More Tasteless Comments; Golf Analyst Wants "Pelosi Shot, Reid Strangled'

There have some real nasty comments in the public forum lately, and CBS Sports golf analyst David Feherty comes close to the top.

Feherty apologized to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for a tasteless and morbid joke published in a Dallas magazine under his name.

Feherty was among five Dallas residents who wrote for "D Magazine" on former President George W. Bush moving to Dallas.

From my own experience visiting the troops in the Middle East, I can tell you this, though: despite how the conflict has been portrayed by our glorious media, if you gave any U.S. soldier a gun with two bullets in it, and he found himself in an elevator with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Osama bin Laden, there’s a good chance that Nancy Pelosi would get shot twice, and Harry Reid and bin Laden would be strangled to death.

"This passage was a metaphor meant to describe how American troops felt about our 43rd president," Feherty said in a statement. "In retrospect, it was inappropriate and unacceptable, and has clearly insulted Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid, and for that, I apologize. As for our troops, they know I will continue to do as much as I can for them both at home and abroad."

Once again, and this bears repeating. This type of "humor" has no place in politics. It's pretty gutless to write something like this or to make similar comments. This country, if nothing else, that resoundingly voiced a need for change in the way we operate and how we conduct our public debates. Have a political point to make? Make it. But try for once to stay on point and not wish death or disease on your opponent.

House Passes Bailout Bill, 263-171

The House passed the Wall Street Bailout Bill this afternoon by a vote of 263-171 and will send it to the president's desk in a matter of hours.

Democrats voted for the bill by 172-63. Republicans voted yes by a margin of 91-108.

President Bush said "When Congress sends me the final bill I'm going to sign it into law." He thanked both Democrats and Republicans for coming together on the legislation. He said there is protection for taxpayers and that the bill will ease the credit crunch.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said, "As we observe the passes of a serious piece of legislature, we must have an eye to the future." She put the blame on the crisis on the president's policy to deregulate the financial markets.

"We were able to make improvements in a bi-partisan way," Pelosi told reporters in a press conference on Capitol Hill. "Our eye is to the future to shine the bright light of accountability. [Rep. Barney] Frank will be holding hearings on where we go in the future."

Frank (D-Mass.) told the reporters that as of January, "We have to rewrite housing finance in this country. It would be a betrayal of our oath if we stopped here. It will be our job to enact a set of new regulations ... for all financial industry."

Rep. Brian Bilbray (D-Calif.) who voted against the bill, said, "the Senate does what it normally does, and that is to take a bill and turn it into a Christmas tree." He said he could not vote for the bill and answer to his constituents in his district. He described the increase in the national debt at $1.6 trillion because of the bill.

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) took a shot at the Bush administration during the press conference saying the White House's financial policy put the nation into this situation. He then thank Frank for his work on the bill.

Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), the House majority whip, said he hoped that the vote restored confidence in the government. He said improvements in the bill made by the Democrats, in consultation with Sen. Barack Obama, have made this "an incredible piece of legislation." Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), the Democrat caucus chair, said, "we have done what we needed to do. ... We must have an economic agenda to provide middle-class tax cuts and universal health care." He thanked Obama for making numerous calls to help get this bill passed.

The Associated Press reported on today's economic news:

If anything, the economic news added to the sense of urgency.

The Labor Department said initial claims for jobless benefits had increased last week to the highest level since the gloomy days after the 2001 terror attacks. Employers slashed 159,000 jobs from their payrolls, the most in five years. That came on top of Thursday's Commerce Department report that factory orders in August plunged by 4 percent.

The stock market opened higher on anticipation that the bill would pass, and the financial industry shakeout rolled on unpredictably.

Wachovia announced it had agreed to be acquired by San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co rather than by Citigroup. Executives said the new arrangement would keep the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., on the sidelines, thus preventing any depletion of the government's fund that backs bank deposits.

The FDIC said it was sticking behind the Citigroup plan, leaving the fate of the bank in limbo.

The bill has grown since it was first proposed by the administration two weeks ago, but here's what it else it does, as reported by Frobes.com:

--Provides the government with warrants to obtain an equity stake in companies. This helps ensure that taxpayers share in future gains of companies that are bailed out.

--Limits excessive executive compensation for some companies. Any firm that sells more than $300 million in troubled assets to the government is also subject to more taxes.

--Establishes an oversight board and special inspector general to act as a watchdog.

--Requires the Treasury secretary to regularly report to Congress the details of all financial transactions under the bailout.

--Allows federal agencies to modify troubled mortgage loans.

--Expands the amount of government insurance on individual bank deposits from $100,000 to $250,000.

--Gives the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission the authority to suspend mark-to-market accounting and requires the agency to complete a study on the effectiveness of this accounting method.

--Requires the president five years from now to devise a plan to recoup net losses, if there are any.

--Gives companies the opportunity to insure their troubled assets rather than selling them, although this is up to the discretion of the Treasury secretary.

Did Pelosi's Speech Sink Bailout Plan?

Here is the video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's speech, which in part is being cited as a reason why House Republicans voted against the $700 billion bailout proposal. Many saw it as a partisan attack.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi's speech this morning (Part 1):



Pelosi's speech this morning (Part 2):


Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) said her speech for incited partisan sentiment by blaming Republicans and the administration for the flaws in regulation and failures of oversight that she said drove the financial system to the brink of collapse.

“I know members who said ‘If I wasn’t a no before, I am now,’” Simpson told CQ.

Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) told Politico's David Rogers that Pelosi had the votes before the speech.:

"We could have gotten it if it were not for this partisan speech that Speaker Pelosi gave,” said Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), the House minority leader.

Added Rep. Chris Shays, a Connecticut Republican who also voted for the bill: “Nancy blew it.”

"That is an absurd accusation at a time when our country is in deep economic distress," a Pelosi spokesman fired back.

"You don't vote on a speech, you vote on a bill."

Pelosi to Investigate Bush's Role in Wall Street Crisis

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has set into motion a broad, swift investigation of Wall Street, and will demand testimony during the presidential campaign from Bush administration officials and financial leaders, congressional officials have told Mike Allen of Politico tonight.

Excerpts of Allen's report are as follows:

House Democrats plan to aggressively look at the administration’s role in the meltdown over the weekend and to explore further regulation and government structures that would be taken up under the new president.

Republican aides accused Democrats of trying to shift blame with a series of “show trials,” but acknowledged that key officials will wind up cooperating.

The hearings will take place over the next few weeks, the officials said. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who regularly appears on Capitol Hill, will be called to testify as part of the investigation.

As the main event, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House oversight committee, wrote to Richard Fuld, chief executive of the imploded Lehman Brothers, to ask him to appear on Capitol Hill on Sept. 25.

“The hearing will examine the regulatory mistakes and financial excesses that led to yesterday's bankruptcy filing by Lehman Brothers,” Waxman wrote. “The committee will also explore the impacts of the Lehman bankruptcy on financial markets and the United
Separately, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, plans a forward-looking hearing with economists on Wednesday to “begin a conversation about where we go with the capital markets,” a House aide said.

Earlier on MSNBC, Pelosi had said that Democrats have no responsibility in causing the crisis, and that is was completely the fault of the Republicans.

Pelosi: Democrats Are Innocent of Any Blame in Financial Crisis, It's All GOP's Fault

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, appearing on MSNBC today, said the Democrats had no role in the current financial crisis, and that all the blame belongs to President Bush and the rest of the Republican Party.

“I think the American people have had it with this situation where the middle-income people in our country are not protected from the ramifications of the risk-taking and the greed of these financial institutions,” Pelosi told MSNBC.

When asked whether the Democrats “deserve some responsibility” regarding the economic crisis, Pelosi responded: “No.”

“John McCain said that this is a result of overregulation by the Democrats in Congress,” she added. “Either he doesn’t know what he's talking about or he’s misrepresenting the facts as he knows them. But it’s simply not true.”

What Exactly Are You Watching?

Whose watching the Democratic Convention in Denver? About 22 million of you in 17 million households, according to Nielsen.

But are you really watching the convention, or your favorite pundit? Whether it 's Keith Olbermann trying to talk through the whistles of a locomotive, or an hour of Bill O'Reilly in the upper deck, most of the convention has come an gone without a clear picture of what's going on.

Sure, we all saw the big stars. Michelle Obama had wall-to-wall coverage, and so did Hillary Clinton's much-anticipated and well-delivered speech last night. But the real workings of the convention, such as the development of a party platform, has gone unnoticed by all the major media. If you want the meat of a convention, turn over to C-SPAN.

AP had this to say today:

When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was addressing the convention Monday, drawing a contrast between Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly was in a booth far above the delegates interviewing a pollster. O'Reilly waved in the direction of Pelosi on stage with a dismissive hand.

"Now we have Nancy Pelosi bloviating, and I say that in an affectionate way, behind us," O'Reilly said. "It doesn't seem like the crowd is on the edge of their seats."

Katie Couric and Jeff Greenfield were talking on CBS when Craig Robinson was onstage talking about his sister, Michelle Obama. During a Jimmy Carter tribute, Fox aired clips of demonstrators outside the convention hall. Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill got little airtime.

"How can you cover a convention when you're talking while the main speakers are speaking?" asked PBS anchor Jim Lehrer, whose network lingered more on the speakers.

I'm sure things will be different tomorrow night as Barack Obama takes center stage at Invesco Field at Mile High. We'll see all of that. But wouldn't you just love the drama of a good old-fashioned floor fight followed by a tight roll call? Maybe a reporter being arrested on the convention floor? Ah, the good old days, when democracy would play out right before our eyes.