Approval ratings may be dropping, not because they didn't pass the plan, but rather because people once again focused on how inept, inane and incompetent these people are.

Whether you are for or against the plan, the failure of the Congress, and especially the leaders on both sides of the aisle to explain what they were doing and to count votes to avoid the embarrassment of losing the vote has to lower any "esteem" you may have for these people.

Add to it the partisan nonsense of the Speaker, the abject lying by members about their former positions on issues such as regulation and Fannie and Freddie, and the general ineptitude shown by the members who couldn't explain their vote or answer simple questions, and you have a recipe for a further deterioration of their approval rating.

Quite frankly, I see W's ratings in the 20's and Congress' in the teens and I have to ask this question--who would have thought the President and Congress had that many family members?

People do not like it that it got to crisis before anything was done.

People do not like being kept waiting while negotiations are taking place. Most people think of this crisis as a 'boring movie that has gone long past 3 hours.'

People do not like it that Congress is playing politics with this (both sides). Tony thinks the Dems should just roll over while the Republicans are currently running attack ads twice an hour blaming the whole mess on Obama? The Republicans planned to deliver as few votes as possible and then attack the Democrats for passing the bill.

People feel like they have been "had" by the Bush administration and are mad about being screwed by Bush one last time (hopefully the last).

People don't like that there are no good options.

Most people think that the Democrats improved on the Paulson proposal. Most people think that the House Republicans are whacko wingnuts that believe in non-sense and are floating ideas that are not serious.

My own Congressman is a right wingnut whacko who was babbling incoherently on my TV last night, but we are stuck with an incumbent in a 'safe' district. Americans are frustrated that we cannot throw bums like this out of Congress.

"The Big Sort" (Bishop) explains districts like yours bakho. The wingnuts cluster together and vote the same extremists in, cycle after cycle.

Having said that, I think the Republicans will come to regret their 'no' votes on the bill. The tide is turning against them, as we speak, with each passing day. The credit crunch is rapidly impacting smaller businesses and institutions here (today we have a report that 22 colleges will have trouble meeting their payrolls . . . these are not poor institutions . . . one has over 600 million in endowment, but a fund was shut down that they use to draw for cash flow). One company here just announced they are cutting paychecks to 50% due to cashflow issues (and no credit); they will pay employees the other 50% at year end when their revenues come in.

I expect we'll see 2-3 more stories like this today, and tomorrow, and the next day.

The crisis is hitting main street, and that means the politicos have to do something.

The majority did want the plan (here). They just weren't as vocal as the people who ran to the phones to call their reps.

The media didn't explain the plan well at all -- presented it as a buy out for rich Wall Streeters. Only now are they beginning to talk about the massive ramifications (negative) for main street -- 401Ks, pensions, small businesses not being able to meet payrolls, etc., etc.

Farmers out here need loans to fertilize and plant (revenue comes with the harvest). If credit is not available we have a big, big problem.

I have a friend who sits on a bank board. I spoke with him yesterday. This is gonna get real ugly in a hurry.

You all like to eat, right?

As an African American I NEVER, EVER, EVER thought I'd utter the phrase "thank God for the House Republicans." I felt dirty afterward, but I said that--out loud--when the bill went down to defeat. Right is right. Many of the 'Pubs are still wingnuts who offer nothing substantive to replace the Paulson proposal. So no, I don't approve of what they are doing in Congress, still trying to game the process even at the 11th hour. I just approve of the outcome in this narrow instance. That's not contradictory it's just nuanced.

This bill is a giveaway that has as much potential to undermine the problem as it does to solve it. It injects liquidity but does not even resolve the underlying valuation problem--unless you think "whatever Mr. Secretary says" constitutes resolution. I buy that some of the parties working on this are much smarter than me. Well, if they're so smart they oughta be able to explain it. But what we never got was an answer to why this bill is so much better than other reasonable alternative put forward by other equally smart people (who happen not to be bosom buddies with the Secretary).

Approval ratings go down because those who support the bailout see the effort failing. They don't get what they want, and they also see congress as ineffective. Meanwhile those who oppose the bailout see the attempt, and the fact that it got a lot of votes, as a horrible thing.