" Mike - you did the right thing. But if laws were broken - I want these criminals spend some time in jail! Last week my neighbor of 22 years lost her house in a foreclosure. Today in Ohio a 90 year old woman shot herself as her house was being taken. People are hurting all over the country because of this mess. Don't let the creeps that gamed the load industry get away with it! "

" Mike waited, knowing that the perks (earmarks) would appear and basically be bribes for the right votes...

We live in a world of lies and spin....

You may think you're clever, Mike, but some of us know you were waiting for the chum... "

" So, Mike, on Monday you "couldn't saddle the American taxpayer with this debt" and voted nay.

Five days later you vote aye on the SAME bill that has the SAME "protections" and "oversight" BUT HAS AN ADDITIONAL $150 BILLION IN EARMARKS AND PORK!!!

Even for a diehard Liberal like you, this doesn't make a bit of sense... "

" Wow, Dwayne. Chum =shark as a metaphor for Thompson? You can't call him weak and Pelosi's ignorant lap dog and then compare him to the greatest hunter of the sea. You simply will no longer be able to go unchallenged and spew hypocritical statements.

"but some of us know you were waiting for the chum... " Who are the "us" and what meeting was there that the "not us" all missed that "us" found out about this great conspiracy? Let the rest of "us" know so we can be on the same page of talking points as you are.

And I registered my vote of "no" with Thompson's office. So I can complain. What did you do? "

" I am disappointed but not surprised by Thompson's vote in favor of today's immoral theft of tax dollars for a bailout of the financial industry. The corporatists won. The American taxpayer lost. I suggest that parents look into the eyes of their children today and think of how difficult it'll be for them---each one of them---to pay off their individual share of the thousands of dollars they'll be forking over to pay for this boondoggle. "

" No, Really? A liberal milktoast Democrat Flip-Flopping??? Shouldn't surprise anyone. This comes from the top down in this Value and Moral less party!!! "

" Well, the American people and especially Californians know some of the people they need to fire this November. Going along to get along may pass as honorable these days, but human history takes a very dim view of one who sells their to a devil. "

" What did Bush give you to change your vote? Just curious how cheap your are to own.
Thanks for "protecting" the taxpayer by larding up this bill with extra billions of pork, in addition to the 770 billion that we are on the hook for now.
Paulson and Bush frightened America into this scam but you didn't have to go along.
You could have stood with the people.
Too bad you couldn't bring yourself to it. "

" There is no one on our side. The Repubs and the Dems are equally responsible for this mess because they ALL lack accountability. The two party system is extinct in this country. The only party that matters is Corporate America. It's time to throw these bums out, every single last one of them. "

" Well said MJH...but don't hang it all on the "corporatists". This Socialist Oligarchy we’ve created has many henchmen at fault. I’m still amazed that Frank and Dodd haven’t been paraded around in their orange jumpsuits yet. And thanks for nothing MIKE! I guess you were just against it before you voted for it. What slice of pork was hung in front of your slobbering jowls? "

" 3 days ago we read that Mr. Thompson voted against it - now he votes for it! Isn't that some kind of lame East coast political joke come to life?

3 days ago after he voted against it we read that Mr. Thompson is in a group of congressmen whose goal is to "rid taxpayers of the burden the national debt places on them.” - so now he votes for adding nearly a $trillion more to our national debt.

3 days ago after he voted against it we read that Mr. Thompson said "we must sure that there are 21st-century regulations for 21st-century markets.” - what he voted for yesterday did not have the regulations he demanded on Monday.

And, 3 days ago after he voted against the proposal “because it did not contain the market reforms necessary to address the underlying cause of this problem, nor did it have strong enough taxpayer protections.” - Now he tells us he voted for it eventhough it still does not have the reforms he required but he voted for it because he was 'promised' by Pelosi and Frank that they would do it later!

Who could possibly vote for this person to be in congress? "

" To date, banks, insurance firms, and investment banks have borrowed $348 billion from the Federal Reserve – nearly all of this lending took place following AIG's failure. The mainstream press hasn't reported this either: A provision in the $700 billion bailout bill permits the Fed to pay interest on the collateral it's holding, which is simply a way to funnel taxpayer dollars directly into the investment banks. Without the government's actions, the collapse of AIG could have caused every major bank in the world to fail. Without the credit default swap market, there's no way banks can report the true state of their assets – they'd all be in default of Basel II regulations. That's why the government will push through a measure that requires the suspension of mark-to-market accounting. Essentially, banks will be allowed to pretend they have far higher-quality loans than they actually do. AIG can't cover for them anymore and without the huge fraud perpetrated by AIG, the mortgage bubble could have never grown as large as it did.
The key to enabling the huge global growth in credit during the last decade can be tied directly to AIG's sale of credit default swaps without collateral. While the government can, and certainly will, paper over the gaping holes left by this enormous credit collapse, it can't actually replace the trust and credit that existed... because it was a fraud. "

" What a cop-out. These companies need to go broke and out of business and allow that $700B to be given to local banks and industries. If it hurts the Country, we as a people will make a comeback. The "Fear Factor" of destroying our economy was a scare tactic clear and simple, with no meat. So now what? The Government will control? And if this nation and our own State is so far in debt and financially strapped, then why in God's green Earth would we want someone to handle our money when they can't even handle the Country's $$. It's all about poor and very bad and underhanded management for the almighty $$. I think it's time to seriously look at who needs to be voted out of positions. Where's those who truly care about the regular Joe who keeps politicians in a job? Shame on you. "

" If the rescue package was imperfect, why didn't Thomson wait it out until it was perfected? This is proof of terribly impulsive behavior.

I've voted Democrat nearly all of my life. Right now I want a list of all of those who voted AGAINST this dysfunctional package. I'm no longer concerned about "Democrat" or "Republican" labels. They're from the same cloth. I want to see those who voted against this package kept in office and the rest thrown out. If ever there was a moral and ethical filter, this is it.

If Thompson has a well established conscience, he will look into the eye of every young person he passes by and realize that he just dumped a huge burden onto them.

This rescue is a perfect example of protecting "old wealth" at the expense of middle income taxpayers. The accounts of "old wealth" will expand and the trickle down will be minimal.

This whole situation reminds me so much of my once drug addicted sister who would beg and receive money from relatives by playing the guilt card of "do it or I'll be homeless". She was bequeathed a beautiful home later in life. She borrowed against the equity by lying about her income. She then took the money and invested it into a sub prime mortgage company. I'm afraid to inquire about her present situation. She brought it on herself and now the rest of us must pay for people's stupidity. Once a drug addict, always a drug addict on some level or another.

How many of those corporate gamblers are money addicts? And we the people are supporting their addiction because we are afraid of what? Becoming homeless? "

" Just who are the criminals that caused this mess? Much blame goes to President Clinton who strong-armed Freddie Mae into loosening the requirements for who could qualify for a mortgage. This resulted in millions of people being given mortgages that they could not afford. "

" let's see what the regional bankers say next week to get some indication as to how local economies are holding up.

my guess is that some retail sales got canceled cause of the abrupt drop in market values of investments generally spent on home decorations, and cars. right now we are noticing the rising demand for debt, which is good because it shows consumers are confident about their future. the fed is supposed to drop the fed funds rate next week according sources.

the fed is using investment companies to help it buy troubled assets. home owners should get restitution for buying in a real estate market that was seeking a lower price, and who were told that the real estate market was seeking a higher price. "

" Oops NVR, should have posted this here:

For the record It passed 263 to 171- See http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll681.xml to see the how your Representative voted.

The political breakdown was:

Democratic 172 YEAS 63 Nays
Republican 91 YEAS 108 Nays

For those of you wondering Mike Thompson represents Napa in the House of Representatives. Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstien represents California in the Senate. "

" If our congressional representatives have only ONE option when voting, we could just as well have a donkey or elephant hold up a leg to signify "aye".
(And they don't consume as much pork!)

Guess our government reps don't want to strain themselves developing workable solutions. "

" Wrong Mike! How about giving every tax paying citizen a sum of money. Even 10,000 would help shore up the economy and help people catch up on their mortgage helping them refinance. The bailout was the only option for you to get something out of it, you never once thought of the people of your district. "

" congressman dan hamburg admits there is not much difference between democrats and republicans now but mike thompson has always won elections here because he represents average people who need the type of help a congressman is supposed to provide. he helps people deal with the everyday problems when interacting with government . his office is very efficient at dealing with questions and issues his constituents bring up. the big question seems to be, "why did he change his vote when 99% of us did not agree ?"
i was at a loss to guess until i heard that congress was threatened with martial law. not the type referred to by rep. burgess tx. and rep. dan hamburg on cspan and the alex jones show, where they were referring to a term of art that congress uses to mean members will be required to vote without reading the bill,( a rare thing) but a national , physical martial law like all dictators use to abolish congress and the courts and use the army to run everything.
under this kind of duress, i can see that it makes sense of the sudden change in votes.
i am sympathetic with vocal. filter is right. mike may have sacrificed his job to save us from martial law.
we will be lucky to have an election where we can show our distaste for the bailout. even after being threatened with a loss in stock market based pension plans, 90% opposed the bill and 99% plus before the scare tactics.
cop 105 is right. a trillion is about 10 graND per household.
white supremacists have spread the rumor that all the banks will be closed next week, on the net . do not cave in to panic.read tony twice. "

" The "bailout" isn't working, because the bill didn't tighten the regulations in such a way to ensure that the markets will operate honestly and with proper fiscal conservatism. Foreign investors are not reassured, and continue to pull out their money from the US market, hurting all the small investors along the way.

This was a bad bill. It didn't get better between Monday and Friday of last week, and Mike Thompson knows it. He's a Blue Dog Dem, and will vote the party line when the chips are down. He's done the same on impeachment, funding for Iraq, tax breaks for the rich, legislation that shred the Bill of Rights, etc., etc.

That's why I'm running against him. We need Greens in Congress, to provide a voice independent of the two major parties, both dependent on corporate funding.

Vote Carol Wolman for Congress!

www.carolwolmanforcongress.com "