Should Obama Co-opt the House GOP position on the bailout.

[Perky]

Poll question: Should Obama Co-opt the House GOP position on the bailout.

Are the Republicans in the House completely Wrongheaded about this? There is A LOT or anger in the country about the bailout. I certainly understand their populist opposition to the terms of the bailout. It may also be be the only way to keep away from losing another 20 House seats,

But it is the same crowd who gutted the regulatory framework and allowed the foolish levels of risk into the marketplace who is now saying that darwinian forces be employed to solve this huge problem.

Seems to me they were irresponsible before and they are willing to be irresponsible in their solvency now. But still, they certainly have some populist sentiment behind them.


The political calculus is really pretty dicey for everyone. From what I can tell McCain does not have a position and Obama is being very careful not to get close to the negotiated plan.

Perhaps the smartest thing he could do is grab his friend Tom Coburn and seek a compromise while McCain sits on the sidelines looking woefully bewildered.

[Teaser]

1. uh, why embrace an even worse plan?

More deregulation as a solution?

[cali]

2. Hell No! He should not do anything of the sort.

The repuke plan includes loosening regulation and cutting cap gains taxes. And you want Obama to sign on to this? That's insane. And btw, the dems are not headed toward losing ANY seats in the House. To the contrary, they're set to gain at least 8. Please take a look at individual races.

[MoJoWorkin]

3. Why would we jump on board a plan of theirs----not knowing what was in it ?

From what little I have garnered, they want LESS regulation in their so called "plan," and more privatization. There is NO good way out here, as the mess is too big, and from what I am reading, it may get a lot worse today. WAMU failed overnite. How many more banks are to follow. We need to have the smartest minds taking control here---not partisan bickering.
Krugman says we unfortunately need to do SOMETHING, and not just let them all fail. Ed Rendell, on Rachel last nite, made a good case for why we need some kind of "rescue" for the little guy, as NO ONE will be able to get a loan---not small business when they can't make payroll, etc. and this country will grind to a halt.

What people must be made to understand is that it is in THEIR best interest (if that is the case, and if Obama says it is, I believe it) that some sort of bailout must occur.

It is pretty scary stuff. and I don't know beans about economics, but I am trusting Obama to be able to navigate these treacherous waters better than anyone else.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/opinion/26krugman.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x7193075

[knowledgeispwr]

4. GOP plan is worse

Contains more de-regulation and tax breaks (on capital gains, I believe). No reason to jump on their plan.

[dkf]

5. Paulson says it won't work

I'd love to hear his exact reasoning, but I think Treasury has a lot more data than they are releasing. I have a feeling if we knew the truth, we'd be even more nervous than we already are.

[Perky]

6. I never said adopt the GOP position, I said co-opt it

and find amore market mechanism and les taxpayer risk in exchange for heavier regulatory burden.

[seasat]

7. The Repubs want to combat a bubble by creating a bubble

They are trying to combat a housing bubble by increasing investment in the stock market creating another stock market bubble. It's not even clear if dropping capital gains taxes, which are already at a ridiculously low rate of 15%, to nothing will even be enough to encourage investment. Deregulation is what created the problems of the Credit Default Swaps, allowed looser standards in lending, and allowed fraudulent mortgages. They are encouraging further deregulation of some sort to address a problem created by deregulation. Any positive effect from their plan (which I doubt will occur) will only postpone the collapse and make it much much worse when it occurs because it will expose more people to risky investments. This plan is as DOA as Paulson's original plan.

The answer to Obama compromising is hell no!