Money | 09/30/2008 8:05 am

Washington-Wall Street Crisis: The Wow Reader Forum

The House will take up a $700 billion economic rescue package today and hold a make-or-break vote that could decide the short-term fate of the nation’s economy.

The plan, already passed by the Senate, lets the government spend billions of dollars to buy bad mortgage-related securities and other devalued assets from troubled financial institutions. If all goes well, it would allow frozen credit to begin flowing again and prevent a serious recession.

The House meets at 9 a.m. ET. There’s 90 minutes of debate scheduled before any vote happens. But if all goes well, we could have a vote by noon today. The last votes of the day are scheduled for around 3 p.m. ET.

UPDATE: HOUSE PASSES $700 BILLION BAIL OUT BILL

What’s your take on the dramatic events of yesterday in Washington and on Wall Street? What do you think should happen next? Weigh in below.

Here are the latest stories and polls on the crisis:

Reader Poll: Why Do You Think Americans Are So Against the Paulson Plan?

Senate to Vote on Paulson Plan Tonight

29 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/29/magazines/fortune/nobailout_easton.fortu… There is no simple answer to why this bill failed. I think one of the principle reasons it failed is because we are right in the middle of the election season, and conservative congressmen simply don’t want to go home and tell the constituents the truth. They don’t want to tell their public that Bushs’ economic policies these past 8 years have been flawed and now failed. I also believe that the whole case was poorly presented to the public by Bernanke/Paulson; it is implausible to all of us out here why, suddenly, as much money as the whole Iraq war has cost is needed to shore up our financial institutions. I honestly don’t believe that most of the nation fully understands the implication of what can happen when one bank cannot loan to another bank on short term. And, contrary to what this nation has been told, yes, we need regulations in the free-market system. The idea of no regulations, no oversight, no taxes is a lie that benefited only one group of people at the expense of the rest of us, and so now our chickens have come home to roost; the party’s over, and hopefully, our prisons will open their doors to those people that took advantage of the system, and sucked the hell out of it. According to Paul Volcker, Warren Buffet, and others trusted financial people, we are going to have to something very quickly to forestall a disaster. I remember Volcker talking about a potential disaster as long as a year and a half ago; he seemed very worried and frustrated. Wall Street, Main Street, indeed all of us, have been in denial for quite a while, and I think we have had to be hit in the head with a 2x4 to shock all of us into the realities of what happens when people that we are supposed to trust play fast and loose with a non-regulated system, whatever that system is.

By Diana T on 09/30/2008 9:10 am

e-mail alert

Thank you Diana, I was shocked at how many on this website didn’t get it.

By Flora Dora on 09/30/2008 9:39 am

e-mail alert

Flora, I fear that a lot of folks don’t get it. I love this Bob Herbert this morning in the NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/opinion/30herbert.html?th&emc=th This problem is of such gravity that there is not going to be a quick fix, and just like Bushs’ War, we are going to have to pay for it. So will our children and our grandchildren. But, good always comes out of bad, so that perhaps, we can go back to doing what America does best. Perhaps we can re-discover what it meant to be an example for the world. I know that is what the rest of the world is praying that we do again.

By Diana T on 09/30/2008 9:51 am

e-mail alert

Frankly, in Europe we were praying that you’d pass the bill and do something to alleviate the global economic crisis we’re all now being pitched into. Really it’s a wonder we managed to survive for thousands of years before America came along to set us poor dumb creatures an example. How America became the United States of France: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1843168,00.html

By French girl on 09/30/2008 12:57 pm

e-mail alert

French, I don’t know of any easy choice we have of starting the process to solve our financial problems. I think there is the easy way or the correct way; doesn’t mean it’s not going to be painful for all of us. And, not only us in this nation, but also in Europe and all over the world. This is an interview that took place this past March between Paul Volcker and Charlie Rose. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charlie-rose/my-conversation-with-paul_b_9…

By Diana T on 09/30/2008 1:37 pm

e-mail alert

French girl, Thank you for the very amusing and well written piece that I might not have otherwise seen. Yes, America has become esp arrogant under the Bush administration so I feel always need to apologize. Am sure they will finalize a bill soon as is in the powers-that-be best’s interests. My son is a US-French citizen and has lived in Paris half his life. I’ll be relocating to Aix-en-Provence in Spring. Actually we had a culture I was proud of when JFK was in office. And America was America because of France, her 18th c Enlightenment ideals that based our Constitution, and which we’ve gotten so far away from. And great leaders like Gen Lafayette who came to our rescue. And now I will be glad to be leaving to live in France. The most visited country on Earth for good reason.

By Step away from the BLOG! on 10/01/2008 3:34 am

e-mail alert

Warren Buffett will be on Charlie Rose tomorrow(Wednesday) night. Please watch.

By Diana T on 09/30/2008 7:11 pm

e-mail alert

It took me all day, but here is the complete interview with Paul Volcker by Charlie Rose on March 18, 2008. It is very providential and has taken a whole new meaning for me. http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2008/03/18/1/a-discussion-about-the-eco…

By Diana T on 09/30/2008 9:35 pm

e-mail alert

Thank you so much for the Volcker interview–––I appreciate your hunting it down. I saw it when it aired––you and I don’t seem to miss Charlie–––––but it’s so interesting to watch it over at this time.

By phyllis Doyle Pepe on 10/01/2008 10:02 am

e-mail alert

Phyllis, please watch Charlie Rose tonight because he will have Warren Buffett with him the whole hour.

By Diana T on 10/01/2008 6:19 pm

e-mail alert

This is a credit crisis. It’s all about confidence. What you can’t see is how bank A will no longer lend to good company B or mortgage company C. Because no one is sure the other guy’s assets and collateral are worth anything, which is why the government needs to come in and put a floor under them. Otherwise, the system will be choked of credit, like a body being choked of oxygen and turning blue. Well, you say, “I don’t own any stocks — let those greedy monsters on Wall Street suffer.” You may not own any stocks, but your pension fund owned some Lehman Brothers commercial paper and your regional bank held subprime mortgage bonds, which is why you were able refinance your house two years ago. And your local airport was insured by A.I.G., and your local municipality sold municipal bonds on Wall Street to finance your street’s new sewer system, and your local car company depended on the credit markets to finance your auto loan — and now that the credit market has dried up, Wachovia bank went bust and your neighbor lost her secretarial job there. We’re all connected. As others have pointed out, you can’t save Main Street and punish Wall Street anymore than you can be in a rowboat with someone you hate and think that the leak in the bottom of the boat at his end is not going to sink you, too. The world really is flat. We’re all connected. “Decoupling” is pure fantasy. I totally understand the resentment against Wall Street titans bringing home $60 million bonuses. But when the credit system is imperiled, as it is now, you have to focus on saving the system, even if it means bailing out people who don’t deserve it. Otherwise, you’re saying: I’m going to hold my breath until that Wall Street fat cat turns blue. But he’s not going to turn blue; you are, or we all are. We have to get this right. From Freidman’s column.

By phyllis Doyle Pepe on 10/01/2008 9:52 am

e-mail alert

I think the people who were in the LEAST denial were those of us with the least power to do anything about it. It is frustrating to hear so-called experts even a year ago saying things were solid, knowing they were not. In fact, all these years it has been the people in the middle class down who have known things were not good even as our politicians were telling us the economy was “strong”.

By DeBúrca obj on 10/02/2008 7:59 am

e-mail alert

Thanks, Diana, for putting into words what some of us have felt for a long time.

By Southern Lady on 09/30/2008 9:17 am

e-mail alert

Southern, Could it be, could it possibly be that these recalcitrant conservative Republicans thought more of their own re-elections that the fate of us? That they just hate to face the fact that perhaps their philosophy of non-regulated free market is a flawed philosophy, and they just may have to go home and tell this to their hapless constituents? I know that they are thinking more of themselves than their own supposed leader who is running for president as we speak because they sure didn’t support him when they voted against this bill. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/opinion/30tue1.html?th&emc=th

By Diana T on 09/30/2008 9:43 am

e-mail alert

I was one of those that was delighted that the Bailout Bill was not allowed to pass! I object to this being called a Failure! It was a victory for The People. There are many other ways to deal with this current situation, other than pouring borrowed monies out to those very CEOs that raped the system. Let the proper public hearings take place, let us hear from others that are not joined at the hip pockets. Paulson need to resign. He is the uppity of those that have made monies in what really amounts to Fraud. No wonder he got down on his knees. He should have stuck with his gut reaction when he first declined the job! That inner voice, his conscious, he ignored! What the People want, is to see all those bank accounts Frozen, and them carted off to Jail houses! Their bank accounts were ill gained and if they want the mess they made fixed, then give the money back! How in the world do you expect people to even think their salaries should continue at all, much less in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Please! The stock market drop happens all the time and it always rallies. Just like it has this morning. And it is time for everyone to remember that it is a form of Gambling. Do not put money that you can not afford to live without on a gambling table! Monies easily gotten or easily lost! And patience is a virtue. That is also apart of what has taken place. America has been run by Greed and haste. We need to return to basic virtues and that includes patience.Greed , we all know that it is destructive and haste makes waste! CREDIT is the same thing as DEBT. DEBT with interest, compounded DEBT. America needs to remember that! Did it really make sense when Bush told us to be GOOD Americans and to go out and Shop, after 9/11? That mentality is ludicrous.Consuming has become the life line of Americas stability. How sad is that? Let us stop and take the time to set Americas course in a Virtues and outstanding example of how people can live in Truth and Justice for All. That we can work,save and achieve by those above board ways. That America The Beautiful is back and stronger than ever, the ill gotten platform is gone and She stands on all that is Virtuous and thus can be there for her people(not like Katrina!) and a helping hand(one that does not give without expectations) to those others that are in need in this ever Small World.

By Jennifer Dooley on 09/30/2008 10:44 am