Democratic Congress May Adjourn, Leave Crisis to Fed, Treasury


Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The Democratic-controlled Congress, acknowledging that it isn't equipped to lead the way to a solution for the financial crisis and can't agree on a path to follow, is likely to just get out of the way.

Lawmakers say they are unlikely to take action before, or to delay, their planned adjournments -- Sept. 26 for the House of Representatives, a week later for the Senate. While they haven't ruled out returning after the Nov. 4 elections, they would rather wait until next year unless Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, who are leading efforts to contain the crisis, call for help.

One reason, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said yesterday, is that ``no one knows what to do'' at the moment.

``When you rush to judgment, you usually make mistakes,'' said Sherwood Boehlert, a former Republican congressman from New York. ``This is something you can't go on forever without addressing, but Congress in a short span of time is best served by going home.'' READ MORE

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I'm feeling so inspired from our current Congress.

It's now the American way. Throw your hands up in the air, say it's not my problem and walk away from it.

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TalkPa.net - Pennsylvania's Forum

I read that this morning and just had to laugh.

"Welp, we'd like to do something, and usually we'd do something, since it's our job to do something, but no one knows what to do, so we're not doing anything."

Yep.

yea, they ALL got us where we are and now we gotta pay, it's a big shit samich....have a bite. When will we ever learn? The American public I mean, we keep electing the same type of people year after year and never demand or get anything for it except bent over.

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Here's a solution to all the controversy over full-body scanners, searches, pat downs, etc. Have an appropriate booth that you can step into that will not X-ray you, but WILL detonate any explosive device you may have on you.

They get their wish and we get ours!

I don't know what can be done to 'fix' what's happening right now with the economy. I think it has to shake itself out for a while.

I do know that the causes of what led to this meltdown have to be corrected after it all washes out. The safeguards against this that were put in place after the Depression...and then eroded away to nothing...have to be re-implemented to some degree, at least. And there will be new safety checks needed to deal with the modern markets.

This is going to take a lot of investigation, testimony and advice before any intelligent legislation could be crafted. And not knowing who the next Prez is going to be, and not knowing what the numbers are going to be in the House and Senate, makes it almost impossible to know what tack to even begin to take.

David M. Walker, former Comptroller General of the GAO has been predicting this
for years now.

He got into a pissing match with Cheney back in 2002, because Cheney would not disclose energy policy information, he sued Cheney, only to have the case
dismissed by a Judge appointed by Bush in Dec 2001.

Now, I know that is all besides the point, but I wonder if that ill-will led to
Walker not being taken seriously? Who knows? He eventually stepped down as CG, and has
been touring the nation giving speeches about our dire economic problems.

Lest you think he is a bleeding heart liberal, he served in the Reagan
administration, and was appointed CG by Bill Clinton.

So he is basically non-partisan.

He likens our situation to the fall of ancient Rome. I sure as shit hope it
doesn't come to that.

This morning, on CNN, an economic analyst basically made this analogy:

Our current economic situation is much like a snowball rolling down a hill. The measures being taken by the Fed to backstop business like AIG and Bear Stearns aren't fixing the problem, they're just keeping the problem from getting worse. The snowball has to roll all the way to the bottom of the hill before it stops rolling. Once it comes to a stop, then you can do something about it.

Unfortunately, the market needs to do the same thing. We'll be in a recession for the next few quarters, that's a given. After that? We can more forward again.