Defiant House Rejects Huge Bailout; Next Step Is Uncertain

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Jeff T.
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Defiant House Rejects Huge Bailout; Next Step Is Uncertain

Postby Jeff T. » Tue Sep 30, 2008 9:11 pm

some quotes from the NYTS

WASHINGTON — Brendan Smialowski for The New York Times

some Republicans cited ideological objections to government intervention, and liberal Democrats said they were of no mind to race to aid Wall Street tycoons. Other critics complained about haste and secrecy in assembling the plan.
In impassioned speeches on the House floor, Democrats and Republicans alike vented their frustration over the nation’s perilous economic condition and the uncomfortable position they were in, facing pressure to approve an unpopular bailout package during an election year, with no guarantee that it would work.

“This is a huge cow patty with a piece of marshmallow stuck in the middle of it and I am not going to eat that cow patty,” said Representative Paul Broun, Republican of Georgia.

“Nobody wants to do this,” said Representative Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, who nonetheless voted for it. “Nobody wants to clean up the mess created by Wall Street recklessness.”

In the speech that Republicans said infuriated them, Ms. Pelosi accused Mr. Bush of squandering the budget surpluses of the Clinton years. “They claim to be free-market advocates, when it’s really an anything-goes mentality,” she said. “No supervision. No discipline. And if you fail, you will have a golden parachute and the taxpayer will bail you out.”

Democrats later said that if her speech truly cost votes, then Republicans, in the words of Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, were guilty of punishing the country because Ms. Pelosi had hurt their feelings.

“I think we will be back in a couple of days with a proposal more palatable to more members,” said Representative John Yarmuth, a Kentucky Democrat who voted against the plan. “You don’t make the biggest financial decision in the history of this country in a few days’ time without hearings.”