By Laura Litvan and James Rowley
HIGHLIGHTS
- Congressional leaders are weighing new ways: to revise a $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan after it became clear that U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's proposal faces resistance from both Democrats and Republicans.
- House and Senate Democratic leaders: huddled late yesterday to consider new strategies, including the possibility of approving only a $150 billion initial installment for the government to purchase troubled assets from financial firms. Senator Charles Schumer of New York, the No. 3 Senate Democratic leader, said Paulson wouldn't have time to use the full $700 billion before the Bush administration left office on Jan. 20.
- House Republican leaders: told Paulson that his proposal is facing resistance in their party and invited him to speak to all Republicans at a closed-door meeting this morning, said Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Republican leader John Boehner.
- Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll: found that by a margin of 55 percent to 31 percent, Americans say it's not the government's responsibility to bail out private companies with taxpayer dollars, even if their collapse could damage the economy.
- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: said after a weekly meeting of Democrats that Congress may need more time.``It's important that we get it right, not get it done fast''.
History in the Making: Watch, listen, and participate in a manner that you can even if it means sending; email, fax, letter, or telephone calls to your Senator or Representative describing what you think.
What is the Big Hurry?: For years the Federal Government was focused on free market deregulation now they want to buy out all the bad debt in the country. In the stroke of a pen transfer all the problems and fiscal burdens from what was some of the wealthiest corporate owners in the country to the United States taxpayer.
What's Wrong with this Picture: Hurry, Hurry, Hurry, if we don't do it quickly and the way Treasury is proposing something terrible will happen, " the world and the USA could see their economies begin to shrink". Please note, to date we have yet to recognize officially that US economy is in recession. Maybe it is time to revise and update some of the indicators which are suppose to guide Main Street and Wallstreet to be more reflective of current economic trends.
Status Quo: $700 billion plus dollars seems like a steep price to pay to preserve the status quo. We as a country don't have enough money to bail everyone out who has a problem loan.
Finally, who is accountable for all of this. Enron occurred and we seemed to learn very little. I suggest that we serious look at the meaning of accountability and regulations with some bite to protect society and the business world from an overly focus emphasis on blind profit.
Jim
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