The US Senate passed H.R. 1424, the vehicle to enact a financial bailout, by a vote of 74 to 25. That crosses the first hurdle. Next comes the house vote.
Archive for category Current events
The House Financial Services Committee has published H.R. 3997 here:
Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
Summary of Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
Section-by-Section of Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
The House voted 228-205 to reject this bailout bill. 133 Republicans joined 95 Democrats in opposition. Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the Republican minority leader, called the measure “a mud sandwich”.
In Bailout Blues, David Warren writes “I am further appalled by the spectacle of the Democrats in the U.S. Congress, exploiting the emergency to affix massive quantities of poorly disguised pork to the blunderbuss bill.”
Should he be voted into the Presidency, John McCain has promised to veto such bills and shed light on the names of the politicians, who have earmarked pork.
I would like to know what are these pork items that have been added to the bailout bill?
Give us their names.
Arnold Gets His Way
Sep 18
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger threatened to veto the budget legislation that was negotiated by the California state house and senate, because the budget did not meet with his demands. He wanted to protect the state’s rainy day fund from being raided. He also did not want California taxpayers to have their taxes withheld early, so that tax revenues would be available faster in an act of creative accounting.
The legislature could have enough votes to override a veto, so they threatened to override the veto. The LA Times recounts the Governor’s response:
More than 800 bills that lawmakers passed this year hang in the balance. On Tuesday, when Schwarzenegger issued his budget veto threat, he also declared that if lawmakers were to override him, he would reject most of the legislation.
The legislators have taken the Governor’s threat seriously. They have renegotiated a new budget that meets all of the Governor’s demands. Score another one for Arnold.
Last week, The US Supreme Court ruled that Americans have a right to own guns for self-defense and hunting. This overturns the Washington DC ban on gun ownership, which was enacted in 1976.
Based on comments by council members John A. Wilson and Marion Barry upon passing the gun ban, it is clear that there was no expectation that the gun ban would have any effect on reducing gun crime. One must assume that politicians only want to be perceived as “doing something”, regardless of whether the laws they enact cause more harm than good. Banning guns disarms law abiding citizens from being able to defend themselves from criminals, but criminals who do not obey laws are given a firepower advantage over the unarmed population.
In response to the Supreme Court ruling, Washington mayor Adrian Fenty said, “More handguns in the District of Columbia will only lead to more handgun violence.” Prior to the ban, the 1969 homicide rate in DC was 287 (36 per 100,000 residents). After the ban, the homicide rate increased to a peak of 482 (81 per 100,000 residents) in 1991. As the DC homicide rate per 100,000 residents decreased to 35 in 2005, the national rate fell from 9.8 to 5.6, with over 80% of DC murders by shooting. It would appear as though the gun ban has not reduced gun violence.
Meanwhile, according to a 2005 FBI report, Right-to-Carry (RTC) states had 22% lower total violent crime, 30% less murder, 46% lower robbery, and 12% lower aggravated assault rates, compared to the rest of the country.
