OBAMA'S RESPONSE TO THE BAILOUT COMPROMISE

[HopeforChange]

This following response is posted on the Obama Website
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The breakthrough between Congress and the Administration is the culmination of a sorry period in our history, in which reckless speculation and greed on Wall Street and lax oversight from Washington led to a meltdown of our financial markets. But regardless of how we got here, a failure to deal with the current crisis would have devastating consequences for our economy, costing millions of Americans their jobs and retirement security.

To understand how this tentative deal was reached, it's important to remember how this all began. The Bush Administration initially asked for a blank check to respond to this problem, which I strongly opposed. It would have been unconscionable to expect the American people to hand this Administration or any Administration a $700 billion check with no conditions and no oversight when a lack of oversight in Washington and on Wall Street is exactly what got us into this mess. If the American people are being asked to pay for the solution to this crisis, their tax dollars must be protected.

That is why over the past ten days, in conversations with the President, Secretary of Treasury and leaders of Congress, I laid out the four core principles I believed had to guide any solution: oversight by an independent board; protections for taxpayers to ensure that they are treated like investors and that they receive any profits - and recoup any losses - from this plan; measures to help homeowners stay in their homes; and rules to make sure CEOs are not being rewarded at taxpayers' expense. While I look forward to reviewing the language of the legislation, it appears that the tentative deal embraces these principles.

When taxpayers are asked to take such an extraordinary step because of the irresponsibility of a relative few, it is not a cause for celebration. But this step is necessary. Now Washington has to show the same sense of urgency in dealing with the crisis facing Main Street and the middle class by passing an emergency economic stimulus plan that would create jobs by rebuilding our crumbing roads; shore up flagging state budgets to prevent drastic cuts in education and health care; and extend expiring unemployment insurance benefits for those who've lost their jobs in this downturn and cannot find new ones.

One final point. If elected President, I will order a thorough review of this plan to make sure that it fully lives up to the principles I've laid out. And I will also move quickly to upgrade our financial regulations for the 21st century, establishing new rules of the road and tougher oversight to ensure that the American taxpayers are never again forced to put their money and their futures at risk because of bad decisions in Washington and on Wall Street.

[ShortnFiery]

1. Then Congress can pass the bill after Obama is Inaugurated. I don't trust the BushBotBorg. eom.

[scheming daemons]

22. If it doesn't pass now, we'll be in a full-blown depression by Jan 20.... you just don't get it

Our houses are burning... and you're saying we should tell the fire department to not come until Jan 20.


The houses will be a pile of ashes by then.


My brother works in the investment banking industry.


Washington Mutual and Wachovia both going under in the past 4 days..... Do you not GET IT? That's the 1st and 4th largest banks in the country.


THIS NEEDS TO BE FIXED RIGHT NOW.


Damn...The American people are incredibly economically illiterate.

[Eric J in MN]

2. Major legislation shouldn't be decided in ten days.

Regarding the notion that no bill = costing "millions of Americans their jobs and retirement security"

not everyone agrees.

I'm sure Bernie Sanders would support the bailout instead of opposing it if he believed that.

[Skink]

3. Wall Street presumably threatened the baby boomers retirement accounts.

They (wall street)would let things implode if they didn't get their way.

[Heather MC]

4. Thanks President Obama but I sorry this bailout is a horrible Idea

The 700 billion was a number pulled out of then air.
There hasn't been an investigation of exactly how much bad debt is out there

And I don't think it's fair we are giving money to companies without them having to expose their business practices

We already have programs in place to big businesses from going completely under
it's call Chapter 11, just ask K-Mart How well that worked out for them.

All so in the past when there has been a major company that has gone under, people have been sent to jail, Keating 5, Enron, I am sure there are more but those are the 2 that come to mind.

Seems to me before we go handing these bastards Billions, we need to expose what they have been doing since 2000 or so to get into this mess. And if any of it is criminal they shouldn't be given taxpayer money.

What's that old saying, they are to many crooks err cooks in the kitchen.

Senator Obama I hope you don't vote for this Cocomamy plan.

have no fear you will always have my vote, but on this deal you do not have my support

[endthewar]

5. Great points.

Rachel Maddow put it best when she showed a quote by Paulson in which he stated that the $700 billion was just a large amount of money selected. She said that he wanted a pile of money, not sure how much, but just wanted to make sure that the pile was very, very, big. :rofl:

[Heather MC]

6. Exactly, on that fact alone they should have tossed out the bill

this hole thing started from a place of pure fear and bullshit.

Once Buh went on TV is did put some people in a panick, which is what they wanted

The sad thing is all he did was recycle his bullshit speech about the Iraq war

this is bad.

The housing Market started falling in 2005
where has the urgency been in the last 3 years? Why now
40 days b4 an election 4 months b4 Bush is gone forever
and they pull this out of their ass

Personally if the repukes are even willing to work with the Bush Admin, why are the Dems?

I wish that spent the last 10 impeaching his ass. As it stand right now. For all the crimes Bush/ and Cheney Commited, we still will be paying for their asses for the rest of the lives. How sick is that?

[Zynx]

8. An investigation would take years. That isn't a feasible option.

[PVnRT]

16. ...and it won't be paid out at once

They get $250B to start with. Further payments require Congressional approval, and in the meantime, they can start oversight and investigations. No one is giving the administration a blank check here.

[weezie1317]

18. Without this bill, more banks will go under. They don't file Chapter 11. People will lose...

their ability to get credit -- more than we already have. Most people won't be able to buy houses, cars, credit cards or start new business. Existing small and mid-sized businesses will fail. Large business will have massive layoffs.

This plan isn't about saving some crook. It's about saving the banks, our money and our ability to have credit on an ongoing basis.

[FatDave]

25. I don't claim to be any kind of financial wizard, so I'm sure it's worse than I understand, but...

...did you just say people won't be able to buy things they can't afford? The horror!

[weezie1317]

28. No, I didn't. I said people won't be able to get credit period. Even credit you can afford.

[FatDave]

30. I understand what you're saying. I just don't necessarily see it as bad.

Easy credit and it's irresponsible use has inflated the price of everything to ridiculous levels. Sooner or later there's gotta be an adjustment. I say let's get it over with so buying on credit becomes an option, not a necessity.

[weezie1317]

31. Again, it's not about easy credit or irreponsible use. It's about not getting any credit -- even...

hard-earned credit used responsibly. I completely agree that there has to be an adjustment, and I think that's being made with or without this bailout plan. The easy credit has been gone for at least a year now.

[stillcool]

26. I thought it was 350 billion, no?

What would happen if the Treasury just continued to dump billions into the stock market? Would that be better or worse?

[Coexist]

7. kick

[polichick]

9. There's nothing in the bill that limits salaries - sorry, I suspect it's a GIANT SCAM...

I would table ANYTHING the administration comes up with until after the election.

[Indenturedebtor]

11. Yes but they haven't bought you a house and a cushy career yet

Perhaps with 2 million dollars of "friendly donations" in your pocket you would feel differently? Anyways who cares what you think. Does anyone spend a moment considering what the cow dreamed of before one takes a bite out of a hamburger? :shrug:

[polichick]

13. So Obama caved so fast because of the bennies??

[Indenturedebtor]

15. No because of the politcal reality of it I think

The neocons backed Dems into a corner on this one, and Obama is not in a position to take a strong position at this point. This is a lose lose situation right now. We needn't lose an entire branch of government over it. I am more angry at Pelosi and Reid for not standing up to this... If Obama loses the election this country is utterly doomed. If Pelosi and Reid lose their elections then they can be replaced with Dems.

[polichick]

19. I agree about Pelosi and Reid - they should have tabled it until after the election.

[weezie1317]

23. You realize that means we'll have a DEPRESSION, right? We're already late in getting this done.

[polichick]

34. We may anyway AND have less money for the next president to work with...

There's no guarantee this will help at all.

[Indenturedebtor]

35. There's more than one way to peel an onion. n/t

[girl gone mad]

10. "it appears that the tentative deal embraces these principles."

I wish he would seek out better advice.

[ShortnFiery]

12. I suggest that if Obama doesn't vote "no" on this bail out, he will LOSE.

The American People will have NONE OF THIS! :grr:

[depakid]

14. I see the same highly vocal ideologues who would collapse the economy

are already here in force.

[smiley_glad_hands]

17. Gobama. eom

[geiger]

20. i didnt want to read this whole thing,

because, frankly, there should have been a stronger comment at the "debate."

but it's time for the new geniuses (Axelrod is a fucking genius) to take a lesson from James Carville. We're right. They are wrong.

GIVE A SHORT ANSWER, AND, GIVE A LONG ANSWER.


edited to add a comma

[L0oniX]

21. How about some justice for a change.

[BlueInPhilly]

24. How about a cash-only economy?

Because that's what going to happen VERY VERY soon if the bailout doesn't happen.

Geez, I wish people would stop attacking things they don't understand. This is no longer a blue or red problem, but an American problem.

The sooner you guys get on board, the smoother things are going to be.

[L0oniX]

27. So you are for these wall street thieves? No penalty for what they are doing to us?

[BlueInPhilly]

29. "Wall Street Thieves" is a description you coined

They aren't stealing your money. The deal is to inject liquidity back into the market.

[L0oniX]

32. So then who is it that made the arm loans to the unqualified buyers?

[Silent3]

33. If they're are only two choices...

...(which I don't believe is true) and they are saving the economy OR punishing the "bad guys", I'll take saving the economy.

I certainly don't believe the situation is that simplistic, but when you ask questions like, "So you are for these wall street thieves?" you act not only as if you believe the situation is that simplistic yourself, but that you favor hurting everyone just to make sure the people you want to hurt get hurt, no matter the collateral damage.

[TheBigotBasher]

36. This is not an American problem

this is a World wide problem caused (yet again) by stupid Republican policies.