TARP Debated on Capitol Hill

They saved 200 billion that they did not have in the first place,the new Democratic math,now less see how many votes they can buy with that borrowed money.

“They saved 200 billion that they did not have in the first place,the new Democratic math,now less see how many votes they can buy with that borrowed money.”
Bingo!

“Just give it all to Cheney and Halliburton and Big Oil. Oh wait, the Republicans got voted out of office.”
Um, Obama is STILL using Halliburton and gas prices are now 75 cents higher than they were a year ago. Why don’t we have 99 cent gas now that Hope and Change are here? Obama needs to stop cozying up to his Big Oil buddies.

“Please link the Obama/Big Oil connections.”
Big Oil is still making huge record profits long after Bush/Cheney left office. Obama is now at the helm. That means he’s conspiring with them. What other explanation could there be?

Posted by: wow | Dec 8, 2009 1:34:27 AM
Lot of unemployed people wouldn’t mind a few scaps to put on their table . . . or even a program that would give them a little work.
Let’s face it, the super wealthy aren’t that concerned – the rest of us are.

What super rich do you know?
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I don’t know any super rich people, a few millionaires and they aren’t hurting at all. The SUPER rich are far above that and they haven’t suffered a flinch.
Recovery and Reinvestment propped up state and local governments, and some unemployment and heath insurance – and if gave tax relief to something like 95% of Americans.
Only about .3 of the ARRP monies have been paid out, so more is coming on stream during this next fiscal year.
Whether to let people who have no more unemployment insurance fall, lose their homes and so on is a different question.

Whether to let people who have no more unemployment insurance fall, lose their homes and so on is a different question.

Why should the rich hurt or suffer. They earned their money, it’s theirs. The fact that they are rich doesn’t hurt our chances of achieving the same thing. The kids I knew in high school who worked their butts off studying ended up going to better colleges and getting better jobs. It’s kinda the way the world works.
So you want to be wealthy…read,study,work hard and save.

“I would argue that many of the SUPER rich did not earn their money, but were born to it.”
Then you’d be wrong. Studies have shown that 80% of millionaires are first-generation, and so are the vast majority of billionaires.
The Center for Responsive Politics recently published a report describing the wealth of members of Congress.
Among the highlights: Two-hundred-and-thirty-seven members of Congress are millionaires (four out of five are DEMOCRATS). That’s 44 percent of the body – compared to about 1 percent of Americans overall.
CRP says California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa is the richest lawmaker on Capitol Hill, with a net worth estimated at about $251 million. Next in line: Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), worth about $244.7 million; Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), worth about $214.5 million; Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), worth about $209.7 million; and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), worth about $208.8 million.
All told, at least seven lawmakers have net worths greater than $100 million, according to the Center’s 2008 figures.

I would argue that many of the SUPER rich did not earn their money, but were born to it. The Bush family is a prime example; Prescott Bush, rich banker, passes along a small fortune to George HW Bush, and on to George W. who was a medicore student at best, pretty much a failure in business and was propped up by rich fiends of the family and basically bought into politics.
Try to to glamorize this ‘the rich are all hard workers’ too much. Capitalism is based on capital – if you have it, you’re WAY ahead of everybody else.
Posted by: tierra | Dec 8, 2009 5:21:53 AM
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Another thing Bush and obama have in common – rich family, rich friends, mediocre students.

“Obama didn’t grow up with the silver spoon and the connections.”
Obama’s grandmother had connections and money being a banker in Hawaii, enough to get him into prep school.
Obama had various connections to get him into the college(s) he attended, and his star was hoist by the liberal intelligentsia and the Democratic machine in Chicago and the DNC.
It’s a little bit different than the typical blue blood ascension to the throne but his way was just as greased by others and just as effective.

“I would argue that many of the SUPER rich did not earn their money, but were born to it.”
Then you’d be wrong. Studies have shown that 80% of millionaires are first-generation, and so are the vast majority of billionaires.
Posted by: Mary | Dec 8, 2009 7:09:22 AM
Come on Mary. You can’t let a few facts get in the way of her “I hate America – but I secretly wished I lived there campaign.”

That doesn’t mean our system isn’t still the best, and that you can’t go from rags to riches. The thing is we also want people to be able to move from poverty to an expanded middle class.
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Exactly Jemma,
My sister in law came here from Cambodia with what was left of her family. They all lived together in a tiny little apartment. She didn’t speak English and had only a fourth grade education. She took adult education classes, learned English and ended up going to college and became a nurse. We have a wonderful country and fail to realize it.
Everyone has the opportunity to get a good education and become successful.

Spend, spend, spend, other people’s money. This is this guy’s answer to every problem
Posted by: Terry | Dec 8, 2009 5:27:13 PM
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Actually no, that was Bush’s tactic – he increased the national debt by $500 BILLION dollars on average every year of his Presidency . .. during the ‘good’ times.
Like every other western industrialized country in the world (suffering under the huge economic turndown), the United States has used tax relief, stimulus plans and deficit spending to keep the country together during this time.
You seem to think it’s just Obama – and you blame him.
Acutally every other western democracy has done exactly the same thing.
The only people who disagree are the right wingers and they have no idea what to do because they got us into this mess.

seriously ridiculous…i love the consensus line. you all must be comedians too.