The House voted down the bailout package Monday causing the stock market to lose 777 points. 95 Democrats and 133 Republicans voted against the bill, which may come back again this week.
Now, I understand many Americans are as angry as I am over this entire mess, which was brought on us by greed and government incompetence.
But Newt Gingrich has now changed his mind and is supporting the bailout because if the feds do nothing, the USA will enter a dark economic zone and most Americans will be badly hurt. The speaker knows that.
Millions of us have already been damaged, and our anger will determine who the next president will be, as emotion will drive the voting.
Now, last Friday John McCain won the debate, but it was close. McCain came across a bit more authoritative on foreign policy and proved he understands the danger in the world. Obama did not hurt his cause at all. He was cool and articulate as usual.
But "Talking Points" was surprised that Senator McCain did not hammer Obama over the bailout. That might have been a game-breaker. All McCain has to say is this:
"Hey, Senator, all your entitlement spending is now impossible. The economy is shattered and federal spending must save the country from a complete meltdown. Therefore, there will be no money for your expensive entitlement programs, and there will be far fewer rich people to tax. You want to raise the capital gains tax, Senator? There are no capital gains. Many investors have massive losses that will carry over for years. If you hammer those investors by raising the income tax, the country may be looking at a depression not a recession. So your programs and spending strategies are gone, and if you are honest you will admit it."
Wow. What if McCain said that? What could Obama reply? But McCain didn't say it.
The federal bailout, of course, is atrocious, the folks are very angry about it, and that anger is helping Obama.
So if McCain wants to win, he has to turn the anger around because it's not going away. He has to convince the folks that he will clean up Dodge City and his opponent will make things much worse. All Obama has to do is keep reminding voters that McCain is a Republican, just like President Bush.
Everyday I learn more about how both parties have let all Americans down, how Congress and the Bush administration simply allowed the chaos to build without screaming about it in a very loud voice. Why didn't they look out for you and me? I simply don't know. I do know that we need a people's champion in the White House.
And that's "The Memo."
Pinheads & Patriots
Seventy-six-year-old Elizabeth Taylor was honored for helping to combat AIDS. The Macy's Passport gala raised $27 million for AIDS and HIV research, while giving Ms. Taylor a humanitarian award. She is a patriot.
On the pinhead front, actors Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher showed up at the University of Iowa and said this:
Click here to watch "Pinheads & Patriots."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEMI MOORE, ACTRESS: I don't know about you, but I'm pretty tired of the arrogance that's been leading this country for the last eight years, basically looking out and saying, as if we're idiots, that, "Hey, we know better" and not really caring how we feel and what we think.
ASHTON KUTCHER, ACTOR: Why are we paying for a war when they've got money and we don't? I'm overexcited. I've got to calm down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
That sounded like me sometimes. Not the words, the tone. At least I make sense, most of the time. Demi and Ashton are pinheads.
— You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Pinheads & Patriots" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the FOX News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com
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