The House GOP leadership crashed the stock market on purpose. So says this blog.  Majority Leader John Boehner and Minority Whip Roy Blunt, who officially supported the bailout bill, claimed that there were a dozen or so “no” votes from House GOP ranks that turned the tide, surprising even them. But were they really surprised? First, watch this video at 4:10 where Cantor waves some papers around, citing Pelosi’s speech as the reason that 12 members switched their promised votes from “yes” to “no.” Note how he even claims that Democrats voted no because Pelosi’s speech was “too partisan.”  This would be laughable if it didn’t involve the destruction of the retirement funds of millions of Americans.  Then, watch from about 7:30 to the end, as Roy Blunt (who was in charge of rounding up “yes” votes) talks about the stock market crashed caused by the “surprise no vote” as if it were an instructive lesson for the country.
Who are these people who surprised everyone and wrecked the Dow Jones as the world watched in horror, and what do they want? Why does Blunt insist that you listen to them? This blog will not just tell you why, but show you why. Here is a RealPlayer video link of the actual press conference of the House GOP “Republican Study Group” which “surprised” their leadership by voting no on the bill. Note especially the zero-subtlety demands made repeatedly by Steve King, R-Iowa. He keeps repeatedly demanding removal of the “mark to market rule,” which requires companies to value their assets at market prices. If the rule were lifted at this time, all of the institutions holding the “toxic paper” mortgage securities would be able to value them at the price at which they were originally bought, which is outrageously and falsely high. What he’s actually demanding is an enormous deregulatory move that would be worth millions of dollars to certain of his friends if enacted. Most of the other reps in the press conference cannot even articulate what it is they supposedly want, yet they crashed the stock market over it, and none of them say that they were offended by some Pelosi speech. King “helpfully” keeps shoving the others aside to hammer home the point, it’s about the regulatory change he wants. That is why these people crashed the stock market on Monday. To force another vote in three days so they can get their “mark to market” deregulation for a tiny, tiny group of rich high finance friends.
In one of the truly great coincidences in the history of numerology, the number of “deeply offended Republicans,” who put feeling over country, turns out to be exactly the number you would have needed to reverse the vote. – Barney Frank, September, 29, 2009 press conference
UPDATE: Newt “government shutdown” Gingrich was involved in the last-minute backstab.
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