Tuesday, September 30, 2008

I learn something new every day

Which should come as no surprise to most of you.

Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn explains to Kathryn Lopez at NRO why she voted no to the bailout. First of all, she was influenced by her constituents, who called and e-mailed by the thousands. I figured that would be the case, but I didn't know this:

Lopez: Are you concerned by your vote you might have played a role in a pending market collapse?

Blackburn: The markets like certainty. We know that. We also know that the bill before us today did not solve the underlying problems. Some provisions that could have immediately addressed the liquidity issue, such as mark-to-market, uptick rule, increases in FDIC insurance could be done with immediate rule changes should be done.

So we can immediately address the liquidity issue? Then why don't we do that? Like.... now.

Lopez: Are you worried you might have just helped hand the election to Obama?

Blackburn: I don’t think this is handing the election to Obama. A more solid solution, crafted this week, will restore confidence in the market and in Congress. I do think it is important to get this done right so that we preserve free markets for the future.

Lopez: Some on the Right are arguing “no” votes were irresponsible. Why do you think they’re wrong?

Blackburn: The responsible action is to pass the most effective legislation in as short a time frame as possible. The bill before us didn’t do that. It leveraged too many federal assets and too few Wall Street assets. It also ignored some market-oriented solutions that could be carried out immediately. Again, I’d look to options like mark-to-market reform, increases in FDIC insurance, etc.

I think all this sounds great and I totally trust the integrity of people like Blackburn. But my concern is the timing. Let's get the changes done. Let's force Pelosi's back against the wall.

I feel like we are in a TV movie and the bomb is ticking. Let's get a move on. Let's go.

I don't want the last frame to be the bomb going off.