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Bailout Round-up

Democrats were partially assuaged by the publicized vote-switching of some of their own members, including Reps. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) and Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.), but were still gun-shy on announcing their 140 yes votes were still all locked up. Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said that a $1,000 credit for property taxes could attract some Congressional Black […]

Democrats were partially assuaged by the publicized vote-switching of some of their own members, including Reps. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) and Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.), but were still gun-shy on announcing their 140 yes votes were still all locked up.

Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said that a $1,000 credit for property taxes could attract some Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) members. The Democratic whip also said raising the limit on federal deposit insurance “may have satisfied one or two people,” and aides indicated that the Senate’s decision to include mental health parity may win over some votes in the CBC and Progressive Caucus.

Asked about her level of confidence in her own members, Pelosi said: “We’re looking to see if we still have the [140] votes, and right now they’re coming in pretty well.”

Clyburn started whipping Wednesday night by sending out a questionnaire on the Senate bill. As of press time, they still had 75 unanswered inquiries.

“We may lose people,” Hoyer said. “And I have informed the Republican leadership that that may be the case. Because, frankly, the things that were added on and the way they were added on essentially appeal to Republicans. “

Hoyer added that despite the importance of the bill, Democratic leaders weren’t prepared to turn the screws on their members who aren’t supportive [bold mine-DL]. ~The Hill

So it is not necessarily a sure thing that the provisions added to the bill to bring Republicans along won’t drive away enough Democrats to sink it again.

Tabarrok at Marginal Revolution notes that there is a consensus in favor of recapitalizing banks, and he also notes this:

There is also a consensus among economists that the bailout bill is not the right policy.  None of the above economists, for example, is enthusiastic about the bailout.  My bet is that all of us think that the bailout has a substantial likelihood of failing.  The support that exists is born out of hope and fear not judgment and experience.  Nevertheless, the political consensus is that a bailout is what we will get whether it is likely to work or not.   

Update: Ron Paul is addressing the House right now (11:21 Central) calling for market adjustment.  I’m not sure that “let the recession come” is the most politically palatable argument, but Rep. Paul doesn’t make a habit of sugar-coating unpleasant truths.

Second Update: Yves Smith and Megan McArdle had a very interesting bloggingheads conversation about the bailout and related matters.

Third Update: The bailout passed 263-171 with 26 Republicans switching their votes to yea from Monday.  Meanwhile, opinion on the bailout, which Rasmussen now calls the “rescue plan,” is pretty hostile: 45-30 against.  Republicans oppose the plan two-to-one, a narrow plurality of Democrats opposes it (38-33) and independents reject it 48-26.  Entrepreneurs oppose the plan 55-30.  People who work in the private sector generally oppose it 46-31.  Investors oppose it 45-35, and non-investors are against it 45-21.  The people who voted for this are going to take a beating on Election Day.

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