Archive for September 29th, 2008
Did Hurt Feelings Torpedo Bailout Plan?
“The crisis is still with us.”
So declared House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose scathing speech near the end of the debate on the bill, blaming Pres. Bush for the economic crisis facing the nation, apparently convinced a dozen Republican members of Congress to vote “no” on a compromise bailout plan that had bipartisan support.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) chided those who may have voted against the bill because of the Pelosi speech.
“Because somebody hurt their feelings they decided to punish the country,” he charged.
“Give me those 12 names and I will go talk uncharacteristically nice to them.”
No Movement On 9/11 Health Bill
Congress is doing a fine job quickly getting a bill through the process to bailout the ailing financial system in the United States. It’s too bad it can’t put a little bit of that effort toward helping those who were sickened as a result of the 9/11 attacks.
After all, it’s “only” been seven years since the terrorists hit New York, Shanksville and Washington.
Today, four members of Congress from New York, two Republicans and two Democrats, are expressing “regret” that HR 7174, the revised bipartisan 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, will not be able to move to passage in these, the waning days of the current House session.
Democrats Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler, and Republicans Vito Fossella and Peter King, have issued a joint statement pledging to renew their efforts to get legislation passed during the next session.
The $11 billion bill would assure treatment of firefighters, medics, police officers, construction workers, clean-up crews, residents, people who work near Ground Zero and school children who are now sick as a result of exposure to toxins from the World Trade Center site. Although most live in the New York/New Jersey area, some 10,000 people from all 50 states responded to Ground Zero to assist in the search and rescue, recovery and clean up of the site. Many are sick. Others are concerned they will still fall ill.
In addition, more than 400,000 people are believed to have been exposed to toxins from the World Trade Center site. The Congress members say nearly 16,000 responders and at least 2,700 residents or people working in lower Manhattan are sick and receiving treatment. More than 40,000 responders are currently in medical monitoring; 71,000 more are enrolled in the WTC Health Registry.
The bill would have assured compensation for those who suffered economic losses as a result of their WTC-related illnesses.
Today’s Vote Fraught With Political Danger
Members of Congress are faced with a difficult situation today.
They’ve been told by Pres. Bush and some noted economists that if they don’t vote for the Wall Street bailout plan that was hurriedly put together the past several days there will be panic in the financial world and banks won’t be able to lend money to keep the economy rolling.
Yet there is widespread constituent dissatisfaction over the bailout. Many Americans resent the government spending $700 billion to save the financial institutions that approved and made loans that are now in default. But is doing nothing to help those who took out the loans.
It’s a classic clash of class.
Leaders of both political parties worked out a plan that they insist sets limits. CEOs of troubled financial institutions would see their salaries capped. And there would be strict oversight to ensure that, this time, the money would be well invested.
If the investments fail, the financial institutions would pay the government back through fees or taxes in five years. Of course, presumably, if things continued to sour, they wouldn’t be in a position to pay back the money. On the other hand, if there’s an economic upswing, this could turn out to be a good investment for the government, which could later sell the assets it would be purchasing at a profit.
In the end, what was approved is a compromise. It’s not exactly what the president first proposed. And it didn’t include everything members of each party wanted.
The House is expected to vote on the proposal today. Congress is in recess tomorrow for Rosh Hashana. But the Senate would vote on the measure as early as Wednesday.
The haste in which this process is being conducted, perhaps, under the circumstances, necessary, puts the American people in a position of having to trust a Congress whose approval rating is already low, to do the right thing.
