From NYTimes.com: Fate of Bailout Plan Remains Uncertain
In the Roosevelt Room after the session, the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr. literally bent down on one knee as he pleaded with Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, not to “blow it up” by withdrawing her party’s support for the package over what Ms. Pelosi derided as a Republican betrayal.
“I didn’t know you were Catholic,” Ms. Pelosi said, a wry reference to Mr. Paulson’s kneeling, according to someone who observed the exchange. She went on: “It’s not me blowing this up, it’s the Republicans.”
Mr. Paulson sighed. “I know. I know.”
It’s sad how the Republicans are playing politics with this whole situation. There were possibly other options besides a bailout, but those things would have to have been done months ago. Now, we’re left with pretty few options, none of them pleasant. If the Republicans hadn’t been claiming all the time that the “fundamentals of the economy were strong”, we might have developed a plan to help prevent foreclosures and the subsequent collapse of the real estate market.
We’re going to see some form of bailout whether we like it or not. It’s either going to be a comprehensive plan or the government is going to end up propping up banks as the fail, one by one, like Washington Mutual yesterday.
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