There was some concern that the bill was not going to pass the House today and, sure enough, it did not. The Bush Administration, Secretary Paulson, Chairman Bernanke and senior Democratic leadership all supported the bill but the majority of Republicans did not. As a result, the bill appears to be dead in the water.
The DOW was down roughly 700 points after the bill was defeated but this bill is not about the Stock Market, it’s about the credit markets. This bill was designed, fundamentally, to help open up the credit markets. If one looks as at the current Government Bond rates the 3 month yield is at less than one percent – that is to say there is NO MONEY AVAILABLE.
This crisis is about credit, plain and simple. Without credit business cannot spend and growth will stall – if not decrease. Personal credit will dry up and households will not be able to make large purchases such as cars, washers and home improvements. Students may not be able to get loans for college…. and it can go on and on.
What I am not seeing here is leadership on the Republican House side. Where are the leaders making their case as to why they are not passing the bill and what the course of action is? Where is the Republican House leadership and why can they not deliver the votes they need?
For the very, very first time I am truly worried about the financial situation in the United States.
UPDATE: Voting Record
Care to see the AYES/NOES on the bill, you can check it out here.
UPDATE 2
You have to be kidding me – Republican Leadership is blaming Speaker Pelosi for being bipartisan as to why the bill failed. Supposedly she was too negative.
Yes, she hammered the Bush Administration – and I do not agree with what she had stated – but how petty is that if that is truly the case.
Here is the speech (in RealMedia format)
Here is another version – flash player based
So the general feeling is Republicans did not vote due to the fact that she was hammering the current administration. Again, I don’t agree with what she has stated but this is a time to put politics aside and get the deal done.
UPDATE 3
John McCain is shooting back at Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi. Both sides, no matter what is said, need to wake up.
UPDATE 4
To play politics for a second – the Democrats have the majority in the House of Representatives and could pass the Bill on their own if they truly wanted to. If that is the case, how come this failed because of the Republicans?
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