House Rejects Paulson Plan –
Stocks go off cliff –
Pelosi must follow
1. I’m surprised at the vote — rejecting the Congressional leadership version of Paulson’s plan 228-205. With 95 Donkeys braying Nay.
Here’s a map showing where the No votes came from. The hinterlands, mostly.
2. The Dow in reaction was down 777. Too bad it’s not a slot machine.
The sell-off was the largest ever in raw points and the 17th largest percentage drop.
Can anyone measure the damage done to the country and the globe since the Straussian installation of Bush-Cheney?
3. No — but for that matter: Pelosi.
I’ve never thought she was much of a leader:
– She laid down before the GOPhers going into the Iraq war. The most signal case:
A Donkey rep from the south, three months before the invasion, had the temerity to speak truth to Joe Public: that the White House had been shanghaied by a cabal of radicals for whom Tel Aviv was the center of the universe.
Pelosi, the next day, chastised him publicly about anti-semitism and deprived him of his subcommitte chair.
– After the voter revolt in 2006, her first move was to squash the impeachment momentum, which — again — had the effect of easing pressure on Bush-Cheney.
– Her inability to get the Donkeys (at least!) in line for today’s vote settles questions about her talents as a floor leader. She was a chief negotiator of the bill, and had her face all over it on TV. Yet came up twelve noses short.
These three suggest she’s more interested in getting along with people than ramming bills and resolutions through the pipeline.
Then again, apparently the fiery speech she gave directly before the vote alienated some GOPhers. From the Times:
In the speech that Republicans said infuriated them, Ms. Pelosi accused Mr. Bush of squandering the budget surpluses of the Clinton years.
“They claim to be free-market advocates, when it’s really an anything-goes mentality,” she said. “No supervision. No discipline. And if you fail, you will have a golden parachute and the taxpayer will bail you out.”
Democrats later said that if her speech truly cost votes, then Republicans, in the words of Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, were guilty of punishing the country because Ms. Pelosi had hurt their feelings.
David Brooks (whom I rarely agree with) reacts by observing that perhaps this wasn’t the best moment for the Speaker to give a fund-raising speech.
One hopes then the Change theme reaches across the aisle a bit post November.
Steney Hoyer of Maryland — who tangled with Pelosi for the speakership after the 2006 vote — should get the job in the new Congress next year. He’s super smart and a great worker of the chamber.
