So, no deal in Washington. NYT account here; WaPo here. Politico’s story contains this detail that, unsurprisingly, has been making waves:
According to one GOP lawmaker, some House Republicans are saying privately that they’d rather “let the markets crash” than sign on to a massive bailout.
“For the sake of the altar of the free market system, do you accept a Great Depression?” the member asked.
“For the sake of the altar of the free market system, do you accept a Great Depression?” the member asked.
Well. I hadn’t realised that was the choice. House Republicans are obviously being blamed for the impasse, but I rther think there are plenty of Democrats who will be content enough with the current state of play. They don’t like this either. Certainly they don’t like it enough to risk going ahead without GOP votes to give them political cover.
As a senior Democratic leadership aide told me yesterday, the plan was to treat the bail-out as though it were a vote to award Congress a pay rise.
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