On the way home from taking Betsy-Bee to dance class this afternoon, I heard Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi being interviewed on NPR. Here’s my paraphrase of what she said:
1) This economic crisis and all the bad loans and everything is Bush’s fault —and somehow, by extension, it’s McCain’s fault.
2) Congress bears absolutely no responsibility for the crisis, and we’re not going to anything to resolve it. (That’s almost a direct quote.) Except McCain. Even though he’s a member of Congress, the same Congress that is not responsible for this problem, it’s his fault, and he should have done something to stop it.
3) I don’t know what to do. I didn’t know this crisis was coming. And it’s certainly not my fault. Nobody told me what was going on. I am ignorant and totally not responsible.
4) We Democrats will sit back and watch the country go to h— in a handbasket before we will work with the present administration or with Republicans in Congress to do anything. We might vote for something if you tell us what to do and then give us the credit if it works.
And now McCain is suspending his campaign to go to Washington to try to work with these people who have no interest in working out anything. I think it’s the right thing for him to do, but if The Anchoress is right, it’s also a bad move politically.
I don’t know if the decision is good politics or even if McCain can do anything with such obstructionists as Ms. Pelosi. But I admire him more than I ever did. I think he’s doing what he thinks is right for the country. And Obama says, “Call if you need me.”
By the way, this idea makes sense to me. Go, Dave!
I just listened to President Bush’s address to the nation, and here’s my interpretation of that:
1) I know you don’t want to give a lot of money to banks and rich Wall Street tycoons, and neither do I. But people who know stuff about banks and the economy told me that we have to do it.
2) So I’m reading this stuff about how all this economic crisis stuff happened, and I don’t understand it either. But I’m reading it anyway.
3) If we don’t pump seven hundred mumble, mumble dollars into the economy, then very bad things are going to happen. You might not be able to borrow money, even if you have a good credit rating, and your employer might not be able to borrow money, and you might lose your job.
4) So we, the people, in the form of your elected government, are going to buy all these bad loans that people aren’t paying because they don’t have enough money, and we’re going to hold them until the people do have enough money. Then, we’ll all get our money back, and everyone will live happily ever after.
I heard that too. I thought it was incredible that one of our supposed top leaders is such a nut-case. I was just as shocked as you to hear this.
the transcript and audio is here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95007325
It is so alarming. I do wish folks had listened to Ron Paul.
Seems to me that Speaker Pelosi forgot which president it was that opened up the banks and this free-wheeling, give a house to EVERYONE, even if they can’t pay for it. That would be Mr. Clinton. This is probably one of the most important things Congress has had to do this year, and STILL they are too busy trying to attach riders instead of moving forward!
I have to say that I am surprised by neither one of these politicians’ responses to the questions and crisis at hand. The only one making a slight bit of sense seems to be Barney Frank, who heads up the House Financial Services Committee. We have to hold these banks and tycoons responsible for their risky actions…they new these people had poor credit and still they authorized hefty loans to them without collateral….they then made up credit default swap instruments to bet on the success of their stupidity…only to find out that they have no idea how to value these imaginary assets. GIVE ME A BREAK! These people should be punished, allowed to go under. If the rest of us who have good credit, savings, and other assets cannot hold up the economy, then who can…because it is certainly not going to be the government while it holds onto worthless pieces of paper.
ok, I’ll get off my soapbox now. I write about this stuff too much daily…sorry!
Yep. That’s what it sounded like to me too.