Sex & Politics

Seems like the House Republicans staged a mini-rebellion last night during the bailout talks. From CNN:

Tempers flared, and just hours after some negotiators said they were close to a deal, negotiations collapsed.

Paulson, fearing a nose dive in financial markets in reaction, half-jokingly bowed on one knee to plead with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to keep mum about the collapse, two senior Democratic aides said.

Negotiation continued later on Capitol Hill, but Frank, the lead House Democrat on the issue, said no House Republican took part.

Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Alabama, attended for a short time and delivered a one-page statement outlining the House GOP plan, Frank said.

“The House Republicans refused to participate,” Frank said. “I think this is really extraordinary.”

Bachus told negotiators that House GOP leaders do not plan to attend the negotiations scheduled for Friday morning, Frank and Dodd said.

Dodd said Bush must get the House Republicans on board. Such backing is particularly important, he said, because the plan has wide support among Senate Democrats and Republicans, and House Democrats.

“We are not going to come to a conclusion on a three-legged stool here, missing the fourth leg,” Dodd said. “And I know my colleagues are not going to go on up and vote on something with awareness that the House Republicans aren’t participating.”

Republican House members detailed their objections Thursday evening.

“We’ve been listening to the American people, and the American people have told us that they don’t want to foot the bill,” Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Illinois, said.

While I agree that the bailout is a bad idea. The one the House Republicans have put on the table, isn’t much better.

[It]…calls for Wall Street to pay for the recovery by injecting private capital — not taxpayer dollars — into the financial markets. Easing tax laws would prompt investors to put in their own dollars, they said.

The plan also calls for participating firms to disclose the value of the mortgage assets on their books, ending Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s securing of “unsound mortgages,” reviewing the performance of the credit rating agencies and having the Securities and Exchange Commission audit failed companies to ensure their financial standing was accurately portrayed.

The problem is who are these private investors? Who’s gonna put their money into a market that’s a mess? Our current “investors” (China, Dubai, etc.) are already tiring of lending to us. I believe China has recently told it’s banks to stop lending to the US. No one wants the bad paper floating about. And this plan is not going to stop all of the home foreclosures that are still coming down the pipe.

At this point is there anything left to do other than to let this mess shake itself out? I’m not naive to what that may mean, but anything else seems to just prolong the inevitable. It’s gonna shake itself out now or later.