Political Equinox

I’m doing something I haven’t done in a long time – respectfully, yet diametrically disagreeing with Neil.

In order to understand the failure, we should first look at where this plan originated – the Bush Administration. This was a brokered bill; nonetheless, the original framework for the bailout was crafted by the Administration, lead by Treasury Secretary Paulson. Like virtually anything that could had had a chance of passing the Untied States Congress, the final iteration of the bill was a compromise through and through. In order to get behind the bill, Dems got executive pay limits added for companies selling their mortgages to the government as well as the ability to have controlling shares of some companies, and the Administration got their $700 billion.

Notice how I’m saying the ‘Administration’ instead of Republicans. Minority Leader Boehner’s support for the plan was late and tenuous at best. His lukewarm support reflected that of the Republican membership. 66% of House Republicans voted against the bill – one that was framed by their President. I understand that as the rift between George Bush ‘big-government’ Repubicans and ‘fiscal conservatve’ Republicans grow, it is politically less tenable to side with the President. But when nearly 60% of House Democrats voted for the bill, it’s hard to say the Democrats didn’t do their part.

With the way congress works, Speaker Pelosi can only deliver Democrats – and she did deliver Democrats for a bill that was framed by a Republican President’s Administration. It was Boehner’s responsibility to put country first and bring along more Republicans to support a president of his very own political party; he failed to do so.

Pelosi isn’t free of blame, but with the way Congress functions you can’t heap all the blame on the Speaker. In looking at the vote totals, Boehner is more at fault than she.

And on a side note, welcome Eric to the debate that never ends