Yesterday, just before the $700Bn bailout package was defeated in the United States House of Representatives, a congressman who identified himself as being "on the prevailing side" (i.e. defeating the bailout bill), stood up to ask if the bill could be re-introduced at a later date. Now why would someone who was on the prevailing side want to have it reintroduced after he has won? The congress then stated that the bill can indeed be re-introduced and as it turns out, that will take place tomorrow in the U.S. Senate.

The congress also indicated the U.S. House could not deal with the bill again until they returned on Thursday after Jewish holidays - even though we were told a day before that even a one day delay could jeopardize the entire financial system in the U.S. and possibly, the western, capitalist world. It is now 24 hours later and the DOW bounces back to close at +485 after yesterday's biggest single day loss ever, $1.2 Trillion. The BBC explains today's "bounce" this way: Bail-out hope sends shares higher. If this isn't unmitigated bullshit, I don't know what bullshit is and I grew up on a Pennsylvania dairy farm. Angry? Yes - just like millions of others in the U.S. and around the world. Anger, in some circumstances is an appropriate human emotion and it does not necessarily negate rational thinking.

CNN also suggested that the U.S. Senate could now take up the Wall Street bailout and vote for it in a different form. In other words, if you, the people, have the audacity to defeat our giveaway plan, we will come back and attack your flank from a different quarter. After all, who is running this country anyway!

Let's face it. The U.S. government is going to ramrod this bill through, come hell or high water, regardless of the fact that a large majority of the U.S. population is dead against it. That's U.S. democracy, my friend. The assumption is that those in power are more intelligent than the "common folks" who will end up footing the debt for generations to come. "Well, we have to assume that they know more than we do", was the common expression coming from so many people who believed the corporate media more than they believed in the wisdom springing from within themselves. But when you lose your home or your retirement or loans for your child's education, you suddenly begin to hear the still small voice within and respect it, perhaps for the first time in your life.

Moreover, the media has consistently reported that the U.S. congress "failed" to act yesterday. Wrong. They successfully acted to defeat the giveaway plan to the ruling class, represented by the wealthiest 1% in the U.S. Why did they defeat the bill? Well now, who can attribute motivation to anyone. But they are coming up for re-election next month and their switchboards and email inboxes were overwhelmed with messages from the people who demanded NO! Regardless of their motivation, they succeeded in defeating the bill, according to the wishes of the people.

Throughout and after the people's victory in congress yesterday, CNN pounded away at the U.S. citizen for the government's defeat. They chastened the people who sent hundreds of thousands of emails and telephone calls to the congress demanding that they vote NO! - for this corporate handout. Throughout the day, the media essentially called us ignorant because we were "voting against ourselves" as one Wall Street pundit put it. They blamed sub-prime mortgage scandal on the people who are losing their homes for buying houses they couldn't afford. They will continue to "educate" us until they get what they want. CNN then resorted to classic Bush scare tactics, "You will be punished for your behavior"... in so many words:

"You will experience hardship, lose your pensions, lose your homes, lose your life savings, lose your health care, lose your ability to borrow for your child's education. You will go to your ATM for a hundred bucks of your money from your account and receive a slip saying, Temporarily unavailable", as another CNN/Government, Wallstreet mouthpiece put it. "You will suffer", was the message, trying to frighten us into standing down.

They are telling us these things while in the same broadcasts, some of their "experts" are telling us that the bailout plan will not be enough or simply will not work. They became frantic and irrational like a child who lost his candy. We listened to and watched their temper-tantrum but we're still not buying. How stupid do they think we are.

Surprise, surprise ... Below, the media reports today - that tomorrow, the U.S. Senate will make a back room, back door vote on a package that is "expected to be similar to the initial plan, but will include some new measures to ease its passage through Congress".

The media goes on to report that those who lost the vote yesterday:

"Senator Harry Reid and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote to President George W Bush saying they expected a bipartisan rescue plan to soon be approved."

We say to those who are bent on selling this plan, "Seller beware". You've ruled from a platform of greed, arrogance, theft and deception for too long. You have abused the working class out of our due for too much and for too long. You've never had to deal with the outrage of the people before now - not in America where the people have tolerated their wars and malfeasance for decades. But this time, things are different. Our message to them is - "If you bulldoze this bill through against the people's wishes, sooner or later, you will reap the whirlwind".

The time has come for the people of the United States to take the streets (as they have been doing in the week past). Washington/ Wall Street may be able to excite fear in some folks with frightening rhetoric and pacify others with a brief "bounce" on Wall Street, but it will not last. We are in the midst of the Kondratieff Winter. Capitalism is on a one-way street, for lots of reasons and there's an impermeable, indestructable barricade at the end - the people. In response, the government has been ramping up the militarized state, "just in case things get out of control". They will defend their coffers at any cost. But they haven't a clue what their decisions, arrogance and wealth - will really cost them. We are expected to "calm down" and to be rational. The question is, whose rationale are they talking about - ours or theirs?

Here in Venezuela, the government listens to the people because Venezuelans, like Bolivians, Ecuadorans and others are a different breed. If/when the government goes against them, they come down from the towns, countrysides and inner-city barrios and storm the palace. More and more, here in Latin America, it's the government who fears and respects the people, not the other way around. Please believe that the "common folk" in the United States are watching ... and some are looking South for their hope ... and for new ways to deal with the arrogance and greed of the capitalist pig that just cannot get enough at the trough.

- Les Blough in Venezuela

US senators to vote on bail-out
BBC - October 1, 2008

US senators will vote on Wednesday on a revamped financial rescue package after the House of Representatives rejected an initial $700bn (£380bn) plan.

The new package is expected to be similar to the initial plan, but will include some new measures to ease its passage through Congress.

One of those new clauses will raise the government's guarantee on savings from $100,000 to $250,000.

The vote comes after senior Democrats pledged to find a bipartisan solution.

Senator Harry Reid and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote to President George W Bush saying they expected a bipartisan rescue plan to soon be approved.

"Working together, we are confident we will pass a responsible bill in the very near future," they said.

Earlier President Bush had warned that the US economy was at a "critical moment".

Possible momentum

The Dow Jones index closed up 4.7% on Tuesday, recouping some losses from Monday's rout, after the markets reacted favourably to the president's statement.

Markets in Japan and Australia saw gains as they opened on Wednesday morning, with the Nikkei climbing 1.2%.

Analysts say the Senate is more likely to pass the bill because senators are not facing the same pressure from voters as members of the House.

All representatives face re-election in November compared with only one-third of senators.

The BBC's Jonathan Beale, in Washington, says a positive vote in the Senate is likely to give the bill momentum when it goes back to the House.

Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama, who both support Mr Bush's efforts to bail out the economy, say they will return from campaigning to vote in the Senate.

'Not the end'

Mr Bush said at the White House: "We are in an urgent situation and the consequences will grow worse each day if we do not act."

The economy was depending on "decisive action on the part of our government", he added.

He said he wanted to "assure our citizens and citizens around the world that this is not the end of the legislative process".

"Our country is not facing a choice between government action and the smooth functioning of the free market," he said.

"We're facing a choice between action and the real prospect of economic hardship for millions of Americans," he warned.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7645470.stm