This is rather creepy.

Update From the videos site:

Sing for Change was a confluence of hard work, good will, and shared vision. Inspired by ideas raised at a grassroots Obama fundraiser, a music teacher, Kathy Sawada, and the children composed and rehearsed the songs in less than two weeks. Several musicians heard of the effort and volunteered to accompany the children. Parents and older siblings designed and provided the T-Shirts and the banner. There’s a first for everything, but rarely do so many firsts come together at once: for the children and their parents, this is their first performance, first video, first banner, and first involvement with grassroots work on a presidential campaign.

As Sunday approached, a neighbor volunteered a home. Production wizards got wind of the project and offered their help in recordingit. The likes of Jeff Zucker, Holly Schiffer, Peter Rosenfeld, Darin Moran, Jean Martin, Andy Blumenthal, and Nick Phoenix rearranged schedules to participate. Holly Schiffer was able to get three High Definition cameras (Panasonic HVX250’s), and an AVID editing facility. When Jeff Zucker went to pick up the camera package, Ted Schilowitz happened to be there and offered a RED camera set up on a SteadiCam.

What we accomplished in a few hours on a Sunday afternoon embodies the nature of the Obama campaign: its grassroots inspiration, its inclusiveness, its community building. People pitched in quickly for a cause that resonated with them. There were not many conditions: “Think this is a good idea? Want to help? Great. Sunday at 12:00.” At the heart of the project were 22 children and their music. The willingness of all involved to come together for them was a testament to our hope, unity, courage, joy and belief in the future represented by these children.

So confident that the bailout would pass yesterday that upon hearing the news Barack Obama had to rework a prepared speech declaring it was as good as a done deal. That is pretty much where the Presidential campaigns stand in terms of offering up solutions to this fiscal problem.

Obama says its failed Bush economic policies that got us here, McCain said its corporate greed. Neither seems ready to look deeply into the culture of Washington and its closeness to the media, to understand how a “lack of regulation” might not entirely be the issue but instead how government policies formed with corporate interests and ideology in mind may have caused a perfect storm that was sold by the media and digested by a public who liked rising home values and rising 401k’s.

That understanding is too complex, points too many fingers and makes too many waves for a political campaign. When the bailout deal failed the only solution offered by our candidates, our Congress, our President and his cabinet went down in flames. Now, we have nothing to replace it with.

I have one clear suggestion for both of the candidates, get to work. This election is not about the Iraq War, not about Health Care, not about flag pins. In the closing weeks of this race the economy is once again the defining issue and neither campaign or party has a detailed solution for the short term other than handing out $700 Billion.

Many can argue that this helps Obama, regardless of whether he puts together some kind of policy or regulation proposals or SOMETHING, anything. McCain is holding the bag for a Party that has been in power for eight years and people are looking for anything resembling change they can find. It doesn’t matter anymore what Obama knows or doesn’t know about fiscal issues, just that he seems like someone who isn’t responsible for the mess.

McCain is the Washington insider who doesn’t want to be an insider. He is friends with the people who put us in this mess, he spent last week rounding up votes for a bill that failed to pass because it did not have enough votes. He is behind the eight ball and he, like his rival, has no alternative plan to offer. McCain has been unwilling to truly explore the depth of this crisis, to dig out the many moments when Republicans questioned Freddie & Fannie before Congress only to be shot down by Democrats called them demons for questioning the right of those who could not afford houses to secure mortgages. His campaign is either unaware of this history or unwilling to use it, either is a failure on their part.

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If you tuned into Time Warner Corporations news channel CNN last night for a calm and informative reaction to Congress’ bailout refute, you were treated to something laughably different. Many people have invoked the story of Chicken Little when discussing the financial “crisis” on Wall Street, CNN spent the day re-enacting the fable.

Dramatically announcing DOW point losses the anchors spoke of an impending doom unlike any known before. Between boisterous fits of rage against the Washington machine, they would warn that this point-loss did not represent the worst every percentage loss in a day; then they would turn back to the point loss and ruminate on how much misery it was causing.

Washington could have used a better pitchman than they had, that is for sure. If they try this again I would have to nominate the networks own Ali Velshi. Last evening he threw caution, objectivity and informative thought to the wind and sold the $700 Billion plan with the kind of fear mongering it needed. Repeatedly scolding the Congress he repeatedly declared that while the bill wasn’t going to solve most of the problems and was probably not a wonderful solution, our Representatives were somehow punishing their constituents, people who just didn’t understand, by not supporting this bill. He predicted a near end to Western democracy if a bill was not passed in days and he wasn’t going to listen when pesky facts were introduced.

Velshi couldn’t stop talking about the tightening credit markets. He saw consumers and business inability to get quick and easy credit as the great tragedy of our times. Ignoring the fact that such credit was probably what helped put America in this mess, he also ignored the fact that the credit markets were probably holding out their ware in hopes of a $700 Billion blank check from the government. When this fact was brought up, he easily admitted that this was probably the case, that there was credit available but of course the institutions were waiting out for a free lunch. “That doesn’t matter” was the theme, we needed this credit now and we had to worry about logistics, facts and fundamentals later.

Ali Velshi provided commentary that would make any CEO proud and best of all he was one of the only voices on CNN explaining what was going on. Providing pure visceral reaction, he lead all CNN commentators and contributors in their thinking, shooting down anyone who would question the legitimacy of the bailout, who dared suggest the world might not end without its passing.

George Bush and Nancy Pelosi note, you have your pitchman!

We the people have spoken, for now, and we don’t want a bailout. The most likely plan of attack for Congress is to try it again by revising the bill and doing everything they can to talk their colleagues into supporting it. That still leaves all of us, the 300 Million out there, waiting to be convinced.

I have a few suggestions on how we might move forward.

First and foremost, instead of talking about the amazing reforms and “change” that will be brought to a new administration and Congress, how about we get started now? Congress sent a delightful message to the administration today that consisted of two words, the second of which was “you.” I like this new attitude and it leaves us all wondering, why wait to make change?

First a little house keeping. How about Congress skip the planned break and work through October. It would seem that in this time of financial chaos the “Give us 700 billion dollars, we will get to the regulation part later after we take a long vacation (oh yeah those crazy holidays and maybe that inauguration party too) just isn’t cutting it with us taxpayers. We elected a Congress already, we don’t feel we should have to wait for the next one to be sworn in just to get started.

So, yes, it may be inconvenient but if lawmakers could not only stick it out and start discussing new regulation guidelines and figure out this whole mortgage mess now rather than later, we might be inclined to put some trust in them. Also a nice sign that they care would be to work an actual forty hour work week across five days. I may be asking too much with that one, but I hope they consider!

To summarize, a bailout bill with a clear indication that actual reforms that will prevent this from happening again, is coming soon, along with the understanding that Congress will actually be working for the rest of the year and not just slacking, would probably help this out a whole lot.

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The House speech Republicans cited as a partisan attack before attempting a bi-partisan bill.

PELOSI: When was the last time anyone ever asked you for $700 billion?

It’s a staggering figure and many questions have arisen from that request. And we have been hearing a very informed debate on all sides of this issue here today. I’m proud of the debate.

$700 billion. A staggering number, but only a part of the cost of the failed Bush economic policies to our country. Policies that were built on budget recklessness when Pres. Bush took office, he inherited Pres. Clinton’s surpluses – four years in a row budget surpluses on a trajectory of $5.6 trillion in surplus. And with his reckless economic policies, within two years, he had turned it around. And now 8 years later, the foundation of that fiscal irresponsibility, combined with an “anything goes” economic policy, has taken us to where we are today.

They claim to be free-market advocates, when it’s really an anything goes mentality. No regulation, no supervision, no discipline. And if you fail, you will have a golden parachute and the taxpayer will bail you out.

Those days are over. The party is over in that respect.

Democrats believe in a free market. We know that it can create jobs, it can create wealth, many good things in our economy. But in this case, in this unbridled form, as encouraged and supported by the Republicans — some Republicans, not all — it has created not jobs, not capital, it has created chaos. And it is that chaos that the Secretary of the Treasury and the Chairman of the Fed came to see us, just about a week and a half ago. It seems like an eternity, doesn’t it? So much has happened. The news was so bad. They described a very dismal situation.

Update 2: Republicans now blaming Pelosi for her partisan speech given just before the vote.

Update: CNN host is scolding Congress for turning this down and Americans for rising up against this bill. Are they here to report news or tell Congress how to vote?

The House has rejected the bailout and despite the warnings from Bush and the media and the Democratic leadership, the world did not end!

Roll Call

—- AYES 204 —

Ackerman
Allen
Andrews
Arcuri
Bachus
Baird
Baldwin
Bean
Berman
Berry
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Blunt
Boehner
Bonner
Bono Mack
Boozman
Boren
Boswell
Boucher
Boyd (FL)
Brady (PA)
Brady (TX)
Brown (SC)
Brown, Corrine
Calvert
Camp (MI)
Campbell (CA)
Cannon
Cantor
Capps
Capuano
Cardoza
Carnahan
Castle
Clarke
Clyburn
Cohen
Cole (OK)
Cooper
Costa
Cramer
Crenshaw
Crowley
Cubin
Davis (AL)
Davis (CA)
Davis (IL)
Davis, Tom
DeGette
DeLauro
Dicks
Dingell
Donnelly
Doyle
Dreier
Edwards (TX)
Ehlers
Ellison
Ellsworth
Emanuel
Emerson
Engel
Eshoo
Etheridge
Everett
Farr
Fattah

Ferguson
Fossella
Foster
Frank (MA)
Gilchrest
Gonzalez
Gordon
Granger
Gutierrez
Hall (NY)
Hare
Harman
Hastings (FL)
Herger
Higgins
Hinojosa
Hobson
Holt
Honda
Hooley
Hoyer
Inglis (SC)
Israel
Johnson, E. B.
Kanjorski
Kennedy
Kildee
Kind
King (NY)
Kirk
Klein (FL)
Kline (MN)
LaHood
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Levin
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (KY)
Loebsack
Lofgren, Zoe
Lowey
Lungren, Daniel E.
Mahoney (FL)
Maloney (NY)
Markey
Marshall
Matsui
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum (MN)
McCrery
McDermott
McGovern
McHugh
McKeon
McNerney
McNulty
Meek (FL)
Meeks (NY)
Melancon
Miller (NC)
Miller, Gary
Miller, George
Mollohan
Moore (KS)
Moore (WI)
Moran (VA)
Murphy (CT)

Murphy, Patrick
Murtha
Nadler
Neal (MA)
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Pallone
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peterson (PA)
Pickering
Pomeroy
Porter
Price (NC)
Pryce (OH)
Putnam
Radanovich
Rahall
Rangel
Regula
Reyes
Reynolds
Richardson
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Ross
Ruppersberger
Ryan (OH)
Ryan (WI)
Sarbanes
Saxton
Schakowsky
Schwartz
Sessions
Sestak
Shays
Simpson
Sires
Skelton
Slaughter
Smith (TX)
Smith (WA)
Snyder
Souder
Space
Speier
Tancredo
Tanner
Tauscher
Towns
Tsongas
Upton
Van Hollen
Velázquez
Walden (OR)
Walsh (NY)
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watt
Waxman
Weiner
Weldon (FL)
Wexler
Wilson (NM)
Wilson (OH)
Wilson (SC)
Wolf

—- NOES 228 —

Abercrombie
Aderholt
Akin
Alexander
Altmire
Baca
Bachmann
Barrett (SC)
Barrow
Bartlett (MD)
Barton (TX)
Becerra
Berkley
Biggert
Bilbray
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Blackburn
Blumenauer
Boustany
Boyda (KS)
Braley (IA)
Broun (GA)
Brown-Waite, Ginny
Buchanan
Burgess
Burton (IN)
Butterfield
Buyer
Capito
Carney
Carson
Carter
Castor
Cazayoux
Chabot
Chandler
Childers
Clay
Cleaver
Coble
Conaway
Conyers
Costello
Courtney
Cuellar
Culberson
Cummings
Davis (KY)
Davis, David
Davis, Lincoln
Deal (GA)
DeFazio
Delahunt
Dent
Diaz-Balart, L.
Diaz-Balart, M.
Doggett
Doolittle
Drake
Duncan
Edwards (MD)
English (PA)
Fallin
Feeney
Filner
Flake
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly
Garrett (NJ)
Gerlach
Giffords

Gillibrand
Gingrey
Gohmert
Goode
Goodlatte
Graves
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Hall (TX)
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
Heller
Hensarling
Herseth Sandlin
Hill
Hinchey
Hirono
Hodes
Hoekstra
Holden
Hulshof
Hunter
Inslee
Issa
Jackson (IL)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jefferson
Johnson (GA)
Johnson (IL)
Johnson, Sam
Jones (NC)
Jordan
Kagen
Kaptur
Keller
Kilpatrick
King (IA)
Kingston
Knollenberg
Kucinich
Kuhl (NY)
Lamborn
Lampson
Latham
LaTourette
Latta
Lee
Lewis (GA)
Linder
Lipinski
LoBiondo
Lucas
Lynch
Mack
Manzullo
Marchant
Matheson
McCarthy (CA)
McCaul (TX)
McCotter
McHenry
McIntyre
McMorris Rodgers
Mica
Michaud
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Mitchell
Moran (KS)
Murphy, Tim
Musgrave
Myrick
Napolitano
Neugebauer
Nunes

Ortiz
Pascrell
Pastor
Paul
Payne
Pearce
Pence
Peterson (MN)
Petri
Pitts
Platts
Poe
Price (GA)
Ramstad
Rehberg
Reichert
Renzi
Rodriguez
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Rothman
Roybal-Allard
Royce
Rush
Salazar
Sali
Sánchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Scalise
Schiff
Schmidt
Scott (GA)
Scott (VA)
Sensenbrenner
Serrano
Shadegg
Shea-Porter
Sherman
Shimkus
Shuler
Shuster
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Solis
Stark
Stearns
Stupak
Sullivan
Sutton
Taylor
Terry
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Thornberry
Tiahrt
Tiberi
Tierney
Turner
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Visclosky
Walberg
Walz (MN)
Wamp
Watson
Welch (VT)
Westmoreland
Whitfield (KY)
Wittman (VA)
Woolsey
Wu
Yarmuth
Young (AK)
Young (FL)

—- NOT VOTING 1 —

Weller

I just wanted to add one personal thought here about the bailout and presidential politics. The absolute worst thing either candidate can do is not show up for the bailout vote in the Senate. I have been reading “speculation” and “rumor” around the Internets and the MSM. I just wanted to add in pure opinion it would be the hight of cowardice for either of our Senate Presidential candidates to sit on the sidelines and not be put on the record.

Both candidates have been straddling the fence. In short though, great Presidents lead and they go on the record, they don’t duck the tuff choices. Harry Truman famously had on his desk the saying “The Buck Stops Here.” In these difficult times, the same kind of leadership is needed.

I have to say in terms of fallout, McCain needs to be there the most. After suspending a campaign to travel to Washington, you don’t sit out the actual vote. It doesn’t matter the day and time, in my humble opinion if McCain misses this vote, he is through as a candidate. It doesn’t matter so much if he votes for it or against, he just has to show up or every movement of the last week was for nothing, a waste of time, a true misstep, a signal that he is not the reformer maverick he claims to be. If McCain misses the vote, Obama can attack even if he misses it too.

If Obama misses the vote and McCain doesn’t, his campaign won’t be over but he will be in a position for an onslaught of attack. It will remind us of all the “present” votes cast, the fact that he is a first term Senator with no real legislation accomplished, that he isn’t the “new politics messiah” his supporters believe him to be.

In short, the safest and most dignified and responsible course of action is for both candidates to go to Washington and be on the record.

For those of you not following, Friday was supposed to be the end of the world unless a bailout plan was put into law. Somehow that changed to tomorrow morning and so the Congress seems ready to pass.

So here it is, the bill to save capitalism and the world, the emergency economic stabilization act of 2008

Update: Word is House will vote tomorrow, Senate Wednesday. BUT I seem to remember EVERYONE on the TV telling me if it did not pass before opening bell tomorrow the world would end. What is going on?

Interesting stuff here:

PREVENTING UNJUST ENRICHMENT.—In making purchases under the authority of this Act, the Secretary shall take such steps as may be necessary to prevent unjust enrichment of financial institutions participating in a program established under this section, including by preventing the resale of a troubled asset to the Secretary at a higher price than what the seller paid to purchase the asset. This subsection does not apply to troubled assets acquired in a merger or acquisition, or a purchase of assets from a financial institution in conservatorship or receivership, or that has initiated bankruptcy proceedings under title 11, United States Code.

Also, interesting bit right here:

(B) DEBATE.—Debate on the resolution, and on all debatable motions and appeals in connection therewith, shall be limited to not more than 10 hours, which shall be divided equally between those favoring and those opposing the resolution. A motion further to limit debate is in order and not debatable. An amendment to, or a motion to postpone, or a motion to proceed to the consideration of other business, or a motion to recommit the resolution is not in order. A motion to reconsider the vote by which the resolution is agreed to or disagreed to is not in order.

There was a virtual coup the other day when Sarah Palin visited with world leaders and asked the press for some privacy. CNN said they wouldn’t cover a “photo op” and endless speculation ensued that the secrecy surrounding these closed door sessions equated to Palin’s insecurities on foreign policy. Campbell Brown even accused the McCain camp of being “sexist” for keeping the media at bay.

So my question is, will there be a firestorm in the media today now that Joe Biden has met with the president of Georgia without inviting the press in?

The meeting in a hotel conference room lasted about two hours. When it ended, Biden exited into the hallway, waved to reporters and security officials and went down a private elevator without taking questions. Minutes later he waved to supporters through the closed window of an SUV as he was driven from the hotel.

Lindsay Graham first mentioned this last night and has now repeated in an interview with Meredith Viera:

SEN. GRAHAM: Yeah. As I understand it, about 10:00 or 11:00 in the morning, I was in the House, meeting with House Republicans to talk about what we could do. You had three senators, I think, from the Republican side and several senators on the Democratic side meet by themselves, have a news conference — “We’ve got an agreement.”

I never heard about it until I went to the Republican lunch. And if you were in the lunch, it was clear that there was not a consensus about this agreement. There was never an agreement that had buy-in by the House and the Senate.

I appreciate their efforts. But 20 percent of the money that would be collected back to retire the debt we’re going to incur would have went to housing programs, programs like ACORN that have been very fraudulent in nature. So nobody on the Republican side was going to sign up to that.

ACORN or the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now is a “community organization of low- and moderate-income families that addresses housing, schools, neighborhood safety, health care, job conditions, and other social issues that affect its members. ” The organization has been linked to voter fraud.

The group is also tied to Senator Barack Obama. According to the Associated Press:

“Obama was part of a team of attorneys who represented ACORN in a lawsuit against the state of Illinois in 1995 for failing to implement a federal law designed to make it easier for the poor and others to register as voters.”