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Curtis</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b><a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b>(310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright October 2, 2008<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="style4"> P</span>assing a new bailout bill, the U.S. Senate tossed the nation s hottest potato to House of Representatives to once again pass urgent financial rescue legislation strongly lobbied by the White House.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Rejecting President George W. Bush&#39;s last request Sept. 28 [228-205], all eyes are back on the House slated to vote Oct. 3 on the Senate s revised bill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Many House leaders oppose the legislation because they no longer trust the White House to mange the country s tax dollars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Bush s approval ratings have plummeted below 28%, giving little clout on Capitol Hill only one month before presidential elections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Tonight s vice presidential debates will prove pivotal for GOP presidential nominee Sen. McCain (R-Ariz.) whose polls fell 10% in the last week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Palin s performance promises to be a deal-breaker, where the nation gets growing doubt about a McCain-Palin ticket.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>House members, both Republicans and Democrats, have received overwhelming opposition from constituents, opposed to sticking taxpayers with a whopping $700 billion price tag.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>No economist can predict with any certainty whether the bailout will improve frozen credit markets, causing havoc in business and industry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>House members refuse to let Wall Street dictate the bailout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When the House defeated the bailout, the market dropped 775 points.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>One day later, the same market pushed the Dow Jones Industrials up 485 points on speculation that they d eventually get the bailout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>No reputable economist can tell whether $700 billion will un-stick gummed-up credit markets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Bush argues, with 28% approval ratings, that some bailout is better than nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>His plan, supported by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, expects blind faith.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>While some plan will no doubt emerge soon, many Democrats and Republicans don t trust the president with a blank check.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Bush urges quick approval but doesn t have the credibility to lead his party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>May respected Republicans believe the two-term resident of Crawford, Texas has destroyed the Republican Party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Bush s low approval ratings have jeopardized GOP candidates around the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain continues to slip in the polls because average Americans no longer trust the president to manage the economy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>They believe a McCain presidency would follow the same economic policies as Bush.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>There s enough fear in markets for the House to pass some type of bailoutl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whether you call it a  rescue plan or bailout, it still adds about<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>$1-trillion to the national debt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Some members of the House still believe that without a bailout the markets will eventually self-correct.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Bush has squandered so much credibility that his own party has difficulty going along with another harebrained scheme.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Faced with reelection, some House members wish to pass the task of rebuilding financial markets to the next president.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Others agree with Bush that time is of the essence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Monday what we had was a bailout for Wall Street firms and not much relieve for taxpayers and hard-hit families.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Now we have an economic rescue package, said GOP Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, switching her no vote to yes when the House convenes Oct. 3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I don t think that any changes here will do what we need to do, which is right now to send a message of confidence to markets that Congress will act, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), reacting to the flurry of demands from Democrats and Republicans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Some key changes were incorporated into the new legislation.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Upping Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation coverage from $100,000 to $250,000 helped get more GOP support.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>New rules by the Securities and Exchange Commission to force companies to devalue assets helped bring the GOP into the fold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Several tax breaks for businesses were also included in the Senate bill, making the bailout more appealing to Republicans also increase the chance of passage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Extending the deductibility of state and local taxes for states without income tax also appealed to Republicans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Even if the stock market reacts positively Friday, the economy still faces a tough row to hoe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Rising unemployment and lowered factory output signals recession.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Buying up bad debt and making cash more available to credit markets can only help the current anemic economy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>All current add-ons to the bill bode well when it comes to the next vote.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Senate negotiators came up with a revised bailout plan now appealing to a majority in the House.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Upping the FDIC insurance and extending the deductibility of state and local taxes also appealed to the GOP opposed to the first version.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>No one, including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, knows whether the $700 billlion-plus rescue plan will actually unfreeze credit markets or ultimately help the economy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Passing some bill should help reassure the stock and credit markets that Uncle Sam refuses to let the economy go down without a fight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Extending certain business tax breaks, limiting the alternative minimum tax and providing $8 billion in tax relief to businesses and individuals hit by natural disaster all attempt to reassure struggling financial markets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>If everything goes according to plan, the House will do its part to fix nation s broken economy.</p> <p><b><u>About the Author</u></b><br> </p> <p><b>John M. Curtis </b>writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He&#x2019;s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a> and <a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a>.<br> </p> <p></p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td width="133" height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="133" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong>Home</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> || <a href="articlesindex.html">Articles</a> || <a href="books.html">Books</a> || <a href="teflon.html">The Teflon Report</a> || <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com">Reactions</a> || <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">About Discobolos</a></strong></font> <div align="left"> <p><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">This site designed, developed and hosted by the experts at</font><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"> <a href="http://www.cmeonline.net" target="_blank"><img height="30" width="138" src="images/cmelogoANIM.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></a></font></p> </div> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">&copy;1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>