Rogue Republicans stick to party ideology, Shelby not factual with the Press.

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Rogue Republicans stick to party ideology, Shelby not forthcoming in statements to Press.

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Rogue Republicans stick to party ideology, Shelby not factual with the Press.

By: Bobbi Linn
Thursday, September 25, 2008, 11:23 PM

We heard it from the horse's mouth.

Both Republican and Democrats gave a press briefing today on the progress they had made and stated that all felt they had reached an agreement they could present in writing. They expressed that they felt this agreement would pass both House and Senate and we would finally see a beginning of the solution to solving our economic melt down in Wall Street.

In statements made to the press, leaders from both sides of the aisle said that they felt the key issues were met neccesary to protect tax payers in the bail out. Key components of the newly proposed agreement would protect tax payers from further foreclosures. It would also limit the bailout to an initial fraction of the proposed $750 billion, with the option to offer the additional funds if needed. It expressly gave oversight to Congress, with an appointed chairperson to oversee the funds divisions, and a review every 3 months to see where the funds were or were not being efffective to adapt the ways in which the money was given. It also addressed concerns over umbrella packages for executives. A draft of the outline was given to The Associated Press.

Shortly after the press briefing, Senator Richard Shelby(R) came out and made statements that there was no agreement, contradicting what most of the others had told the press just moments before. Shelby, who has been against a bail out of any kind from the beginning of the proposal, had not seen the newly designed proposal. He said that there was a group of Republicans in the House of Representatives who did not agree with the proposal, though it was unclear if they had seen the new proposal or if they were merely basing their decision off of the original proposal which left many loop holes and gave no oversight or regulation to anyone other than Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who created the original proposal.

Shelby then went on to say that Paulson had not even considered any other ideas, that this bail out was the only one he had considered, and that Shelby and others would not go along with the plan. He then cited a report, which he supposedly held in his hand, with opinions from 5 unnamed sources from various academias, which supported his claim that the bail out was not in the U.S.'s best interest. Shelby and the other Republicans opposed to the bailout have refused to participate in the negotiations with the majority of Senators and Democrats from the House.

Then in yet another strange turn of events, statements made later this evening by Rep. Eric Cantor(R) and Rep. Paul Ryan(R) contradicted what Shelby had said earlier about Paulson not considering other alternatives to a purchasing bail out. According to Cantor, Paulson said he had looked at an insurance plan, a loan program, and a purchase program, and that the purchase program was the only option that would work. 

According to Cantor, they had not chosen to participate in the negotiations with the rest of the group, but they had been in contact with the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, President Bush, and with other key offficials in this proposal to back their choice, which is an insurance backed program. He said that they had been in talks with Paulson and others for 2 days, drafting this proposal of theirs, though they did not inform the committee who was participating in the negotiations. They did brief Senator John McCain upon his arrival to their sub chambers though he did not share their proposal in the meeting called by Bush, which included ranking members of Congress and Senator Barack Obama(D).

He passed it along to another leading Republican, who informed the table that there was some contention with the proposal. Senator Barack Obama asked what the disagreements were. He then asked Paulson if the insurance plan mentioned by Republicans would work, to which Paulson said "no".

It has been suggested by some in the media, including some Republican supporters such as Pat Buchanan and Ed Rollins, that this is an ideological belief that some Republicans have and are holding firmly to of less government, less regulation. Rollins went as far as to say that it was partisan politics before country.

 The new proposal by Cantor offers no oversight provisions, nor is it any more guaranteed to work than the other plan on the table. It is also going to cost tax payers if the plan fails as we will be back negotiating yet another bailout, only this time the amount will be even more after further fallout from the market. We will also have to pay out should the companies value sink below the insured amount purchased by the investor.

Senator Dodd, Chief Treasury Spokesperson Michele Davis, and others said negotiations would continue, but the key proposal was still the primary focus, which was the bailout. Both parties said they felt it would be resolved soon, including Senator McCain and Senator Obama.

It remains to be seen exactly which plan, or combination thereof, will end up as the final bill. One thing is for certain, the whole country will be watching on pins and needles.