CNN

If it wasn't so tragic it would be funny, but it's easy for someone that has a steady job, 700+ FICO score, and making a decent living to say just let them fail. It's not your job on the line. If that were the case,, I'm sure the sentiment would be different. For those that are being affected by others decisions are the ones we need to think about before we just "let them fail." I'm truly a capitalist at heart and believe in the survival of the fittest but these times are different and that philosophy will affect so many that had absolutely zero in the making of this mess that we are in. I could not, in good conscious, allow a bank to fail knowing that the worst case scenario could happen as a result of it. People, think carefully about what you would do as it could be your steady job, 700+ FICO score, and good paying job on the line.

Obama's been President for over a month now. Bush was President for eight years. I think we can give Obama a little time given what we tolerated from Bush. As for these Republicans, they sure talk a lot about failure these days, given the fact that it was mostly THEIR political policies and ideologies that got us into this mess. They seem to underestimate what would happen if we just let the major banks fail, along with the homeowner, while not investing in our infrastructure, education, healthcare, and energy. Basically the GOP leadership just want us to sit and just let things fall. Easy to say if you're a rich man (like most of them), but if you're like most of the nation, we face sure anarchy, lawlessness, extreme poverty and even death if things are just allowed to fail. GOP please stop political posturing and think about your countrymen.

it accomplishes a lot

he inflicted 8 years of pain upon this country

he brought the U.S. lower in the world's eyes

he allowed torture under the U.S. name

he did not follow up and allowed a CIA operative to be named

he labeled anything contrary to what he said as 'unpatriotic'

he...

I could write on and on, he was so wrong in so many ways that to explain it would take a lot of typing and I think you well know what he did and was doing was wrong, unwarranted wiretaping of U.S. citizens, not connecting the dots on 9/11 despite warnings on his desk, taking us into two wars – the Iraq based on blatant lies put forward by himself from his own mouth

But you subscribe to the republican do what ever we can to get elected philosophy that Rove etc subscribe to, and are the reason we are in the middle of this economic problem as well as so many other problems

The crazy liberals are out in numbers! This senator is absolutely correct. Banks that ran themselves into the ground because of poor lending habits and greedy presidents should not be bailed out by we, the taxpayers. The Liberals have made it impossible for anyone in our society to fail, as though it were a bad thing. It is not. There are winners and there are losers. Liberals think the answer is to just keep bailing out industries and throwing more money at problems. How has that worked for GM? Republicans stated that GM should declare bankruptcy in order to restructure. The Democrats decided to throw 15 billion dollars at them instead, and now GM will have to declare bankruptcy anyways. LIBERALS are ruining AMERICA!!!!

He has it the opposite: we must save the banks now but never again allow a bank to become so large that it affects the whole economy. After this crisis is over the banks should be split into its various services so that it can never again have the impact that it has had on this economy.

For all of you who are crying about privatizing government services look at the banks, Enron, MCI WorldCom etc. We have been romanticizing the virtues of private industry and need to get back to the real world!

I hope the banks that these top GOP senators use fail and see if they like that! How can anyone say that? Sometimes I wonder if anyone has a brain in Washington.

I don't know but it's highway robbery the money that is going to these banks and auto companies. Give the taxpayers the money and they will put it back into the economy. The banks and auto companies still making it hard for people to purchase and borrow money so why give it to them.

Why do we think that letting some companies go down will make our
country totally tank?
So what all the supporters of the bailouts are saying:These banks and
insurance and auto companies are the end all of our economy?
Well if that is true we are totally in the dump period!
My self I find that hard to believe!
I think these companies are pulling down stronger companies!
If there is a bad apple in a basket do you throw out the whole basket?
What we seem to be doing is letting the bad apple rot in the basket and
make the good apples rot with them.

For the Hallelujah chorus on here praising Shelby and Pop McCain's suggestion-who do you think will lose the most if they are allowed to go bankrupt?

We will. Someone has to absorb those losses. The CEO's are set for life. We will pay for their bankruptcy. BTW, do you all know that we can't even file some forms of bankruptcy if we make more than a state's median income? So, in essence, you are saying that banks should get a fresh start, but we hold their debts for them and pay them?

they are stealing our money get rid of them.......

Why is this a hard decision? Let millions of taxpayers absorb the cost of this bank's failure or let a much smaller number of shareholders absorb the cost? There's not even a question here. The shareholders intentionally accepted the risk by buying the stock. This senator is one of only a very few who are making any sense nowadays.

Too big to fail? Nothing is too big to fail and they should be allowed to die off. Yes it will be painful and yes innocent people will be hurt. But bailing out these idiots over and over is only a delaying tactic that is just as painful and also hurts innocent people and, to top it off, will FAIL. These businesses have ALREADY failed, why spend untold billions in prolonging their inevitable and unavoidable collapse. They are not good at what they do, so they should be allowed to die. If we carry their mismanagement and it takes down America, what then? Will any of the other countries decide America is too big to fail? Should America be allowed to collapse because the big three automakers are run by know-nothing caretaker CEOs? Gas was $4 per gallon and they introduced the biggest gas-wasting vehicles ever invented! Do we need to preserve that stupidity? Does anyone really think that car manufacturing in America will disappear if the three big idiots are gone? And haven't these big three already outsourced their labor as much as humanly possible to other countries? Why should America look out for them now?

Why do the "red states" want the banks to fail?

By saying we've got to bury some big banks, in the middle of the worst economic crisis since the great depression, Shelby has disgraced himself and his state. For that, Shelby should resign immediately.

For the first time i share the same sentiment. Some of this banks need to reap what they sow. Despite the many bailouts some of them are barely making good decisions to make them stay afloat. While the top CEO's live lavish lifestyles and refurnish their offices at a $1m tab and take their families on vacations on coprorate jets, many of their lower level employees lose jobs. Some banks are so corrupt they are headed by greedy slelfish CEO's who are only concerned about their own welfare. Sad to say but maybe a few bank failures might teach others a lesson or two.

Why do the "red states" want the banks to fail?

These comments by such idiot Republicans is just further proof of how clueless most Republicans are about the economy.

Yes. Insolvent banks should fail and not be propped up by the Gov't and the Fed. They are not "Too big to fail". There is also a precedent for the current situation we are in. Japan experianced almost the identical situation in the 90's and constant toying with interest rates and stimulus only worsened their recession and kept it going for almost 2 decades. The free-market has to be allowed to re-adjust and set interest rates where they should be based on supply and demand. Not artificially by the Fed and Gov't persuasion.

I think its funny to see the democrats and liberals on this blog suddenly angry at some Republicans because they say the banks should be allowed to fail.

These are the same liberals and democrats who screamed at these very banks for causing this mess.

That, in a nutshell, is the problem with liberals and dems. They don't understand the issue but certainly shout, insult, and threaten to "do something".

Funny.

Clearly, noone knows what to do or it would be done. Maybe Obama is letting everything fail so he can socialize the country. The GOP certainly laid the groundwork. What makes me think they are all in it together. They say something in front of the camera's then go behind closed doors to a wild party where they all laugh at our utter stupidity.
Everyone should just stay home for a couple of days. That would get the ball rolling.

They realize they can't get around Obama's popularity unless he makes mistakes. If Obama's administration lets them fail, not only do we have more unemployment, but people will try to make a run for their money from the banks. Not all will be fdic insured and that will create a panic mode in which people want all their money from all the banks, even safe ones. There goes our credit and the government will be forced to print money which will cause inflation. Ever see zimbabwe in the news? 20 billion dollars doesn't even buy a loaf of bread. With things that bad, the country might just get desperate enough to vote for Limbaugh and republicans. I don't think any one of us wants things so bad that we have major inflation or to the point of seeing Obama fail because if we fail, we lose everything.

That is it CNN!

I submitted a blog and it was awaiting moderation per usual...and now it is gone!

I'm going over to MSNBC...at least I know that my thoughts which by the way were not obscene or anything will be posted!

Right, then you should had voted that before "bailing them out". Is it me or are republicans truely living in DENIAL? Why did he not make this suggestion when Bush/Cheney were in office?

Allowing these large companies to fail would free up capital and people to start new ventures that are not burdened by years of failure and mismanaged risk. For capitalism to thrive we must allow-and encourage-failure, I believe the markets would reward the "creative destruction" of what doesnt work with capital and confidence to build on those failures.

I like how McCain is suddenly against helping the banks, yet had to problem pushing for Bush's $800B bailout bill just a few months ago. Sorry Republicans. You had your chance to actually make the government smaller and reduce spending, for 6 years, yet you simply made it worse. Even though I enjoy hearing, and agree with their current stance against the bill, and the government in general, I'm simply not buying it. If I help put them back in power, not much will change. Your lip service is merely entertaining at this point.

Yes it is the free economy. If they were allowed to do the free business, let them pay the price too. Why American people have to pay for the wrong doings.

The "Financial Wizard" John McCain has spoken again. How pathetic and delusional this old man is.

Seventeen banks failed this year, hitherto, dear folks, and keep countin'. Lord help the economy, because most everybody is tryin' to do whatever he or she can. Hopefully, there shouldn't be any lookin' back, once we tide over these crises..

Amen! Shouldn't have thrown away the first $700Billion, let alone the newer throwaway and all the giveaways. Redistribution of wealth won't work, because most of the donees won't work!

Why cant the senate stop the politics, and start doing something for the american people, what are they thinking.

Amen! Shouldn't have thrown away the first $700Billion, let alone the newer throwaway and all the giveaways. Redistribution of wealth won't work, because most of the donees won't work!

Why cant the senate stop the politics, and start doing something for the american people, what are they thinking.

Amen! Shouldn't have thrown away the first $700Billion, let alone the newer throwaway and all the giveaways. Redistribution of wealth won't work, because most of the donees won't work!

Yes it is the free economy. If they were allowed to do the free business, let them pay the price too. Why American people have to pay for the wrong doings.

Amen! Shouldn't have thrown away the first $700Billion, let alone the newer throwaway and all the giveaways. Redistribution of wealth won't work, because most of the donees won't work!

Why cant the senate stop the politics, and start doing something for the american people, what are they thinking.

Amen! Shouldn't have thrown away the first $700Billion, let alone the newer throwaway and all the giveaways. Redistribution of wealth won't work, because most of the donees won't work!

Why cant the senate stop the politics, and start doing something for the american people, what are they thinking.

Amen! Shouldn't have thrown away the first $700Billion, let alone the newer throwaway and all the giveaways. Redistribution of wealth won't work, because most of the donees won't work!

Why cant the senate stop the politics, and start doing something for the american people, what are they thinking.

I don't usually agree with Shelby but in this case I couldn't agree more. The corruption and incompetence of these larger groups are what put us here in the first place. What do you want to do, keep paying more taxes to prop them up while they don't change their policies? Keep in mind how little they did to help the people they foreclosed on...or is the policy kick the "irresponsible family" out in the street but SAVE the "irresponsible institution"?? To h3ll with Citigroup and all the other big banks.

Close the banks now or let them fail and the fat cats will just spend their bailout money on more fancy dinners with mistresses and plastic surgery for their unhappy wives. The human element will always pretty much ruin whatever theoretical financial solution that is put into place; no matter who is in office/power in Washington.

There is only so far you can go to keep saving something, until you ultimately have to just let it die.

I agree jobs will be lost, well guess what – jobs are already being lost, and all of Obama's plans doesnt address all those jobs lost. It simply cant. Its a hard pill to swallow, the reality that throwing money at a problem doesnt always simply solve it...or the reality that the money we keep throwing at these banks, can be saved for a rainier day...like when that bank fails and those people need unemployment.

The shareholders SHOULD take the beating – it was their greed that blinded the eyes of the ones running the companies.

Perhaps its time to re-evaluate the way our stock market/works in conjuction with business...because buiness is abandoning sound business methods in order to keep shareholders happy with unrealistic gains.

I work for a publically traded company – i see the drive to "pump up earnings" every quarter...rather than just doing business, we have to move funds and billing around in order to ALWAYS put the best foot forward. A company cannot operate like this and remain healthy, sometimes having a bad business month is just that...but to a shareholder, its reason to jump ship – which is what all companies fear, shareholders selling stock and driving the price of their stock down...so every quarter has to look better than the last (whether it really is better or not).

SOMETHING HAS TO CHANGE

"YOU DEMS ARE GETTING WHAT YOU DESERVE AND IN 2010 AND 2012 I THINK THE MODERATES AND INDEPENDANTS WILL VOTE FOR THE GOP BECAUSE BO HAS SCREWED UP SO BAD"

What we get from repubs... people too ignorant to turn off their caps lock.

Getting what I deserve? This is entirely the fault of the Bush administration. Don't even try to say otherwise. No one believes your lies anymore.

I agree, let some of these banks, and let GM fail

Penn Voter-

To say Alan Keyes speaks the truth is disgusting. He is a fanatic much like Hitler. If that moron had a following, he would be dangerous. To support his message of hate, blasphemy and lies, says a lot about you unhappy right wingnuts.

I am no expert but what can we do with these banks... could we break them up like we did with AT&T's monopoly. Could we lessen the debt from these smaller companies and turn them over to private ownership? I would love to have someone just come out and lay out the options....I don't care if its labeled conservative or liberal...just no more of this bail out a zombie bank or let everything fail.

Some banks HAVE failed. Duh. So far, not as many as failed during the tenure of Bush I. If the solution was letting banks fail, they we'd be in great shape.

So much for Republicans being the "party of business". When their hare-brained schemes blow up, they throw business right under the bus.

Are these the banks their own money is in? Do they think the FDIC is 'socialism?'

Of course, now that the republicans and their cronies already got as much money as they could out of the banks, wall street investors and the backs of the little people, they would love for the country to fail so that they are the only ones with money. Bush/Cheney worked very hard to make this happen "mission accomplished" idiots.

democrats should stop quoting that racist guy, Hughley. And, Obama should stop trying to avoid his job and should stop campaigning. He has no clue what he is doing–thus tries to distract by picking on conservative media people and race-baiting with his AG.I don't see anyone picking on Rachael Maddox and those hateful left-wing talk show hosts. Probably because no one listens to them, anyway,

Why not let AIG fail then? (& watch the world turn it's back on N.Y. forever) and who gets to pick and choose? The genie's already been let out of the bottle and there was no other choice. Now the Rebublicans want to start yelping on the sidelines in mid game when they were the ones who started the whole thing in motion. It's pathetic and for even one nasty little Republican to already be blaming Obama is amazing. Go back and look at history, the procedure of "Investment Banking " was a ticking time bomb when it came into force under Regan, and all this "big government is bad" mantra served to do was make sure it was less and less regulated. Yeah the Clinton's went along free wheelin' and dealing just like the New Democrats they were, but now old fasioned sanity is back in vogue and you Republicans can go blank yourselfs.

Rep., are the reason why the banks are failing, now he trying to clean it up.......come on we are smarter Americans we know the you had your hand in it.

Can we get something else from you instead of "let them fail"
If we should let banks fail everyone in America would loose their jobs. Im glad the republicans are no longer running things. God put Obama in the white house just in time!

Well this is the reason the repubulican didn't win, letting lehman brothers fail, anyone with in IQ of 5 can figure out that's a bad move

Republicans, give me a break! Please dont try to appease the American public about caring for our money. For 8 years Shelby had a chance to take a stand against Government spending, he chose not to and for those 8 years he remain under the radar. It wasn't til Bush lost that now he is trying to make some noise! It's to late!! Your ex President, spending eclipse Ronald Reagan's. Out of the last 32 years, Republican Presidents outspent the lame Democrats, Yet Shelby remained mum.

Senator Shelby, sit down & shut up! Your cries are irresponsible & part of the problem.

It has taken years to get into this mess & now the critics say Secretary Geithner is expected to fix it NOW?

Allow the process to unfold, stress tests are in progress, a review is in progress. There will be a carefully thought out plan to emerge from this crisis stronger. As opposed to the "fly by the seat of your pants" we witnessed with Secretary Paulson for months last fall on the steps of the Capitol & the White House, with the Secretary trembling & shaking and telling us we had to act NOW.

"Immediate gratification" is what got us in the mess! Be patient & shut up! You know nothing about economics & your cries in the wilderness are alarmist to say the least.

It burns me up to help out people that have screwed up, but even uneducated little me, understands it is not as simple as 'let them fail'. My friend works for Citigroup, my home loan is threw GMAC mortgage.

These banks failing will have far reaching repercussions and we can't let it happen. Do I have the answer? No, but failure is not an option here.

Yes, we have to suffer the loss of some large banks. It's easy for me to say since I've been in a credit union for years. But I do believe that we are prolonging the agony and should just let 'em go and deal with the aftemath.

When people steal from a bank, they call it a robbery. When a bank steals from people, they call it a bailout. See the hypocricy?

Like Nero, who fiddled as Rome burned, McCain twitters while banks fail.

General, oops, Senator Shelby has finally stated that "some" banks should be bailed out. We have finally reached common ground. Now we simply need to decide which ones.

If McCain and Sheby are two top GOP Senators, the republicans are screwed. The only message they consistently bring the American people is "failure." While right wingnuts enjoy gloom and doom, the country deserves better.

Finally!! Someone has the nerve to state the obvious. If a business fails and has to sell off, someone else will buy it up. There will be loses, but at least we will finally see market values set by demand. This would free up our government to work on real issues that will save jobs, like balancing compensation for jobs in the services industry of this "global market". To save jobs in America the government needs to stop companies from off shoring all our skilled services jobs. These are the jobs that we as Americans use to pay our mortgages and stimulate the economy.

It is easy to point fingers and say this one did this and this one should have done that. I voted for Obama becuase I thought he would bring change to Washington. I was fooled. He is as bad as bush (who I did not vote for). I will not vote for him again! I was fooled once!

So Stephen from Missouri, what is your plan? How much more are you willing to throw at Citigroup and their parties? Just make sure it is your money and not mine. Sell your house if you have to and learn about free markets.

It takes a poplulist demogogue like Shelby to saw bank failures are good. Of course if a bank does fail Shelby will be the first to play the blame game by taking a partisan shot at Obama.

Again, this is the end result of Ronald Reagan's voodoo supply side economic theories. The time bomb that he started during his administration with tax breaks for the rich and deregulation of the banking and savings and loan industry has exploded and we now should all see the complete failure of his ideas. McCain and the other Republicans are neck deep in this. Their blind allegiance to a failed actor and his idiotic policies has led us and the rest of the world to this sorry state. The Bushes, father and son, continued these failing policies and are just as much to blame. Yes Mr. Obama has inherited a mess left by the previous administration. Yet all we hear from the Republicans is for us to listen to them and continue marching off the cliff to their tired old songs. Mr. Obama is trying to turn things around, If the Repulicans can't help then they need to shut up and get out of the way.

Amazingly enough I think the obstructionist Republicans are actually making sense. They seem totally focused on regaining power but in this particular instance Senator Shelby is correct. If an individual acted like the banks or auto industry, refusing to make changes to improve performance, he/she would be in bankruptcy court. Continuing to give these institutions public money is throwing good taxpayer money in the toilet.

To hypocrisy is a democratic trait:

You are 100% correct, and every dem should read your post. Barney Frank and Dodd are responsible for this mess, and the dem attemt at deflecting by saying ":george bush is evil" accomplishes nothing. Look at the facts, this is not republican driven. But, dems will try to ignore facts as ususal.

By the way, I see a black monday today! We will learn in 40 minutes.

I wish they had thought about this the first time around and we would have saved lots of money.

AGREE!!!!

Some of these banks went out and made risky loans and have BAD management and need to go down and the owners be held accountable.

Government IS NOT the answer!!

If the rich and greedy continue to take our bail out money hat in hand, tout about making profits last year, and then turn around and ask for more money... something is seriously wrong, and these businesses should be allowed to FAIL so newer, up-and-coming businesses should be able to compete free of old and greedy and tired dinasaur competitors.

I find bailing out billionaires repulsive. Greed and short term profits lead to this mess. Let the free market take its toll, let those who made bad investments fail instead of rewarding and perpetuating the problem. Failure for one is opportunity for another...may the strongest survive.

The republicans love failure....so, is anyone surprised by what this man says?

You know it easy for people to say 'let them fail' of 'no more bailouts', but there is a bigger picture. Do you know how many jobs would be gone if the auto industry and big banks fail? Well, I do. MILLIONS. People need to think before they say such things. Look at the bigger picture and put down the blinders.

Under Bush, the market went from almost 15000 to 7500 in less than a year before it rebounded to 8000 in November. That destroyed my 401K. What little money I have left is securely located in a Bank of America account, and Shelby wants it to fail. I won't even be able to have access to that money.

I am beginning to think that Shelby is not bright.

Tom, do you even know what populism is?

PLEASE STOP LEAVING COMMENTS IN CAPS IT MAKES YOU LOOK LIKE A FOOL, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU HAVE NOTHING RELEVANT TO SAY.

Conservatives crying about Fannie may sound lik ecomplete fools. Those arguments only work on each other, not on reasonable informed people. You grasp at any chance to make an argument tht sounds even remotely beleivable, juts to deflct the blame. Today's GOP remains the party invested in the failure of America.

Don:

Stay focused! I understand that as a republican you have talking points you must get out, but the subject is not about Ted Kennedy.

Why shouldn't the shareholders take a beating? The owners of a business bear the ultimate responsibility for its operation. The Board and officers work for them.

This is something we have lived with for twenty years and not 4 years, republicans have ruined this nation and we must now do our best to pick up the peices and try to move in a more solid less 'greed is good' direction, we are all at fault for electing Bush to 8 years

what a nightmare he was and is

As if we should take ANYTHING the sorry excuse for a human being Shelby says! And to Mitchell from MS, just 2 words: KEEP DREAMING!

Hypocrisy is a Democratic Trait:

When you correct people you should make sure you have your facts correct.

Based on recent performance, and particularly during last year's campaign, I think the best policy might be to listen to whatever GOP leaders have to say about the economy and then do the exact opposite. Things could only get better. Seriously, does anybody really have any confidence in what the GOP says we ought to do about the economy? Their best strategy mnight be to shut up and let things happen...one way or the other.

Shelby is dead wrong. Letting even one more bank fail resulting in more pensions and savings lost by shareholders and further eroding confidence is exactly what should not be done.

Like it or not, the economy begins and ends with banking. To revive the economy, its time to stop blaming banks The White House must absolutely guarantee that not one more bank is going to fail and not one is going to be nationalized. This alone will bring investors back into the stock market as a whole, but more importantly, save the thousands of Americans whose pensions and savings will be wiped out if more banks are allowed to fail.

Shelby and Barney Frank are merely trying to deflect blame solely to the banks, when Frank himself is probably the one person that can be blamed the most for the banking crisis.

You liberals are the idiots....who do you think is paying the funds to the banks that were irresponsible? YOU ARE!

Obama's brainwashed you libs to the point that you think SOMEONE ELSE is paying.....we're paying! How stupid can you people be....oops...I forgot, you VOTED to impose this self-inflicted wound

Shelby was not the Senate Finance chair for the past 2 years – Dem Senator Dodd was. And it has been the Democrats who have controlled the legislative agenda for 34 of the past 40 years with a House Majority – and MA Congressman Barney Frank has been the House Chair of the Finance Committee for most of those years. So the Dems are the ones who have been in charge, And for the record, the three largest recipients of contributions from Fannie Mae for past two years has been Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, and Barack Obama. And for the record, the Fannie Mae program to extend housing to people who could not afford it was a Democratic concept. They created the sub prime scandal, and they fought oversight over Fannie Mae and the banks for years.

Obama will go through 4 years and his mantra will be – I inherited this – it is not my fault. This is not the type of President we need – someone who has all the excuses but none of the answers. – someone wgho votes "Present" like when he signs the ear mark filled omnibus spending bill And it is the Democratic House who has gotten us into this mess. By the way, while the Democrats have had a majority in the House for 34 of 40 past years, those 6 years when they did not control the House, they had a Dem in the White House. Hypocricy – Greed – Deceit – Misdirection – Excuses – Lies - Slander - these are the hallmarks of the Democratic part

The last people we should be listening to are the republicans. Was it not them who got us into this mess? There solution to the current crisis is to let everything fail. The auto industry, banks, whatever is troubled let them fail is there solution. Yeah, that's a good plan, good leadership McCain, GOP, did Rush Limbaugh come up with this one?

March 8th, 2009 7:04 pm ET

My career was spent in the financial services industry and I was in Washington for many years meeting with both the Senate and House Banking Committees.

Republican Senator Shelby has been in charge of the Senate Banking Commitee for the past decade. WHERE WAS HIS LEADERSHIP WHILE THESE BANKS WERE RUNNING WILD WITH IDIOTIC BEHAVIOR? He was getting rich so he said nothing.

AS BANKING LEADER SHELBY DID NOTHING AND SAID NOTHING AND NOW HE IS REFUSING TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIS LEADERSHIP FAILURE – How Republican to make the mess and then point fingers when it all falls apart!!!

SHELBY SHOULD RESIGN FROM THE BANKING COMMITTEE.

President Obama is trying to decide with INTELLIGENT AND RESPONSIBLE people what is the best plan to deal with the banking crisis.

We would be better off to nationalize banks like Citi on a temporary basis – get rid of the bad debt and bad management – and then put them back into the private sector under strict regulation and oversight.

Republicans have caused enough job loss – closing banks is not the answer. Of course – what answers do Republicans have to ANY of our economic disasters?????

I TOTALLY AGREE, temporary nationalization!! There are some who say the shareholders will be wiped out out, but wouldn't bankrupty acheive the sane effect? Nationalization would save those jobs (hopefully), and we still have competetion, which keeps prices at reasonable levels. If they fail, we have LESS competition among large banks, and we all pay higher prices in the long run, b/c they have a semi-monopoly on the market share.

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ELECT A FRESHMAN SENATOR WHO SPENDS MORE TIME WRITING BOOKS AND RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT THAN ACCTUALLY BEING IN THE SENATE AND LEARNING HOW TO ACTUALLY HELP RUN A COUNTRY.

YOU DEMS ARE GETTING WHAT YOU DESERVE AND IN 2010 AND 2012 I THINK THE MODERATES AND INDEPENDANTS WILL VOTE FOR THE GOP BECAUSE BO HAS SCREWED UP SO BAD!

No more bailouts!

When is this administration going to learn that no matter how much money you throw at the problem, the free market system is going to make some businesses winners, and some are going to be losers.

Those who by lax regulation and laissez-faire policies allowed the banks to fail should meet with the same fate. And they would ... if the people voted with reason rather than with ideology.

I am so tired of these southern "gentlemen."

It is the worst thing government can do when it gets into bailing out failing institutions. Banks made risky loans and gambled with customer money and they lost. They should pay a prize for it on top of it they bullied consumers around by re writing the bankruptcy code in 2006. They have no problem destroying a troubled customer but ask us for money when they fail. No more money for these crooks.

Why do conservitives hate us so much?

Its always ME ME ME and screw everyone else!

The conservitives caused this mess, they need to go away!

Well well now we have stooped to a new all time low. In another article, one that does not reflect this one, Ted Kennedy received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. Wow we are really getting desperate aren't we? That would have been a good time for Ted to have come clean on killing Mary Jo years ago. I guess the courage part comes with him being able to swim to well huh? Congraulations America we have now lost what little common sense we once had. Will Bush be next with his courage to invade Iraq without total proof of WMD? Maybe give the next one to Hillary for wanting to give the Palestians millions of our hard earned money. But lets wait, we now have a party running the government that thinks we can give and it will be fixed. Wake up America before it is too late.

I am beginning to hate republicans and their child-like behavior.

They have nothing to offer except the same old tired rhetoric.

Although I agree with Shelby and McCain in principle, it's easy for these Republican Neanderthals to say "Let the banks fail". Even though the failures are a direct results of the stupid policies of Bush, McCain and Shelby, when these banks fail Obama will get the blame.

a little off topic, but comments closed early for JM blog and no time for positive comments...Maybe we should go back to talking about MO's gorilla arms as people seem to have only ugly comments about Meghan McCain. I don't see why they hate her and JM–they have both always loved their country. MO gets away with all kinds of hateful statements and gets positive feedback on CNN.

When do we begin to see obamanomics start to have a positive effect .

Politics is the reason that were in this mess or partially to blame. We as a government should have never gotten involved. I agree withSenator Shelby in that they got themselves in this mess, let them get out on there on. Same with the automakers. They are making a proud that is not the best for the money but they are wanting top wages and benefits for there labors. And it should have been done on an individual bases instead of the whole group. Yes some needs to fall on there face.

Everytime Pelosi and Bama speak the market drops another 400 points!

KEEP YOUR SOCIALIST AGENDA ON HOLD AT LEAST UNTIL THE MARKET RECOVERS A LITTLE BIT.

AGAIN!!!! the repubs want to take the easy way out. "let the banks fail". the gop just doesnt have a clue on how to get out of the mess cowboy bush and the gop has gotten us into. they only know how to create a mess, not clean it up. typical gop. losers.

Obama already wasted almost a trillion on a worthless gov't stimulus program so I dont think we need to get into anymore debt to save all banks. We havent even got started on the socialist welfare programs of Pelosi and Bama.

The Republican party is old and sick. All of these men needs to retire. I am so sick of the Republicans acting the way that they have since President Obama took office. Why are they now trying to have a voice in government when they were asleep when Bush was in office. People we need to rally to get all those old men out and send them home on retirement.

What kind of proposal is this? Are they trying to sabotage American banks?

These 2 losers (Shelby and McCain) will say anything for politics at the expense of their country.

Isn't this the same McCain who was ready to suspend his campaign to run to Washington and lead one of the first bailouts??? Totally disgraceful and another indication of the bankruptcy of the dimwit party.

Not a Dem or Rep.
Why are we giving banks & insurance companies money?
We are giving them money with no direction Why?
Have we fixed the regulation No!
These are world companies correct, are we giving money to
stay afloat for the world Why?
If this was ALL the Us fault why are the other countries having just
as much or more problems?
Personally I think we are doing this to keep rich people rich, sure is not keeping business open.
Would you give your child a credit card and say go have fun spend as much as you like NO!
These companies are acting like spoiled children on our dime and the government is letting them.
He// give me the cc and I will go stimulate the economy. I could do
just a good of a job if not better.

My God! Does McCain and Senator Shelby find their statements politically motivated or just economic stunts? The Republicans started by , 'Let Obama fail.' Now it's , 'Let the banks fails. ' What next ? Would it be , let the Health Care fail? or Let the American Soldiers fail in Iran and Afghanistan? I would simply say ' Let the Republicans fail.' Vote them out of the Senate in 2010. Show them that you care angry. Yes very angry.

As you wish Senator Shelby. Let's dump Regions Financial out of Birmingham. It's a big bank and it's in trouble. Senator do you even remotely realize you are suggesting we dump 25 billion dollars of US taxpayers money if we dump Citi? Yes sir it's in common stock now and we couldn't get that back if we did. Sir may I point out an old Chinese proverb to you? "Better to keep mouth shut and have people wonder..than to open it and let them know for sure."

Some banks should be allowed to fail? What about the people who actually work for a living that keep their money in theses particular banks?! There is much I don't know about finance or politics but I do not that Senator Shelby's position is a very hard one.

Why do these Republicans think they have the answer to everything. If they would just put forth some effort to work with President Obama and the Administration, perhaps some real solutions would be found. Unless and until they start either working with the President or presenting some viable alternatives themselves, the Republican party will not regain any of the tremendous amount of ground they have lost. Over the weekend I watched a chilling documentary entitled "Right America, feeling wronged". To be sure I am sure this not reflect the majority of Republicans but the minority of them that was protrayed is not only frightening, it is sinful. Our new President deserves the support of all Americans to work with him as he tries to get us out of this ugly mess!!

This is not suprising, Republicans have been working hard on getting the whole country to "Fail" for some time now

I hate to agree with a republican, but, yeah, let them fail. whats with all this too big to fail crap. the very people who caused this mess, profited greatly from it, and are still profiting from it.
Everyone should take all of their money out of the bank and head down to their local credit union, and put it there. They're not asking for bailouts, they don't need one. Who wouldn't love to see citi come crashing down. I hope their creditors call them 15 times a day with threatening phone calls, like they do to you when your late.

Who are the idiot economists that are advising Shelby about banks. Or is he himself a world renowned economist. If Obama administration's economic advisers have no good basis for bailingout banks then there should be a discussion and debate about whose strategy is the right course to follow. Otherwis, Mr. Shelby! do'nt just bark.

repubs have no sensible answers whatsoever. they broke it and can't fix it.

I agree with letting some of the banks fail; but, isn't it something how old Mac keeps sticking it to the President even though he promised to work with him?

Obama '12

To Mr. Shelby...
What was your position again? Well, I think you should be fired for letting these bank go bankrupt and let your compadre McShame retire too, he is not for the poor and mostly not for African-Americans. Remember when McShame tried to oppose the MLK holiday? Hmmm, and now you you all are using this Steele guy to attract African-American voters? LOL. this is really funny.

(1) The lemmings from both political parties remind me of Monty Python's "I want to have an argument" skit. (2) I am amazed at the lemmings' general lack of intelligent info (e.g., AIG is not a bank – it's an insurance company that insured bad bank investments), but I realize that's partly what makes them lemmings in the first place. (3) An orderly restructuring of Citi through Chapter 11 will result in a leaner bank, not somthing that just closes its doors. The last move by the US govt to trade preferred shares for common shares sounds like that's where we're headed because the govt can now use its voting shares of stock to make that happen.

Only the strong survive. When one or two go down the rest will clean up their houses. Citigroup should go down.

hindsight I am Not happy with Mr Shelby's approach to this whole situation – I help put him in office but I will not mark that box come next term. We need solutions and new voice.

McCain....please stop your bickering, still angered about your defeat? If you really want this country to prosper lead your party and get on with Obama so all the problem will be solve not by opposing it. Everybody knows in the GOP party that you guys should have had a good stratedy during the election but, OMG let the past be the past and start working for the good of the people and not about your pride. Why, do you think if you had been elected you had this country rolling in 46 days? I don't think so.
Telling everybody to let a bank fail is just not so professional...The congress and most of the GOP did not do enough about transparency and regulation about all these mess and it was the GOP who was on the helm when all these started. You all, GOP and DEMS should grow up together and take the responsibilities that was given to you by the VOTERS! Enough of these childish acts.

Greed, lies and collusion have always been an American staple.
These banks need a strong message that they cannot keep we, who keep them alive, prisoner of their tactics and interest rate increases. They pay out a pittance in savings and CDs while sticking it to us with 10, 15 or even 30% interest rates if you're a couple of HOURS late in paying... PLUS a "late fee".
The same with the automakers who keep sticking it to the consumer for the sake of the UAW and all of the problems they have created. Let 'em fail... let 'em get rid of the UAW, if they won't make any concessions. They've had their place in history!

This is exactly why the republicans are lost and not to be found. I used to gravitate towards the right side but republicans are so out of touch and irrational it is no wonder they are losing elections left and right. It is too late to shut these big banks down and much as they deserve to be. The government has already dumped too much money now to give that up and not to mention the more people to lose jobs and the thousands of people and businesses that have above the fdic cap invested. Oh, and by the way, that safe bond fund you invested in, well now that will be worth 80 cents on the dollar because of how much citi dect will default. The consequences are just to big.. The real time to move would have been to STOP these banks from becoming too big to fail. Where was congress then???? Oh yes, they were cashing big bank lobby checks... hmmm.

THE ONLY BANKS THAT SHELBY WANTS TO FAIL , ARE THE BANKS THAT DID NOT CONTRIBUTE TO THE GOP. SHELBY, WHAT A PINBALL COMMENT. YOU SECTARIAN. MENTAL CASE.

Quick Question: Were these two same Republicans saying "let 'em fail!" three months ago when the Bush Administration was bailing the financial system out?

Or is GOP hindsight so much better than their foresight?

"Close them down, get them out of business. If they're dead, they ought to be buried"

I agree senator...on the remaining pockets of insurgents in the GOP party.

As a former republican, and although I disagree with some of Obama's recent policies, I fully support the president's decisions and I stand proudly behind his administration.

Before talking about burying banks, Shelby should perhaps talk burying himself - he has always been in charge of the Senate Banking Commitee!!! Be a man and take responsibility your own failures senator!!

This guy should shut to hell up.

Wasn't Bush the one who bailed out these banks in the first place, and was into socialism? Wasn't that all before Obama was in office?

The Textile Industry, the Shipping Industry, the Steel Industry, and the Airline Industry were all 'allowed' to fail and somehow the economy survived, so why should the Auto-makers who didn't give a crap about the needs or wishes of the people, or some greedy banks and other poor investors not be allowed to receive the nautral consequences of their actions.

Why are we enabling this dysfunctional behavior?

Citibank is one of the first banks to have kowtowed to the ACORN protestors and shelled out sub-prime loans to people who could not afford to pay them back, only to have them 'picked up' by Fannie and Freddie.

Let them fail and stop giving out sub-prime loans...it's the only way to stop the bleeding.

You can't solve the sub-prime mortgage crisis if your still handing out sub-prime loans.

I am amazed at the Ignorance, Arrogance and the Hypocrisy
Sounds a lot like " Let them eat cake"

if anyone doesn't believe these clowns haven't converted their money to gold...your dreaming.

I got a real bad feeling about this week coming up...like here's the "cliff" folks....

Get behind your new president NOW..

you had your chance to lead.

On the other hand....Can we just bail out the banks and reward the bankers for being idiots? Maybe we can't let these 'big' banks fail but we should be asking for the resignations of the executives at the top. Otherwise they will just give themselves big fat bonuses for screwing the American people out of $billions.

You people are still playing partisan pool.

Can you address the issue without regard to party...or does your intelligence not allow for complex thinking?

Sure nationalize the banks... and see where it leads us! One step closer to socialism. This is what America needs to be on the lookout for people. To Obama and the Dem cronies... there is no such thing as temporary nationalization, they want it permanent and they want it now. Just you watch...

John McCain has nothing positive to say about President Obama. WOW – what a sore loser you are John McCain!!!!!

This is exactly why you and your republican party are yesterday's wash out news. Bitter and empty in the solutions department.

The only reason most Democrats in here think it's wrong for the banks to fail is because a Republican said it. If it were a Republican in the White House and wanted to bail the banks out, they would want his head. What a bunch of two-faced people the Democrats are.

March 9th, 2009 5:16 am ET
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Precious March 8th, 2009 6:34 pm ET
"Wow! things were good until late 2007. What happen after that? Where did we go wrong? People sure weren't complaining for seven years (2001-2007)? What happened? Who took over in 2007?"
********************************************************
Wrong!!! Things only looked good back then. Actually the rot was already in the heart of the economy, but the government agencies who were supposed to oversee the banking sector were otherwise occupied.
Don't try to blame this on the Democrats taking over Congress. We are not that stupid!!!

I agree all banks can't be bailed out!

I like the GOP's idea for poorly performing banks except for one thing: what happens to the over-paid bank executives who oversaw the failures of their banks?
Bank employees will lose their jobs. Shareholders will lose their investments. The FDIC (taxpayers) will have to cover losses to account holders. What will the bank executives lose?

CITIBANK CHARGES 29.99 %. They're loan sharks and deserve to fail.

I'm not necessarily opposed to letting some banks fail, but it seems awfully unfair to leave the choice of which banks to our elected officials. If anybody is to choose, it should be the market. However, judging from Senator Shelby's remarks, I suspect they may already have a bank or two in mind.

Do we not yet understand that these Republicans get marching orders to make noise

McCain – Senator
Shelby – Senator
Boner – House
Cantor – House

Little Eric Cantor is the Minority Whip; complaining is his job. Don't take him too serious. He is like the little dog that barks a lot.

Lord help us all, I pray this economy turn around for all of our sake.I don't want to see nobody fail.Lets hope the plans that have been put in place work for all of us.Lets be positive,talk positive,walk positive and live and think positive.The media is sounding the trumphet of destruction a little bit to loud,try talking about the good in the plan make people feel postive instead of down.Don't be moved by what you see belive it's going to get better. Faith

Alan Keyes speaks the truth.

I agree – let some of the banks fail and further more – let GM fail – They have all gotten enough of our money and they are still asking for more. Why throw good money after bad.

Lord help us all, I pray this economy turn around for all of our sake.I don't want to see nobody fail.Lets hope the plans that have been put in place work for all of us.Lets be postive,talk postive,walk positive and live and think postive.The media is sounding the trumphet of destruction a little bit to loud,try talking about the good in the plan make people feel postive instead of down.Don't be moved by what you see belive it's going to get better. Faith

I agree let some of the banks fall to the ground. The banks and insurance companys were part of the great fall of America.
We need to keep the car companys in place. These guys only provided cars that americans wanted. We the americans must take responsiblity for our part.
I am tired of the time being spent on blaming everybody else.

AG Holder was right. So was Rush. Lets be courages and give credit where due. Obama is black. He is not like other presidents. Stop pretending that Obama is why the economy will not turn around as long as he is in office. I don't care how you spin it. Voters must suffer the consequences. Exactly why the republicans will bash the liberals till they come to their senses.

yeah, just not the banks where these corrupt, shamless bastards have THEIR money

Shelby did vote against TARP.

He does have a point. If these banks fail, there will not be a spiraling down fall to doom; this will happen anyway. It's simple supply and demand. Too many banks and not enough customers. The customer base and money supply will not change if banks, to include big banks go under.

Interesting the Republicans would let the banks fail...when they were the ones who facilitated a pro-business policy and contributed to the free-for-all market capitalism. What will these Republicans say when all of those workers and industries also fall apart? Was it their fault that the Republicans defended a "trick – kill" down economic theory? How about booting out all of those Republicans in Congress who contributed to this problem – why stop at the banks?

My it is hilarious that Se. John McCain can give advise on the Economy. Is this the same McSame that said the fundamentals of our Economy is strong? America and Americans support our President and his Administration. The GOP knows that Bush and the rest of the cronies have misled the American people for eight long years. Lied about Iraq, Lied about our Economy not being in a recession, Lied about Rove, Lied aboput wirtapping. Lies, Lies, and Lies. And Eric Cantor what a wimp... He will never amount up to anything...

Of course, the Repugs are going to say things like this but continue to blame Obama for scaring the market and driving down the Dow.

What is wrong with letting a business who makes bad decisions fail? Why bail them out? Business leaders, workers and investors in those companies have a say in what happens. If they make the wrong decisions, then they fail. How does one learn (or others watching) if the government gives them a "do over"?

I agree...for capitalism to work..you have to accept both sides(the up and down) of it.

Casey at moneytalkblog.com

Only bankruptcy can allow them to implement the 15% plan for survival:

Cut 15% the pay of every worker
Cut 15% of the poorest selling models
Cut 15% of the workforce
Cut 15% of the dealers
Cut 15% of the retiree benefits

Then maybe GM will survive.

Wonder if this is what the republicans have been aiming for all along. Ruin the country. Turn it back into a third world mess then they think maybe they will be able to take it over.

Have you ever heard such crap from an American politician. I tell you all republican congressmen and woman should be sent to a desert island let they get along buy them selves. We don't need their kind in this country and we are seeing what a bunch they are.

After were through propping them up we need to chop them up. I never want to hear "To big to fail." ever again.

Amazing how heartless the GOP is. Must be nice to be rich and able to blithely tell small businesses they should just give up. Along with the GOP governors who don't want the stimulus money, I think the GOP is way ahead of the calendar, as far as the Grinch-ing goes. I think the governors who tell Obama they don't want the money shouldn't get any, then have to face the wrath of their constituents.

"A sheriff's investigation revealed that on a weekly basis, Yeomans would spend $25,000 on her credit card and then pay off the balance the following Monday with company funds," according to a sheriff's department statement."

Boy, that is so wrong on so many levels, I hope this is just a one time thing, just please don't do it...unless you're Congress, LOL!! Na'h, I'm playing...

I audited S&Ls during the RTCs takeover of 100s of them. At that time there was now such thing as "Too Big To Fail." If the S&L didn't meet capital requirements, then the RTC took them over.

It didn't matter the size!

The Feds should be doing the same thing today and tomorrow!

AIG = fail
Citibank = fail
etc....

It's either lose jobs now or lose tons of more jobs later.

If I weren't completely repulsed by the Republican obstructionist-no agenda stance, I am now. And I am an ex-life long republican.

Richard Shelby should resign so who cares?

So we have a lawyer ( Shelby ) and a military pilot who got shot down giving us financial advice and suggesting banks should fail.

McCain can't even count how many homes he has and the only finance Shelby knows about is the Bush tax cuts, cause they saved him so much money.

These two guys should maybe be seeen, but never ever heard and for sure never listened to.

Pathetic

Wrong, Nevada dude. The damage was already done to the economy during the boom. Way too many houses were built because interest rates were set too low by Greenspan. This is a misallocation of capital. Same thing happened during the Clinton administration in the dot-com bubble. Trying to prop up the failed banks with low interest rates and bailouts only shifts money from hardworking honest people, and sound banks to the bad ones.

Let them go under and pay out depositors with FDIC insurance. Bank investors should loose their shirts. When the FDIC runs out of money investors in the FDIC (a GSE) should loose their shirts too, since it failed to raise insurance rates on these bad banks. Investors in Fannie and Freddy should loose their shirts.

The government should then step in take over the FDIC and pay off all deposits on all other failed banks with newly printed cash. This will inject tons of money into the economy which will be deposited in sound banks.

Then the government should got after criminals like Frank Raines who ran these scams on the backs of the taxpayers. This Democratic insider should have to pay back every cent of the 90 million he got for his short stay at Fannie Mae.

Likewise every bank that ran these fraudulent scams.

The economy would recover much more quickly this way than with these endless bailouts propping up failed companies. Let the rich take their losses and stop sticking the bill to the taxpayer.

More than 1000 banks failed during the Savings and Loan crisis and hardly a blip. Same can happen here. Down with AIG, down with GM, down with Citibank. Let the successfully run companies take their places. Toyota, Honda, and Subaru all build their cars here in the US. Why punish them by taxing them to support their competitors?

The Last Patriot March 8th, 2009 2:59 pm ET

Uh, excuse me, but Bush started the bailout mania in 2008 before the election.

Are you kidding me? The republicans are behind "the sky is falling on the banks, let's save them" and now they try to pen this on Obama and the dems? Horseshesh!

Wrong, Nevada dude. The damage was already done to the economy during the boom. Way too many houses were built because interest rates were set too low by Greenspan. This is a misallocation of capital. Same thing happened during the Clinton administration in the dot-com bubble. Trying to prop up the failed banks with low interest rates and bailouts only shifts money from hardworking honest people, and sound banks to the bad ones.

Let them go under and pay out depositors with FDIC insurance. Bank investors should loose their shirts. When the FDIC runs out of money investors in the FDIC (a GSE) should loose their shirts too, since it failed to raise insurance rates on these bad banks. Investors in Fannie and Freddy should loose their shirts.

The government should then step in take over the FDIC and pay off all deposits on all other failed banks with newly printed cash. This will inject tons of money into the economy which will be deposited in sound banks.

Then the government should got after criminals like Frank Raines who ran these scams on the backs of the taxpayers. This Democratic insider should have to pay back every cent of the 90 million he got for his short stay at Fannie Mae.

Likewise every bank that ran these fraudulent scams.

The economy would recover much more quickly this way than with these endless bailouts propping up failed companies. Let the rich take their losses and stop sticking the bill to the taxpayer.

I usually do no agree with Republicans, but I do on this. Let them fail. It didn't bother the government for Americans to fail individually. Look at the jobless and homeless rate. It is a shame when the government would rather help failing banks who can't manage their affairs than the average citizen..............

Let the companies fail... The automakers, The banks, all of them!!! The government should not be running these businesses for them. If they can't make money, then get out! It's a capitalist country and that is what it should stay!!!

Wow, CNN, back to back posts about shelby and mccain, two totally irrelevant senators. Thanks for the non-story

Yes, Let them fail and all of those others who keep asking for Billions to keep afloat.

Minority WIMP Cantor talks out of both sides of his mouth.....His spectular inability to do anything while Bush and Cheney tried their best to destroy this country's economy is a shame.

Shelby has the most earmarks, but he practically faints with indignation over gov't spending.

Is this what Rush told them to say while they were bowed down to him?

Republicans = stupid hypocrites.

I'm more concerned about the loan modification program. This program to bail out homeowners is just a subsidy for the reckless. I have a neighbor who refinanced a couple of years ago to take out money to buy a BMW and Audi. His debts to income went up from the 30's to close to 50%. Now he may be able to get back down to 31%. Unbelievable! He will basically get those two cars for free. I have a co worker who purchased a home knowing his debts to income was 45%. We were responsible and purchased a smaller home keeping our debts to income at below 31%. Now this Obama plan will reward someone who was financially reckless a bigger home than someone who was fiscally responsible. Most economist (even Paul Krugman) say that this subsidy will not revive the housing market or end the bank's problems. The housing market needs to get back to historical price to income/rent norms for the market to recover. People who are financially reckless should not be rewarded. The majority of people in trouble either refinanced to take money out to buy luxuries or bought houses they shouldn't have. This is sending the wrong message to a society that was intoxicated by easy money and leaving beyond their means.

It is worth noting that one of the major causes of the credit crisis, and the primary reason AIG required bailing out was the decision to let Lehman Brothers fail. I'm disgusted and frustrated at the bailouts. But the alternatives still seem worse.

So, the GOP is now in favor of nationalizing the banks?

Because don't kid yourselves. If a bank goes belly up, who steps in? The Federal Government, that's who!

Now, frankly, I think these zombie banks should have been nationalized long ago, but let's not pretend that by "letting them fail" that that's somehow not what we'll be doing.

Nationalize 'em? Hell yes! But let's be honest about what we're doing.

Of course, as the election showed, John McCain is capable of making many hard and entirely contadictory decisions in the space of a couple of days. Phew. I have never been so relieved to not have someone as president.

The basic problem Japan had when their real estate bubble burst is banks which were not viable were kept running with government support. This proved to be a huge drag on the economy and it prevented their moving into a full recovery mode for close to 10 years, as these "zombie" banks drained time and resources from the economy. It would be far better to have some of these banks fail, in a government supervised manner, rather than have them hang around for year after year with their poor management, bad business practices, and bad decision making employees.

The government should move to declare them insolvevent under the FDIC, take them over, and then run them to sell the pieces off once things get better. There are many aspects of these banks that could be saved and would be valuable to others even right now (such as selling off all the credit card accounts). Basically the better pieces would go to stronger companies who can give them the time and resources needed to grow and support the economy, while the rest is left in a stinking pile, controlled by the government, to be spun off once the economy improves.

CNN, I posted a comment earlier today and you chose not to post it.
How biased you are. You have lost another reader online and on the air....

Good strategy Congressmen!! The one financial institution that the Bush administration should have saved was Lehman brothers (which they didn't, unfortunately). The investor confidence that was a whole lot better at that time just crashed and continues to crash since then even after spending (or agreeing to spent) over a trillion $$s!!! If things go south further, it won't be just the big banks the GOP will get t bury. It will be the savings, wealth and dreams of an entire generation of hard working americans!!! Good luck with that!!! Such opportunists!!!

YES, LET SOME FAIL. BUT, OBAMA IS DOING A GREAT JOB CONSIDERING WHAT HE INHERITED.

Richard Shelby has far outlived his usefulness in the U.S. senate . He should just retire from the senate, and take his ignorant butt somewhere and just " Sit Down "........

P.S., ........ That fella` standin` behind Shelby, bares watching, that is David " the john " Vitter, from Louisiana ........

What has happened to Shelby? He sounds almost like the crazy Ex-Senator from Georgia.

Time to thin the herd.

Welcome October 1929...They want to suspend spending to September. Welcome the Great Depression part 2.

This is our wake-up call, if anyone remembers in the 90's and 2000 you could get in the mail pre-approved credit cards and how many fell into that trap, me included. It is a trap and everyone was feeling good about having credit and having two people working.

Please think about that please!

And by that logic Senater Shelby how many homeowners, small businesses, retired citizens, etc... do we also bury along with the dead banks. Replicans seem to be so big on big corporations, wall street and the top 2% of incomers and lowering their taxes so out of the goodness of their hearts they will in turn create jobs for the rest of us. Ya!!! Shelby, please tell me and the nation what the hell are you smoking? When did the rest of us in this country stop counting for anything with you repug neobots?

By the way, I voted for Mc Cain

The Republican leadership can go to Hades. They turn their back on the unemployed; they turn their back on small investors; they turn their back on those who would be saved by stem cell research. Thank goodness the Country has turned away from their small minded hatred.

Let them fail, If we dairyfarmers can,'t make it because we get about half the price for our milk we need to even break even, then why would somebody else get bail-out money, and not the (dairy) farmer who actually FEEDS this country.

I hate to see somebody go broke, but banks should (have) know (n) better and not dig their own hole as deep as it is now, would have saved the whole world including this dairyfarmer a lot of headaches.

Not a republican but Do AGREE this time!

Wow... suddenly these self righteous Republicans have holier than thou suggestions that bare no resembliance to their agenda during the Bush Administrations! Now they are pure as the driven snow... no blood on their hands. And they, of course, blame Obama for all the mess we are in? Really? They are truly having memory problems and they are "banking" on the hope that we will as well! Obama has only been in office for six weeks.... and they are full of recrimination and suggestions that defy the fact that they made this mess... now they want us to believe that THEY can fix it! Pffft.... seriously....

Yes the Republcans are all for letting everything fail.......to not help anyone or any business, cause this will make Obama look like a failure......then if and when they get in they will do the same things Obama is trying to do right now.........but by then it will be their ideas and it will be OK........these guys are nuts and I hope NO one is listening to them........all Media news networks should back off of all this back and forth with these politicians, its gets old listening to the same old negative back and forth.......they will never agree and it is depressing to listen to, so I do not listen to CNN all day like I used to , I only watch the evening news now and that is CBS and I am enjoying my days a lot better now......

Why doesn’t the news media go to the internetfreepress.com?
They could get some new ideas. Then they could stop stirring
in the same pile of cow manure with the Republicans and
professors of economics 101.

Government interference is one of the main causes of our problems today. I say let those too weak to stand on their own fail. And let the big three fail if they can't make it without continual infusions of government cash. On one hand Obama is telling us we're a resilient people and can come back from the brink and on the other he's telling us we can't afford to let these losers go under. Well, yes we can. If we are indeed resilient, as I believe we are, and if we still have that pioneer spirit we most certainly can triumph over this. We need to stop throwing good money after bad and move on. This is not a Republican nor a Democrat problem; it's an American problem and if there are enough people left that the government hasn't sucked all the ambition and get up and go out of left out here in the real world, there's no reason not to believe we can eventually get back on our feet. Nobody said it would happen tomorrow.

Wasn't it BUSHCO got rid ot regulations and let these things happen, and now the Repubs say let them fail? Real good plan...The ripples would be a disaster.

The Republican Party should be allowed to fail, unless it can demonstrate that it has some relevance and has something constructive to say.

that photo is creepy. I think CNN has used that photo before. It's still creepy looking

What happens to the money people owe the banks? For instance my citi card? If Citi bank fails do I owe them money still? I am carrying a balance on my card, if they fail, I owe not one dime. I think the bail out they took already, knowing the were going to fail, was my credit card balance pay off. How's that for selfishness. Every man, women and child for themselves in a democracy. Works for me and I am not even a rebublican or a southerner.

The republicans like failure.... period. And especially if its on President Obama's watch.

BTW – John King let Republican Senator Lindsey Graham pull the wool over his eyes today. Graham hates the spending bill, but he and his fellow republicans has it chocked full of earmarks.
Hypocrits!!! And John King just let it slide.
Shameful news reporting from CNN.

I agree with Senator Shelbey in not giving these banks anymore bailout money. Those bigger banks should be shut down. They've been ripping us off long enough. I think we all see these same banks coming back a second and third time for bailout monies. What does that tell us? Those banks don't need to be in existence.

The republicans are hanging their own selves. Trust me by 2012 republicans will be dead

America no longer needs that party November 4th proved that

I wonder why John McCain want these banks fail now. What the reason John McCain suspended his campaign last year and went back to Washington DC to vote the banks bail out package ?. I know the difference is the President Obama instead President Bush. I hope the GOP think before they talk.

First time I agree with Republicans! Some banks deserve it as they created this mess!

More words of wisdom from another Republican politician who appears to be out of touch with the Average American Citizen. How about offering a sound solution to this nation's concerns and problems, instead of just more counterproductive criticism?! I am still waiting. At least the President is trying to solve the problems left by years of Republican Rule. The BS from these Republicans these days is enough to depress anyone. Until the Republican Party can again provide another intelligent presidential candidate, someone with a GENUINE concern for ALL of the American People, you will NOT again get my vote. Until this happens, it's Independent or Democrat for me.

P.S. President Theodore Roosevelt would have been disgusted with what the Republican Party has become.

Its life some don't make it and us wasting money on them for the next generation to have to pay off is utterly rediculous, its a natural correction, let them fail. I am tired of these bailouts that have helped what so far. For everything this is costing us I don't see it making big improvements.

I thought this country was split under Bush now I see more hate coming from both sides than I have ever seen in my life. Why can't people stop spewing hate long enough to do something to get this country back on track. Both parties are to blame for the country being where it is now and it will take both parties working together to get it back on track again. We need to stop this "my way or the highway" attitude because if we don't we will lose our country.

How can we trust any ideas from the republicans. Sure! Close big banks without telling people who will be afftected and how they will be affected by these closures. People elected President Obama to get real answers to real questions in order to find real solutions and not be surprised by undesirable consequences from just an idea thrown out there without any specific details.

And McCain and Shelby would do what with the people in their constituencies that are affected by these bank failings? And what would McCain do, aside from criticizing?

Sounds like the Republicans are channeling Andrew Mellon who was secretary of the Treasury during the Hoover administration. How do you think Hoover managed to let the stock market fall 90% and unemployment rise to 25% during his term? Well, on the advice of Andrew Mellon he stood by and let the banks fail. The government let Lehman Brothers fail last fall and the damage quickly spread, locking up commercial credit and causing a run on money market funds.

The time may come soon enough that some of the largest banks must be taken over by the government and sold off in pieces, but the economic system cannot be allowed to collapse to satisfy some notion of ideological purity.

Richard Shelby talks about getting rid of these banks but do he really know that these banks or only going broke because of the decision made by the gov. If banks can't make money that leaves the markets in bad shape. Obama should make these big decisions and what says shall go, he is the man in charge people should start acting like it . I think John McCain should shut his mouth.

Bankruptcy is all that is left, the auto industry in this country has squandered every chance it has been given to succeed. Greed, greed and more greed from top to bottom has brought them here. Monumental lack of vision and thought for their future by all their employees ruined the industry. Now our president is going back on his word to veto earmark laden legislation, that will be his undoing.It's like losing your virginity, you can't get it back.

Sure, as long as these two bumbling Congressmen pick up the tab then since they are the "experts" apparently. If we let every bank fail that could, hello folks, wheres all the money going to come from then?? The FDIC can only handle so much. Sure we can print more money but at the detriment of the economy again. Either way, its a lose lose scenario!

The government was smart to try to save some of the largest institutions from outright failure. Yes, they may still fail but to allow them to fail without trying at least is downright stupid! I realize some of these companies are not necessarily meant to survive but our economy can only handle so many body blows in the last year! To not try is to give up and throw your hands up and say "Oh well"! Actually that was the Bush and Republicans operation manual for the government the last eight years.

Bush did nothing his last term and watched the economy sink under water like he did to New Orleans during Katrina. We dont need anymore useless failures like that. If Obama fails, then at least he tried to steer this country back on to the road and head us down the right direction. At least he didnt throw up his hands and put the country on autopilot as we have been on for quite some time.

Let them fail hell let all of them fail. These banks allowed loans to be made to people who knew darn well they ould not afford a $700,000 dollar home on a 27,000 dollar income. I think all those who let this happen should just let hings fail including the purchasers who bought the house to begin with.

Last time I checked this was still a free country....If you don't like the leadership you are "free" to leave at anytime.....and don't come back!

Well, I have to wonder if Mr. Shelby was on the other side of the fence, and he really NEEDED to borrow money from a bank, or he would lose his home, his car, his job, and his ability to find work, he would STILL be determined to be SELFISH, SELF-SERVING and unwilling to see any side of life but his own?????

McCain is a freakin' idoit, Bi-Polar or something dreadful judging from his erratic behavior [he will do ANY thing to win--but is a true loser]; Boner is a drunk, who wants his name pronounced different than it is spelled. They are both racists, the GOP is dead, and who cares WHat they say.

Bush was don't throw 5.5 trillion dollars around.

Our national debt is already 11 trillion and now add 5.5 trillion more to it.

Obama has added 5.5 trillion dollars to our debt in one month.

Only in Obamaland can you get away with being this stupid. The corrupt MSM are doing doggie flips and barking, Yes We Can, Yes We Can.

We are screwed big time. These fools don’t have a clue what to do to stop this collapse!!!! But 0bama sure knows how to party and give a speech from his teleprompter which has become his pacifier. Can't go anywhere without it. Not as intelligent as the corrupt MSM has made him out to be, eh?

Obama is in way over his head and his advisors are idiots.

Let them fail are you kidding me ?So then what happens loans are frozen then what?These genuises are something else but should they care when they have no morgage to worry about and reelected or not they'll be finacially secure not to mention they'll still have health care so what do they say go ahead and let the banks fail.The word FAIL seems to be very familar to the republicans since it's all that they've done in the past eight years

GOP to America, drop dead. Dow will be at 3,000 if Citigroup is allowed to fail. We will lose more in our 401(k)'s that what is needed in tax dollar to save it. Think macro folks. We are in this mess because they let Lehman fail because savings Bear, Sterns was not popular.

Didn't we let Bear Stearns fail? How did that work out?

Fail? Like McLame's campaign? Why should anyone listen to him or his cronies?

For years the repubs have scared the american citizens. If anything, they are the terrorists, they hate america. It's there way or the highway. Your way is the wrong way. We got ours, you get yours. Why can't you people see that they care only about themselves and big business at any cost. But then again even satan has followers.

I am tick off at these republicans who let our economy failed while under Bush and now they are acting like regular protectors of the the public. These banks hold our 401(k) and 403(b) . where were they before all these bankers took our money and ran with the Bush bail out? Just shut up and let someone else try. Stop acting like u really care.

I can not believe the ignorant people who belive this is a sound and good idea. They need to go back to school. Banks that are failing need to be taken over and salvaged. If they go under now how will we ever get back what has already been put into them. Republicans try real hard to think before you speak please. Please get them out in 2010 before they really screw us up more.

Touché! It seems that Obama has forgotten that the very people he says he's helping are the ones that are being hit again and again with costs going up everywhere on everything. It's trickling down from this HUGE debt he's incurring at our expense. Let them fail is right. Let the automakers fail as well. This economy cannot recover until it hits bottom. It can't hit bottom until Obama stops injecting it with OUR hard earned money. The President needs to slow down. He's on a rampage in the White House. The scary part is why aren't more American's outraged at this?

Let them all fail and give the money to the people that pay their bills.

It's OK to say the words "bankruptcy" and "nationalizing" for the banking industry. Bankruptcy will allow for various options which include restructuring debt. Nationalizing the banks makes sense for any who are potentially solvent and meet specific standards in their accurate, realistic and true balance sheets. Let's have a look.

The Republicans sure acted like sheep during the BushCo administration. They fell right in line with the mantra of "no credibility and accountability".

Pam in Oregon

Are you kidding me? He wants Citi to fail without being nationilized?
Why don't we let Alabama, Mississippi, and Luisiana fail instead. That would be cheaper.

What a dufus. And this joker is the ranking member of the banking commitee...

EPIC FAIL

GOP R.I.P.

MAY AS WELL LET THEM FAIL . WHY , THE ONES AN WALL STREET , ALL HELPED THIS DO NOTHING , THAT HAD THE HELP OF ALL THEM . TO PURCHASE THE WHITE HOUSE. WHY HE IS THROWING MONEY AROUND , WORSE THAN IF YOU TURNED A 4 YREAR OLD IN TOY'S R US.

NOW HE IS GOING TO TAX THE MILES YOU DRIVE , AN DO AWAY WITH THE GAS TAX . THEREFORE , THOSE WHO PURCHASED A HYBRED AUTO , YOU WILLL HAVE TO PAY AS MUCH AS THAT LIMO OR MOTORHOME , OR THAT HUMMER.

ALL I CAN SAY , HE MUST OF BUMPED HIS HEAD LONG AGO , AN HE PICKED THE DAILEY MACHINE FOR HIS DR. AN TONY TOOK CARE OF THE .DR. BILL ,"WRIGHT"

AS IS WE ALL WILL BE IMPOUNDED BY 2012 .

i think its fair to say that the "top ranking" people who have been running the big banks into failure, did so because they were taking cues for 8 long years, from an institution run by the REAL worst of the worst....

Republican run government.

scott in NH

McCain needs to quit his crying because he lost the election, and live up to what he promised, instead of trying to cast aspersions on other's character. He and the other Republicans had their chance, and they are the reason we're in this mess, anyway. Had it not been for their irresponsibility, they might have won the election, instead of having their hats handed to them. Maybe we should tar and feather them so they get the message, and run them out of town on a rail just to make sure. Most certainly, the Democrats will make mistakes, and will have to back up and try to recover from them; at least so far, they seem willing to at least admit mistakes, and not cover them up or blame them on others. The past administration had no such sense of culpability or maturity. The Republican party as a whole has become irrelevant and obsolete; lets finish taking out the trash.

If the big banks are allowed to fail, then, we're going to have to prop up the FDIC, because there will not be enough money there to re-imburse all the losses. It's a plain fact that the money will go to either the banks or the FDIC. There's no getting out of this one without spending money.

I am so tired at listening to the Demoncrates blaming the Republicans for the economy. The Democrates need to look who ran the Congress when Bush was in Offioce. They were democrates, The Democrates wee in control and what did they do...NADA, NOTHING, JUST LET IT GO, thats why we are in such a mess, not from the president but from the Congress, they are the root of all our evil, thats why they are DEMONcrates.

And by the way Shelby or whatever the heck your name is...boy, do we got dirt on you, do we got dirt on your state even your momma would not want you to know...ohh look at that, looks like Arlene from the hood(Illinois) got the memo, LOL!! Looks like my work here is done...

This is yet another bad, simplistic Republican solution to a very complex problem, to which they greatly contributed.

Definitely let the completely insolvent banks fail, whether they are big or small.

Let capitalism work, and let other banks pick up the scraps. The big multinational banks that have so far been considered too big to fail are going to continue to drag the deficit and the economy down for years otherwise.

The country, and the economy would be a lot better off if 100 healthy regional banks could all take pieces of Citibank, Bank of America, etc. They took some ridiculous risks with derivatives due to greed, and they should be allowed to fail.

"My basic tenet here is I don't think we should create life to enhance life and to do research and so forth," Shelby said. "I know that people argue there are other ways. I think we should continue our biomedical research everywhere we can, but we should have some ethics about it."

Ummm and you're point is?? For the record, you come from Bama, your state is more stupid than a turtle...and i consider turtles smart thank you very much, LOL!!

Yo know what I say?? Ha!!!! My goodness, before we know it, science is gonna be a distraction and if you wanna go there and debate this, TRUST ME, you...will...lose!!!

Are you serious, ethics?? What is this, Octumom part 2?? Is science, do you know anything about science?? Ohh yeah, you don't, your state is stupid...

Do it before Obama sends us all to the POOR HOUSE like he is trying,

These banks have been failing since 2005. Congress gave them our taxpayer money then. They gave them our money again last fall. These banks didn't change a thing. They'll continue to come back begging for our taxpayer money over and over while still screwing over the millions of Americans they purpot 'depend on them.' Those millions are screwed anyway. So why not have those banks do it on their own money instead of your taxpayer dollar?

Its better to have a few strong companies and then a lot of troubled ones. Think about the sales increase Ford will get it GM was disappear. If AIG fails people will get insurance with BCBS and the like. We do not have the market to support so many companies. It will be very painful at first, but much stronger a year down the road.

Did they really say that or did Rush Lardbutt tell them to say that? God old Lardbutt the new head of the Republican party!!!

Let all banks fail in Alabama and Arizona then we will hear the Republicans start to sing a different tune. What a bunch of nutbags!!!

Sorry Pat F gotta call you. We are not a true Capitalist society. The market doesn't punish you for making bad business decisions, it hands you a larger bonus than the year before. The amount of jobs lost if a major bank goes under is unspeakable. President Obama is, and rightfully so, doing everything possible to ease this recession. If capitalism was so efficient as you claim then why the mortage crisis?
You can only blame the homeowner for so long. The buck stops with the banks. They knew that some people had no business getting a home loan but greed blinded them. The idea that you would punish millions of Americans by putting them out of a job frankly sounds cold. Capitalism is only efficient when you play by the rules....regulations. DUH

Btw, i am neither republican nor democrat.... I just believe in what is right...

The leader of the free world is a joke.

You thought President Bush was irresponsible when it comes to

spending, well this clown is a joke. He spends money like a 17 year

old girl with her daddys credit card.

Barack you are building up speed for failure. I really thought we could

survive the 4 years you would be in office but you are intent on ruining

the entire market and value of the US economy.

You are going down in history as the worst president of ALL time.

I thought Carter was bad but you are a naive boy.

What a mistake electing this fool.

I personally agree that the banks that are in trouble should be allowed to just fail. Granted, many people will lose their jobs and the economy will suffer, but you must admit that there will always be someone willing to buy them out. No one bails out the small/personal businesses. I personally work for a privately owned car dealership. I have personally felt the economic pressures. Capitalism is based upon businesses failing. If a large company can't survive, it's not due to economic times... it is due to poor management. Let the businesses fail in order for the strong to survive.... Darwin's theory...

Like it or not, the republicans are right on this one.

You bozos in the GOP have all the answers now...All you get done
is grandstanding and we will remember you next election...

This guy Shelby and fake Souyhern fried accent always shows his lack of concern for anyone but the good ol' GOP.

Does he ever have anything good to say.

"Wahat doncha cum on down heah to Alabam where got this here great economy going...best since the civil war...

This guy probably voted with Bush 95% of the time.

So now the Republicans WANT to Nationalize the banks? Because that's what happens when you have the Government "close them down".

STOP making excuses for little boy barack.

Is CNN going to report that Obama said he wants to reach out to the Taliban?

wow lately the word "FAIL" has seemed to become a Republican favorite sense Obama took office. I wonder why.

Where were these clowns when the Bush administration was demanding deregulation
What a bunch of jokers......now they have solutions.....NOT
They are the problem that needs to de delat with in 2010

god just imagine if McPhony was president right now burrr sends shivers down my spine

When the Banks fail, the Republicans are going to Blame it on Obama like they are blaming him on the stock markets. RIP

so it's come to this give the top 1% more tax breaks and let some big bans fail. i guess they told the rich which banks will close so only we little guys will take a hit if they do fail. the republicans had years and years to put their policies in place and those policies led us to this point. I for one don't want any more help from them i can't afford any more help from them.

It's even more amazing they are 'just now' taking a stand since there have been many consistent opposers to bailing out the bank, at least on CNN's blogs.....Why are we rescusing them? To protect whom?
Banks have failed time and again in the past and the economy recovered..so the million dollar question now is...WHAT OR WHY is this seen as something that shouldn't happen?

Sounds like the republicans are hoping to finish the job they started under the Republican Bush administration, that is putting the country into another depression.

Why is John McCain running his mouth when he didn't have much to say when his twin Bush was the President. I am sick of hearing McCain names.

Is there a valid reason all the liberal nut jobs flock to CNN to Post nonsense... Must be the Water

Who cares what the republicans have to say, the American people made it pretty clear in November that we have had enough of their trickle down economy.

Several top banks have said that the Republicans should be allowed to fail – and they've done a marvelous job of it thus far.

Great Idea!

After all, this Shelby was so ignorant as to agree that President Obama may not be a US citizen. Racist Kentucky Fried Jacka$$.

The GOP should know all about failure....they created the mess!!!!!

If we are going to let failing institutions suffer the consequences of their actions, then we should abolish Congress too. Democrats and Republicans can't seem to get anything right. Obama has his hands full dealing with the economy and now he has to deal with these childish lawmakers that only have their best interests at heart. We should amend our Constitution and abolish both the House and the Senate! Better yet, let's outlaw political parties. That seems to be where the real problem "lies"!!

I don't imagine Senator Shelby has any money in the banks he'd like to see fail. Nor do I imagine any of his GOP cohorts, including Rush and McCain have any money in those banks. What a load of bull. As long as the fat cats are set, they're perfectly happy to see the rest of the country take the blows. How about offering something constructive, for a change? Maybe McCain could "suspend" his ongoing anti-Obama campaign to focus on some real solutions instead of vapid potshots at the guy who's actually trying to do something for average Americans.

JOE REGO.

Get rid of the same OLD party line, where were those republicans when President Bush was spending.

Well if you were some like RUSH you complained about it then.
If you were Lindsay Graham of SC you were against it then.

If you were barack you were all about spending (when you happen to show up for a vote).

Spending is NOT the answer. Two wrongs DO NOT make a right.

Finally, The guy campaigned on CHANGE and this is nothing but more

spending. IT is great the Democrats complained about President Bush spending money, but why now do you not complain about barack spending. It is still waste and it is still too much money.

Stop using the rhetoric of MSNBC. Come up with your own lines.

THE FACT IS we can not keep spending and should not spend any

more money on tihs bailout. Bankruptcy and reorganization is the answer.

I agree with Shelby that banks with a dysfunctional business model should be "bailed out" with taxpayer's funds. That includes CITI and the Bank of America. The problem is the FDIC does not have the manpower and funds to "take over" CITI or the BofA. The same strategy applies to GM and Chrysler. Companies with poor business models should not be rescued period. Let the bankruptcy process take over and see if DIP financing is enough to salvage the company.

This Nation has a lot of small banks who've succeeded in managing their businesses in a responsible manner, and know how to do it. Perhaps they should pool their resources and buy up the big ones for a dollar a share, dispatch management teams to them, 'pink slip' old management, and reorganize them as they ought to be. Some of the CEOs of the large ones seem so fatigued, worn-out, tired and may want to move on with very small severance packages.

Want a good bank you can count on and be happy? Try HAPPY Bank of TX of the pandhandle area. The last heard was they don't have to pandhandle because they know how to run a safe, secure, sound, and happy Bank. There are many similar banks around the Country who do not count on the US Government to bail them out. Hurrah for this type of Bank because they have their act together.

If Senator Richard 'No-Credibility' Shelby truly believes dropping big banks like CITI is the right course of action, then why doesn't he put forth a bipartisan plan that maps out the best course action along with documented details?

Let the strong banks take over the failing banks. Obama and his lemming socialists should go on an extended trip to Europe letting conservatives fix the problems!

It would be nice if someone with a little more honesty and integrity besides Shelby . I know he would like to have the public remember that he took the Democratic votes and money to get to Washington as a democrat then switched parties. What scruples and now he wants to use Mccain as a companion in their latest pitch for integrity. Both have short coat tails in their endeavors.

Seems it has unfortunately come down to this: Keep propping up the mismanaged companies with taxpayer sacrifices and let the taxpayers go bankrupt, or prop up the taxpayers and let the mismanaged companies go bellyup. Bad choices, but which is more reliable, the taxpayers or the mismanaged companies?

is there any Republican that doesn't look mean or crazy? Maybe that's just the way they like for their pictures to be taken.

Dear CNN Moderators;
Hope you have enjoyed reading my posts (Since only you are allowed to read them). I will be taking my business elsewhere, anywhere, somewhere different points of view are welcomed.
Somewhere moderators don't try to modify public opinion by filtering
points of view. Hope your ratings rebound(NOT!). There will be no louder opponent of your bailout when the request comes!
ENJOY YOUR KOOL-AID! So long

Good Lord, stop blaming one party or the the other. They are both to blame!

-–"Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of
Congress. But then I repeat myself".-–
-–Mark Twain--

Sure they would love to see them fail, that way they could blame the democrats. when will we be rid of all republicans. next election i hope.

And you think your 401s look sad now–what happens when the big banks fail and take ALL that you've invested? Let's not talk about THAT!

Let's start with the Banks run by Chris Dodd's buddies!

It is absolutely not time for the republicans to "shut up". Sorry friend, but this is how it works. If every opposing position simply "shut up", our country would be in more trouble than it already is. Accountability is key in government and I didn't hear and democrats even taking a moment to catch their breath when Bush was in office, so listen up. I am sick of the redistribution of money to corrupt businesses. Let them fail so new competition can enter the market. It isn't the government's job to be providing everyone with money and jobs. America doesn't work that way. Yes, you actually have to try to get a job in this country. Oh freaking no. Sure the ideals of keeping everyone fat and happy sound great in theory, but the government was created to govern, not be a credit card with no limit whose bill goes to me, the tax payer, in the form of a lowered dollar value among other things. I don't want the administration to fail, I want them to succeed in so many ways. But I WILL NOT sacrifice what I believe is best for our nation. It's called difference of opinions. Get used to it.

the greed of banks with their arm,s and card interest rates wrecked this nation. let them fold, nationalize whats left. prosecute govt overseers who let us be ripped off.

As a former employee of a large bank that failed and was bought with government money by another bank, I hate what these bank executives have done to the economy and to their employees and to the taxpayers of this company. But I really hate these politicians who have forgotten that the "stockholders" of these banks are filled with many employees who contributed to 401Ks with company stock. So, if the banks fail, the employees get killed AGAIN. Not only will they lose their jobs, but, like me, they will lose most, if not all, of their retirement savings. I love how these Republicans who caused this mess propose these not-so-well thought out solutions.

I agree. Survival of the fittest.

How about fixing the things that got us in this mess so this never happens again. How devastating just one bank collapsing can be. We would all be screwed. These banks were run awfully and they made terrible decisions, those who made those decisions should suffer. They gambled and made themselves rich, meanwhile making everyone else poor. They should suffer and I understand the mentality here and maybe the point would be to make them suffer, in the end it is a view that is too short sided to let them simply fail however. republican, libertarian, democrat, I think we all can agree on that.

I agree. Let them fail.

Some commentators seem more eager to bash Republicans than engage in any serious discussion.
And there were Republicans who told Bush there should be no bailouts. Obamamaniacs have convenient memories.
And Sophie, McCain is set for life because he married into money. Facts are facts even though you choose to ignore them.

Thank you to the senator who cheated on his wife and the senator who questioned the president's birth certificate. Very loyal patriots and your advice is noted.

A real thanks for a president who can make tough decisions.

We wittness today the delated death of what is left of the Grande Old Party. What have Republicans brought us, economic disater and world wide crisis. It sometimes amazes me that I spent over 50 years being taken in by these fools.

Best post (most intelligent) today

'It is amazing, where were those republicans when Bush was throwing money around to the banks? I did not hear anything like the constant quarrel I am hearing now. Repubs, you lost, it is time to shut up. '

They have nothing to do but be the opposite of the democrats, the nightmare 8 years and Bush's lost money on his bail out attempt brought none of the Republican response, very sad and telling

"The recovery will to hold by the end of this year, until then, the dow as an economic indicator will go down to between 2500 to 3000, and after that a robust economic recovery will begin."

I hope this is true. I think your take sounds correct. I am for letting the car makers and banks go under, but your read sounds correct.

Shelby and McCain two names you can trust, yeah, and the check is in the mail.

It is stunning that the same people that criticized bailouts are now criticizing bankruptcy. Could you leftists make up your minds already and support your attacks with reasoned arguments and not simply spew invective?

HE IS RIGHT FOR THE FIRST TIME THE ONE THAT ARE OWNED BY THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILIES

Isn't that what Obama wants to do anyway?

I do not like Shelby one bit, but he's dead on here... Citigroup should be gone, giving them money will NOT help anybody or anything. And BofA needs some investigating, I think there has been funny business from them. The Merril Lynch deal smells bad... Lewis and Thain,co-conspirators ?

For once I agree with the GOP. Laissez-faire means that any for-profit enterprise that cannot produce profit should fail. To want government intervention isn't socialism, it's federalism. Unlimited bureaucratic growth, at the expense of a deficit. Somebody's going to pay the piper someday.

The Senator is right, bury some small ones let some of the bigger banks die as well, they did it to themselfs not the taxpayers in rural america

Whoa! Doesn't he remember what happened when Lehman failed! I wouldn't want to go there again. Instead, lets nationalize and cut the dead weight that way.

No one is listening to the Republicans any more. Just CNN

if bank fails then we suffer.

we all have savings in the bank

Some people just don't get it. No one wants bail outs but we're not talking about letting some little flower shop fold because they can't run a business. We're talking about large banks that hold large pieces of the American workers' butts. Republicans keep letting their ideaologies get in the way of common sense. Some banks and corporations have gotten too big; so big that letting them fail would put a huge hurt on everyday, average Americans trying to buy homes and cars or anything else that requires credit from financial institutions. If people can't get the money, goods and services aren't bought, businesses lay off, unemployment goes up and now even less people have buying power and the cycle continues. Why is this so hard for some people to understand?

No. ALL banks should be allowed to fail.

When businesses are mismanaged and are not run efficiently, not only should they be ALLOWED to fail, they should ALWAYS be allowed to fail. The whole "too-big-to-fail" theory that the government is dishing out is a bunch of bunk. It's their excuse for bailing out their pals on Wall Street. It is time we start practicing REAL capitalism in this country again, the system which made this country an economic super power.

Also, THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO STAY OUT OF THE MORTGAGE BUSINESS. This whole housing mess happened because Congress and the Administration was pressuring banks to loan money to people (mainly minorities) who could not pay the money back. This practice was started by Clinton and continued by Bush. The housing mess was not caused by NOT ENOUGH regulation. It was caused by THE WRONG KIND of regulation.

Whether for good or ill, large banks like Citi are woven into the fabric of the US economy and the US economy is just as inextricably woven into the global economy. The global economy functions because people have confidence it it. Look what's happening now with that confidence being shaken and imagine things ten times worse when that confidence gets destroyed aftre the likes of a Citi collapses.

Sure, it may be psychologically soothing to ponder about seeing a bunch of overpaid fatcats get their "come-uppance," but the reality of the situation is that if they sink their wake will bring down many more.

Yes, these banks must be protected, but many of the regulations that fell away over the years need to be reinstituted so that we don't get a repeat

My career was spent in the financial services industry and I was in Washington for many years meeting with both the Senate and House Banking Committees.

Republican Senator Shelby has been in charge of the Senate Banking Commitee for the past decade. WHERE WAS HIS LEADERSHIP WHILE THESE BANKS WERE RUNNING WILD WITH IDIOTIC BEHAVIOR? He was getting rich so he said nothing.

AS BANKING LEADER SHELBY DID NOTHING AND SAID NOTHING AND NOW HE IS REFUSING TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIS LEADERSHIP FAILURE – How Republican to make the mess and then point fingers when it all falls apart!!!

SHELBY SHOULD RESIGN FROM THE BANKING COMMITTEE.

President Obama is trying to decide with INTELLIGENT AND RESPONSIBLE people what is the best plan to deal with the banking crisis.

We would be better off to nationalize banks like Citi on a temporary basis – get rid of the bad debt and bad management – and then put them back into the private sector under strict regulation and oversight.

Republicans have caused enough job loss – closing banks is not the answer. Of course – what answers do Republicans have to ANY of our economic disasters?????

Easy to say let something like Citibank go under, but it would create very far-reaching problems. First of all, the FDIC has $19B to cover failed banks at the moment, and Citi has almost a trillion dollars to be covered. This means virtually everyone – consumers, businesses, corporations, pension funds, states, countries, etc. – who has money in the bank would lose everything. I doubt that the stimulus package could even cover the $250,000 minimum loss for each depositor. Not to mention 55,000 people immediately out of work and on unemployment (which would have to picked up by the states because Citi would no longer be paying the unemployment insurance tax).

I do not believe Citi will survive ultimately, but there needs to be an orchestrated plan to break it up and sell off the desirable bits and close down the parts that are not viable in an orderly fashion. Does free-market capitalism mean that you are free to starve to death because of someone else's greed? When you are along-term wealthy senator or have a secure job it is easy to be cavalier about "free-market". You would change your mind quickly if you were the loser in one of these deals and ended up on the street with precious little chance of getting a job in this economy. This involves a lot of ordinary people, and there needs to be some regard for simple humanity here.

We already did let a 'big bank' fail. It's name was Lehman Brothers and the ripple affects were monumental. Do the Republicans forget what happened back in September? Some would argue that Lehman wasn't even a 'big bank' as its primary function was as a broker/investment bank. Imagine how the global markets will react to someone bigger failing? Their logic is flawed

If a bank (or any other business for that matter) does not operate in a profitable manner, then of course it should be allowed to fail. Businesses with superior management tend to have better foresight; an essential attibute for a profitable firm. Banking firms that have this superior management should be rewarded with larger market share.

Similar to Darwin's theory of evolution, let the incompetent banks/businesses fail, so that all that are left are the best businesses with the best management. Certainly, these failures will have adverse effects on people and businesses in the short term, but these effects are necessary, and the fruits to be gained in the long term will be far more worthy.

It is obvious that we will not be able to maintain the status quo. I don't feel we should. If we are going to recover we need to weed out those institutions that should fail due to their bad or archaic business practices. That I think will be what the recovery is all about. I don't envision recovery as to the way everything was before but a new order having learned from the past. It also is not a Democratic vs. republican fight but one of the return of good common sense. The same also holds for many other entities that we are bailing out. If a companies practices had deteriorated that badly (i.e. GM/Chrysler, AIG etc.) then they need to fail. We shouldn't be investing money in worthless causes.

hey! I have a GREAT idea. Lets' just cut out ALL of the Repubs pork, especially Shelbys and see how they OINK. This sounds like a yelling contest in the grade school yard or the pushing and shoving at the pig's garbage pail. Some one hand me as asprerin, I have a headache.

McCain, as much as I respect his past, has never had to face the economic realities of the current situation. As we say in the South, He "married up" and she has accountants. Shelby....

JOHN MCCAIN HAS NO CREDIBILITY WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. HE WAS THE ONE THAT SAID THE ECOMONY WAS STRONG AND ONLY STOOD UP FOR THE RICH AND CORPORATIONS DURING THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION.

GIVE ME A BREAK. HE NEEDS TO GET OUT OF THE WAY AND LET THE DEM'S WORK TO SEE IF THEY CAN TURN THIS COUNTRY AROUND. UNFORTUATELY, WE WON'T KNOW IF THINGS ARE WORKING OUR NOT FOR ANOTHER 5-6 MONTHS.

WHY DO THESE SOUTHERN REPUBLICANS NEVER GET IT?

I worked in the financial industry my entire career and spent many years back and forth in Washington dealing with the Senate and Housing Banking Committees.

Republican Sen Shelby has been on the Senate Committee for more than 7 years. He saw what was happening a long time before American got hit over the head with these huge bank losses. Why wasn't he so vocal then? Because he and his rich buddies were getting richer at the time taking full advantage of what eventually brought the banks down.

Now that he got all he could – he is screaming to just let the banks fail because the vultures cannot get anymore riches from these banks.

Republicans are so quick to snipe and criticize President Obama for problems he inherited from them. WHERE WAS SHELBY'S LEADERSHIP THS PAST DECADE WHEN HE WAS IN CHARGE OF THE SENATE BANKING COMMITTEE???

HE HAS SAT SILENT FOR A YEAR WHILE THE BANKS SLID FURTHER IN THE DITCH – NO SOLTUIONS, NO ACTION – JUST MORE TYPICAL REPUBLICAN LACK OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYTHING THEY DID WRONG.

SHELBY WAS IN CHARGE WHILE THESE BANKS WENT WILD WITH IDIOTIC PRACTICES AND SAID NOTHING – THIS IS HIS FAILURE AS A SUPPOSED LEADER OF THE BANKING INDUSTRY.

NOTHING

More easy, cheap populism from the Grand Hypocrite Party. Letting big banks fail is a sure-fire way to screw up the economy for a good long time.

I am a Democrat and I voted for Obama, but I think that certain banks, such as Citi Crop, Bank of America etc should fail. They got bail out money just to pay their top exec not lend to their customer base or help this ecomony get back on its feet.

The Republicans have about as much "credibility" as the Obama administration does right now. Just getting the tax cheats in his administration to PAY UP would probably save several banks, AND budget an entire state for this year.

I vote for McCain, but i m glad he lost. Now i m going to lose money on banks share. "Thanks"rep. and McCain.

It appears that some of the Dems in congress have finally started thinking on their own, instead of following like the rest of the sheeple. Even some of the Dems know that Obama's policys are wrong. I have never seen people refuse to use their own brain to see whats going on. He is spending us into bankruptsy. We do not have the money and the dollar will be worth zero. All the money has to be paid back and thats means higher gas taxes, higher electric bills, and anything else he can think of to tax. Think people think

Most of the republican members of Congress did vote against the Bush bailout in October. They are correct now. Let the bad banks fail.
This won't hurt the economy any more than it has already been damaged by the greed and incompetence of the banking industry.

Oh my gosh. The beat goes on. If Obama let these banks fail, the jumping fleas like shelby would be sceaming at the President to not let any banks fail.

If the President looks this this way, they look that way; if he looks that way, they look this way. What phonies.

Mr. President. pay no attention to partisan JERKs like Shelby and his ilk. Pay attention to US, the hard working MAJORITY of Americans who love this country.We need YOU. Not some lunatics.

This is nothing new. You're talking like you're the experts. Several banks have already failed. The biggest challenge of letting banks fail.... the government needs to pay the depositors their money up to $250,000 now, and the government needs to clear up the mess. Will this cost less? Maybe. But jail Henry Paulson first.

Wow! things were good until late 2007. What happen after that? Where did we go wrong? People sure weren't complaining for seven years (2001-2007)? What happened? Who took over in 2007?

Citibank is trying to stay afloat by chargring credit cart holders with 700 plus scores 28% interest. They are crooks! Let them SINK!

Typical Republican their failures now they want everything around them to also fail. Mom was right " Misery Loves Company"

Survival of the fittest. That is the nature of the beast. Stepping in and saving useless banks with bad management staffs is not the right answer. Let them fail. The good ones will survive.

The Republicans would say something like that since they are the ones to blame for allowing them to do what they wanted to do for the last 8 years given loans to people who was not able to pay them back in the first place. The banks they want to fail are not in their districts so do not care which ones it be they just want them to fail when the pupm $350 billion dollar into all of these failing company.. IDEA WHY NOT GIVE ALL THE HARD WORKING PEOPLE SOME MONEY,YOU HAVE MONEY TO KEEP GIVEN ALL THE CEOS BUT NONE FOR THE LITTLE MAN WHO IS TRYING TO STAY ABOVE WATER.

A beating!?! Citigroup is already at $1. How much more of a beating do you need?

How strange....I heard some dems on the talking heads shows this morning saying the same thing. Wonder why CNN doesn't quote them. ?

This whole thing is a diversion to keep our minds off of the Billioins that were "lost" and "unaccounted for" on some of the no bid contracts set up by Bush/Cheney. This keeps people from continuing to ask for investigations into that. Wonder where our money really went --–

You people are not looking at all the pieces of the puzzle.

They should. Wells Fargo should be the first to go. They've stole $400 from me, if they can't turn a profit even after stealing from people, then they're screwed.

I believe that bank nationalization is now very likely. It may even be desirable

I'm the first to admit I don't have a better idea but I have at least three major concerns. First, by what standards does the government decide which banks are insolvent? Under mark-to-market we probably have far more insolvent banks than current institutions can process. Second, won't speed bankruptcy for some banks prevent the recapitalization of others, leading to contagion effects and perhaps even collapse of the entire banking system into speed bankruptcy? Third, the real question is what the government will do with *non-depositor* creditors to the banks. Not paying them off means more contagtion but paying them off costs probably trillions. I think it is unwillingness to face that expenditure, not the lobbying power of banks, which prevents this outcome from coming about.

It's time for Shelby to stop politics and be real!

Bill March 8th, 2009 3:01 pm ET
This is the first thing anyone in he Republican party has said that makes sense in a very long time. To bad they didn't stand up for these principles a year ago. We could have saved 700 billion dollars and be on our way out of the recession.
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This whole mess started with the mortgage meltdown in 2006-2007, perpetuated by the irresponsible financings by Freddie and Fannie. Republicans warned in 2002 that Fannie and Freddie were heading for the toilet, but Barney, Chris, and other Dems in Congress shouted them down. McCain warned them again in 2006 - google his letter to Congressional leaders.

Speed bankruptcy, FDIC receivership, whatever. This is clearly the correct path and the sooner we recognize it the better.

using the word nationalization just confuses the issue.

There is no upside for taxpayers to seize.

If it were as simple as closing the doors on the banks, I'm sure it would have been done. However, Letting them fail would mean thousands of jobless people and on down the line. The Republicans know this. The people at the top of these institutions have been stealing money hand over fist via fees, feign investments on Wall Street, etc. Of course they want the banks to fail so that their dirty little secrets don't come to public view.

That's why you guys are not in the majority. Republicans do not get it. Yes, I agree that many of these companies behaved irresponsibly. We can all agree on that. The problem is bankruptcy for huge corporations is alot different than an individual filing for bankruptcy. I hate to see our tax dollars bailing out these irresponsible guys, but unfortunately, their fates are tied to millions of American workers who had nothing to do with the company failure, and would be victims.

The republicans would rather see major banks fail than give them loans – wonder if they have their dollars in offshore bank accounts?
The republicans want GM to fail, the banks to fail, and President Obama to fail... what does this tell you about the republicans....

Jeez, the Republicans are on a roll with two good ideas today–let GM fail, and now let some of the banks fail. The only disagreement here would be–let ALL the big banks fail. No more money. And they should have said not only let them fail, but they should also have added–arrest, try, and incarcerate all top management of these banks because they are all crooks, and bring Paulson back from wherever he's hiding out to answer some serious questions about how he distributed money to his friends, for he too belongs behind bars. There are numerous very good and responsible banks and credit unions that will survive and be able to take over the management of finances for the country–and we don't need any of these monstrosities with their gargantuan appetites for fraud.

This republicans PR should stop now!

So the man who suspended his Presidential campaign to rush back to Washington to GIVE the banks the first money now thinks that Obama must make the "hard decision." Typical republican thinking...I don't have the guts to do it, but I can sure tell that evil Democratic President exactly what do do...

I said all along that if McCain had stood by his proclaimed principles and voted against the bailout, he would be President. Too little, too late, John.

17 banks have failed so far this year. At that pace 100 banks will fail this year. Is that not enough for you Senator?

I agree. Let them fail!

Instead of nationalizing banks, why not let Government directly start lending to whomever needs it rather than give it to banks to sit on?

Let capitalism play out...if these banks were destined to succeed then they will survive in spite of the toxic loans and the new government lending entity.

If they fail, too bad...they have no place in our capitalism.

We "the people" win either way because in the end we get our loans from reliable lenders that were fittest to survive. Government stimulus does not need banks or any middle person...lend us our money directly for God's sake!

And the fourth bailout for AIG in six months, with some of taxpayers dollars going to foreign financial institutions.

Senator Shelby's answer to everything is let them fail, how negative is that... Let everyone fail who is not apart of his republican group. Failure is easy it takes no brain power, which is why Senator Shelby is always in favor of it, lack of ideas for success.

You might be surprised to see what the banks would do if we tell them "No more money" you are on your own. No one wants to lose their job and I can bet you that someone with reorganization that you would find these banks making it. They are like children, if you keep giving them things they will never know what it is to work for it. It is so obvious that the money that has been given they didn't manage well, played around. Now it is what we should call "Tough Love" and if they fail, dont you think someone will come in and buy it out and make a go of it. That has always been the American way!

Of course the GOP wants them to fail – on Obama's watch, so they can feed it up to him in four years!

If the big banks can't manage the billions they already had, what makes us think they can manage the paltry trillions of dollars the government is giving them? Obviously, AIG can't since they are back at the till for the 3rd time. It would be interesting to see how much they donated to either party during the campaign. How much did they donate to the inauguration parties? How much did they waaste on their CEO's who obviously are only doing the job for the money, not their knowledge?

As should so many of these homes with bad mortgages. Propping up these mortgages will only continue to haunt the real estate industry. Let foreclosures flood the market. Let new buyers purchase at a price they can afford to finance, get some good mortgages in the system. Why should the government be haunted by this bad debt.

I agree let some banks fail, but where were the GOP when all this was going on and they didn't seem to mind when banks were doing all these bad loans.

I say it's time to nationalize the banking system for awhile, the banks can't seem to manage themselves anyway.

Unemployment numbers are brutal. The Republican solution is let banks fail, let the auto industry fail and let the small businesses that support them fail which of courses will put millions of more people out of work todefault on their mortages and their credit cards. Also small investors who have shares in these companies will get crushed as well. As ugly as it may feel to prop up those greedy and mismanaged companies, their are no better alternatives at this time. Thankfully McCain isn't President and the republicans are following te fat one into the wilderness.

These people have no idea what they are talking about. It's actually scary that they are in leadership positions. Letting Lehman fail was what started this mess–they have absolutely no credibility.

To Nevada

WE can use common sense. Giving money to banks is not going to solve the problem. People need jobs....

So long as Toyota is building a plant in their state they'd love for Ford & GM to close too.
So long as their state is okay they don't care. So long as their welfare state can pay $1 in taxes and get $1.60 back they don't care.

Typical small minded Repub chanting, so long as it doesn't effect them they keep thier heads buried in the mud only coming up to yell NO! to every forward action the Dems try to do for the benefit of all.

It is amazing, where were those republicans when Bush was throwing money around to the banks? I did not hear anything like the constant quarrel I am hearing now. Repubs, you lost, it is time to shut up.

The recovery will to hold by the end of this year, until then, the dow as an economic indicator will go down to between 2500 to 3000, and after that a robust economic recovery will begin.

Yes, Let some of them fail. But I am concerned we are putting a lot of funding into this enconomic development, when as soon as we get things back on track and business is as usual congress and the house will start selling it off to corporate and special interest groups for an election. So we are only providing them with a bargining chip.

SAD Day in AMERICA

SO THE REPUBLICANS ARE FOR KILLING JOBS NOW??

IF YOU LET A LARGE BANK FAIL, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH THE RIPPLES OF THAT ACTION WILL WREAK HAVOC ON THE ECONOMY. THIS IS THE REASON WHY THEY ARE NOT LETTING THEM FAIL.

PROPPING THEM UP MAY BE DISTASTEFUL, BUT THE ALTERNATIVE IS EVEN WORSE.

They all should either sink or swim on their own. NO MORE $$$.

On paper, I agree with him. I would absolutely LOVE to let them take a tumble, however, I am trying to be pragmatic. In a pure capitalistic society, institutions who made bad decisions should fall by the wayside. We do not live in a pure capitalistic society as pure capitalism counts on everyone playing by the rules and having scruples. We have to put regulations on these institutions because they can not be trusted to govern themselves. Deregulation allowed these monsters to get too big to fail.

Now everyone is complaining about socialism due to regulations that will definitely be coming down the pike. What choice do we have when people who should know better willfully made bad decisions based on greed. I say too big to fail should now be too big to exist

So do the conservatives who say "Let the banks fail" then continue to scream about the declining Dow index understand that these are mutually exclusive objectives? Bankruptcy of AIG and/or another large bank would send the market into a freefall. If you OK with a stock market nose dive to 2000-3000, then we can respectfully agree to disagree. If you want to protect taxpayers and your 401 (k) without a clear substantitive solution then that just sums up the tax-cutting, high spending, "have your cake and eat it too" matra of the Republican party.

I bet he wouldnt let the moonshiners in his state fail.

The Rebups will stop at nothing to help this administration fail! I hope people wake up because it is going to be a bumpy ride for the next 4 years. As far as capitalism rewarding the good, give me a break! It rewards the top when it should reward the workers! The workers should be making the most money because WE are doing the labor! Why should a CEO make a million dollars? If it wasn't for the workers they would have nothing!!! Americans have nothing new to offer, we make nothing, we are a service industry only, and if the Republicans have their way the only ones left to serve will be the Million dollar CEO's why the rest are starving as we look for jobs. This is capitalism!! The Republicans today remind me of the Bolsheveks and we all know what happened to them.

Bailing out the banks and bailing out the automakers are two different issues. The automakers provide a product and support millions of jobs. Banks have no product, they are leeches with excessive fees for anything you do or try to do. Yes they provide loans, but they don't produce money, just more false wealth that caused the dot.com and real estate bubbles and collapses. For all of you who harp on Obama, don't forget your president savant who gave $350b no strings attached, that no one can seem to account for. It's time to look for a solution, blame can come later.

I wish the Republicans would stop mouthing off. They should remember they were the ones who got us into this mess. The people spoke and wanted Obama to lead us. Now all they do is keep harping he's going to fast, he should stay forcused. These are the same folks when we had allies and went into Aghanistan who stopped focusing on Afgjhanistan and dragged us into Iraq. What if we had been allowed to finish our mission in Afghanistan. We'd probably have Bin Ladden and have a stable Afghanistan. I suggest the people that caused our economy to crash put a sock in their mouths and let the smartest President we have ever had lead us out of this mess as he sees fit.

At one time we had financial institutions regulated to kept them from having "casino nights" on wall street. Lets be clear though, no matter how many time we the Republicans would like to say it ain't so to make it seem true, Republicans were in charge and turning a blind eye to the lack of oversight that was taking place. shelby says we should let one of the 'largest banks in the world" fail? I wonder if it's because Citi didn't donate enough to the GOP last year? The same reason that the GOP now cowers to Rush who directs his supporters to ONLY fund candidates of his choice.
In the past election EVERYONE, Repub & Dems both were telling their constituents that they would in so many words "BRING HOME THE BACON". We need a new thinking about why we put people in office. There is no I in "We the People.

Gee, these Republicans are actually starting to agree with President Obama, who already recognized some banks may not make it. Of course, the president does not use their misguided terms as "dead, buried, and beating." That seems to show a certain lack of statemanship from these senators IMHO.

I never thought I'd say this but I AGREE with the Republicans!!! Let them go...If they can't survive on their own, too bad! If you open a store and your store fails to profit and goes out of business because of bad business decisions or poor sales, tough luck, that's the cost of doing business...Why should these banks be any different. I feel the same way about the automobile makers who are getting tons of money from the gov't to fix their problems. It's not fair. Small business owners aren't getting rescued why should these big companies catch a break!

Yeh, there are some banks that should be allowed to fail. But what about those CEO's that left Lieghman brothers with millions of dollars, left thousands of people unemployeed and are now opening refinance institutions to manage the bail out package and rip us off on the other end. If the republicans and democrats were interested in saving main street, they should run these guys out of the country or throw them in jail. These CEO's are like bad doctors and lawyers, the republicans are always crying about, they should not be allowed to practice business in the US, period.

Through all the years in our history,30 to 40 banks fail a year,the government has never bailed them out -why now ???

The republicans RUINED our banking system, yes because of the way the republicans and the last administration handled our economy, it is time to let them FAIL, BECAUSE THEY ALREADY HAVE.

Of course some banks should fail, but most should be propped up with strick rules (like exec pay) and supervision. What ever happened to the notion of helping home owners and stabilizing the credit markets????? Obama is skipping that whole step and going for reckless Democrat spending, huge deficit borrowing and puting our entire economic viability in jeoparady with no plan for banking or credit at all.....Fire Gietner! Hire Robert Rubin! Cut out all earmarks, reduce spending to the same level as last year. And for god sakes go back and reverse that so-called "stimulus" plan that was nothing more than wasting taxpayer money to pay for Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid's pork projects. Lets get some fiscal responsiblity for once.

AIG? Too many cracks in a Wall. But what happens if the Dam burst.
How many more little dams go with it?

To the left, if you think John McCain got rich by serving in the Navy you are as lost as most Americans. The money is from his wife's family brewery and he does not have access to it like the average husband does, like John Kerry who used his wifes money for his run in 04. We taxpayers have put enough money in the banks that they should have recovered by now unless they are hiding more than they will admit! Maybe we should let them fail and put a bunch of executives, accountants, and managers in jail.

Extinction is the best remedy for some banks. God help us or being greedy!!

Exactly!
Why should tax payers be forced to bail out incompetency?

Let them fail.It might hurt for a while,but in the long run,its for the best.

They wont be so quick to give loans so easily next time

go to a free fall and see which banks fail and bail-out the ones

still standing..why?...because they were managing their affairs as

best as they could under the current condtions...thinking of the

people and not themselves......Can't restock bad banks like a

grocery store full of candy........SOMEDODY BETTER THIN....!

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different outcome each time. I think we tried letting the market determine who lived and who died once before. The same crew tried the spending freeze now being touted by the tiny-brained. It led to a cataclysmic event they call the Great Depression.

Why are there Republicans?

That's the way it should be. Failing industries fail, and from their ashes are new entrepreneurs that fill the void more efficiently. It's been a long time since it happened last, but it sounds like Republicans are finally starting to talk a little bit of sense.

you know i agree with this G.O.P senator. We should't keep givjng money to some banks considering the fact that they go on a spending spree anyway. Hey the economy will get worse but hey why not???

Except the banks in which he has his money and other interests.

The complicity of the Selby's, Dodd's, McCain's and more in our nation's capitol created the bulk of the problems that our nation is experiencing today – why would anyone trust those who have made a career of selling our country and workforce out for foreign money and unrealistic profits and growth through through lack of regulation and oversight?

You're trying to turn the cause of the problem into the solution, and the solution is for the public to replace the white haired old men with honest Americans.

If a bank is already failing on it's own then why should tax payers pay to prop the bank up?

I certainly hope your money is in some of them. Now THAT would be fair, really fair. Even if you don't care for overpaid bankers, what about all the little people who work at banks. Oh, that's right. The Repiglicans don't care about the little people.

Regarding letting banks fail, the latest from the Republican partty. Why is it that they can not come up with anything helpful, always negative and complain that the Democrats are all wrong.If. they have a better plan, then let's hear it NOW.

As a Democrat I love reading these statements. I am sure that the banks that these Republicans want to fail are not in their districts, but they are in someone's district. Comments like this are the reason that the Republican party is going to be more decimated in the 2010 election. They need a true leader who can shut these guys up, and maybe then the country can start to recover. As long as the Republicans keep coming up with this stuff, their party is doomed. Lets say, for example, that Citi failed. This would lead to several things, first being that the FDIC has to absorb the losses of the bank, or find a suitable buyer (yeah right, a suitable buyer for the largest bank in the world). Second, the loans and lending of Citi would be frozen, like I said earlier, you are not going to be able to find a suitable replacement for the largest bank in the world, especially with the other ones in financial straits. This would lead to a loss of the confidence in the banking system, and we have all seen what happens to institutions when confidence is lost. Prop up the banks, nationalize them, do whatever we have to do, but get this country back on track FAST and get credit moving again. Stop grandstanding about failure, and start talking about how we are going to save things!!

This is the first thing anyone in he Republican party has said that makes sense in a very long time. To bad they didn't stand up for these principles a year ago. We could have saved 700 billion dollars and be on our way out of the recession.

During 'Nam the Repubs mantra was "Kill a commie for Christ!" Now it's "Kill a bank for capitalism." ... and let America suffer the economic consequences?

What? Let an under-performing institution fail? But that is not the Obama way!

We must borrow more money, bankrupt our children, ruin the US economy, tax our productive citizens, and god willing we will prop up these campaign-friendly institutions for at least another 3 months!

I agree, and they should start with the ones with Republicans money deposited in them. Then move to to the bank in the U.S. congress. Morons

Isn't Shelby the same guy who is fighting to keep his earmarks alive in the bill to fund Congress? These Republicans are all over the place... against earmarks when it suits their political agenda; for them to stay elected... gotta bail out the banks, nah... let'em fail.

Get some sort of original, consistent message and maybe, just maybe, someone will care to listen.

Couldn't agree more ! Thats the way capitalism works, you mismanage, you fail and you fold. This should be upheld, its the way competitive markets work.

I thought that was the point of the "stress tests", to determine which banks they should just let fall by the wayside...I'm not really hearing anything particularly new. Some of the big banks are going to fail, regardless of whether the government wants to save them or not. What I'd like to hear is a plan for what we're going to do when they do fail. And, I'm sure Obama would welcome any suggestions whether they come from the republicans or democrats. It's time for the republicans to offer some alternative solutions because pointing out problems we all recognize isn't going to cut it.

Of course they should. Just like some grocery stores, and restaurants, and gas stations should go out of business. When you make bad decisions, the market punishes you. That is how capitalism is supposed to work. Good behavior is rewarded – bad is punished.

If the government steps in and breaks the chain, it converts efficient capitalism into inefficient socialism. Oh, wait, that is Barry's goal.

Shelby has absolutely NO CREDIBILITY on any economic issues concerning this country. It is quite clear that he and all Republicans hate this country.

hmmm, let me get my money out before you allow these banks to fail !!!!

McCain is leading the party because they have no one right now to lead. His message is not grounded on reality..............it's easy to critisize but wonder what he would be doing if he was in the driver seat. He was erratic during the campaign and I suspect he would be making rash decisions if he was president. Mr. Obama is doing it right by taking the time to look at all options before deciding on a course. McCain is just trying to stay in the limelight along with Limbaugh and others. Steele is MIA because limbaugh put a muzzle on him. Newt want to did up Reagan corpse and make him the leader while contemplating running in 2012. You got to love what the RNC has become in a short 2 months.

if the republicans are willing to let a bank fail, then why bail out the big three automakers? to quote "Close them down, get them out of business. If they're dead, the outght to be buried". why keep bailing out one industry and not another. There are plenty of automakers in the world, if a company can't sell the products they make then they should fail.

Would you mind correcting the misspelling in the first line of the article, to reflect that 'two top Senate Republicans said..."

Thanks!

Well, John McCain doesn't have to worry about losing any money from bank closures.

He is set for life.

Thanks to us.

Bury the big one's, huh? You know, they should know, their party got buried, LOL!! By the way, good way to say it...who cares and let's move on. Yeah, good move...

Richard Shelby talks out of the side of his mouth, on the one
hand he wants banks to fail but not before he gets his "pork" for his
state of over $ 114 million. Gotta love those Republicans.
As for John Mccain get over it you lost the election.

Some Republicans need to be voted out of the Senate. Maybe next year we can kiss Shelby and McCain GOODBYE.

While I agree that some (if not all) should be allowed to fail, it would have been nice if conservatives would have acted conservative before Obama got elected. Boy are we hosed now...

The Republican Party, in my view, is irrelevant. These so called "fiscal conservatives" had nothing to say about the last administration's spending habits. Now, apparently, they have found a way to get back to their principles. It kind of sounds like the adulterer or wife beater that says"Baby, I know I've done you wrong but I can change! Remember how good I used to be to you? I can get be that person again."

We can't just let banks fail. Letting Lehman Bros fall is what accelerated this mess anyway.

I agree. A lot of small banks are doing GREAT. It is the large ones that are failing because of corrupt practices. I say–LET THEM GO UNDER. We will all be better off.

Some banks? Which one to bury and which bank to keep on life support? Who decides? I wish the Republician was more specific in hepling with the banking crisis.

Why do they keep "talking" about it. It's been past the time to let them fail! When is our government (rep or dem) going to get the gonads and CHANGE. It may be sucession time again and let our individual states run themselves.

everybody is going to get hurt one way or another – don't matter if the republican mouth or the democrat mouth – this isn't the usual "business as usual" situation.

I say do away with the "Party" system and let every man or woman run on their particular merit – they stand on their own or they fail – just like the banks.

i love and support our president but i must agree with letting the big banks fail. we must move on and the sooner the better. we americans are sick of seeing our money go down a drowning rat whole. i am sick of hearing about how important these big failures are to the economy ..well i can tell you the american people are NOT supporting giving one more dime to any failing co. GM is another one that needs to be buried. all failures should be put to rest and let a healthy CO. take over and our economy will then heal it's self.
not one more dime should be given away unless the government dicides to give it back to THE PEOPLE, the ones that can put it to better use. we are sick of hearing all this gloom and doom.....get rid of the sickness and move on now!

Burn the villiage to save it...yeah that worked in Vietnam too. Don't these Republicans have any NEW ideas?

It is well past time for the bancruptcy laws to take over. Bailouts only prolong the inevitable and prohibit the self-cleaning ofthe industry. The failed banks will provide opportunity for their replacements without a failed history.

I wouldn't bank on it.

Shelby is an idiot.
The voters should close him down the next time he's up for re-election.
And when the stimulus succeeds he and all the others Republicans will be in a quandry when they face their next election. First they and their Republican party got the country into this financial mess and when it came time to extract ourselves all they could offer was the policies that got us into thie mess and no.

That's the GOP alternative? McCain and Shelby talking about the ECONOMY? This is the Republican response, let some of the bigger banks fail. . . let's put some more Americans out of work. . .not only will that affect the US, but these big banks have offices and employees all over the world. Let's put people out of work in other nations as well.
That will really help the economy get started again.

Vote the Republicans out of their jobs in 2010 and 2012. Then they might finally be forced to get it.

Senator Shelby is clearly what is wrong with the Republican party...it is easy to say let the banks fail...Shelby has no clue as to what to do about this economy. His answer is to destroy what is left of the ailing banks...did he pose to consider the implications? Does he know how many people and businesses are tied to Citigroup?? The Republican party has become the worst of what is wrong with this country.

For years, they got us all screwed and put us in this mess...now they want to detroy what is left. I think the President needs to explain just how out of touch these republican wackos are...I am saving my money to oust as many Republicans as I can in 2010 and 2012.