The Volokh Conspiracy - Bailout Quote of the Day;

Congressional Republicans have posted a far from impressive record in upholding free market principles in recent years. One of the few exceptions is Indiana Representative Mike Pence, who has the best short comment on the bailout I have seen all day:

"I must tell you, there are those in the public debate who have said that we must act now. The last time I heard that, I was on a used-car lot," said Rep. Mike Pence, R-Indiana. "The truth is, every time somebody tells you that you've got to do the deal right now, it usually means they're going to get the better part of the deal."

And, yes, I realize that the day is only 35 minutes old, so I'm incorporating all of yesterday by reference.

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Nate in Alice:

I've never seen such agreement between the liberal and conservative bloggers.

This bailout stinks. And the last time WE heard something had to be done right away, we ended up in a costly boondoggle of a war that still hasn't resolved itself (much less paid for itself, as some claimed it would.)

9.24.2008 2:11am

Vermando (mail) (www):

Now that's the sort of common-sense talk that I used to appreciate from the Republican Party (in contrast to the anti-people-who-know-stuff anti-elitism of more recent years). Nice to see 'em coming back, and I agree with the sentiment.

GOP '16!

9.24.2008 2:15am

Volokh Groupie:

It's true...there's never ever ever been a problem/issue that's time sensitive.

9.24.2008 2:23am

David Warner:

Nate:

You get to agree with Newt too. Sure you're thrilled.

9.24.2008 3:11am

ReaderY:

Amen.

Don't give away the store.

9.24.2008 3:30am

unhyphenatedconservative (mail):

Vermando, no offense, but thwe "people who know stuff elitists" caused this debacle and are proposing further debacle in the bailout. So there's a reason that the GOP doesn't genuflect to the ivory tower.

9.24.2008 3:54am

EH (mail):

On the street they call this a "hustle."

9.24.2008 3:56am

David,

Thanks for the link. This is such an interesting moment. Seems like there is a high-stakes game of chicken being played.

9.24.2008 5:05am

pedro (mail):

Wonder what made the content of that quote any less persuasive when the Bush administration argued it was time to engage in an incredibly expensive invasion.

9.24.2008 7:47am

RegisteredTrademark (mail):

When you compare this bailout to the "war" you are comparing apples and condominiums. The truth is that this years economic stimulus package was supposed to benefit every entity that filed taxes this year. I am filing late - I have seen no $450 treasury check, but most of the rest of you have. And don't even try and call me a conservative or liberal - I think the whole lot of them are criminals and should be put on trial for treason. That is whether the are right wing, left wing, or middle of the bird. If this deal goes through, it will be yet another nail in the coffin of our great nation. I do not need these companies in order to buy groceries or gasoline!

LET THESE COMPANIES THAT FAILED TO ADAPT TO THE NEW ECONOMY DIE DIE DIE!

9.24.2008 9:56am

pauldom:

"thwe "people who know stuff elitists" caused this debacle and are proposing further debacle in the bailout. So there's a reason that the GOP doesn't genuflect to the ivory tower."

Since when does Wall Street = ivory tower? I thought Wall Street was the engine or America, or something like that, while the ivory tower was full of the folks who don't work and have no common sense.

But then, I'm still wondering what the invisible hand has been doing all this time.

9.24.2008 11:17am

Pauldom,

"But then, I'm still wondering what the invisible hand has been doing all this time."

Feeling up the public purse, in response to come hither looks from Dodd, Bush, Rangel and friends...

9.24.2008 11:50am

Touche Paul. Ivory tower was not the right term. Dangers of commenting while sleepy

9.24.2008 1:21pm

Dear Mr. President, Mr. Paulson, Mr. Cox, and ALL Members of Congress:
It has come to the attention of We The People that you are interested in obtaining captial investors for a bailout of Wall Street companies. We The People will consider doing so if you develop a plan that can actually work; form a legitimate Corporation; and file for your Initial Public Offering. Please note - if it is the same shell game you've played for decades, we will invest our money elsewhere! Time is of the essence, Leaders of the free world. Don't you ever forget, this is a free market economy. If you can buy AIG at $0.085 on the dollar, We The People sure as hell are not going to pay ONE CENT (on the dollar) MORE THAN YOU HAD TO!
Signed,
We The People Have Had Enough

9.24.2008 1:59pm

CB55 (mail):

Wall Street is laying lots of cash on both parties and they are calling in on the payoffs for their past investments. It's a good bet that the tax payer is gets a good conduct medal and Wall Street gets to keep it's money after the bail out.

Has Paulson or the FED given the congress any paper documents of evidence with regards to their statements?

9.24.2008 5:07pm

Francis Marion (mail):

I love how Congress is doing nothing more than engaging in snowball fights on the deck of the S.S. Titanic a/k/a S.S. America after hitting the (financial) iceberg.

9.24.2008 5:42pm

Francis, this is NOT the Titanic! The truth is obvious to the rest of us ... Congress and the rest of the United States Government (translated for you MAFIA!) want to help out their friends so we dont have the bankrupcy courts flooded, imprison a few scapegoats, and in the process they all come out smelling like roses! That 'email' from the ministry of treasury of the republic of america is MUCH MORE TRUE than it is false (or even parody)! Thus my reply, and my statement that preceded it. This isn't "throw the bums out" - it's "put them all on trial"! Having said that, do not mistake any of what I write as any kind of endorsement for Nader, Barr, or Paul.
It IS a free market system. Times will not get any tougher for the little guy - that money isn't going to disappear. It remains in the economy, just in a different form, kind of like a holding company.

YOUR (AND MY) MONEY IS SAFER THERE THAN IN THE HANDS OF THE GOVERNMENT ALL DAY AND NIGHT LONG!

9.24.2008 6:38pm

More to the point, when the Titanic sank, the human race did NOT permanently cease using ships! We made them safer, put rules into place to prevent the same thing from happening again, and we admitted that saying a ship was unsinkable was totally foolish.
Even more to the point you are a bomb thrower, not a peacemaker. The only SANE thing to do is let these poorly managed businesses fail. The money tied up in them will come back into the economy and help rebuild said economy. Sadly, we have learned a valuable lesson - those banking rules were in place for a reason! Do NOTmess with the free market system unless you like a totalitarian dictatorship telling you which days you are allowed to stand in line for toilet paper; and possibly even water rationing all of the time. That isn't what my grandfather fought for, nor his father, or his father, or his father, or his ...

9.24.2008 7:56pm

For the 6% of you (according to CNN) who have yet to figure it out, let me explain it to you in very plain terms. We are the chickens, and our effort to build this nation are the eggs (we get paid for that work - keep that in mind). Well, the fox is guarding the henhouse, and that same fox has just about eaten all of the eggs. When there are no more eggs, that fox is gonna have a huge chicken dinner. Wake up and deny - those who claim to represent you - the opportunity to turn their backs on you and stab you in the back.
CALL YOUR CONGRESSPERSON AND DEMAND THAT THIS BAILOUT BE DENIED!

9.24.2008 9:36pm

Mr. President, did you listen to your speech as you read it? My B.(ull)S.(***) detector went off louder than a nuke when you said that too much credit got us into this mess, and now you want us to support more lending? I personally have a credit card with a 15% APR, that means they are making money - I did pay attention in school, they get huge interest payments before my principal gets paid off. There is no 'real' credit crunch!
Do you know what I am doing? I am paying off that credit card, making double payments on my car, and will watch this unfold while I work hard and get ahead while I watch the Fat Cats ask themselves why they did not admit they had made mistakes - instead of forgoing a bit of embarassment and being in a position of begging me for a loan! You think someone who said "HELL NO" to giving you a loan was harsh? You have not heard my reply. HINT: it starts with the letter "F".

9.24.2008 10:23pm

WANTED: 537 PERSONS CAPABLE OF UNDERSTANDING WE WILL NOT FUND A SYSTEM THAT IS BROKEN UNTIL YOU PUT THINGS BACK THE WAY THEY WERE BEFORE WE GOT INTO THIS MESS. TO APPLY, PLEASE RUN FOR PUBLIC OFFICE E.G. PRESIDENT OF USA AND SENATOR/REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS. PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE NOT REQUIRED AND MAY ACTUALLY DISQUALIFY YOU.

9.25.2008 1:07am