House Passes Bloated Emergency Economic Rescue Bill

Do-overs are usually reserved for kids on the playground and a rare mulligan is often offered to a novice golfer, but they are rarely seen at the top tier of American politics. Only 2 days after the Senate passed an updated and bloated version of the Wall Street Bailout Bill, the House of Representatives took up the measure again on Friday afternoon and delivered the "bacon" that President George Bush had sought.

If you recall, this whole mess began last week when Treasury Secretary Paulson presented congressional leaders with a 3-page treatment that Bush wanted enacted with the utmost urgency. That 3 pager turned into a 100-page House version, which was soundly rejected. That 100-page House version was pumped up with earmarks and "sweeteners" to enhance the taste and easily passed the Senate at 451 pages! The Senate version is what passed on Friday.

The "sweeteners" in the updated bill include:

• An increase in the amount that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation will insure in bank accounts: to $250,000, up from $100,000
  
  
• A fix that would prevent middle-class taxpayers from paying the alternative minimum tax
  
  
• A number of tax extensions favored by either Republicans or Democrats
  
  
• Tax exemptions for renewable energy
  
  
• A measure that would require health insurers to treat mental health issues the same way they treat physical illnesses

Even though, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) was on board for the bill from the start, House Democrats in the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) did not follow his lead and voted "no" on Monday. He did make calls to a number of CBC members, which prompted them to change their vote to "aye." Those included Georgia CBC members John Lewis, David Scott, and Sanford Bishop. In a surprising act of gumption, my congressman, Hank Johnson, voted "no" on Monday and on Friday!

The bill passed by a vote of 263-171, with the Republicans (and Hank Johnson) of the Georgia delegation voting "no." President Bush wasted no time - it was about two hours after the vote in the House - in signing the bill into law.

The Georgia Delegation vote:

• John Barrow, Democrat, of Savannah: No
  
  
• Sanford Bishop, Democrat of Albany: Yes
  
  
• Paul Broun, Republican of Athens: No
  
  
• Nathan Deal, Republican of Gainesville: No
  
  
• Phil Gingrey, Republican of Marietta: No
  
  
• Hank Johnson, Democrat of Lithonia: No
  (plezWorld's congressman)
  
  
• Jack Kingston, Republican of Savannah: No
  
  
• John Lewis, Democrat of Atlanta: Yes
  
  
• John Linder, Republican of Duluth: No
  
  
• Jim Marshall, Democrat of Macon: Yes
  
  
• Tom Price, Republican of Roswell: No
  
  
• David Scott, Democrat of Atlanta: Yes
  
  
• Lynn Westmoreland, Republican of Grantville: No

Read and download a summary of the final version of the "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008" PDF LINK

Read and download a section-by-section analysis of the final version of the "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008" PDF LINK

Read and download all 451 pages of the final version of the "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008" PDF LINK

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Read the AJC.com article about how the Georgia Delegation voted here.

Read the CNNMoney.com article about Bush signing the Wall Street Bailout Bill here.

Read the CNN.com articles about the political side of the Wall Street Bailout Law here and here.

Read the New York Times article about the House's vote on the Wall Street Bailout Bill here.

plez sez: well, the House capitulated and passed the legislation. unfortunately, they buckled under the pressure from House and Senate leaders and a lame duck President and too much sizzlin' bacon to pass up the opportunity to lap up the swill from the trough!

the bill (which is now law) was forced down the throats of the Americans who are left holding the bag for the companies that got us into this mess. there is very little in the law that addresses those who have lost their homes to foreclosure, those companies who can't meet the payroll this week, or those folk who've had to file for bankruptcy already.

as plezWorld predicted, politics prevailed and the weasels that were sent to washington to protect the common man couldn't gird their loins against the onslaught of high pressure salesmanship by their leadership. i do applaud my congressman - Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) - for standing on principle and voting against this measure!

that $700 billion could've gone to protect the 600,000 Americans who've lost their jobs this year from foreclosure and bankruptcy... instead that money will go to reward the very institutions who abhor the government when they are reaping billions of dollars of profit, yet are lined up at the government teat as soon as their risky schemes go south.

this economy is STILL in shambles and even after being signed into law, the dow jones finished the day with a loss of over 150 points! this law fixes nothing and george bush doesn't repair his god-awful credibility with the US. and mark my words, wall street will be back within 12 months when we have a new president with new cache in congress.

the LAMEST of lame duck presidents suckered an opposition party-led congress into action again... a sad day in america, indeed!

Congressman Hank Johnson Joins Call to Impeach Cheney

Atlanta Progressive News reports that US Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA-04) has joined 10 other members of Congress in supporting US House Resolution 333, a bill to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney.

Rep. Johnson says:

"I believe it was time to send a message to the Vice President and to the Executive Branch as a whole. I have certainly been displeased with the operations of the Executive Branch, particularly with regard to the secrecy, the incompetence, and the lack of cooperation that is coming out of the Vice President’s Office. I think the response to [reject] the subpoenas was the last straw."

Read the entire article here.

Read HTML version of US House Resolution 333 here.

plez sez: i have been in a funk lately, because all those democrats who are sitting in Washington, DC because of voters like me didn't seem to conducting the business that voters like me sent them there to do. this whole episode with Iraq (and Sadaam Hussein) has been bugging me since before Colin Powell presented the UN with that bogus intelligence about Iraq's nuclear capabilities. and the Bush Administration has been cause for consternation since they stole (yeah... STOLE) the goddamn election in 2000!

so finally, a breeze of fresh air seems to blow in Washington, DC... Dennis Kucinich got the wheels in motion and 10 members of Congress have signed onto his resolution to start cleaning out the stench of the Bush Administration, beginning with that VILE ASSHOLE named Dick Cheney! i know this resolution won't see the light of day and will probably never come to a vote, but at least SOMEONE is saying SOMETHING about the sad state of affairs of our executive branch. the resolution begins:

Impeaching Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.

Resolved, That Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:

Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, against Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors.

the articles of impeachment are quite thorough.

but i am really beaming with pride because MyCongressman (and neighbor) Hank Johnson (of the Fourth Congressional District of Georgia) has signed on in support of the resolution to impeach dick cheney. i'll admit that i have been getting kind of antsy in wanting Congressman Johnson to get into the fray and start displaying the kind of leadership that got him elected to his first term in Congress. he took out a frisky and populist Cynthia McKinney (THANK GOD!), and i wanted him to establish some type of legacy that will get him reelected next year (because Ms. McKinney is still very popular in this neck of the woods). this action should silence his critics and reduce the chance that she'll arise from the ashes of her political [sic] career!

lastly, George Bush is not blameless in all of this MESS... and i'm looking forward to similar articles of impeachment for W to surface to end the tyranny of our 21st century King George (just in time for Independence Day)!

100 Days with Hank Johnson

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson has been turning heads since he arrived on Capitol Hill in January, taking over the erstwhile firebrand Cynthia McKinney. He has continued to display a cool, detached, yet effective manner that defined his run for the House seat he currently occupies.

Some of his notable actions over his first 100 days:

• The first bill introduced by Johnson called for the immediate end to the use of US troops for street patrols in Baghdad.
  
• His first speech on the House floor in January was in favor of raising the minimum wage.
  
• He has held a number of town hall meetings here in the district.
  
• He has worked with Atlanta's U.S. Representative John Lewis on protecting PeachCare, Georgia's health insurance program for poor children.
  
• He has visited Iraq; he met with the troops and Iraqis.

Talking about his visit to Iraq, Congressman Johnson says, "Looking into the eyes of the Iraqis and hearing their pleas for uniforms, transportation and for weapons, I came away with the conclusion that we are years away from the Iraqi army standing up on its own."

The AJC article quotes Burrell Ellis, the presiding officer of the DeKalb County Commission, "He's done about 500 days of work in a 100-day period."

Hank is even winning over staunch McKinney supporters who concede that his non-confrontational manner is impressive. Republicans and Democrats in the Georgia congressional delegation say they're just happy to have an Atlanta-area lawmaker whose office not only returns their calls, but who works with their offices on legislation.

plez sez: this time last year, i was on a near-constant tirade about how Representative Cynthia McKinney was a the source of embarrassment for her constituents in the Fourth District and how i couldn't wait to have her ousted from office. twelve months later, i am proud to say that my neighbor and new Congressman is doing us proud; i spoke with him briefly over the weekend at the grocery store and he is wearing his role as Congressman well. thanks, hank!

i can only hope that my support (and the support of others in the blogosphere) played a key role in helping Hank Johnson supplant a six-term Congresswoman from her post after more than a decade in Washington. this speaks to the power of this medium and the power of all who embrace and exercise our newfound voice. let's now turn our sights to the next objective and see it through.