Another Neocon Terrorist Attack

Nancy Pelsosi said today in so many words that she's not buying that piece of garbage that Paulson is faxing over from the Bush White House.

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that Congress should not write a "blank check" to Wall Street in a bill to allow the U.S. to buy up distressed assets.

In a statement issued Sunday evening, Pelosi said a Treasury proposal received by Congress "does not include the necessary safeguards" and that congressional Democrats "will not simply hand over a $700 billion blank check to Wall Street and hope for a better outcome."

I hope she does as good as she talks. And some members of Congress are expressing themselves in even stronger terms. One Democratic House member whose name was not revealed sent this e-mail, obscenities and all:

Paulsen and congressional Republicans, or the few that will actually vote for this (most will be unwilling to take responsibility for the consequences of their policies), have said that there can't be any "add ons," or addition provisions. Fuck that. I don't really want to trigger a world wide depression (that's not hyperbole, that's a distinct possibility), but I'm not voting for a blank check for $700 billion for those mother fuckers.

Nancy said she wanted to include the second "stimulus" package that the Bush Administration and congressional Republicans have blocked. I don't want to trade a $700 billion dollar giveaway to the most unsympathetic human beings on the planet for a few fucking bridges. I want reforms of the industry, and I want it to be as punitive as possible.

Henry Waxman has suggested corporate government reforms, including CEO compensation, as the price for this. Some members have publicly suggested allowing modification of mortgages in bankruptcy, and the House Judiciary Committee staff is also very interested in that...

And it goes on in a similar vein.

We need more lawmakers like that one, to get things done and shock Sarah Palin. We also need a bailout that's a two-way street, with lots of mortage contracts rewritten to reflect current house values and strict accountability for lenders, with appropriate punishments for rule breakers.

As usual, I gathered all this information from Atrios at Eschaton.

Bush and Paulson are trying to use the fact that Wall Street traders are still nervous and unpredictable to stampede Congress into rubber stamping their 700-billion-dollar taxpayers' bailout of finance "industry" pals and cronies.

Bush is using panic to try to blackmail us into robbing ourselves -- again.

Read this story in the New York Times about the Democratic response, then get ready this bright Monday morning for us to all ask Hank Paulson, loudly, and with one voice, "Are you out of your goddamn mind?"