Breaking: Bailout bill fails, Dow roller-coasters; Update: Pelosi speech added
posted at 2:00 pm on September 29, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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This has to be considered a shocker. The bailout bill failed in the House, and it wasn’t especially close. The final tally was 207-226, with Democrats supporting it 141-94, while Republicans opposed it 66-132.
How did the markets react? Initially, with panic. Dow dropped from around a -290 to more like a -660, but then recovered within minutes to a -400. Within a few minutes after that, it rose a little further to about -360, a 300-point gain, but it continued to go up and down, and probably will all day long.
What does this mean? The Senate can always initiate their own version of the plan and re-send it to the House, but that will take some doing. Can Republicans change their votes after taking this kind of stand?
If it stands, it will be a repudiation of the leadership in both House caucuses and the Bush administration. Pelosi couldn’t hold her caucus together, and Boehner, Cantor, Blunt, and Putnam will find themselves in the minority of theirs.
Update: I guess this puts lie to the notion that an agreement existed before John McCain went back to Washington. They got more Republicans today than they had last Wednesday, and it still didn’t pass.
Update II: Here’s the speech that probably killed the agreement. Pelosi blamed the collapse on George Bush and a lack of regulation, and called Republicans hypocrites for cheering free-market principles.
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When will the republicans counter-attack against the lies being spewed by the democrats? In 4-3-2-1…
alwaysright43 on September 29, 2008 at 2:31 PM
Rush says with this golden opp to expose the Dems McCain is out there talking about earmarks. What the he!!?
Mr_Magoo on September 29, 2008 at 2:32 PM
Any fallout should be directed at Washington in generasl. both dems and rep sank this bill. they failed to take the taxpayers wishes into account and they failed to get the people behind them. It was a lack of leadership. If not for mcCain this could have lost by alot more.
unseen on September 29, 2008 at 2:32 PM
No re-vote until Nancy resigns. She has only herself to blame. Stupid bill, stupid stance and a stupid Speaker of the House. These folks have been getting calls from home that surpass the immigration fiasco. If you were up for re-election you were NOT voting for this bill. Democrat or Republican.
Cindy Munford on September 29, 2008 at 2:32 PM
Well, we patriotic Americans win round one!!!!
The bailout shills eat $hit and die…..for now. I’m sure these scum will come back at us with a new bill with MORE protections for dead beats who don’t pay their bills and corporations who are not fiscally responsible.
csdeven on September 29, 2008 at 2:32 PM
Maybe Pelosi was right when she said she didn’t have the votes!!! We know that 30 of her Reps are fresh(wo)men who might be getting an earful from their districts which were Republican two years ago, and scared of committing that much taxpayer money to bailing out Wall Street. But what about the 64 others she lost? Was the bailout bill not LIBERAL enough?
This is the GOP’s chance for real leadership. Apparently even 94 Dems were too scared of something back in their districts to vote for this. The Republicans need to find out why they voted No, and start negotiating with those who voted No for “conservative” reasons (too much taxpayer exposure, high deficits, inflation, etc.)
McCain also needs to get involved, find out who voted how and WHY (was it too liberal or too conservative?), but do it from a distance, while continuing his campaign, and start hitting on Obama’s connections to the greed-mongers at Fannie Mae. Also…where is Mitt Romney when you need him?
Steve Z on September 29, 2008 at 2:33 PM
I will bet only the ones in truly safe harbors are the ones who voted for it.
Allowing the others, if it fails, to say they did not support it.
If the bill eventually works, the non-supporters can always say they were holding out for a better bill, blah, blah, blah.
The Republicans did not fall for it, they said they were not going to be the scapegoats on a Democrat bill.
Pelosi, quit doing the political thing and put together a consensus, if you can’t call McCain, he will.
right2bright on September 29, 2008 at 2:33 PM
Yeah. What credit freeze?
davidk on September 29, 2008 at 2:33 PM
I can’t wait to see who voted for this socialist piece of crap on the GOP side. They are going to have to start whistling the Sting song, “Consider me gone,” when the voters get through with them.
Guess what? The bill failed and the country didn’t blow up.
grdred944 on September 29, 2008 at 2:33 PM
Still to come from Madame Speaker: “If John McCain hadn’t come to town, we could have had a winnable bill…”
eeyore on September 29, 2008 at 2:34 PM
So clearly you do not know Dave Rywall. He’s saying because some Dems voted against it, it is ALL their fault. That is Dave being sarcastic…
Mr_Magoo on September 29, 2008 at 2:34 PM
I have to give a pat on the back to the Democrats that voted against that “crap sandwich”. You know that Pelosi and the rest of the Demorat leadership did everything but put those member’s nuts in a vice to get them to vote for it.
NOW it is time to get serious and take a look at Mike Pence’s proposal.
Bill_Bowen on September 29, 2008 at 2:34 PM
Are you sure about that? Do they get replaced by more moderate or conservative members?
I can fully understand why they would want to dump Pelosi, but I don’t get how our side gets punished.
Buy Danish on September 29, 2008 at 2:34 PM
Get the fricking footage on Frank and all these other DEM losers out to the conservative press. Get it to the local outlets.
In the meantime, Boehner is now blaming Pelosi for her partisan speech. Great. Time to express outrage. The House GOPers seem to know what’s going on. Turn it over to them.
BuckeyeSam on September 29, 2008 at 2:34 PM
Strongest and Weakest Banks and Thrifts
KentAllard on September 29, 2008 at 2:34 PM
FIRST ONE HUNDRED HOURS!
now this.
haha, suck it you democratic douches. go to f*cking hell.
blatantblue on September 29, 2008 at 2:35 PM
“My Boy Lollipop” blames the reps for the bills failure. Self-fellatio certainly has skewed his view of reality.
Bwahahahahahaha!!!
The dems have more than enough members to pass this on their own. COWARDS!
csdeven on September 29, 2008 at 2:35 PM
The point is that most of the people were not for this bail-out. Why should we pay for the houses of people that cannot afford them and don’t bother to keep them up (many of the houses have been trashed by the ‘owners’).
rmgraha on September 29, 2008 at 2:35 PM
What did Pelosi say in her closing remarks? It must have really fired up the Republicans.
ctmom on September 29, 2008 at 2:36 PM
What if you “Bank” ins’t on it?
upinak on September 29, 2008 at 2:36 PM
Boehner and Blunt are blaming Pelosi’s partisan speech on the floor right before the vote for flipping votes toward a NO vote by some Republicans.
CP on September 29, 2008 at 2:36 PM
What a mess. We taxpayers could make some money on this deal, but the bailout would only encourage more activites like the ones that got us in this mess because the lenders would be confident that if things turned bad, Uncle Sam will save the day.
I see the thing being started by the government pushing for poor people and minorities to own a house even if they couldn’t afford it coupled with materialistic yuppies wanting the big homestead over their head.
saiga on September 29, 2008 at 2:37 PM
The counterattack has begun. Eric Cantor, holding up copy of Pelosi’s speech and saying “This is the reason…”
NightmareOnKStreet on September 29, 2008 at 2:37 PM
San Fran Nan shot off her big mouth and got her bill shoved deep in her backside. The idiot needs to be replaced . . . preferably is a Republican speaker in November.
rplat on September 29, 2008 at 2:38 PM
I have heard that the knowledge that congress is working on passing a bail out actually prevents the market from correcting–everyone is waiting for the better deal that the treasury will offer.
Count to 10 on September 29, 2008 at 2:38 PM
Do we have a roll-call yet?
lodge on September 29, 2008 at 2:38 PM
Impeach Pelosi now. She is as worthless as hen $hit on a pump handle.
saiga on September 29, 2008 at 2:39 PM
rep in congress blaming Pelosi speech for failure.
Obama blaming greed
unseen on September 29, 2008 at 2:39 PM
I didn’t understand Ed’s comment, either.
BigD on September 29, 2008 at 2:39 PM
house.gov won’t load.
Burnin’ up the bandwidth.
davidk on September 29, 2008 at 2:40 PM
Last week, Jeff Macke (CNBC – Fast Money) said that the stock market would throw a tantrum until they get what they want. We are seeing the tantrum.
.
Drill, Drill, Drill
.
Nuke, Nuke, Nuke
huckleberryfriend on September 29, 2008 at 2:40 PM
worst congress in history.
Please AMerica vote these idiots out.
unseen on September 29, 2008 at 2:40 PM
Anyone have a tally of which representatives voted yay or nay? I would like to see where my congressman stands on this issue.
Scorched_Earth on September 29, 2008 at 2:40 PM
I say let the market find its own way through this mess. Bad banks will get bought out by banks that can handle the losses. It is already happening.My wife works at Wells Fargo Bank and they are just fine. They are a diverse bank with most of its bad loans behind it.
This is clearly an effort by Frank, Pelosi, and company to cover their own a$$es and will be just a bandaid on a hemoragging artery. Might as well get back to sound economics while we await the SSI / Medicare / Baby Boomer debacle that will surely be worse.
Mr_Magoo on September 29, 2008 at 2:40 PM
Pat, get on with the ‘program’, wil ya!
“It is ALL Republicans’ fault.”
Sir Napsalot on September 29, 2008 at 2:41 PM
Does anyone know if there is a correlation between the representatives who voted “no” and the representatives who are up for re-election?
Y-not on September 29, 2008 at 2:41 PM
Is there a Roll Call anywhere?
I want to see where Conyers, Waters, King, and Rob Andrews voted.
SlimyBill on September 29, 2008 at 2:41 PM
Not quite OT: House website crushed – “constitualanche”
eeyore on September 29, 2008 at 2:41 PM
Then it is either small or it is in between in risk. There might be a fuller list on http://www.thestreet.com someplace?
KentAllard on September 29, 2008 at 2:41 PM
That was her hail Mary pass. She was hoping that the Republicans would cast their votes…but the Rep already said that they would not vote for it unless the Dems voted in unison…they know Pelosi tried to pull a fast one on them.
Wrong as it may seem, do the Dems really think common America cares about “Wall Street” and the huge salaries they make. The people scrapping by week by week, do you think they would take less just to watch a few of those jerks jump out of the buildings, to watch some of those jerks go bankrupt? Do you think they care that stockbrokers are going to lose their Beemers?
Don’t underestimate the disdain that common people have for those that have gotten rich quick. They honor hard workers, smart investors, good businessmen…but the hold in complete contempt the “I am rich and your aren’t” insiders.
This is where Palin and McCain can step out…support the common man, and take down the “man”.
right2bright on September 29, 2008 at 2:41 PM
Oh I disagree. The will of this taxpayer has been done. I’m not responsible for bad lenders and bad borrowers. Don’t speak for my tax dollars because I pay a crap load of it. I’m a business owner and if I screw up, I’m responsible, not my neighbor. If I have to eat beans for a month, so be it.
Big Orange on September 29, 2008 at 2:41 PM
Pelosis poisonous rant before the vote put the nail in the coffin of this sham.
roninacreage on September 29, 2008 at 2:41 PM
Based on public opinion of the bailout, that statement would probably be suicide for Obama. Maybe next she could blame John McCain for more drilling.
Ronnie on September 29, 2008 at 2:41 PM
huckleberryfriend on September 29, 2008 at 2:40 PM
they are acting as bad as the South central riots. they are burning their own house down. Idiots on wall street. but I’m short because I figured Pelosi couldn’t lead
unseen on September 29, 2008 at 2:42 PM
According to NRO Corner, Eric Cantor is now on TV holding up a copy of Pelosi’s speech. Barney Frank was supposedly obnoxiously partisan on the floor, too.
Wethal on September 29, 2008 at 2:42 PM
DON’T BLAME PELOSI, THANK HER!!!
roninacreage on September 29, 2008 at 2:42 PM
I think McCAin predicted this a week ago.
james23 on September 29, 2008 at 2:42 PM
No disagreement about erratic, but I’m fed up with Obama–who doesn’t appear to understand the value of an interest-bearing checking account–arguing that he’s “stronger” on the economy. Obama comes with Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Fannie, Freddie, Reid, and Pelosi tied around his neck like a cowbell, but McCain can’t seem to make it ring. What’s his problem? He’s got to latch on to someone with some credibility on the economy. Obama-Biden? Don’t make me laugh, but they win by playing four-corner stall.
BuckeyeSam on September 29, 2008 at 2:43 PM
List available anywhere yet who voted which way? Curious to see how my Rep finally voted…..He’s a D and totally wishy washy.
dustoffmom on September 29, 2008 at 2:43 PM
While I am skeptical of this bailout, that is not exactly a good measure in this circumstance. Things could possibly look just fine now and be headed for real trouble in a month, so be careful.
Count to 10 on September 29, 2008 at 2:43 PM
This is an effort to get Socialism in by the backdoor.
Still waiting for house.gov to load.
davidk on September 29, 2008 at 2:44 PM
This is nerve wracking! This kind of financial and political instability can only do grievous harm to my beloved homeland. Honestly I don’t know where to fall on this one. My gut seems to change opinion hour to hour. In the end, I must confess to believe my forebears who dragged their families hand carts across the plains and Great Divide would say “Let rotten branches fall”. We pay the price either way. Perhaps some “Though Love” is just what Capitalism needs right now. Or not. I don’t know.
ronsfi on September 29, 2008 at 2:44 PM
You can Pelosi’s speech at Drudge.
huckleberryfriend on September 29, 2008 at 2:44 PM
Oh I disagree. The will of this taxpayer has been done. I’m not responsible for bad lenders and bad borrowers. Don’t speak for my tax dollars because I pay a crap load of it. I’m a business owner and if I screw up, I’m responsible, not my neighbor. If I have to eat beans for a month, so be it.
Big Orange on September 29, 2008 at 2:41 PM
I’m saying if washington would have listened to the taxpayer instead of wall street when crafting the bill this wouldn’t have happene. The CEO’s would be punished, the system saved, the bad actors in jail or broke as* poor.
unseen on September 29, 2008 at 2:44 PM
I think it was that idiotic speech Pelosi gave that set off the firestorm that just took place. The woman cannot keep her big mouth shut and has proved that when it comes to leadership, she couldn’t lead anyone across a city street without them getting clobbered by some car in the process.
Pelosi should resign now! That, or a “no confidence” vote against her leadership should be launched right now. Chances are enough Democrats fed up with her would fall behind the Republicans and she would be forced to resign!
pilamaye on September 29, 2008 at 2:44 PM
Update: I guess this puts lie to the notion that an agreement existed before John McCain went back to Washington. They got more Republicans today than they had last Wednesday, and it still didn’t pass.I guarantee you the Dems will try to pin this on McCain: if he hadn’t shown up, we would have gotten this done. The MSM will go along with it.
Pavel on September 29, 2008 at 2:44 PM
A great many of the seats the Democrats won were conservative districts that the newly elected Democrat does not want to give up too easily. No doubt they heard from their voters and knew which side their bread was buttered on.
CC
CapedConservative on September 29, 2008 at 2:45 PM
No, any money made would be immediatly be spent by congress on their pet projects. The taxpayers wouldn’t get squat.
rmgraha on September 29, 2008 at 2:45 PM
how about leadership changes. Madame Pelosi must go -Reid as well.
Fuquay Steve on September 29, 2008 at 2:45 PM
If they don’t pass something by sunset tonight, quite a few Reps will go home for Rosh Hashanah. Isn’t that the Day of Atonement? They might have a few things to atone for, and hopefully will come back more enlightened…
Steve Z on September 29, 2008 at 2:45 PM
Honestly we all know Pelosi is scum, but the GOP throwing a temper tantrum is beyond ridiculous given the stakes.
phronesis on September 29, 2008 at 2:45 PM
It’s great to see that class warfare is alive and well within the Republican party. Enjoy your Obama presidency.
furytrader on September 29, 2008 at 2:45 PM
Oops. “Strike” is different than “quote.” Who knew?
Pavel on September 29, 2008 at 2:45 PM
Looking to see the role call vote but govtrack.us site down. Does anyone have the role call or another working site?
NightmareOnKStreet on September 29, 2008 at 2:45 PM
There worried about Main Street this is all about the Middle Class uh huh. Saving Main Street by funding Wall street with the Middle Class’s tax dollars. “Yeah No problem Nancy, help yourself. Oh you already have.
http://sarah-palin-2008.blogspot.com/2008/09/disavowal-of-pursuit-of-middleclassness.html
Dr Evil on September 29, 2008 at 2:46 PM
While I am skeptical of this bailout, that is not exactly a good measure in this circumstance. Things could possibly look just fine now and be headed for real trouble in a month, so be careful.
Count to 10 on September 29, 2008 at 2:43 PM
it will not take a month to show. We will see the results of this vote by fri. It is the end of the qrt. 401k statments are going to be shipped out soon.
unseen on September 29, 2008 at 2:46 PM
Yeah because polls should lead how Washington does business. Remind me how many percentage of the American people supported the surge in Iraq?
terryannonline on September 29, 2008 at 2:46 PM
All reps are up for reelection – they have 2 year terms. the correlation will be how left their districts are.
Vashta.Nerada on September 29, 2008 at 2:46 PM
Make no mistake – this is the end of John McCain’s candidacy. He got behind it, he brought Boehner to the table, the Republicans worked hard to improve the bill, and then the House GOP caucus walks away from the bill. The net effect of all of this is to run McCain’s underwear up the flag pole.
Outlander on September 29, 2008 at 2:46 PM
say hello to the permanent democratic majority.
phronesis on September 29, 2008 at 2:46 PM
No, it’s the new year. But the day of atonement comes soon after.
Wethal on September 29, 2008 at 2:47 PM
Now…we sit back and wait and see what happens. Look at it this way: We have won a major battle against Socialism.
mindhacker on September 29, 2008 at 2:47 PM
Just listening to Obama at his rally today. He just said that the first thing he will do once elected is to look at the bailout plan.
OMG, shouldn’t he take a gander at that fine piece of ass before he decides to chew on it should there be a vote this week?
JoeBrooks on September 29, 2008 at 2:47 PM
cramer says expect a 2500pt drop soon if the FDIc doesn’t insure deposits by more than 100,000.
unseen on September 29, 2008 at 2:47 PM
You should hear Chris Matthews on
MSNBCMSLSD. “John McCain said he’s the leader of his party but clearly he doesn’t have control of his party. He should have…”NightmareOnKStreet on September 29, 2008 at 2:48 PM
They are all up for re-election, except those who have decided to retire (not very many). Most of them (on both sides) have very safe seats, and only about 50 or 60 or so are in competitive races. There are probably enough “safe” seats out there to cover 226 No votes.
Steve Z on September 29, 2008 at 2:48 PM
It’s good to finally see some intestinal fortitude in DC. Since when is the conservative approach been to put the glutton, that is the Federal government, in charge of the cookie jar? Since when is it a conservative approach to put an non-elected bureaucrat in charge of the economy? Oh, wait we already do that! Drat!!!
lindensg on September 29, 2008 at 2:48 PM
as long as the Clinton era Community Reinvestment Act exists, bailouts will become black holes for taxpayer cash. Abolish the CRA, lower the federal consumption gas tax, lower capital gains taxes, drill now drill everywhere quit turning Paulson into a pimp for Barney Franks’ bordelo that ***** the whole globe with CRA, Fannie and Freddie with their toxic bonds.
mdetlh on September 29, 2008 at 2:49 PM
I put by pitchfork by the door for now but i,m still keeping my powder dry!!
thmcbb on September 29, 2008 at 2:49 PM
40% of the Democrats vote against it!
Why was Pelosi all smiles yesterday with her fellow Democrat leaders.
Why did she bring it to a vote if she knew so many Democrats would vote against it?
Time for Pelosi to resign?
———-
And where was the One? Why didn’t Obama rally and lead his fellow Democrats to vote for this? Obama is not a leader, he is just “present”, as usual.
albill on September 29, 2008 at 2:49 PM
say hello to the permanent democratic majority.
phronesis on September 29, 2008 at 2:46 PM
I’m not sure. the people voted this down. they melted the phone lines. the people wanted this bill to fail. the reps should get the credit of the bill failure.
unseen on September 29, 2008 at 2:49 PM
The free market will prevail – please be confident. The gov’t will not make things better – only make them worse. The country club financiers need to sweat this out. Those that can, will survive. Those that sit back and await gov’t lifeline, will drown.
Fuquay Steve on September 29, 2008 at 2:50 PM
say hello to the permanent democratic majority.
phronesis on September 29, 2008 at 2:46 PM
still not too late to go short. SDS twice short the sp500 trading at 74.sih now.
DOw and SP500 should drop another 2-3% at the close.
unseen on September 29, 2008 at 2:50 PM
That won’t stop them from being mad as hell when they lose their life savings and jobs.
phronesis on September 29, 2008 at 2:51 PM
Obama was intentionally left out of this in case it blew up. All the “leading” was done by Pelosi/Reid and if it worked, then Nancy and Dingy Harry would have forked over the lions share of credit to The ONE, saving some for themselves of course.
44Magnum on September 29, 2008 at 2:51 PM
I stand corrected, my bad. I’m not Jewish! But happy New Year to all our Jewish friends out there!
Steve Z on September 29, 2008 at 2:52 PM
Didn’t Pelosi and Reid step aside in the late WH meeting and treat this as something led by Obama?
C’mon McCain, get working with House Republicans and get something sensible that the voters can see makes sense rather than the Christmas tree that the Dems originally tried to cram down throats over the weekend. Think of the time that got blown getting sh*t such as the Acorn funding out of the bill. The GOP should be screaming about that kind of stuff. What business does Acorn have in all of this? Typical Dem bullsh*t.
BuckeyeSam on September 29, 2008 at 2:52 PM
The Roll:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll674.xml
Abby Adams on September 29, 2008 at 2:52 PM
Bad news is Pelosi, Frank, Dodd, Reid etc will stay right where they are.
The good news, and this is very good news, the market will continue to sort this mess out until another bill is fashioned. I say there will be another bill because I’m a pessimist when it comes to things political but an optimist when it comes to the marketplace adjudicating risk and establishing fair value.
The longer the time between bills the less it can muck up when it finally passes. Just as Wachovia threw in the towel yesterday I think we will see more of that now.
In the short term it will be ugly. The average bear market decline is generally about 35% with 50% the norm after bubbles or credit contractions. That’s what we are in now.
patrick neid on September 29, 2008 at 2:53 PM
Maybe try here
KentAllard on September 29, 2008 at 2:53 PM
Hey, wait a minute, why did Pelosi poison the vote if she wanted the bill to pass?
Did she deliberately destroy any chance she had for the bill to pass, or is she just stupid?
rockhauler on September 29, 2008 at 2:54 PM
For the sheer utter stupidty of the speech she gave that may have single-handedly destroyed passage of the bailout, Nancy Pelosi should either resign or be forced out by a “No Confidence” vote right now! Not tomorrow, not after breakfast, NOW!
pilamaye on September 29, 2008 at 2:54 PM
I could live with that headline. “McCain Kills Crap Bill”
Ronnie on September 29, 2008 at 2:54 PM
My, God, I had no idea Pelosi was so bad. I just never bother to listen to her.
She single-handedly doomed this vote.
“Democrats believe in a free market.”
Please, McCain and RNC, hammer the hell out of her, Dodd, Frank. Tie this millstone around them.
JudetheFossil on September 29, 2008 at 2:55 PM
Yeah, the Republicans are out there giving Pelosi credit for stopping this theft of my money.
Buddahpundit on September 29, 2008 at 2:55 PM
This is why NRO is increasingly worthless ….
From Ramesh Ponnuru:
BigD on September 29, 2008 at 2:55 PM
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