and kill the economy.
You RW nutcases are such whimpering , simpering babies.
House Republicans Blame Pelosi’s Speech
Posted By Editor On September 29, 2008 @ 3:44 pm In Global | Comments Disabled
Patrick Yoest reports from Washington on Congress.
House Republicans blamed the failure of the $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan Monday on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), saying that Pelosi had been too partisan in a floor speech prior to the vote. (See the speech here, via CSPAN.)
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R., Ohio) said that Pelosi’s speech “poisoned” the Republican caucus and “caused a number of members we thought we could get to go south.”
“I do believe that we could have gotten there today, had it not been for the partisan speech that the Speaker gave on the floor of the House,” Boehner said. “We put everything we had into getting the vote to get there today.” Boehner added, however, that lawmakers have “no choice” but to work together and would have to find “a middle ground to bring enough votes to avert a crisis.”
Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R., Mo.) said he had 12 Republicans who would have voted for the bill but changed their minds, while Rep. Eric Cantor (R., Va.) holding up a copy of what he said was Pelosi’s floor remarks - said the speaker “frankly struck the tone of partisanship.” A senior aide to Pelosi rejected the Republican claims against the speaker, saying the suggestion that her speech motivated House Republicans to vote against the bailout plan was “absurd.”
“You don’t vote on the speech, you vote on the bill,” said the aide.
Frank, speaking at a press conference, mocked the suggestion. “Give me those twelve people’s names and I will talk uncharacteristically nicely to them,” Frank said.
Here is the prepared text of Pelosi’s remarks. The speech as delivered may have differed:
Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke on the House floor this afternoon in support the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. Below are her remarks, as prepared:
“Madam Speaker, when was the last time someone asked you for $700 billion?
“It is a number that is staggering, but tells us only the costs of the Bush Administration’s failed economic policies—policies built on budgetary recklessness, on an anything goes mentality, with no regulation, no supervision, and no discipline in the system.
“Democrats believe in the free market, which can and does create jobs, wealth, and capital, but left to its own devices it has created chaos.
“That chaos is the dismal picture painted by Treasury Secretary Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke a week and a half ago in the Capitol. As they pointed out, we confront a crisis of historic magnitude that has the ability to do serious injury not simply to our economy, but to the American people: not just to Wall Street, but to everyday Americans on Main Street.
“It is our responsibility today, to help avert that catastrophic outcome.
“Let us be clear: This is a crisis caused on Wall Street. But it is a crisis that reaches to Main Street in every city and town of the United States.
“It is a crisis that freezes credit, causes families to lose their homes, cripples small businesses, and makes it harder to find jobs.
“It is a crisis that never had to happen. It is now the duty of every Member of this body to recognize that the failure to act responsibly, with full protections for the American taxpayer, would compound the damage already done to the financial security of millions of American families.
“Over the past several days, we have worked with our Republican colleagues to fashion an alternative to the original plan of the Bush Administration.
“I must recognize the outstanding leadership provided by Chairman Barney Frank, whose enormous intellectual and strategic abilities have never before been so urgently needed, or so widely admired.
“I also want to recognize Rahm Emanuel, who combined his deep knowledge of financial institutions with his pragmatic policy experience, to resolve key disagreements.
“Secretary Paulson deserves credit for working day and night to help reach an agreement and for his flexibility in negotiating changes to his original proposal.
“Democrats insisted that legislation responding to this crisis must protect the American people and Main Street from the meltdown on Wall Street.
“The American people did not decide to dangerously weaken our regulatory and oversight policies. They did not make unwise and risky financial deals. They did not jeopardize the economic security of the nation. And they must not pay the cost of this emergency recovery and stabilization bill.
“So we insisted that this bill contain several key provisions:
“This legislation must contain independent and ongoing oversight to ensure that the recovery program is managed with full transparency and strict accountability.
“The legislation must do everything possible to allow as many people to stay in their homes rather than face foreclosure.
“The corporate CEOs whose companies will benefit from the public’s participation in this recovery must not benefit by exorbitant salaries and golden parachute retirement bonuses.
“Our message to Wall Street is this: the party is over. The era of golden parachutes for high-flying Wall Street operators is over. No longer will the U.S. taxpayer bailout the recklessness of Wall Street.
“The taxpayers who bear the risk in this recovery must share in the upside as the economy recovers.
“And should this program not pay for itself, the financial institutions that benefited, not the taxpayers, must bear responsibility for making up the difference.
“These were the Democratic demands to safeguard the American taxpayer, to help the economy recover, and to impose tough accountability as a central component of this recovery effort.
“This legislation is not the end of congressional activity on this crisis. Over the course of the next few weeks, we will continue to hold investigative and oversight hearings to find out how the crisis developed, where mistakes were made, and how the recovery must be managed to protect the middle class and the American taxpayer.
“With passage of this legislation today, we can begin the difficult job of turning our economy around, of helping those who depend on a growing economy and stable financial institutions for a secure retirement, for the education of their children, for jobs and small business credit.
“Today we must act for those Americans, for Main Street, and we must act now, with the bipartisan spirit of cooperation which allowed us to fashion this legislation.
“This not enough. We are also working to restore our nation’s economic strength by passing a new economic recovery stimulus package—a robust, job creating bill—that will help Americans struggling with high prices, get our economy back on track, and renew the American Dream.
“Today, we will act to avert this crisis, but informed by our experience of the past eight years with the failed economic leadership that has left us left capable of meeting the challenges of the future.
“We choose a different path. In the new year, with a new Congress and a new president, we will break free with a failed past and take America in a New Direction to a better future.”
Article printed from Washington Wire - WSJ.com:
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwireURL to article:
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/09/29/house-republicans-blame-pelosis-speech/[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9U6V3J4yuk[/youtube]
