Bailout Bill Fails In The House

Am I surprised the House of Representatives voted down the $700 billion bailout package? Yes, I am. Am I disappointed they've done so? No, not in the least.

I think one of the Representatives speaking on the floor of the House said it best (I wish I knew who it was): “This bill is 100 pages long. That's $7 billion per page. Before I vote for this I want to read it and know what it says!” I'm sure his constituents want the same thing.

The hastily assembled bailout bill needs more scrutiny, needs some more thought before the taxpayers commit to shelling out $700 billion.

While Nancy Pelosi and other Congressional Democrats point their fingers at Republicans for the failure of the bill, they should also ask why a number of Democrats, 90 of them, I believe, voted against the bill. Two of those Democrats are from New Hampshire, Carol Shea-Porter and Paul Hodes. Both are staunch tax-and spend liberals. Both voted against their party because they saw flaws in the bailout, including lack of oversight. The last thing they wanted to do was hand over $700 billion of taxpayer money to the Secretary of the Treasury, yet have little oversight or review of how that money is spent. With that I wholeheartedly agree, something I thought I'd never do with those two.

Of course the bill might have had a better chance of passing if Nancy Pelosi hadn't made a speech on the floor of the House lambasting Republicans, Republicans she needed to ensure passage. That isn't the way to persuade members of the opposition party to vote for something she wants to pass. I guess she couldn't pass up the opportunity to place the blame for the banking meltdown on Republicans, even though there's more than enough proof it was members of her own party that should take some responsibility for the problems we now face.