More tax Breaks And Less Regulation
How Wonderful For The Republicans And
Wall Street
Senate Passes Bailout Plan; House May Vote by Friday
By CARL HULSE
Published: October 1, 2008
WASHINGTON – The Senate strongly endorsed the $700 billion economic bailout plan on Wednesday, leaving backers optimistic that the easy approval, coupled with an array of popular additions, would lead to House acceptance by Friday and end the legislative uncertainty that has rocked the markets.
In stark contrast to the House rejection of the plan on Monday, a bipartisan coalition of senators – including both presidential candidates – showed no hesitation in backing a proposal that had drawn public scorn, though the outpouring eased somewhat after a market plunge followed the House defeat. The Senate margin was 74 to 25 in favor of the White House initiative to buy troubled securities in an effort to avoid an economic catastrophe.
Credit freeze puts businesses on thin ice
Firms small and large face drastic cutbacks as banks decline to lend the money that keeps the wheels of commerce turning.
By Marla Dickerson, Tiffany Hsu and Jerry Hirsch, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
October 2, 2008
anet Hildreth is gearing up for Black Friday at her San Francisco flooring company.Orders have plunged so precipitously that she is laying off half of her 40-person staff at the end of this week — the first such cuts in the 36-year history of Tree Lovers Floors Inc.
Hildreth had intended to get through the rough patch by using her $250,000 home equity line of credit to help meet payroll. But her bank, Pasadena-based IndyMac, was seized in July by federal regulators. The institution recently froze her credit line, Hildreth says, even though she has excellent credit and more than $400,000 in equity in her home.Plan B was to tap a $30,000 American Express credit line. But AmEx slashed the maximum she could borrow on the line to $1,000 because she hadn’t used it.
USA
Anxious party tells McCain to fight harder
Republicans say presidential candidate needs to be more aggressive in attacking rival as polls show gap widening
Ewen MacAskill in Washington
The Guardian,
Thursday October 2 2008
Republicans are urging John McCain to adopt more aggressive tactics against Barack Obama amid fears that the White House is slipping away from them.With ballots already being cast in battlefield states from Virignia to Ohio, Republicans are panicking that voting is taking place against the backdrop of the catastrophic events on Wall Street and that McCain could be a casualty.
Although McCain has been pumping out negative ads throughout August and September, Republican state leaders and officials want to see him becoming even more personal, exploiting Obama’s links with figures he knew in Chicago.
This past week, the people of Ecuador voted to vest new constitutional 