Early Afternoon Image

Sorry to leave you hanging.

I Heart Chris Dodd

Chris Dodd is brilliant and he should have either increased leadership in the Senate or a position in the next administration. Seriously, I love this guy. That CNN article really doesn’t do him justice, so try to find the full press conference somewhere (I couldn’t). Even perpetual wuss Harry Reid got some good shots in.

Americans are really hating this bill. I spoke to a staffer for a member of the House leadership yesterday who said that 90% of their constituent calls over the past week have been in opposition to this bill. Seriously. 90%.

In other news, I will be suspending my blogging in a couple hours in order to go work on this financial crises at my Mom’s house in Florida.

Democrats Amazed to Find Their Testicles

I’m as surprised as you are, but the Democrats apparently grew some balls during this financial crisis:

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) angrily accused House Republicans — with the tacit support of Republican presidential candidate John McCain — of crafting an alternative to undercut Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

Both McCain and his Democrat rival, Sen. Barack Obama, left without any joint endorsement. A beleaguered President Bush had to struggle to maintain order and reassert himself. And when Democrats left after the meeting to caucus in the Roosevelt Room, Paulson pursued them, begging that they not “blow up” the legislation.

The former Goldman Sachs CEO even went down on one knee as if genuflecting, to which Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal.) is said to have joked, “I didn’t know you were Catholic.”

The White House meeting had been called at the urging of McCain, but Democrats made sure Obama had a prominent part. And much as they complained later of being blindsided, the whole meeting turned out to be something of an ambush on their part—aimed at McCain and House Republicans.

“Speaking professionally,” said one Republican aide, “They did a very good job.”

Holy shit, for the first time in the last eight years, I am a member of a party I can be proud of. Let’s just hope they hold out for a bill that isn’t completely fucking ridiculous, instead of caving when the Republicans yell at them.

Krugman: Bernanke and Paulson Think We’re Stupid

You really should go read the full article that includes this quote:

One possible explanation. It wasn’t until yesterday that they realized that it would actually be necessary to explain themselves.

It’s literally about a two minute read. Plus, its Paul Krugman. You should be reading it anyway.

Bush Wants All Your Money

CHARLOTTE DOUGLAS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT —

Sec. 8. Review: Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

If you think the $700 Billion Big-Business Blank Check Bailout Bill is a good idea, check out the Bush Administrations record on fiscal responsibility:

IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION

-$142 million wasted on reconstruction projects that were either terminated or canceled. [Special Inspector General for Iraq, 7/28/08]

-“Significant” amount of U.S. funds for Iraq funneled to Sunni and Shiite militias. [GAO Comptroller, 3/11/08]

-$180 million payed to construction company Bechtel for projects it never finished. [Federal audit, 7/25/07]

-$5.1 billion in expenses for Iraq reconstruction charged without documentation. [Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction report, 3/19/07]

-$10 billion in spending on Iraq reconstruction was wasteful or poorly tracked. [GAO, 2/15/07]

-Halliburton overcharged the government $100 million for one day’s work in 2004. [Project on Government Oversight, 10/8/04]

KATRINA

-Millions wasted on four no-bid contracts, including paying $20 million for an unusable camp for evacuees. [Homeland Security Department Inspector General, 9/10/08]

-$2.4 billion in contracts doled out by FEMA that guaranteed profits for big companies. [Center for Public Integrity investigation, 6/25/07]

-An estimated $2 billion in fraud and waste — nearly 11 percent of the $19 billion spent by FEMA on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita as of mid-June. [New York Times tally, 6/27/06]

-“Widespread” waste and mismanagement on millions for Katrina recovery, including at least $3 million for 4,000 beds that were never used. [GAO, 3/16/06]

DEFENSE CONTRACTS

-A $50 million Air Force contract awarded to a company with close ties to senior Air Force officers, in a process “fraught with improper influence, irregular procedures, glaring conflicts of interest.” [Project on Government Oversight, 4/18/08]

-$1.7 billion in excessive fees and waste paid by the Pentagon to the Interior Department to manage federal lands. [Defense Department and Interior Department Inspectors General audit, 12/25/06]

-$1 trillion unaccounted for by the Pentagon, including 56 airplanes, 32 tanks, and 36 Javelin missile command launch-units. [GAO, 5/18/03]