Comments on: Congressional Money Grab! Billions of Pork in Wall Street bailout bill

By: Stan

Stan — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:42:11 +0000

Does anyone know whether or not version the bailout bill that passed includes an extension of unemployment compensation benefits?

By: amodedoma

amodedoma — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 09:57:35 +0000

This really makes me sick. Imagine you got yourself in a financial mess due to the fact that you don’t administer yourself well. Now since you have no credit rating you borrow a large sum from your family, who by the way, have nothing to spare but can get a mortgage on their house. While you’re waiting for the cash you start making plans, new clothes, vacations, new PC and TV etc etc. Eventually you and your family end up living under an underpass. A real loser no? So where’s the difference, aparte from scale, it seems to me to be the same.

By: Uncle Patso

Uncle Patso — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 09:39:12 +0000

# 4 BillBC said:

“How can they write a 1000 page bill in less than a week?”

Practice, man, practice!

By: mmayday

mmayday — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 07:00:43 +0000

Source? Do we have a source for this piece? I like it a lot, but I’d like to know where it’s from.

By: Montanaguy

Montanaguy — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 01:30:18 +0000

#25
Good job Mr. Confusion. I don’t always agree with you, but at least you’re participating.

By: deowll

deowll — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:46:18 +0000

They are trying to use our money to buy our votes while running us all deeper in dept and so for there is no evidence that they have improved much of anything as for as the credit crunch goes.

They handle our money the way a three year old would handle an uzzie, with reckless abandon.

If the reckless behavior doesn’t stop there can be only one outcome and it’s going to hurt, hurt, hurt.

By: Todd Henkel

Todd Henkel — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 22:39:40 +0000

# 25 – Your congressman doesn’t care. They all ignored the switchboard being jammed with calls of opposition.

By: Mr. Fusion

Mr. Fusion — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 22:25:32 +0000

This bill bothers me. I let my Congressman know.

By: LibertyLover

LibertyLover — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 22:00:48 +0000

#11, Amazing isn’t it, how some people think.

However, sometimes “tax breaks” and “tax credits” affect nothing more than import taxes on imports.

So a tax cut on sugar might mean they are raising the import tax on foreign sugar, allowing local sugar manufacturers to raise their prices. Sure, the sugar manufacturer is making more money but the money the gov takes, though the same percentage-wise, is higher overall. All the sugar manufacturer sees is a larger take-home number.

And who pays for the increased cost of the sugar?

By: KwadGuy

KwadGuy — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:30:50 +0000

In normal times, a bill of half this physical size and a tenth the amount would take weeks or longer to pass, and would be subject to a decent amount of scrutiny. (Lots of crap still gets through, but mostly as a result of mutual back scratching).

Here we have a jaw droppingly large bill with all kinds of stuff padded on in a very short amount of time and political leaders standing over everyone’s shoulders with a hatchet. That means: NO due diligence for all the add ons. The main bill itself ($700B) is suspect. The added on lard is almost certainly to be a nightmare. Who knows what kinds of crap was added under cover of night with no oversight?

And that’s just the small stuff. We could also focus on things like bailing out the pension plans for the unions after the crooks running the pensions into the ground got rich. (NB: Is anyone making you whole on your 401K because it has decreased in value? No, I didn’t think so. Too bad for you…you still get to pay to make the unions’ pensions whole).

By: Todd Henkel

Todd Henkel — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:11:57 +0000

The arrogance of both the Dems and the Repubs is amazing. Even with an 18% approval rating and a clear majority against this bill, they proceed to not only pass it but in broad daylight tack on the pork. Why? Because they odds are they will not be voted out and the donations will continue to flow.

All it will take is one more major event and this country will tear apart at the seams. We are too close to the edge.

By: Ranger007

Ranger007 — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:59:00 +0000

Don’t blame the just Republicans (counting Bush) nor just the Democrats. Blame those voting for it. All of them.

What is the price of a Congressional vote? That’s seems to be one of those questions that if you have to ask, you don’t have enough money.

I’m so disgusted and ashamed (and tired of hearing about it – yes I called all of my reps, e-mailed and wrote a number of times) that I really don’t want to hear any more about it. I’m just going to count my money, stocks did go up didn’t they?

By: McCullough

McCullough — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:46:10 +0000

Fear and Loathing and Marshall Law in DC.

By: Mister Ketchup

Mister Ketchup — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:39:57 +0000

That pig is one of the “mavericks.”

By: JimD

JimD — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:17:37 +0000

#4 BillBC, well, I imagine that our elected representatives craft bills and amenements way before they might even be brought up for consideration and keep them “on the shelf”, waiting for an opportunity to tack them on ANY LEGISLATION that crosses their desk, with even the slimmest chance of passing !!! And they keep doing it, over and over, until it sticks to something that does get through the process. Then they have to sweat out the Senate/House Joint Conference to see if it sticks to the final bill, more log rolling ensues !!! (what fun !!!), then when BOTH HOUSE AGREE, the Congress is done !!! It goes on the the Prez, who signs it OR NOT !!! Depending. And even if he does, there exists something called “Signing Statements” which Bush uses to IGNORE AND EVEN BREAK THE LAW !!! And the Congress will do nothing about it !!! Franklin said “We give you a Republic, if you can keep it”, but we have LOST IT TO THE CORPORATIONS AND SPECIAL INTERESTS !!!