Transcript: President George W. Bush Final Press Conference – January 12, 2009
Filed under: Bailout Bill, George W. Bush, Obama Transition, Recession, U.S. Economy, U.S. Financial Crisis
(Source: White House Press Office)
9:17 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Tapper. We have been through a lot together. As I look through the room, I see Jake, Mike, Herman, Ann Compton. Just seemed like yesterday that — that I was on the campaign trail and you were analyzing my speeches and my policies. And I see a lot of faces that travel with me around the world and — to places like Afghanistan and Iraq and Africa. I see some new faces, which goes to show there’s some turnover in this business.
Mary Jo Kilroy’s Committee Assignment Puts Her in Center of Economic Recovery Efforts
Filed under: Bailout Bill, Recession, U.S. Congress, U.S. Economy, U.S. Financial Crisis
Freshman U.S. Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy has gotten a seat on the high profile House Committee on Financial Services chaired by Massachussetts Rep. Barney Frank.
Frank’s committee has taken center stage in combating the U.S. financial crisis. The much and rightfully maligned Troubled Assets Relief Program, aka, $700 billion bailout, originated in Financial Services. Frank also pushed for a bailout of the U.S. auto industry, but Senate Republicans killed that effort until the Bush Administration stepped in with $17 billion for GM and Chrysler late last month.
Kilroy and her fellow Congressional Democrats will be in a unique position very soon after President-elect Barack Obama takes office in a couple of weeks. The original bailout bill called for $350 billion of the $700 billion total to be disbursed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, led by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. Paulson has been roundly criticized for the money not serving the purpose for which Congress intended – unlocking frozen capital markets. The Government Accountability Office and an oversight arm of the committee which Kilroy now serves found several problems with how the money has been disbursed, chief among them accountability. Bailout dollars have been used to pay out executive bonuses, sit as cash holdings and used by some banks to acquire others.
U.S. Sunday Papers | December 21
Filed under: Afghanistan, Bailout Bill, Barack Obama, Economic Stimuls, Energy Policy, Iraq, Obama Transition, Recession, State Governments, Terrorism, U.S. Economy
Los Angeles Times
- ‘Lethal Warriors’ in Iraq, linked to string of crimes back home
- Obama ups the ante on economic stimulus
- Op-Ed, Doyle McManus: Obama must spend wisely
New York Times
- Obama expands recovery plans
- Economy tests Obama’s vision of energy efficient auto industry
- White House philosophy stoked mortgage bonfire
- Russian push on treason raises fears
- Canada agrees to its own auto bailout
- Ambush raises unsettling questions in Afghanistan
- Op-Ed, Alan Blinder: Missing the Mark with $700 Billion
- Op-Ed, Tom Friedman: China to the Rescue? Not!
- Op-Ed, Olivier Roy & Justin Vaisse: Winning Islam Over
Washington Post
- Obama expands stimulus goals
- Extradition of terror suspects founders
- Tiny state, huge pain
- U.S. might double Afghanistan force
- Will executive pay packages get slashed?
- Op-Ed, Leonard Downie Jr.: Could we uncover Watergate today?
- Op-Ed, George Will: Executive powerplay makes Congress moot
Bailout Bill Done Deal – News Roundup
Filed under: Bailout Bill, U.S. Economy, U.S. Financial Crisis
Bush Signs Rescue Bill After House Passes – New York Times
How Your Member Voted - New York Times
House Approves $700 Billion Bailout – Washington Post
How Bailout Politics Changed – Washington Post
Bailout Pork – MSNBC
Bailout Bill’s Value to Economy in Long Term Worth the Expense?
Filed under: Bailout Bill, U.S. Congress, U.S. Economy, U.S. Financial Crisis
Apparently, the first Wall Street Bailout wasn’t big enough for the House Republicans and Democrats who voted against it on Monday. Congressional leaders from both parties are now saying heading into Friday’s planned vote that they’ll have the support they need to saddle the federal government with $700 billion in junk investments and billions more in tax breaks. What doesn’t appear to be in the bill, as passed by the Senate, is even the beginning of rulemaking or regulation to see that the investment class in New York and Washington doesn’t do this to the rest of us ever again.
It still seems ironic that all of the “free market” politicians in Congress are lining up behind what appears to be a huge social program for yachtsmen and polo players. The question tonight is will the action in Congress do anything at all constructive for an American economy that seems to be leading the world only due to the sheer size of an inefficient health care system and more imagination than value in our investment markets.
Transcript: Nancy Pelosi Before Bailout Vote
Filed under: U.S. Congress, U.S. Economy, U.S. Financial Crisis
Much has been said about U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s speech in the House chamber before Monday’s failed bailout vote. Republican leaders have used the idiotic argument that some of those in their party who were being counted on to deliver ‘yeas’, instead voted ‘nay’, because they were turned off by the partisan nature of her speech. Cry me a river. If your vote in Congress is dependent on whether or not the leader of the opposition says something partisan on the floor of the House, you’re not fit to serve.
At any rate, here’s what she said.
(Source: Congressional Record)
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from California is
recognized for 1 minute.
Ms. PELOSI. Thank you very much, Madam Speaker, for recognizing me, Read more
John McCain and the Bailout
Filed under: Barack Obama, John McCain, Presidential Campaign 2008, U.S. Congress, U.S. Economy, U.S. Financial Crisis
The truth is, neither Sen. John McCain nor Sen. Barack Obama had any natural affinity to add value to the work of fashioning the bill for the proposed $700 billion bailout of Wall Street. What each did have was the opportunity, as titular heads of their parties, to take the temperature down, reassure and convince holdouts, and stay out of the way.
What wasn’t needed at such a serious time in our nation’s financial history was for either one of them to turn Washington into one more campaign stop. That’s what McCain did.
Today, after the House defeated the bailout bill, McCain released a statement, which said, in part:
I returned to Washington last week to work on a bipartisan rescue plan. It was the only plan at that time on the table but lacked enough support to pass. It also lacked sufficient accountability and transparency to justify expenditure of the taxpayers’ money.
What a pompous ass. Guess what, John? Apparently the plan “lacked enough support to pass” after you left Washington as well. Since well over 100 Republicans voted against the bill, either McCain didn’t work hard enough or he still has a problem with conservatives. Read more
Bailout Downed: Monday Night – Tuesday A.M. Coverage
Filed under: John McCain, Presidential Campaign 2008, U.S. Congress, U.S. Economy, U.S. Financial Crisis
Will We Get a Better Bill?
- Bush & Party Leaders Defied – New York Times
- How voter fury stopped bailout – Wall Street Journal
- Bailout rejected, markets plunge, scramble for answers – Wall Street Journal
- Asian markets nosedive – Times of London
- House leaders vow compromise – Washington Post
- Analysis: House rejection of bailout wounds McCain – Associated Press
- Leaders’ cajoling couldn’t move bailout – Congressional Quarterly
- Selling takes heavy toll on Wall Street – Los Angeles Times
- Stephanopolous: What’s Next? Four Options – ABC News
Monday Morning Bailout Blues
Filed under: Barack Obama, John McCain, Presidential Campaign 2008, U.S. Economy, U.S. Financial Crisis
World Markets
- World Markets fall as U.S. seen taking time – Associated Press
- Stocks in Europe, Asia slump – Bloomberg
- European central banks cut sales of gold – Financial Times
- Britain nationalizes Bradford & Bingley – Reuters
U.S. Bailout News
- Lawmakers face difficult vote on Bailout – Washington Post
- Bailout plan in hand, House braces for tough vote – New York Times
- Boehner’s standing with conservatives tested – Congressional Quarterly
- Obama, McCain express cautious support for plan – Washington Post
- On bailout, candidates were surely themselves – New York Times
- Bailout effects to be felt in weeks – Associated Press
- Op-Ed, Paul Krugman: The 3 a.m. call – New York Times
- Lots of money and uncertainty – Washington Post
- Op-Ed, Michael Barone: Do markets work or don’t they? – Washington Times
- Analysis: Dr. Paulson’s tough medicine – Washington Post
- Analysis: First step on a long road – New York Times
- Op-Ed, Lawrence Summers: A bailout is just a start – Washington Post
- Op-Ed, Robert Samuelson: Bankrupt economics – Washington Post
- Op, Ed, Joel Berg: No rescue for the hungry – Washington Post
- Treasury would emerge with vast new powers – New York Times
- Foreclosed properties a suburban headache – Chicago Tribune
- Op-Ed, Clarence Page: How to avoid next bailout – Chicago Tribune
