along. The showdown is in the House, but now the Senate is trying to force the House's hand.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., called it "a brilliant move" that will "help pick up votes on both sides of the aisle."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's reaction was much cooler. "The Senate has made a decision about how to proceed and what can pass that body," the California Democrat said. "The Senate will vote tomorrow night, and the Congress will work its will."WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a bold bid to revive President Bush's multibillion-dollar... more
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Tuesday signed into law a mammoth spending bill to keep the government running until early March 2009 that includes a $25 billion loan package for troubled automakers.
The action came after the Senate over the weekend gave final congressional approval to the more than $630 billion spending bill that was needed to finance defense, education, farm, health, foreign aid and other government programs after the current fiscal year expired on September 30.
The spending legislation allows a ban on offshore drilling to expire on September 30. Democrats had hoped to extend the ban, but did not have the votes to overcome strong opposition from Republicans.
Bush, in a statement announcing that he had signed the legislation, said the measures to lift the ban on offshore drilling "will allow us to reduce our dependence on foreign oil."
The bill sets aside $7.5 billion in taxpayer funds needed to guarantee $25 billion in low-interest loans to help General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler LLC produce more fuel-efficient cars and trucks.
U.S. automakers have said the taxpayer-backed loan package
would give them access to capital at a time when credit markets are shut and they are being driven to invest in new technologies to meet tough new federal fuel economy standards.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Tuesday signed into law a mammoth... more
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Congressional leaders and the Bush administration reached a tentative deal early Sunday on a landmark bailout of imperiled financial markets whose collapse could plunge the nation into a deep recession.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the $700 billion accord just after midnight but said it still has to be put on paper...
Read rest at Link...Congressional leaders and the Bush administration reached a tentative deal early... more
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