INSIDE WASHINGTON

Congressional Insiders Poll

by Richard E. Cohen and Peter Bell

Saturday, Sept. 27, 2008


Q: Is the worst of the financial crisis behind us, or is it still ahead?

Democrats (33 votes)

Behind us                           15 percent
Still ahead                         73 percent
Depends; don't know (volunteered)   12 percent

Behind us
"As long as the administration and Congress act reasonably."
"If the markets haven't learned, they are finished!"

Still ahead
"We're in the eye of the storm right now."
"Trust is bankrupt in this administration."
"No one can really tell us the depth of the problem. And it is possible that as we attempt to correct one problem, another will pop up."
"Bush, McCain, and their cronies chant 'the fundamentals of the economy are sound' while they drive the bus off the cliff."

Other responses
"Depends on whether More-of-Same McCain is elected, or if we go in another direction."
"None of the above. The answer depends on Congress and the president reaching accommodation on a rescue plan that helps avoid foreclosures and protects taxpayers."
"I have no idea. And nobody else up here does, either."

Republicans (33 votes)

Behind us                  21 percent
Still ahead                67 percent 
Don't know (volunteered)   12 percent

Behind us
"If we don't mess up the credit-rescue plan."
"Once Congress passes a bailout, things will begin to stabilize and calm down. That's not to say that in the long-term we aren't going to experience any more economic issues with the deficit exploding, inflation increasing, and unemployment rising."

Still ahead
"While no one really knows, I think everyone believes it will get worse before it gets better."
"This is years in the making and won't be resolved overnight. Clearly, there's a problem. We just don't know what the unintended consequences of the massive bailout are."
"And the 'rescue plan' only punts the problem down the field. A day of reckoning will come."
"If Congress passes the Treasury bill."

Q: How much blame does each of these parties bear for the current financial turmoil--much of the blame, little blame, or no blame?

Democrats (33 votes)

                             Much blame       Little         None
Congress                     48 percent   53 percent    0 percent
Executive branch            100 percent    0 percent    0 percent
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac   69 percent   31 percent    0 percent
Wall Street                  97 percent    3 percent    0 percent
The public                    9 percent   56 percent   34 percent

Congress
"Much--for allowing several administrations to act as if 'regulation' really is a dirty word."
"Much. The Republican Congress and the Bush administration bear the lion's share of the blame. Just look at Bush's request of the American people: 'Go buy more.' The Republicans are the party that has not lived within our means for more than a decade."

Executive branch
"Much. Republicans controlled the executive branch and Congress for six years, and showed themselves inept in financial affairs with deregulation. No longer can they claim to be the party of fiscal responsibility."
"Much. The cowboy capitalism, runaway deficits and debt, the rip-away regulations, and blank-check, no-oversight Bush administration and its Republican enablers for almost a decade."
"Much. Most of the blame for thinking greed could self-regulate."
"Much. The M.B.A. president's hands-off policy pays big dividends."

Fannie and Freddie
"Much--for forgetting their mission and succumbing to the fast-buck approach."

Wall Street
"Much--for pushing the theory that unfettered greed is always good."
"Much. Wall Street has had a predators' ball, hijacking boring but useful products like home mortgages."
"Much. Blame those who circumvented regulations to play the edges and seduce homebuyers into easy loans."

The public
"Much. They chose to elect Bush-Cheney and their economic philosophy--twice."
"Little--for buying the sales pitch and electing so many anti-government types for so long."

Republicans (33 votes)

                             Much blame       Little         None
Congress                     66 percent   34 percent    0 percent 
Executive branch             63 percent   34 percent    3 percent
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac   94 percent    6 percent    0 percent
Wall Street                  84 percent   16 percent    0 percent
The public                   25 percent   59 percent   16 percent

Congress
"Much. We're all in this together. Too much politics, and not enough solutions."
"Much. Asleep at the wheel while Fannie and Freddie gambled with what is turning out to be taxpayers' money."
"Much. Too busy burning witches and chasing ghosts; getting to the bottom of Bush conspiracies."

Executive branch
"Much; 117 days and we [Republicans] are off the hook."
"Much. No oversight, a wait-and-see approach, and an alarming out-of-touch sense on virtually everything on every issue in America for quite some time. Not much more else to say."

Fannie and Freddie
"Much. Fannie and Freddie should have been reformed years ago, but Democrats opposed it every step of the way."
"Much. Do we have to give everybody a loan, even if they can't afford the payments?"

Wall Street
"Much. Did you skip basic economics?"
"Little. They're in the business of making money. And that's exactly what they did."
"Little. It's hard to imagine the need to bail out folks who made gobs of money for an extended period of time."

The public
"Much. Who didn't read the fine print?"
"No blame. There were a lot of bad decisions by individual borrowers, but the real problem is all the backups failed."

National Journal Insiders

Democratic Congressional Insiders Sens. Sherrod Brown, Ben Cardin, Thomas Carper, Christopher Dodd, Edward Kennedy, Frank Lautenberg, Barbara Mikulski, Mark Pryor, Ken Salazar, Jon Tester; Reps. Tom Allen, Robert Andrews, Michael Arcuri, Tammy Baldwin, Melissa Bean, Xavier Becerra, Howard Berman, Marion Berry, Rick Boucher, Michael Capuano, Dennis Cardoza, Chris Carney, James Clyburn, Jim Cooper, Joseph Crowley, Elijah Cummings, Artur Davis, Diana DeGette, Rosa DeLauro, Eliot Engel, Anna Eshoo, Sam Farr, Chaka Fattah, Bob Filner, Alcee Hastings, Mike Honda, Steve Israel, Jim Langevin, John Lewis, Zoe Lofgren, Nita Lowey, Carolyn Maloney, Ed Markey, Jim McDermott, Jim McGovern, Kendrick Meek, Jim Moran, David Price, Silvestre Reyes, Jan Schakowsky, Jose Serrano, Adam Smith, John Spratt, Pete Stark, John Tanner, Ellen Tauscher, Bennie Thompson, Chris Van Hollen, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Henry Waxman, and Peter Welch.

GOP Congressional Insiders Sens. Lamar Alexander, Jim Bunning, John Cornyn, Jim DeMint, Lindsey Graham, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Johnny Isakson, Richard Lugar, Mel Martinez, Lisa Murkowski, Olympia Snowe, John Sununu, John Thune, David Vitter; Reps. Michele Bachmann, Brian Bilbray, Marsha Blackburn, John Boehner, Kevin Brady, John Campbell, Chris Cannon, Eric Cantor, Michael Castle, Tom Cole, Mike Conaway, Tom Davis, John Doolittle, David Dreier, Phil English, Jeff Flake, Scott Garrett, Bob Goodlatte, Kay Granger, Doc Hastings, Pete Hoekstra, Bob Inglis, Peter King, Jack Kingston, Mark Kirk, John Kline, Ray LaHood, Dan Lungren, Kenny Marchant, Jim McCrery, Patrick McHenry, John Mica, Candice Miller, Marilyn Musgrave, Sue Myrick, Devin Nunes, Mike Pence, Tom Price, Deborah Pryce, Adam Putnam, Dave Reichert, Tom Reynolds, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Mike Rogers of Michigan, Paul Ryan, Pete Sessions, John Shadegg, Christopher Shays, Adrian Smith, Mark Souder, Pat Tiberi, Fred Upton, Zach Wamp, and Joe Wilson.

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