bailout

Congressman Harry Teague has introduced a bill to end the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) that passed last year — and use the remaining money to pay down the national debt.
“I opposed the bailout because it did more for Wall Street than it did for Main Street,” said Teague. “We need to end TARP. [...]

The U.S. Senate voted today to release the second $350 billion of the TARP bill, by a 56-42 margin. The vote, on a bill where a “nay” vote indicated you were for releasing the funds and an “aye” vote indicated you were against it, featured both New Mexico senators on the same side — for [...]

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Pearce is out with a new television ad touting his vote last week against the financial bailout bill.

Though the U.S. House reversed course Friday and voted to approve the economic bailout bill, New Mexico’s two U.S. Senate candidates refused to switch sides and voted with the minority against it.

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce doesn’t support the version of the economic bailout bill the House is scheduled to vote on later today.
 
The Senate has already approved the reworked version of the measure the House rejected on Monday. Pearce voted against the previous version of the bill and said in a news release sent late Thursday [...]

Many Washington politicos have spent the last two weeks putting politics above solving the nation’s financial crisis. In doing so, they have provided the quintessential example of why Americans are so fed up with Washington.

The average American may feel left behind by Wall Street and Capitol Hill. But in fact a majority of Americans have at least a small stake in Wall Street and consequently a stake in the outcome of the bailout plan forged by the Bush administration and refined by Congress.

The proposed $700 billion bailout defeated in the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday appears to be a hot potato for many politicos who didn’t have to vote on it. After the surprise rejection, many of the top politicos and candidates for office in New Mexico did what the normally don’t do — they kept silent.

Was their vote against the Wall Street bailout today just pure election year politics on the part of Tom Udall and Steve Pearce?
An analysis by the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza suggests maybe so, at least in part.

Both of New Mexico’s U.S. Senate candidates helped kill the financial bailout plan today. U.S. Reps. Steve Pearce, R-N.M. and Tom Udall, D-N.M., were among 133 Republicans and 95 Democrats who joined forces to defeat the proposal. U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson voted for the plan.

The U.S. House rejected the $700 billion bailout plan today with strong opposition from both Republicans and Democrats. More to come.

It looks like there may be an agreement to bail out Wall Street to the tune of $700 billion. This means that the government is going to buy the bad debt from financial firms on the skids. But it faces a tough climate in the House of Representatives, where many don’t want to vote for [...]

On Thursday afternoon, the president and many congressional leaders thought they had a deal in place on a proposed bailout to stabilize the economy. But by Thursday evening, a group of conservative Republicans were rejecting the plan. And U.S. Rep. and Senate candidate Steve Pearce, R-N.M., was among the opponents.

Does this mean the debate is on?
The Wall Street Journal calls it tentative, but it appears that both parties have agreed to a plan to bailout our financial markets.
The Treasury Department would be able to access $250 billion right away, with an addition $100 billion to follow if needed. Congress would be able to block [...]