Friday, October 3rd, 2008...2:59 pm
It’s a Rescue…or a Bailout…Depends on Your District
For those that have asked…here is the Arizona delegation’s vote on the “rescue package.” The rescue package…you used to get to buy that for those Adventure People figures, right?
Jeff Flake (R - Mesa) - Nay
Trent Franks (R - Glendale) - Nay
Gabrielle Giffords (D - Tucson) - Aye
Raúl Grijalva (D - Tucson) - Nay
Harry Mitchell (D - Tempe) - Aye
Ed Pastor (D - Phoenix) - Aye
Rick Renzi (R - Flagstaff) - Nay
John Shadegg (R - Phoenix) - Aye
Note that we didn’t have quite the unanimity we had for the last vote.
Which brings up another point: folks have asked me when the last time there was unanimity in the Arizona delegation for an important or controversial vote. I’d usually shoot back that it was when John Murdock was in office, seeing that he was our last congressman elected to a lone “At Large” seat. Actually, there is a more recent vote. The 1993 vote implementing the North American Free Trade Agreement got the votes of the entire Arizona house delegation, which was six people at that time. For those keeping score, that would have been Sam Coppersmith, Karan English, Jim Kolbe, Jon Kyl, Ed Pastor and Bob Stump. If there is another one in the intervening decade in a half, feel free to shoot it my way.
14 Comments
October 3rd, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Thanks for answering my question Tedski.
October 3rd, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Yeah, well I’ve still got my funds in Mattress Savings and Loan.
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Yay Raul Grijalva did not let me down.
I am really bitter the bailout passed today. Not that I didn’t expect it.
October 3rd, 2008 at 11:27 pm
God help us all!
October 4th, 2008 at 10:59 am
I was just depressed that this bill passed. It should have been cleaned up-and there would have been time except this Administration is so Chicken Little it is pathetic.
October 4th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
feralboy, Joe Pyritz, appleblossom,
The truth is that it needed to pass. On Monday they could all demogogue since they knew they’d get another shot later in the week.
But two bank failures later on Friday, it was make-or-break.
And if it was ‘break,’ then this would have been a very, very bad month for you.
What would almost certainly have happened without the Friday vote was that the so-called ‘overnight credit’ market (the ones banks access to make sure they have enough money on hand on a daily basis) would have frozen up. This would have led to problems like you not being able to get your money out of the bank (because the bank doesn’t have it just then), or businesses not being able to make payroll.
And if that happened right before the election, the shit would have really hit the fan (LOUDLY!!) The members of congress know that very well.
October 4th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
In fact, this really was a damned if you do, damned if you don’t for Congress.
People are angry because of a ‘bailout,’ but Congress knows well what the reality of the situation is, and if they had voted against it then people would be scared and furious and asking ‘why didn’t you do something?’ a week or two from now when they were getting I.O.U.s from their employer.
With the number of people who are even now just living paycheck to paycheck you’d have seen long lines at soup kitchens, and fast.
So either way Congress gets dumped on, but thank God they realized the gravity of what almost happened and are getting dumped on for what they did do, instead of for what they should have done.
October 4th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
As you know Eli, it would have not been bad for me.
However it may have been bad for the people I deal with.
October 5th, 2008 at 9:24 am
The bottom line–our current situation sucks. Once again corporate America has let us all down–happened in 1920’s and it is happening again, difference now is the big ole Gov bail out. How pathetic is it to have to provide Welfare to the wealthy?
October 5th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Eli-with all due respect, if I sell my house I sell it at what it is worth..if someone buys it at an inflated rate-that’s their fault.
We are purchasing assets of these companies at an inflated price..not the actual value.
God help us all. We were played for suckers.
October 6th, 2008 at 9:07 am
As Warren Buffet suggested, taxpayers should have bought senior preferred shares instead of buying worthless “assets”.
October 7th, 2008 at 8:11 am
I applaud the work of John McCain and John Shadegg who looked past all the rhetoric, ignored partisanship and did the right thing.
October 7th, 2008 at 8:13 am
Once again, Gabby “I Married a Spaceman” Giffords failed to listen to the people and voted with the Pelosi-Grijalva axis of evil.
October 7th, 2008 at 9:11 am
Considering Grijalva voted Nay, rendering your latest “zinger” logically impossible, your last comment really does provide evidential support for your choice of nom-de-plume.
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