September 30, 2008

Dodd puts national economy ahead of breakfast in Bristol

U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, who heads the Senate Banking Committee and is a key player in the $700 billion bailout talks in Washington, won't make it to Thursday's "Eggs & Issues" in Bristol.
So those of you who were hoping to tell Dodd to put Main Street -- or North Main Street -- ahead of Wall Street are going to have to wait until it's probably too late.
But, as city Republican Party Chairman T.J. Barnes said last night, those of you who have something to say should let your elected representatives know what you want from this bailout deal.
All of Connecticut's delegation in Washington except for Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney are backing the bailout so far, including Dodd and U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, as well as U.S. Rep. John Larson, the East Hartford Democrat whose 1st District includes Bristol.
"Ultimately, we're paying for it," Barnes pointed out, and this is the time to make your voices heard.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

One has to wonder would Steve Collins have put such a flattering headline in for a Republican?

Case in point:

1) How about the AP's hacket job (undocumeneted) article about Sarah Palin (our future VP) in the Bristol Press yesterday?

2) Why not much (if any) mention of Dodd receiveing the most in political contributions from Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac? Or how about Dodd's contributions from Countrywide in the Bristol Press?

If you ask me the sooner that rag goes down the drain the better.

Steve Collins said...

That's a flattering headline?

Anonymous said...

So what's your opinion Barnes? You're the financial expert!

Anonymous said...

"That's a flattering headline?"

-Steve, you're obviously high on the cool-aide you've been drinking for years. I have a one step program for you. Get a real job. (can't wait for your snippy little response to that last comment).

Anonymous said...

Dodd and all the other Cronies in D.C. need to put the PEOPLE first, not Corporate America. Who the hell bails me out when I mess up on my finances and budget? I've gone bankrupt twice in the past 16 years and nobody fixed it but me. Nobody helped me out. And nobody is to blame but myself. I got myself into it through poor choices and decisions. It's the same for these corporations....except they expect the Government and Taxpayers to play Mommy for them and clean up their effin messes!!! WTF. It makes me sick. Instead of making the rich, richer...Send out the $700 billion to the taxpayers...we will save the "economy" ourselves, thank you!

Steve Collins said...

Not Kool-Aid, just Diet Pepsi. Way too much Diet Pepsi.

Anonymous said...

Truth be told, Wall Street is Main Street.

If you don't help the big guys, the little guys will fall harder than they did/will.

The fact of the matter is, most Americans have some type of Retirement, Pension, 401K, IRA, Annuity or a few of the above. The more Wall Street tanks, the more the average American will.

We are all tied at the hip. Get over the partisan spin and get the bailout for all of us passed.

Anonymous said...

2:46 sounds like a Republican if I've ever heard one. Instead of giving the money directly to the people, you want to give it to the Corp giants to squander and hope that it trickles down to the little guy over time. The bailout is a band-aid, not a cure. This thing is gonna tank eventually...and when it does everyone is going to suffer. One more step towards a socialist nation if you ask me. Too bad my kids and Grand-kids will be the ones to suffer from our blind approach to throwing money to the wind.

Anonymous said...

Pay no mind to the 11:46 AM comments, Steve. Anyone who uses the word "hacket" in place of the proper word "hatchet" isn't educated enough to understand what's going on in this complex world.

The poor soul is simply regurgitating what's being fed to him/her. No analysis. No thoughtful reflection.

Another mindless minion who is better at taking orders and following others than critically thinking and adding substance to the "discussion."

Anonymous said...

Re: 4:08

Let me ask you, do you have a pension fund, or a 401K or an IRA, did you start a 529 for your grandchild? They are all in the tank, and they will not recover their losses until the fat cats on Wall Street can de-leverage the bad loans that they made to average citizens that probably should not have been homeowners in the first place.

But that is what everyone wanted and that's what they got and we are all paying the price.

Get it done and my 401K will go up again, your pension will go up, and my 529's for my grandchildren will go up.

Republican, Democrat or Independent - what difference does it make? That's the whole problem with this country, state and city - partisan politics - nothing gets done.

Anonymous said...

I am totally opposed to any reduction in the principle owed by borrowers who overextended themselves as was included in the last bailout plan. Lengthen the loan term, lock them in at current lower rates or sell the property short.

No borrower should benefit from loan reductions on a home they never should have bought in the first place. It spits in the face of the responsible people who didn't act on impulse and play "keeping up with the Jones." To add insult to injury the responsible people are the ones saddled with the obligation of paying for it.

Anonymous said...

Re: 5:14

My friend, you and I will never pay for this. When the proper Market to Market is determined, the government will make money on this 700B "bailout."

Anonymous said...

Save America ....... Dump Dodd NOW !!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Yes, it was a flattering headline. If Dodd were a Republican, it would have read "DODD DITCHES BRISTOL, TRAVELS INSTEAD"

Anonymous said...

The problem is, that any hard working family deserves to own an home and live the American Dream. Five or Ten years ago i was becoming nearly impossible because The Banks used to make it nearly impossible unless you made over $25 an hour each and had stellar credit. Trust me I know this first hand. I was one of those that couldn't qualify, because of past credit problems. Even though I worked my butt off 50 hours a week as did my Wife. So the Banks saw the potential new market to turn a profit and they loosened their requirements....maybe a bit too much in retrospect. But I hardly think that the majority of new homeowners actually realized that they couldn't afford their loans when they get them. I don't think they did it on purpose just to take advantage of the system and get a home. I believe the majority thought that the Banks felt they qualified and could afford the loan, so they trusted their judgement and signed on the dotted line. I'm sure they thought that the Banks wouldn't have approved them if they weren't actually qualified. So in retrospect, I feel the Banks are to blame. For loosening their requirements and Coning folks into these loans. The Banks knew what they were doing. And they knew what would happen as a result. And to some degree, I also believe that they knew someone (be it the government or another bank) would bail them out and they could prosper for a while and get away with it in the long run.

Anonymous said...

The Bristol Press and Steve Collins treat elected Democrats like royalty, yet they treat Republican candidates and elected officials as enemies of society or fools.

Typical liberal, leftist media.

Anonymous said...

"The Bristol Press and Steve Collins treat elected Democrats like royalty, yet they treat Republican candidates and elected officials as enemies of society or fools."

Seems to me they're just reporting the news. Republican candidates and elected officials are acting like enemies of society and fools. Kudos to Steve and The Bristol Press for their fine journalism!

Anonymous said...

If we give this bail out and add 700 billion dollars to our national debt bring the grand outstanding debt to over 12 trillion dollars, any gain made on these assets by the government need to go directly to paying down that debt! It should not be used to fund new programs as the current bill proposes. All gains should go to paying down our debt!!! The mark to market issue also needs to be reviewed as how do you value an asset based on a market that is not functioning.

I believe a lot of this is an accounting issue as not every mortgage is not going belly up, but since the market for mortgage back securities is not functioning Banks are being forced to write off debt.

The big problem with this bill is the lack of protection for the tax payer and the use of the gains from this bail out should only be used for debt repayment nothing else!!! Read the bill if you do not believe me, don't listen to the media or some website read the actual language of the bill. Here is the link to the bill:

http://financialservices.house.gov/essa/ayo08c04_xml.pdf

Anonymous said...

Not surprised. Clinton relaxed the rules on loans, banking. Dodd was put over the hen house and Dodd made sure he benefitted!
Too bad he didn't come tomorrow.
I think we should all buy a seat at the breakfast and just not show.
He needs to go, NOW!

Odin said...

"The problem is, that any hard working family deserves to own an home and live the American Dream."

No, the problem is way too many Americans actually believe this. We are in this crisis because the Bush Administration decided it was politically expedient to boost the percentage of Americans who own their own home, regardless of whether they could afford it or not. The Bush appointees and their ilk relaxed the underwriting rules for FNMA and FHLMC, and now the RESPONSIBLE taxpayers are getting stuck with the tab.

Anonymous said...

We are in this crisis because the Bush Administration decided it was politically expedient to boost the percentage of Americans who own their own home, regardless of whether they could afford it or not.
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Hey ODIN ..... it was your hero CLINTON that did it .

No wonder some think it was Bushes fault .... Apparently they refuse to recall the FACTS when they don't suit their pre-conceived conclusions .

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the cry babies blog !

Anonymous said...

Headline should have read " DODD puts self ahead of Nation and the People!!

Would have told the whole story.