comMITTed to Romney!

When I got the news that the House had rejected the bailout bill, my jaw hit the floor! We all knew the Dow had been under pressure pre-market and from the opening bell, but I thought the political pressure to act fast would have been overwhelming, but it didn’t turn out that way.

Stunningly, members of both parties saw things in the bill they didn’t like and they balked not only at the provisions in the bill but the price tag as well and voted the bill down. The market reacted just as you would have expected. Down hard.

If past experience is any guide, tomorrow should be a wild day on Wall Street. If the Asian markets sell off later this evening, the Euro zone markets will take their cue from them and sell off in lock step.

I can’t help feeling angry at the incompetents both inside the financial markets who never met a loan they didn’t like, to whom 30 to 1 leverage seemed like a prudent risk and toward the “regulators” inside of government who are handsomely paid to be our watchdogs while we are working 45 to 60 hours a week so that we can pay their salaries.

It’s time some folks got fired and some others need to go to jail. I hope the public won’t forget this episode in American history. This 2-3 trillion dollar debacle is not going to be swept under the rug. The public didn’t get it’s money’s worth and it’s time for the taxpayer’s to be paid back by the financial market pirates and the government pirates who just wrecked the economy.

~~John Cronin

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I don’t have a handle on all the details, but from what little I know at this point, it looks like we are going to get at least some of the protections I had hoped for. There will be warrants in place, ( first dibs for the beleaguered taxpayer ) executive compensation limits, no multi-million dollar golden parachutes and, surprise of surprises, they are going to get a wheel barrow out and haul back the gigantic and totally unearned bonuses that the pirates tried to sail away with!! Yeeesssss!!

~~John Cronin~~

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122257682963083173.html

Top U.S. policy makers emerged from hours of tense negotiations with a clear message just after midnight Sunday morning: A deal to bailout U.S. financial markets has been agreed on and all that remains to be done is to commit the legislation to paper.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.), were flanked by key negotiators in the Capitol as they announced that a $700 billion plan to have Treasury buy up toxic assets had been all but finalized after hours of exhausting negotiations.

“I think we’re there,” an exhausted Mr. Paulson said, a sentiment echoed in the statements of negotiators such as House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.) and Senate Banking Committee head Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.).

A House Democratic aide said the government would be able to receive warrants it could hold until maturity from financial firms on assets received either through auctions or through direct purchases.

The summary also said the legislation would institute new executive-compensation requirements for participating companies, including “no multi million dollar golden parachutes,” limits on compensation generally, and the ability to recover “bonuses paid based on promised gains that later turn out to be false or inaccurate.”

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Drudge reports that McCain has suspended his campaign in order to devote more time to the bailout plan. One headline I just saw ( haven’t read the article ) said only 4 Republicans have signed on to support the bill that Congress is working on.

I hope for the countries’ sake that this is not a publicity stunt and a ruse to look “Presidential.” If any politician plays fast and loose with the public in a time of unprecedented financial danger, he will be swept away in November.

I don’t envy the nominees of either party at this critical juncture. To try to get your arms around a plan as massive as the one proposed by Sec’y Paulson and Fed chief Bernanke has got to be a daunting challenge, even if you had adequate time to consider all the details and make the decision to either rally behind the plan as proposed or do your best to change it.

Keep these men in your prayers, that they may be guided by Divine Providence as they attempt to restore confidence in the nation’s banking system.

~~John Cronin~~

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