Now the States Want Handouts Too: California and Massachusetts Put in Their Wish Lists

Well, well, well.

Now the states are lining up for handouts too, wanting the same kind of deal that Wall Street got. Two states--California and Massachusetts--want money as well.

The floodgates are now open; where will this end? And how many states will try to climb on this gravy train?

And I oppose bailing out the states. They should not be treated like banks; they need to make cuts to their budgets so they can operate within their means, just as the federal government must as well. The states need to start lowballing their expectations for monthly income so that they can budget responsibly.

All bills and debts eventually come due, and yet everybody wants the federal government to pay for everything, in the here and now. WE CAN'T AFFORD IT:

The Gross National Debt

Eventually the time will come where the federal government will have to crash it's own budget to pay what it owes to foreign banks; it's going to be really ugly when it does. This is no way to run a government.

This gravy train shouldn't leave the station or see the light of day. The states are responsible for their OWN budgets.

$700 Billion Bailout/Mistake is Actually $850 Billion With Vote Buyoffs

The $700 bailout of Wall Street's Folly will actually be $850 billion with the bribes paid out to members of Congress to change their votes from "nay" to "yay."

Here is the list of pork that was added to the bill:

• $100 million for the construction of a race track.
• $49 million to spread the taxes out from the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster over three years.
• $239 million payout to fishermen who suffered losses during the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
• $3.3 billion for a "Secure rural schools and community self-determination program."
• $3.3 billion in tax cuts for people who don't pay state taxes.
• $478 million for Hollywood.
• $148 million for wool subsidies.
• $33 million for development costs to American Samoa.
• $10 million for a fringe benefit to employers whose employees ride their bicycles to work.
• $322 million for manufacturers of efficient appliances--not for people who buy them!
• $192 million for rum duties. The pirates will be very happy about this provision.
• $2 million for production of wooden arrows for children.

The provisions listed above are the most objectionable ones (in my opinion) in the entire objectionable bill; here is the complete list as compiled by the Taxpayers for Common Sense watchdog group.

House Passes Senate Version of $700 Billion Mistake: Wall Street's Folly is Now Washington's Folly Too

The House rushed through passage of the $700 billion bailout bill, and President Bush hurriedly signed it, clearing the way for this new chapter of the fiasco to proceed.

And Wall Street didn't even bat an eye. When the Senate passed the bill, Wall Street rewarded it with a 350 point loss. When the House and the Administration did their thing today, Wall Street yawned, turned over and lost another 157 points.

Why?

Because now they don't think that this was the right thing to do. Thanks a lot, guys.

In the meantime, here is the complete list of Representatives who changed their vote:

Republican Representatives: Alexander, Barrett, Biggert, Boustany, Buchanan, Coble, Conaway, Dent, Fallin, Frelinghuysen, Gerlach, Hoesktra, Knollenberg, Kuhl, Myrick, Ramstad, Ros-Lehtinen, Schmidt, Shadegg, Shuster, Sullivan, Terry, Thornberry, Tiberi, and Wamp. One note: Welling didn't vote for the first time in his tenure.

Democratic Representatives: Abercrombie, Baca, Berkley, Braley, Carson, Cleaver, Cuellar, Cummings, Edwards (MD), Giffords, Green, Hirono, Jackson (IL), Jackson-Lee, Kilpatrick, Lee, Lewis (GA), Mitchell, Ortiz, Pascrell, Pastor, Rush, Schiff, Scott (GA), Solis, Sutton, Thompson(CA), Tierney, Watson, Welch (VT), Woolsey, Wu, and Yarmuth.

One important note: Jim McDermitt (D-WA) was the sole Representative to switch his 'yea' vote to 'nay' the second time around.

I don't think any of the Representatives listed above or any of their colleagues that voted 'yea' for this bill should be returned to Congress for another term by their constituents.

This is a huge and costly mistake. It should have been a $700 billion loan, not a freebie.

Time for some incumbents to be turned out of office. Specifically, 75 senators and 263 Representatives.

And we've only seen the beginning of this bailout. Now everyone will want one too.

House Did the Right Thing in Voting Down $700 Billion Mistake-In-Progress: Yesterday's Massive Stock Market Sell-Off Looks Silly Today

Yesterday's rejection of the $700 billion bailout plan of Wall Street's Folly by the House of Representatives was exactly what was needed. The vote SHOULD have been 435-0 against the plan, but some badly misguided Representatives were not on the side of the American taxpayer.

And yesterday's knee-jerk reaction on Wall Street was sheer panic, nothing more. They badly overreacted to a very bad plan that even Wall Street is lukewarm about, as evidenced by today's stock market results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered 485 points of the 777 points that they lost yesterday. The way that it goes up and down, they could make that back within a day or two.

I REALLY enjoyed Speaker Pelosi's pre-vote speech. I could just see the votes flying straight out the window and into the nearest toilet. Nice job, Speaker Pelosi. Yesterday's vote was symbolic of both her speakership and of Democratic control of Congress. More from the do-nothing majority party.

Now, Congress should offer to LOAN Wall Street $700 billion, in exchange for certain concessions on the part of companies that accept the lifeline: a large share of their profits go back to repaying the taxpayer, in addition to repayment plans to the U.S. treasury, and so forth. And they can NEVER leverage mortgages again, and can only borrow a percentage of their total net worth, not thirty times their total net worth.

THAT'S fair to the taxpayer, and will allow the companies to survive. And if a company goes under, the proceeds from the sale of assets of the company go to reimbursing the U.S. treasury.

NO corporate handouts, Congress.