From the Wall Street Journal:
Senate Passes Bailout Package
House Passage Remains Less CertainWASHINGTON — The Senate’s revamped bailout package drew support from 74 lawmakers in a roll call vote Wednesday evening, and the measure will now return to the balky House of Representatives for another vote following its unexpected rejection on Monday.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid speaks to the media on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.
The Senate approved a new bill loaded with tax breaks for business and an increase in deposit-insurance limits. It will be taken up in the House Friday.
The Senate bill is the latest twist in a dramatic week for a plan the president has said is vital to ensure the proper functioning of financial markets and, by extension, the broader economy. On Monday, the House delivered a stunning defeat to an earlier version of the bill amid a populist backlash from voters, tanking stock markets.
Stunned by the market reaction, lawmakers regrouped and added new items to the bill to win the extra needed support. One big change is the introduction of a 10-year, $150.5 billion package of tax proposals, including measures to ease the bite of the so-called alternative minimum tax and research-and-development tax credits coveted by high-tech companies and drug makers.
Count me among those who agree with Newt Gingrich… The Bush Administration’s handling of this has been irresponsible.
From CNSNews.com:
Bush’s Handling of Financial Crisis ‘Irresponsible,’ Gingrich Says
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
By Tiffany Gabbay(CNSNews.com) – Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich blasted President George Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Tuesday over the proposed financial bailout, saying the president “is being absolutely irresponsible” in his handling of the problem.
“There are steps that the administration could take today that would dramatically improve where we are immediately, without legislation” Gingrich said.
“If the president believes anything he is saying in his speeches about how big this crisis is, he should pick up the phone this morning and call SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) Chairman Chris Cox and tell him to suspend the ‘mark-to-market’ accounting rules, which are the fundamental problem today and can be suspended.”
The mark-to-market system of accounting requires all assets, mortgages, and holdings to be valued at their current market value, regardless of whether that reflects their true worth.
It is an accounting practice that “literally hundreds of the most revered economists” blame for 70 percent of the current problem in the financial markets, Gingrich said.
“If you calculate 70 percent of $700 billion, that is $490 billion” he said.
Lets hope Republicans in the House can kill this turkey once and for all… Let them know what think: 202-224-3121.