Bush and company have worn out any goodwill they may ever have had. The results have been that anything that originates with them such as the original bailout package is now suspect.

The revised bill still gives Henry Paulson too much power in my opinion. And the Republicans who put the kibosh on the bill are afraid for their jobs and resent the administration for their complete and utter incompetence and greed in putting them in the position they find themselves in.

That it is their own fault for rubber-stamping the administration's earlier failed initiatives doesn't seem to occur to them.

The Democrats still are afraid to be seen as spoilers even if the blaming of Nancy Pelosi for the failure of passage is something I find incomprehensible even if I do blame her for tabling any impeachment proceedings against the administration.

I'm not an economist but it seems to me that any other attempt to pass a package has to have serious input from the American people. Perhaps at this point we might be listened to.

Nothing else will do!

Well, McCain didn't fall apart and had good control over his arguments. And neither Obama nor McCain produced any knockouts or even knockdowns

Barack seemed to have a greater command of economics and at least as good a command of foreign policy as John.

While John didn't disgrace himself, he didn't distinguish himself  either. Barack was generally mild as expected and one wanted to see a bit more fire on the whole, but he got his points across and generally exposed John's lies satisfactorily.

John, of course, is in the unenviable position of trying to play the "Maverick" after years of going along with the Bush administration's disastrous policies and trying to cover up that fact. And his shabby reference to the holocaust didn't help him in the long run.

Obama/ Biden '08

The Bushies, it seems, have gone over the line this time around! When members of its own party refuse to support the administration's line, you know it's in trouble.

The attempt by Bush to pressure the lawmakers into a reckless and dictatorial rescue plan under the sole supervision of hisTreasury Secretary Henry Paulson may have backfired badly. No longer can the right-wingers accuse the Democrats of "dawdling" as in the N.Y. Post's predictable headline of only a few days ago.

People are hurting economically and are really "mad as hell" while being in no mood to give up the rest of their rights. Even if many were dumb enough to buy homes they couldn't afford under unreasonable mortgage plans they could never repay.

And yes, dumb enough to vote twice, against their best interests, for a demonstrably criminal administration.

Come to your senses folks and don't vote again for the same gang.

Obama/ Biden '08

At this point, it is difficult to know what the bailout terms of the financial crisis are but the Dimwit-in-Chief has emerged briefly from his bunker to deliver a warning that we face a possible depression if we do not agree to immediately settle the terms of the buyout. Of course, the D-I-C and his advisors had nothing at all to do with getting us into this situation!

And Johnny McCain has shown his "patriotic courage" by putting his campaign on hold, including the first debate, in order to come to the rescue of our country. One has to shed tears at the altruism and unselfishness of the Grand Old Party in general and Johnny in particular.

(Though it is hard to imagine him doing this if he was doing well in the polls which doesn't seem to be the case. But this is an unworthy and cynical thought on my part which I will let pass.)

Perhaps it would be even better if John and Sarah would put their campaign permanently on hold!

Obama/ Biden '08

Now why am I so sure of the onset of a "meltdown"? Because the present party in power has never done anything right and I expect the "bailout" will be no exception.

Getting us into a ruinous and unnecessary war has taken money from our bank accounts and the attempts by the Bushies to get us into at least another one doesn't take into account that we have neither the money nor the manpower.

Yes, it may be that the Democrats have also allowed the lack of regulation and the proliferation of risk in our financial institutions but the extreme greed of the Republican Party will not allow them to consider other factors besides the "domino" effects of failing institutions and there is little or no chance that they will do the right thing.

The "bailout" is guaranteed to cost  the taxpayer dearly and will make matters worse. And when there is no money in their pockets, this is a sure recipe for further economic disaster. To paraphrase John Donne, "No economy is an island."

A friend once remarked that the Republicans have never understood money and this is prime evidence for that.

Obama/ Biden '08