fuck!

yikes!

First to increase spending!

DJIA to 500?

Welcome to your third world country. Ugh.

oh noez...back to school for me!!!

Yeeeeeaaaaayyyyy!!!!

The people have finally been heard!

This Bailout is making me FIFTHSTY...

BUY GUNS AND FOOD
DO IT NOW

People, this is no laughing matter. It is some scary s***.

BUY GUNS AND RELIGION

Let it fail! The sooner the system collapses, the sooner we can start to put the pieces back together.

GOOD. The sooner we hit bottom, the sooner things turn around.

Guys at my high school used to vote down badly needed bailouts of the entire financial sector all the time. It was no big deal.

Well, at least McCain suspended his campaign and is working all out to make a deal happen.

Guys at my high school used to vote down badly needed bailouts of the entire financial sector all the time. It was no big deal.

JESUS will save us...this is ARE country!

Luckily, I don't have any money.

House of Reps voted down the bailout! Thanks house Republicans!!!

Thanks a lot, Texas.

Sincerely,

The United States of America.

PS. Houston = Dallas's TTToilet

Wachovia to TTT?

Wachovia to TTT?

Didn't McCain fix this already? I saw him at the debate.

Can someone offer a law-and-economics analysis of the bailout?

Politics aside, is it a good or bad idea, from the POV of a Chicago School type?

USA, USA, USA, USA....

it was stupid anyway. why can't the u.s. even get as good a deal as buffett got? i want EQUITY for my fucking $2k per u.s. citizen.

Thanks Republicans!!

Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.

I guess today was not the day for he Bolshevick Revolution in the US.

the bailout sucks. why can't the u.s. get even the same deal as buffett got?

i want EQUITY for my fucking $2k per u.s. citizen

More important, did Congress decide to mint the new Lincoln pennies???!!!

I guess today was not the day for the Bolshevick Revolution in the US.

ALERT THE INTERNET

Luckily, I don't have any money.

Republicans refuse to sign bill; send country into the next great depression!!! Why do Republicans hate America??

Where does one get 700B while already Billions in debt?

Who is John Gault?

START EXCHANGING DOLLARS FOR FOREIGN CURRENCIES.

I'M GLAD THE BAILOUT FAILED, NO GOV'T CAN TELL ME WHAT TO DO, I'M NO SOCIALIST!!!!

*shuffles back into bread line*

Actually #28, over 90 Dems voted against the bailout. Pelosi could not keep her house in order. Partisan bullshi**, as evidenced by your ignorant comment, is what led us to our current predicament.

Good. NYC rental market will fall and I'll be able to afford a decent apartment.

Actually #28, over 90 Dems voted against the bailout. Pelosi could not keep her house in order. Partisan bullshi**, as evidenced by your ignorant comment, is what led us to our current predicament.

I'M GLAD THE BAILOUT FAILED, NO GOV'T CAN TELL ME WHAT TO DO, I'M NO SOCIALIST!!!!

*shuffles back into bread line*

Islam=TTTexas

Thanks a lot GULC.

41 - The Republicans voted this shit down 2 to 1. Now please shut the fuck up.

I second #25's request for a law-and-econ take on the bailout.

WWPD -- What Would Posner Do?

What does this mean for associates at WILDMAN HARROLD? Would someone please tell me what this means for WILDMAN HARROLD?

#41, good catch, but what led to our current predicament was equal parts a failure of regulation, and the fact that Fannie and Freddie should've been somehow abolished and replaced up to a dozen private sector entities up to a 30+ years ago, and we never should've passed the Community Reinvestment Act.

TO: Elie Mystal

FROM: The management

DATE: 9/29/08

RE: Your request to be paid your “salary” in “gold bullion”
______________________________________

Dear Mr. Mystal:

Please see page 41, paragraph 41.3.2 of the relevant agreement.

Your position is unfunded at this time.

We therefore regret to inform you that your request for payment, whether in gold, USD, Swiss Franks, Euros, Wan, Yen, or otherwise is hereby DECLINED.

I AM ROGER LAU

I AM NO LONGER SEEKING JOB POSITION AT AMERICAN WALL STREET LAW FIRM

GOOD LUCK YOU IDIOTS

Pelosi's pre-vote comments were pretty inflammatory, http://www.breitbart.tv/html/184803.html, but Cantor says they cost votes? I hate Cantor. "I didn't like what you said, so I'll screw over the economy to punish you."

See how your representative voted:

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll674.xml

should I accept my offers now?
thanks- Tommy

Any idea what firms will be particualrly hard hit by the Wachovia sale to Citi?

Any idea what firms will be particualrly hard hit by the Wachovia sale to Citi?

20: you are an f'ing idiot. in case you hadn't gotten the memo, the democrats control the house by a significant number of votes. the fact that this bill didn't pass has so little to do with the republicans, but partisan 'tards like you are too wrapped up in politics to notice.

i get the sense that congress doesn't get what is at stake here. hopefully mccain and obama were just trying to dumb it down for the debate, but it didn't seem like they get it either. am i alone on this?

See how your representative voted:

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll674.xml

Damn, how many more times can Wall Street get donkey punched and GULCed before the rest of the US begins to look like the shit stain that is Houston?

KENT BROCKMAN: Without knowing all the details, would you say this is a good time to crack your neighbors' skulls open, and feast on the goo inside?

GUEST: Yes, I would, Kent.

Totally with you 42.

Damn you 61! You beat me to the (hilarious) punch!

Dear 24:

Re: Didn't McCain fix this already?

Actually, no.

If you recall, McCain suspended his campaign and flew to DC after he was informed that only 2 republican law makers supported the bailout, solicited Obama's cooperation in suspending the debate, put partisan politics aside, and to work TOGETHER to stay in DC until the bill was passed.

Obama then PISSED ALL OVER McCain, declared the offer to be a stunt, refused to return to DC (and then only reluctantly traveled to DC when summoned by the President for a 2 hour meeting) and then forced McCain to debate.

Moreover, the Democrats HAVE A MAJORITY in the House, and could have, but did not pass the bill.

F****** you very much,

Former Democrat

A law-and-econ analysis of the bailout would focus on the "moral hazard" problem.

FUCK YOU NANCY PELOSI! Once again they play politics instead of looking out for America. You have the votes, Dems, pass it if you think it is the right thing to do. Chicken shit politicians.

KENT BROCKMAN: Without knowing all the details, would you say this is a good time to crack your neighbors' skulls open, and feast on the goo inside?

GUEST: Yes, I would, Kent.

Thanks Republicans!! Instead of political grandstanding, we could be on our way to getting out of this mess. Spin this as you want conservative f***tards, but 2/3's of the democrats voted FOR the bill and 2/3's of the republicans voted AGAINST the bill. We all lose because of some hurt feelings. WTF?

hey dickwads, the agreement was for dems to provide half their votes and for repubs to supply half their votes. the democrats more than delivered on their part of the bargain. the failure here was with the republican house members. get your facts straight!

KENT BROCKMAN: Without knowing all the details, would you say this is a good time to crack your neighbors' skulls open, and feast on the goo inside?

GUEST: Yes, I would, Kent.

I agree with 64 and 66. The DEMOCRATS control Congress. It is the DEMOCRATS' fault.

Damn, now the govt can't overpay for a bunch of crap paper.

Here is a thought, perhaps it is time we stopped financing everything with debt and go back to proper ratios. We are trying to revive a credit market which is telling us we have over-borrowed.

hey dickwads, the agreement was for dems to provide half their votes and for repubs to supply half their votes. the democrats more than delivered on their part of the bargain. the failure here was with the republican house members. get your facts straight!

Damn, now the govt can't overpay for a bunch of crap paper.

Here is a thought, perhaps it is time we stopped financing everything with debt and go back to proper ratios. We are trying to revive a credit market which is telling us we have over-borrowed.

This bill failed because 2/3 of the REPUBLICANS voted it down. This WAS FAR LESS support than they expected and needed for the vote. The Democrat and Republican leaders both supported this legislation, but only the Democrats gave a majority of votes to pass it.

KENT BROCKMAN: Without knowing all the details, would you say this is a good time to crack your neighbors' skulls open, and feast on the goo inside?

GUEST: Yes, I would, Kent.

64 - The Democrats aren't going to miss you if you're dumb enough to think that's what actually happened.

Obama called McCain at 8:30 Wednesday morning to ask about issuing a joint statement re: the bailout. McCain called back at 2:30 to agree, then dropped his "I'm suspending my campaign" bit a few minutes later. He then spent the rest of the day and evening in Manhattan doing interviews with various media. He left for DC Thursday morning, not arriving at the Capitol until early afternoon. Even his own party members referred to him as an "observer" - he didn't know what was going on and made no contributions to the process. (One could even argue that his presence was a factor in the destabilization on Thursday, but that might be taking it a bit far.) Realizing that he hadn't done enough to warrant getting out of the debate, he reversed his position and agreed to participate despite the fact that the bailout wasn't set.

The man is a drama queen and far too unstable to be president. I have to say it's interesting that he made the "I'm suspending my campaign" announcement on the day that polls came out showing Obama with an 11 point bump. And shouldn't he be able to delegate campaigning to his VP if he needs to do Senate work? Oh wait, that's right, they're too afraid to let her talk to anyone and further display her astounding ignorance.

73, we got it. But that's BULLSHIT! The Democrats are too chicken shit to pass it, and then Pelosi had to go and throw mud just before the vote and complete torpedo the deal. No one is blameless in getting us to this point, but Pelosi had to try to score political points instead of doing what is right. She fucked this up, and she and Barney Frank should be held accountable. No wonder this DEMOCRATICALLY controlled Congress has the lowest approval rating in history.

64: where the heck are you getting that this is somehow the democrats fault? from cnn:

About 60% of Democrats voted for the measure, but less than a third of Republicans backed it.

LOL@Republicans angrily DEMANDING big government and the worst deficit spending in the history of the United States.

Could it be any clearer now that conservatism = nothing more than protecting the interests of big corporations and their shareholders--period?

Please don't ever, EVER try to link the words "Democrats" and "Big Government" and "government spending" again. All your pretenses are gone. What a pathetic joke.

79: 100% of Republican Presidents support the bill, but not even one Democrat President has come out in support of it. This is clearly the fault of the Democrats.

good thing you broke this news, Mystal. I wouldn't have known about it otherwise.

73, we got it. But that's BULLSHIT! The Democrats are too chicken shit to pass it, and then Pelosi had to go and throw mud just before the vote and complete torpedo the deal. No one is blameless in getting us to this point, but Pelosi had to try to score political points instead of doing what is right. She fucked this up, and she and Barney Frank should be held accountable. No wonder this DEMOCRATICALLY controlled Congress has the lowest approval rating in history.

Yeehay -

78 (73 here): that's a bullshit response and you know it! you're saying that just because nancy pelosi gave a speech, the republicans couldn't muster the courage to make a vote? wtf! the text of the bill didn't change when she gave her speech. what difference does that make?

Thanks Republicans!! Instead of political grandstanding, we could be on our way to getting out of this mess. Spin this as you want conservative f***tards, but 2/3's of the democrats voted FOR the bill and 2/3's of the republicans voted AGAINST the bill. We all lose because of some hurt feelings. WTF?

80 you are right, and this is reublicans finally saying enough is enough. The republican party sold its soul and allowed overspending at the government. The people of this country have done the same thing. Either we face the music now and feel some pain, or continue to defer the problem and only increase the magnitude later on.

P.S. anyone really think $700B was going to be enough?

Dear 69:

NEWSFLASH: The Democratic party controls both houses of congress, and decisively the House (where the measure was defeated).

Any failure of passage therefore must be laid exclusively at the feet of Democrats.

Moreover, had Obama take McCain up on his proposal to drop everything, go to Washington DC, and WORK together JOINTLY to craft a bill with bipartisan support, a bill would be on the way to the Senate awaiting ratification as we speak.

As a Democrat, now supporting John McCain, I have followed this closely.

Moreover, when a party controls a legislative body by an overwhelming majority and then fails to take action, under no plausible scenario can it blame the minority party.

No, this is not Republican politics, is legislators on both sides fearing constant wrath---all of which could have been avoided if the two DEFACTO party leaders had just set the contest aside for a few days and solved the thing.

NEWSFLASH: Obama cares not about anything but getting elected.

I blame the failure of the bail out plan on all of the Texas congressman who asked for extra time to vote because they were dealing with a river a shit flowing through their house.

I blame Ron Paul specifically and Texas generally. I'd like to point out that Tom Tancredo had the nuts to be on board.

THE DEMS DON'T NEED THE PUBS TO PASS THIS BILL! They are just too chicken shit to do it. Politics as usual.

47

"But Goldman is pretty healthy. Many lenders have so much of their capital tied up in mortgage-backed securities or other novel forms of capital that are difficult to value that they cannot attract new capital at a price that would enable the lender to continue in business. The sale of the securities would just expose their lack of value. The federal government, however, has essentially unlimited capital because of its taxing power. It is prepared at this writing to contribute perhaps as much as a trillion dollars to rebuild the capital of the banking industry. The Treasury wants to make this contribution in the form of buying the dubious securities, but that seems to be a mistake, unless pressure of time allows for no alternative. If the Treasury pays the actual value (if anyone can determine what that is) of the securities, it will not be injecting new capital into the banking industry, but merely swapping one form of capital for another. If the Treasury pays more than the securities are worth, then it is contributing capital to the industry all right, but it is also enriching the owners and managers of the banks, which creates the familiar moral hazard problem as well as upsetting people by rewarding careless management practices. The more it overpays, the most costly the bailout plan to the taxpayer.

A more palatable approach would be for the government to drive a Warren Buffett style hard bargain, in which, rather than buying anything from banks, the government would invest in them in a form, such as purchase of newly issued preferred stock, or bonds with a long maturity, that would augment the banks' capital and thus enable banks to make more loans. That would avoid conferring a windfall on the banks by overpaying them for their bad securities; no one thinks Buffett is conferring a windfall on Goldman Sachs. After the industry was back on its feet, the government could sell the bank stocks or bonds that it had acquired." -Posner, 9/28/08

http://www.becker-posner-blog.com/

I blame the failure of the bail out plan on all of the Texas congressman who asked for extra time to vote because they were dealing with a river a shit flowing through their house.

78, if some Republicans actually changed their mind on such a gigantic piece of nation-changing legislation because of Pelosi's speech, do you really think that Pelosi is the assh*le?

We all know this country needs the bill.

60% of Democrats voted for it. Only 30% of Republicans voted for it.

to 91: yes, you're right on the fact that the dems don't need the repugs to pass the bill. BUT, why does that then mean that they must carry the full burden for passing it?? your anger should be directed at the repugs whose votes were even LESS as a percentage of their membership.

Everyone thought I was a fool for spending all of my money at Tiffany!

80 you are right, and this is reublicans finally saying enough is enough. The republican party sold its soul and allowed overspending at the government. The people of this country have done the same thing. Either we face the music now and feel some pain, or continue to defer the problem and only increase the magnitude later on.

P.S. anyone really think $700B was going to be enough?

65 here. Thanks for the link, 92. I was right -- it's all about "moral hazard."

As the founding father of the now defunct Young Socialists of Saint Mary's College of Maryland, let me say the following:

I mock you.

Same river of shit in Texas, different day.

Thanks a lot, Texas.

Go Sooners!

Thanks 92. It sounds like Posner would vote against the bailout, at least in its current form.

80 you are right, and this is reublicans finally saying enough is enough. The republican party sold its soul and allowed overspending at the government. The people of this country have done the same thing. Either we face the music now and feel some pain, or continue to defer the problem and only increase the magnitude later on.

P.S. anyone really think $700B was going to be enough?

They should have never let this go to a vote if they weren't positive it was going to pass. Morons.

96, did you ever stop to think that maybe that is because this bill runs counter to traditional Republican economic philosphy? Why would you ever expect Pubs to vote for this in the same percentages as Dems? That's ridiculous. But how can you explain the number of Dems who voted against it? But if Pelosi and Fat Frank could control their membership, this would have been done.

Time to reallocate my 401k portfolio to buy more shotgun shells and canned goods. We deserve what we get from the idiots in Congress.

Pelosi...let this be a good example of what happens when you allow a woman to open her mouth and spew thoughts from her tiny little brain.

91 - Your point is retarded. You support the bailout, but are blaming the party who were twice as likely to vote for it than the other guy?

Time to reallocate my 401k portfolio to buy more shotgun shells and canned goods. We deserve what we get from the idiots in Congress.

Feel free to bicker about House dems or GOP'ers, but one thing's for sure:

Pelosi is an irresponsible jackass for making that speech.

I specifically blame all the folks on this board who can't figure out how to only post their comment once. More generally, I blame all people who know way to much about the kids at their high school and the significance of those kids' actions.

Posted by guest | Permalink

96, did you ever stop to think that maybe that is because this bill runs counter to traditional Republican economic philosphy?
__________________________________________

Have you ever stopped to think that the last 28 years of Republican-controlled government has run counter to "traditional Republican economic philosophy"?

Have you ever stopped to think that "traditional Republican economic philosophy" actually consists of "What's Good for Goldman Sachs is Good for America"?

Thanks for breaking this story! I wouldn't have known about it otherwise.

I'm glad we have lots of (would-be?) lawyers here giving there input, too. They know a lot about economics.

108, 91 here, where did I say I support the bailout? I'm just sick of the fucking political games. Do what you think is right for the country and shut the fuck up! We should vote every one of these fucking idiots out of office.

Yay! I'm so hoping capitalism dies today.

Democratic socialism lies ahead!

Feel free to bicker about House dems or GOP'ers, but one thing's for sure:

Pelosi is an irresponsible jackass for making that speech.

Barney Frank offers to make the Republicans whose feelings were hurt feel better so that they won't punish the country with their next vote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLPki41U-lE

Texas is making this county swallow one gigantic fecal pill after another.

GULC is looking better and better.

this post has zero relevance to the summer associate class at WILDMAN HARROLD.

Ellie = Epic Fail = not WILDMAN HARROLD material

Anyone else thinkin' this looks like a good time to pass a Constitutional Amendment banning same sex marriages?

House Republicans = epic fail.

Enough said.

- Gallion

this post has zero relevance to the summer associate class at WILDMAN HARROLD.

Ellie = Epic Fail = not WILDMAN HARROLD material

So when the posts were about Thelan instead of the bailout, people complained, and now that the posts are about the bailout instead of the legal profession, people complain.

Gotcha.

I hear suicide is painless.

I specifically blame all the folks on this board who can't figure out how to only post their comment once. More generally, I blame all people who know way to much about the kids at their high school and the significance of those kids' actions.

It is unbelievable that Lat hasn't been able to fix the posting function on this site for years now. How difficult can it be to fix? How many multiple posting fools do we need before someone fixes it?????

Word on the street is that Trig Palin botched up the bail out plan vote.

Thanks a lot, Trip Palin and Texas.

"to 91: yes, you're right on the fact that the dems don't need the repugs to pass the bill. BUT, why does that then mean that they must carry the full burden for passing it??"

cuz the dems are responsible for it. even after discoveriong irregular accounting practices, the dems refused to overhaul freddie and fannie. calls for oversight by the republicans was met with by calls of racism.

let the dems clean up their mess.

I have no idea if the bailout is a good move or not. But what is obvious is that a vote for anyone on this issue is politically risky. Dems hate the bill because it's a Wall St./big corporation bail out. Republicans hate it because it goes against core philosophies. Main St. hates it because nobody is bailing them out. Anyone who voted for it took a big personal risk to try to fix the problem. 2/3 of Dems took that big risk. Only 1/3 of Republicans did. That tells me something.

KENT BROCKMAN: Without knowing all the details, would you say this is a good time to crack your neighbors' skulls open, and feast on the goo inside?

GUEST: Yes, I would, Kent.

Rich republic snobs don't care about the bailout and they don't want the govt stopping them from acting as stupidly as they did when they got us into this crisis. That's the whole story.

I blame Islam=TTT.

Couric: You've cited Alaska's proximity to Russia as part of your foreign policy experience. What did you mean by that?

Sarah Palin: That Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and, on our other side, the land-boundary that we have with Canada. It's funny that a comment like that was kinda made to … I don't know, you know … reporters.

Couric: Mocked?

Palin: Yeah, mocked, I guess that's the word, yeah.

Couric: Well, explain to me why that enhances your foreign-policy credentials.

Palin: Well, it certainly does, because our, our next-door neighbors are foreign countries, there in the state that I am the executive of. And there…

Couric: Have you ever been involved in any negotiations, for example, with the Russians?

Palin: We have trade missions back and forth, we do. It's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia. As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there, they are right next to our state.

oh f*ck, now I look like the idiot -- ok, Elie/Lat/whoever, fix your server -- the multiple posts are getting frustrating

There sure are a lot of anonymous commenters trying to figure out who to blame here. Are all of you running for office or something?

128 are you kidding? The republicans systematically deregulated every institution that has caused or been affected by this crisis. Good lord. this is the biggest republican mess of all time.