I think they're doing a great job. A lot of so called smart people made stupid bets and now I'm supposed to make my grandkids pay for it. I think NOT! Suffering now will teach us to make wiser choices. - Eric Lewis

I doubt every Congress man and woman has read the 100+ pages document. Many of them probably voted the same way as the people who sit next to them. It will be a miracle if we can get the bailout plan to pass. - Harry Chen

Agree! Understand that they are pressed, but the comms around the dealings have left a lot to be desired. - Josh Dilworth

FWIW, there is only one bill in which you can basically prove Congressman have read--the Intelligence funding bill. The reason? It's classified and Members have to sign in to read it. How many do? About 14 or so (believe it or not). I worked for Congress a few years back and always found that depressing. - Andrew Leyden

What's the incentive to educate anyone when they KNOW the sheep will continue to vote them in and always vote Dem or Rep? - Live4Emma (L4S)

Eric: the problem is your grandkids will pay for this anyway. What happens if you lose your job? Or your kids lose their jobs? - Robert Scoble

@Robert: that's why we should stop having kids. :-) - Harry Chen

@Robert: I don't have a "job". If I lose my source of income I adapt. Nobody bailed me out when I lost my house. Sure my grandchildren already own a piece of the national debt. But I will not vote $1 more on them. - Eric Lewis

@Tadeu: I'm all for you avoiding pain, but don't pain my grandkids to do it. I agree with you on wars, but personal pain has taught me many lessons. - Eric Lewis

Eric: but when everyone else is out of a job they get unemployment insurance. So, you just voted your kids more debt there too (and far more than $700 billion, especially if this goes on a long time). - Robert Scoble

Robert: So I should steal from my grandkids to avoid others stealing more? You're making my head spin. I can only control me. I won't steal. - Eric Lewis

Eric: here's the problem. Our entire economic system is based on credit now. You do realize that, right? How did I buy my car? Credit. How did the businesses I have worked for get money to hire people, buy realestate, etc, Credit. How did I get my house? Credit. So, if the credit system goes into meltdown (it's very close) then they stop loaning money to EVERYONE, not just "flakes." So, who built the Saturn car I bought on Credit? What happens to their jobs if we can't buy more cars? - Robert Scoble

Eric: If the plan is put together wisely and executed well, taxpayers may actually earn money on this deal. No one is talking about giving away $700B. This is a loan. Worst case scenario is probably that we lose half of that. Most realistic scenario? We probably lose $100-200B. - J. McConnell

If the economy melts down, then tons of people, even those who had good credit, get hurt. What happens then? We all go on unemployment. Your grandkids are going to pay a LOT MORE than $700 billion if that happens because when the economy melts down the jobless will be a lot longer and deeper. You have a chance to head that off now, but you are deciding to watch the entire economy burn, baby, burn. That is NOT prudent. - Robert Scoble

@Robert: I don't understand paying off/guaranteeing the bad debts of bankers as being MY problem. I made some bad financial choices in my day and no one bailed me out. You take your chances, you pay the piper. - Eric Lewis

Eric: you don't fund other people and other parts of the economy. These banks do. That's the error in your thinking. - Robert Scoble

Robert: You're right, I don't. But they lost $1 Trillion. Who made the larger mistake in thinking? If I have a vote, I'm not rewarding that. - Eric Lewis

Eric: the thing is, that's not what you're deciding now. Now you are deciding whether the entire economy burns because you want to punish those responsible. There are other people involved here. Get off of the punishment, it won't help you protect your grandchildren. - Robert Scoble

Robert: I'm for punishment?! I'm sorry, from where I sit, loaning money to a losing gambler, because his kids might starve, is not protection I can believe in. I need a better explanation than that. - Eric Lewis

Eric: you are thinking wrong. This isn't a person. It's a series of institutions that loan money to normal people like you and me. If they stop loaning money, WE HURT and the PEOPLE WHO BUILD STUFF FOR US HURT not them. You need to think about the whole economy, not just the jerks who got us here. The one who lit the fire isn't the one who is going to get burned. Put out the fire. Argue about punishment later. - Robert Scoble

FYI, both D's and R's who voted No are from districts that are "in play." When they had to make a tough call that might hurt politically, they chose the safest path for reelection, not for the country. - Andrew Feinberg

@Eric Lewis: Here is a great explanation of why this bill was important and was more than just bailing out a bunch of greedy bankers who made poor decisions: http://www.frontlinethoughts.com/article... - J. McConnell

Curtis: we don't know if it'll work. It's like putting water on a fire. You know it will help and you continue putting water onto the fire until it's out. Andrew: exactly. They are willing to burn down the country so they can get reelected. - Robert Scoble

Andrew: do you have a map that shows that? I want to put that on the top of my blog. - Robert Scoble

Robert: You sure sound panicked. I am not. There will always be people with money who want to make more, by loaning to those with sure plans. I will not throw good money after bad. - Eric Lewis

@Robert: I understand you believe credit will stop, but that's an opinion, not a fact. I'm hearing otherwise. Tightening yes, stoppage no. There are many who believe our grandkids will be *better* off if we ensure proper and last resort bailout is enacted. That both corporations and individuals should be held responsible. In many ways, America as a whole is responsible for not being more vigilant. I'm not the enemy, we simply have differing views on what is best and even brainy economists differ. - AJ Kohn

I've posted that link to my feed so we can discuss it, if anyone's interested. http://friendfeed.com/e... - J. McConnell

Suspending MTM accounting = instant fail. Why would they undermine the entire program by sewing seeds of doubt?? Anyone who is *pro-transparency* should be pretty stoked right now. - Will DeLuca

AJ: well, nothing ever "stops" totally. True. I should use "major slowdown." But, either way, you are deciding to make the slowdown deeper and longer by not putting water on the fire. That's fine, but I wish we would put water on the fire instead of saying "burn baby, burn." - Robert Scoble

Robert: There are also those who think the market will self-correct. Yes, it will be painful, but it will correct. I'm not sure about that, but like you, I don't know all the facts. - Jim McCusker

Heck Pelosi couldn't even explain it to her own party members Nick 40% of the Dems didn't vote in favor of it. If she had done a proper Whip check in advance of the bill coming to the floor she would have known that and dealt with it. - Thomas Vincent

Mark: my minor is in economics and I went to the World Economic Forum this year. Hey, if Palin is qualified to be President because she "lives close to Russia" then I'm qualified to be FriendFeed's economist! :-) - Robert Scoble

'new plan' ... nothing about that reaching the UK news - PaulJohnson

Great NYT article: An interesting historical perspective about the disaster that has befallen Wall Street. http://tinyurl.com/3vzxc9. Sheds some informed light on how we got here. (By noted biographer Ron Chernow). - JP Adams

The government just screwed the country. A lot of people are going to lose their well earned money because they (the government) can't help out. I'll have to say bye bye to the money I invested, which is what I basically life off of, since I can't find a job at the moment. Thanks so much. - Molly, "sorry"

@Robert: I like that terminology far better because I think it's more realistic and doesn't feed into reptilian panic button response that actually helps create runs. I'm interested though, it will certainly make the slowdown deeper - that's pretty clear IMO - but I actually believe that means it will be shorter, not longer. [cont] - AJ Kohn

[cont] A slower correction is like having spyware on your computer. It just gets slower and slower and people give up on the computer in frustration. A short deep correction is like a reboot, you start over but still have faith in the computer. - AJ Kohn

politicians are only being as transparent as is necessary to ensure your vote in a month...there is too much at stake right now for any real bipartisanship to really happen - George Lee from twhirl

I'm embarrassed to be have been oblivious to this entire conversation - Nick O'Neill