Blog - September 2008

Update 3, 9:45pm ET: CNN reports that the Senate version of the bailout bill passed, 74-25. The complete roll call can be viewed by clicking here. For more explanation and next steps on the bill as it heads to the House, click through below to read all of this post.

Previously: After a stunning failure in the House on Monday, Congress will resume action on the $700 billion bailout for the nation's troubled financial systems on Wednesday. At 7:30 pm, the Senate will vote on a slightly revised version of the House's bailout bill and an amendment to levy a 10 percent surtax on the income of individuals who make above $500,000 a year. Here's the revised Senate bailout bill:

H.R. 1424 - Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

With Barack Obama and John McCain (not to mention T.Boone Pickens) backing the idea, increasing the FDIC's bank deposit guarantee limit from $100,000 to $250,000 is sure to be added to Congress's bailout revision. WaPo explains: "Any increase in the ceiling would require an expansion of the FDIC's insurance fund. The fund is replenished by an assessment on the banking industry, not taxpayers, but higher assessments would limit the amount of money banks have available to make loans." Will ad...

Congress is getting so many emails from constituents opposing the bailout that the House of Representative's website is on the verge of crashing. They've been forced to temporarily put traffic limits in place in order to deal with the unprecedented surge of traffic to the site.

Congress is rushing to complete a nuclear deal with India despite concerns that it could encourage nuclear proliferation around the world. The House passed the bill approving of the deal last week and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is pushing for the Senate to adopt it this week, perhaps as soon as tomorrow.

The Sunlight Foundation is petitioning Congress to ask that whatever bailout bill they come back with is posted online for public review at least 72 hours before it is voted on: >“Sunlight believes all legislation should posted online for at least 72 hours before a vote to give lawmakers and citizens sufficient time to review and debate it, and this bill is no exception,” said Ellen Miller, executive director and co-founder of the Sunlight Foundation. "The failure of the Emergency Economic...

ABC News runs down four options congressional negotiators are considering for getting a bailout bill passed this week. Meanwhile Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich makes a prediction: >A scaled-down bill will be enacted by the end of the week. It will provide the Treasury with a first installment of $150 billion. Treasury can use it to back Wall Street’s bad debts with lend no-interest loans of up to two years, until the housing market rebounds. Or to invest in Wall Street houses directly,...

Here's the speech House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) gave this morning before the House voted to reject the bailout. Republicans are blaming this speech for the bill's failure. “I do believe that we could have gotten there today had it not been for this partisan speech that the speaker gave on the floor of the House,” said House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) after the vote failed. Part 1: Part 2: ...

In a shocking turn of events, the bailout was just rejected by the House of Representatives today by a vote of 205 - 228 against. House Democrats voted 141 to 94 in favor of the plan. Republicans voted 65 to 133 against.

Here's the bill: H.R.3997 - Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

It's 1 am on Sunday morning, and congressional negotiators have just announced a tentative deal on a bailout plan for the country's troubled financial system. UPDATE: The bill has been revealed. Click through for a link to the full bill text.

Washington Times: >The House Democratic leadership has effectively shelved a resolution calling for what critics say would amount to a naval blockade of Iran because of concerns that it could provoke another war, officials on Capitol Hill said. > >Even though the document would not be a law but a "statement of policy" aimed at preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, the Democratic leadership is worried that it could be viewed by the Bush administration as a green light to use mili...

Minority Leader Boehner (R) sent Speaker Pelosi (D) a letter this morning to clarify that Republicans have not reached a bailout deal with Democrats and to relay a package of ideas from Republican Whip Eric Cantor. Read the full letter at The Corner....

The House suspension calendar is supposed to be for passing non-controversial bills by wide margins. So why is S.3325, a bill that is opposed on OpenCongress by a unanimous vote of 93-0, on the suspension calendar today?

In the midst of a million rumors about a bi-partisan deal on a bailout, concrete details emerge of what Senate Democrats are putting in their second stimulus bill. Highlights include: * Unemployment insurance extension * Food stamps increase * Low income heating assistance * Increased Medicaid funding * Funds for transportation infrastructure projects ...and much, much more (see Politco for all the details). House Speaker Pelosi said today that she will bring a similar stimulus pa...

The Hill: "Republican presidential nominee John McCain has not introduced any banking or housing bills in the 110th Congress, while Democratic rival Barack Obama has proposed five."

I looked at the candidates' education bills a couple weeks ago and found the same thing:

Paulson's original bailout proposal doesn't include any kind of a cap on executive pay and his statement today at the Financial Services hearing is entirely vague. So, what kind of executive compensation measure is Paulson ready to accept and what does he thinks would undermine the bailout?