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McCain Accused of Using Economic Crisis for Political Gain
Harry Reid seems to think that a senator returning to the Senate constitutes grandstanding.
Whether you agree with a bailout — or, as others are calling it, a rescue — of Wall Street or not, there is no question that something should be done. And while it might seem ludicrous that Congress is leading the way in fixing a problem that it helped create — with Senate Majority Leader Harry “No One Knows What to Do” Reid in the lead — it’s what’s going to happen in some fashion.
To the surprise of some and the disgruntlement of others, John McCain suspended his campaign to head back to Washington to do his part in dealing with the crisis, asking that the first presidential debate scheduled for Friday the 26th be rescheduled. Obama’s initial response? No way, Jose. And Harry Reid made his feelings about McCain’s involvement clear:
“This is a critical time for our country,” says the Reid statement. “While I appreciate that both candidates have signaled their willingness to help, Congress and the administration have a process in place to reach a solution to this unprecedented financial crisis. I understand that the candidates are putting together a joint statement at Senator Obama’s suggestion. But it would not be helpful at this time to have them come back during these negotiations and risk injecting presidential politics into this process or distract important talks about the future of our nation’s economy. If that changes, we will call upon them. We need leadership, not a campaign photo op. If there were ever a time for both candidates to hold a debate before the American people about this serious challenge, it is now.”
Interesting. Yes, Obama and McCain are both running for president. But they are both still senators, drawing a paycheck from the American people to do the business of the American people.
And Bill Clinton, who is supposed to be stumping for his fellow Democrat, advises us not to look too closely at McCain’s request to postpone the debate:
“We know [McCain] didn’t do it because he’s afraid because Sen. McCain wanted more debates,” Clinton said, adding that he was “encouraged” by the joint statement from McCain and Sen. Barack Obama.
“You can put it off a few days; the problem is it’s hard to reschedule those things,” Clinton said. “I presume he did that in good faith since I know he wanted — I remember he asked for more debates to go all around the country and so I don’t think we ought to overly parse that.”
Ouch! That’s gonna leave a mark.
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Pam Meister is the editor for Family Security Matters and a contributor to Big Hollywood. Her work can also be seen at American Thinker. The views expressed here are her own.
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59 Comments
1. May B Wright:Let me get this straight. The democrats are whining because “third Bush term” McCain won’t join them in rubberstamping Bush’s bailout plan? Have I been sucked into a parralel universe?
Sep 26, 2008 - 8:48 am 2. Freedom is just another word...:Reid is like a bad woman. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
Didn’t he want McCain to come back a few days ago? Now, McCain crashed the party.
Reid is a cog in the Democrat wheel. McCain called Bush. Bush called McCain & Obama, requesting that both come to Washington. McCain & Obama talk. McCain tells Obama that he wants to go to DC. McCain gets on TV and beats Obama to the punch. Obama is sideswiped. Obama wants to label McCain as a reactionary hothead who doesn’t think things through. Obama decides that he is not needed at the center of the storm, in a seat he was elected to hold. The next day the Dems preemptively “fake” that all is almost hammered out; at about the same time that McCain was ready to come back. Now, Reid says that McCain spoiled the party.
There was no party Reid and Pelosi. I think I might move to your districts, just so I can vote you out of office!
Sep 26, 2008 - 8:55 am 3. chicago:It’s amazing how Dingy Harry is claiming that they had agreement and then McCain sunk it. It’s already reported that the deal fell apart before McCain got to Washington.
It appears that the democrats are milking this crisis as much as they can. it’ll be great to see Dingy Harry’s face once McCain starts ripping into him once a deal is actually reached.
Sep 26, 2008 - 8:57 am 4. Spinoneone:Now in his press conference Dingy Harry claims that McCain arrived before the deal was sealed. That is a lie. McCain arrived two hours after Dodd claimed victory.
Reid also claimed that the 2003 and 2005 housing bills were filibustered by the Republicans. Nope, it was done by the Dems because those two bills were aimed at reforming Fannie/Freddie lending and loan practices. If either had passed we wouldn’t be here today.
I hope McCain has the stones to take off the gloves tonight…but I’m not holding my breath.
Sep 26, 2008 - 9:18 am 5. Self-hating boomer:Worse than that, Reid is using the fog of the crisis to slip in a gift to the environmental lobby and the Saudis, at the expense of the economy:
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives2/2008/09/021606.php
Reid is downright malevolent. And cynical and nasty to boot. He’s bordering on evil.
Sep 26, 2008 - 9:18 am 6. David W. Lincoln:Excuse me?!?!? As long as Wall Street and Capital Hill still haven’t learned all of the lessons that were there to be learned from the fallout of the S&L crisis, the bursting of the dot com bubble, and the perp walks – they deserve ridicule and to be viewed as disreputable.
People received mortgages when they did not deserve, and when those mortgages were defaulted
upon, the risk was bundled up and passed down.
The situation is this: those responsible for coming up with sub-prime mortgages, plus those who used them, plus those who were playing with fire by bundling the sub-prime mortgages with other stuff – they deserve to be blacklisted.
Also, what about the other mortgages which are on shaky financial ground?
Sep 26, 2008 - 9:20 am 7. Matt:Good work, John! You went to Washington, screwed up the deal, and flip-flopped on your own gauntlet throw-down.
Yes, by all means, let’s have this man lead our nation.
Sep 26, 2008 - 9:24 am 8. W::Harry Reid is a posturing ass. After criticizing Bush (rightly) for not “being there” for Katrina, he blasts McCain for doing his job.
Bill Clinton, on the other hand, is trying to do the right thing. He’s not “for” anyone but he’s not going to be a partisian either.
Sep 26, 2008 - 9:36 am 9. tomw:Obviously McCain’s vast economic expertise is needed here and only he has the wisdom to straighten this problem out. Those guys who have been working on an agreement for the past week were just wasting their time. McCain in just a few short hours was able to identify everything they were doing wrong, and then back on the plane to Mississippi. Good thing he suspended his campaign, or god knows what would have happened.
Sorry Johnny, America isn’t buying into this…and the polls show it.
Sep 26, 2008 - 9:38 am 10. veracious:Quite the contrary. McCain may be showing actual leadership qualities if what I just heard about his alternative funding is correct.
Contrary to the authors hypothesis, there should be no USA bailout for a financial system which allowed itself to make bad loans, sweet talked and cajoled by score of billion dollars in influence from foreign and domestic sources. It doubled down by creating all kinds of sideways coverage in derivatives and other creative paper. This whole upside down pyramid, built upon a fractional dot of _debt_ is not a proper structure. It by the very magnitude of the leveraging above it is destin to collapse.
Furthermore, a key thrust is really to hand the mortgage oversight over to the Federal Reserve (aspices of Treasury), which is neither Federal, nor a reserve. It is the dot holding up the pyramid, which stands to earn most of the value of that pyramid. It is a private banking consortium, with special, un-auditable access to the the US government.
What do the founding fathers say, most of which were well learned above Congressmen or citizen? I’ll post that separately so as to not overload one post.
Sep 26, 2008 - 9:48 am 11. veracious:The promised fore-father (and a few others) quotes that I consider with regard to this Bailout to Bondage:
Lincoln prepared for his presidency by studying mathematics. During the Civil War, bankers harassed Lincoln to accept an unlimited loan to finance the North against the South. Pondering the costs of mere evidence of debt the country could have issued to itself without interest, Abraham Lincoln too ventured the rectification of economics. Lincoln avoided the usurious national debt the country would have been subject to ever afterward had he instead accepted the mere paper or records of debt of the bankers. He printed the money himself.
&
Bankers and “economists” have since denounced the currency he issued as “inflationary”. It was of course no more inflationary than the currency the bankers would have created at virtually no cost whatever. Lincoln’s currency lacked only the “interest,” by which the bankers would have profited perpetually. He was soon assassinated, from the_rear_.
&
“The money powers prey upon the nation in times of peace and conspire against it in times of adversity. The banking powers are more despotic than a monarchy, more insolent than autocracy, more selfish than bureaucracy. They denounce as public enemies all who question their methods or throw light upon their crimes.
&
I have two great enemies, the Southern Army in front of me and the bankers in the rear. Of the two, the one at my rear is my greatest foe. [As a most undesirable consequence of the war...] Corporations have been enthroned, and an era of corruption in high places will follow. The money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in the hands of a few, and the Republic is destroyed.”
— Abraham Lincoln
“Certainly no nation ever before abandoned to the avarice and jugglings of private individuals to regulate according to their own interests, the quantum of circulating medium for the nation — to inflate, by deluges of paper, the nominal prices of property, and then to buy up that property at 1s. in the pound, having first withdrawn the floating medium which might endanger a competition in purchase. Yet this is what has been done, and will be done, unless stayed by the protecting hand of the legislature. The evil has been produced by the error of their sanction of this ruinous machinery of banks; and justice, wisdom, duty, all require that they should interpose and arrest it before the schemes of plunder and spoliation desolate the country.”
— Thomas Jefferson to William C. Rives, 1819. ME 15:232
“If the American People EVER allow the banks to issue the currency, their children will wake up homeless on the continent their forefathers established.”
— Thomas Jefferson
“Let me issue and control a nation’s money and I care not who writes its laws.”
— Mayer Amschel Rothschild, unofficial father of _central_banking_ and founder of the Bank of England
“I care not what puppet is placed upon the throne of England to rule the Empire on which the sun never sets. The man that controls Britain’s money supply controls the British Empire, and I control the British money supply.”
— Baron Nathan Mayer Rothschild
“Banking was conceived in iniquity and born in sin. If you want to continue to be slaves of the bankers and pay the cost of your slavery, then let the bankers continue to create money and control credit.”
Sep 26, 2008 - 9:51 am 12. jane:— Sir Josiah Stamp, President of the Bank of England
So if Harry says “there was a deal” we’re all supposed to believe “there was a deal?” I wouldn’t believe Reid and his little bug-eyed monkey Nancy if they said my eyes are brown.
I’m suprised that both candidates didn’t demand to be involved in development of a multi billion dollar buyout that is going to seriously impact the country they supposedly want to be President of. One of these two candidates is going to have to deal with the consequences of whatever happens – why wouldn’t they feel the need to be a major part of it? Obama’s attitude of “call me if I can help” sort of says that he knew he’d be useless or that he’s more than willing to go along with whatever the Democrats can push through.
As long as they can slip in some of their usual pork I guess they could accept Bush’s plan.
Sep 26, 2008 - 9:53 am 13. chicago:tomw:
Obviously McCain’s vast economic expertise is needed here and only he has the wisdom to straighten this problem out. Those guys who have been working on an agreement for the past week were just wasting their time. McCain in just a few short hours was able to identify everything they were doing wrong, and then back on the plane to Mississippi. Good thing he suspended his campaign, or god knows what would have happened.
Sorry Johnny, America isn’t buying into this…and the polls show it.
excuse me, I seem to remember that Dingy Harry himself was BEGGING McCain to help. It’s also been reported that Paulson himself asked Lindsey Graham to contact McCain.
you liberals need to explain WHY ACORN deserve to receive some of that $700 billion as well. That is one of the points of contention. Obama and the democrats were TRYING to SWINDLE the taxpayer into funding ACORN AGAIN!
you liberals are just a bunch of two faced swindling crooks. Get ACORN and other cimmunity organizers out that bailout THEN the deal can move on.
Dingy Harry and the democrats say one thing on camera and does things despicable behind close doors. same old lying democrats.
Sep 26, 2008 - 9:58 am 14. Therese:Harry Reid can go ahead without the Republicans and pass the bill. The Democrats have a majority in the Senate and House. Why don’t they just go ahead and do it? Because they are afraid to do it alone. The majority of Americans are against the bailout and will take it out on the Democrats if they alone pass this bill. Thus, they have been trying to ram it down the throats of the House Republicans to make them vote for it.
The Democrats also have added stuff to the bill that is questionable. Why is there money going to ACORN, the shifty organization attached to Obama?
Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic party is full of crap! If anyone is trying to politicize this whole thing it’s them.
Sep 26, 2008 - 10:01 am 15. proud elitist:OMG! Oh, the Kool-Aid you will drink.
Let us review what JohnnyPOWMac said:
Wednesday evening, John McCain:
“Tomorrow morning, I will suspend my campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me.
I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.
We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved. I am directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the commission on presidential debates to delay Friday nights debate until we have taken action to address this crisis.”
And now this morning via FOX:
McCain’s campaign will resume “all activities and the senator will travel to the debate this afternoon. Following the debate, he will return to Washington to ensure that all voices and interests are represented in the final agreement, especially those of taxpayers and homeowners,” the McCain campaign said in a statement released around 11:30 a.m. ET.”
—-
What happened yesterday in Washington with McCain?
(Per Kurtz at TPM):
“…During the late afternoon meeting at the White House (a meeting which was McCain’s idea), McCain sat silently at the table until nearly the end, according to a Hill source who was briefed on the meeting. At that point, I’m told, McCain vaguely brought up the proposal being pushed by the Republican Study Committee, the group of House conservatives that is bucking the GOP leadership. But McCain didn’t offer any specifics and didn’t necessarily advocate for the plan, according to the Hill source.
Responding to McCain, Treasury Secretary Paulson said that the RSC proposal was unworkable, my source says, at which point McCain didn’t really advocate for it or state his own position. The meeting adjourned soon after, amid confusion over where negotiations could go next….
…So McCain’s gambit to shake up the election by “suspending” his campaign and returning to Washington to hammer out a deal at a big White House meeting ends up killing at least for now the hastily negotiated bailout plan that Treasury and Congress had hammered out. Strangely, almost inexplicably — or maybe just desperately — McCain has thrown his lot in with the same conservatives who see him as the perfect example of what is wrong with their party. Strange days indeed.”
—-
So, McCain “suspends” his campaign to deal with the crisis. Goes to Washington, does his press thing, and then sits in without asking a lot of questions or offering decisive positions and now the negotiations are in a stalemate.
Despite a vow not to debate until there is a resolution to the economic crisis, he is on his way to Ole Miss.
So he calls Obama. Obama calls his bluff and raises the stakes:
Does McCain allow Obama to have 90 minutes of airtime to get his policy out at the first presidential debate? Does he allow Obama to say that one cannot walk, talk and chew gum at the same time?
Uh, no.
Obama, as always, acted calm, cool and collected and McCain flip-flopped again on his statements.
Per Slate.com ,what is next?
1. Returns to Vietnam and jails himself.
2. Offers the post of “vice vice president” to Warren Buffett.
3. Challenges Obama to suspend campaign so they both can go and personally drill for oil offshore.
4. Learns to use computer.
5. Does bombing run over Taliban-controlled tribal areas of Pakistan.
6. Offers to forgo salary, sell one house.
7. Sex-change operation.
8. Suspends campaign until Nov. 4, offers to start being president right now.
9. Sells Alaska to Russia for $700 billion.
10. Pledges to serve only one term. OK, half a term.
—–
Sep 26, 2008 - 10:05 am 16. Mr. No Nukes:Don’t forget Reid is the idiot who thinks it is better to leave spent nuclear rods in individual swimming pools than have them stored in a maximum security facility underneath a mountain in the Nevada desert.
This guy is a real piece of work.
Ya know, was Eldridge Cleaver or Huey P Newton who said ” when the revolution comes it won’t be televised..” With Reid at the helm it won’t be televised ’cause we’ll be broke, holding our collective asses in our hands, sitting in the cold, dark without power.
Peace out,
Nukes Now
Sep 26, 2008 - 10:07 am 17. chicago:“God Save the Red Breasted Mattress Thrasher”
proud elitist – DREAM ON.
Obama spouted off during the meeting and politicized it. McCain worked with Republicans to get their voice and to put it on the table. Obama tried to grandstand during the meeting as he always does.
again, we’re waiting on an explanation why ACORN deserve some of the $700 Billion of taxpayer money.
explain that first.
by the way, get ready for Obama to get slapped around tonight during the debate.
Sep 26, 2008 - 10:14 am 18. Therese:To proudelitist:
Hmmm…do you get paid per word for spouting off talking points?
The truth is that McCain’s presence did make a difference. The bill is being written with more protections for the taxpayer. We all see McCain for the leader and doer that he is. And, really good out of this is the fact that more Americans see Obama for the talking charlatan that he is.
But still, here is my question to you. Why doesn’t Reid and Pelosi go ahead and do everything with their majorities? They really don’t need the House Republicans, so just go ahead.
Sep 26, 2008 - 10:25 am 19. Douglas Bogle:ACORN needs the money to organize the homeless so they can vote for Obama. $5.00 per homeless is the going rate in OHIO to register and fill out the absent. balot.
Just a little bit of the $700 billion, that is all they want.
The world is laughing.
Sep 26, 2008 - 10:41 am 20. chicago:ACORN needs the money to organize the homeless so they can vote for Obama. $5.00 per homeless is the going rate in OHIO to register and fill out the absent. balot.
Just a little bit of the $700 billion, that is all they want.
that’s what I thought….again, Obama requesting earmark for Obama!
McCain – Country first, or Obama first?
Sep 26, 2008 - 10:59 am 21. RE:Democrats have majorities in both Houses to pass the bill.
It seems the Dems don’t want to take ownership of their own proposal. That tells me it’s not a very good one.
The GOP is right to demand better (like NO money to ACORN!)
Sep 26, 2008 - 11:01 am 22. hdgreene:The government could potentially make a lot of money from the $700 billion bailout. The Democrats want to treat any “profit” as the history’s biggest and baddest earmark. Republicans need to demand that every penny above the program cost be returned directly to the Taxpayer — who is the risk taker in this scenario. A $100 billion payout would be $333 for every citizen. We must keep that money out of the hands of the politicians.
Sep 26, 2008 - 11:11 am 23. bear:Therese et al.
Don’t kid yourselves. The GOP is playing politics with this. (I’m no democrat) and you’re giving Mc cain more credit than he deserves.
It may or may not get as bad as it was last week but you can’t argue with the fact that putting the word bailout on the table did stop the downward spiral long enough to be able to have the debate.
Sep 26, 2008 - 11:12 am 24. proud elitist:Wowza…where do you get your facts?
The Republicans are so divided, the R-House bill is ridiculous and McCain deferred to those who knew more than he does about the economy during his Washington visit. the R-House bill wanted relaxed regulation rules and throw out compensation caps.
How much praise, exactly, do you see coming from the R’s involved other than McCain needing to unify the base because Boehner can’t get the votes needed? Boehner hasn’t explicitly fawned over McCain’s role.
And as for protecting the taxpayers? What planet are you on?! The anti-Paulson plan (bipartisan) was already addressing this issue.
What you fail to grasp is the JohnnyPOWMac grandstanding. The economic crisis was not what required his leadership as his knowledge on that subject is a wee bit thin and hypocritical, but the crisis within the divided Republicans — that is why JohnnyPOWMac went all JohnnyDrama and “suspended” his campaign and wasn’t going to debate until “crisis resolved.”
Well guess what?
Plan in worse shape today than yesterday when JohnnyPOWMac arrived. He didn’t really participat AND he’s on his way to Mississippi.
So explain to me, again, why such drama was needed? Why he couldn’t just quietly head to DC to talk to his fellow Republicans and then come out into the light and be praised?
Why are his own kind, Republicans, not that into his interjection into DC?
((rolls eyes))
You really need to lay off the sugar in the Kool-Aid. Or stop putting it in your energy drinks…
Even Huckabee agrees with me:
“Huckabee said Thursday in Mobile that the people need to hear both candidates. He said that’s “far better than heading to Washington” to huddle with senators.
He said the candidates should level with the people about the financial crisis and say the “heart of this is greed.”
Huckabee said he still backs McCain’s candidacy, but said the Arizona senator should not have put his campaign on hold to deal with the financial crisis on Wall Street. He said a president must be prepared to “deal with the unexpected.”
“You can’t just say, ‘World stop for a moment. I’m going to cancel everything,”‘ Huckabee said.
Huckabee also was critical of President Bush’s handling of the crisis.
He said to lay the $700 billion obligation on the nation “in 24 hours” amounts to “holding the country hostage.”
“I just think the American people ought to be screaming their lungs out, saying to Congress, not so fast. That’s our money you’re giving away,” Huckabee said.
He said the burden of the $700 billion relief package will fall on the next generation and those in their teens and 20s.”
Sep 26, 2008 - 11:15 am 25. RUFUS:Please.
Sep 26, 2008 - 11:44 am 26. Joe Buzz:Someone figure out how to get Barney Frank out of power.
He is crooked and phoney.
So is Schumer, Dodd, and Rangel.
Not BECAUSE they are Democrats.
It is Because they are DEMOCRATS that they are crooked and phoney.
Help us here.
New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey….go start your own personal welfare programs, and stop gaming the Civil Rights Legislation of 1965….for gosh sakes…Lyndon is DEAD now….there are no more SLAVES….everyone can vote…..now how about ALL of us get behind the same wheel and push together for awhile, without someone having a hand in our pocket books.
According the the guys at Power Line this is what the hold outs would like to see:
there has never been a time when House Republicans have been on board with the Paulson bailout plan. Minority Leader John Boehner appointed a working group headed by Rep. Eric Cantor to craft a set of “economic rescue principles” that should be reflected in any emergency program adopted by Congress. Last night, the working group articulated this set of principles:
Common Sense Plan to Have Wall Street Fund the Recovery, Not Taxpayers
• Rather than providing taxpayer funded purchases of frozen mortgage assets, we should adopt a mortgage insurance approach to solve the problem.
• Currently the federal government insures approximately half of all mortgage backed securities. (MBS) We can insure the rest of current outstanding MBS; however, rather than taxpayers funding insurance, the holders of these assets should pay for it. Treasury Department can design a system to charge premiums to the holders of MBS to fully finance this insurance.
Have Private Capital Injection to the Financial Markets, Not Tax Dollars
• Instead of injecting taxpayer capital into the market to produce liquidity, private capital can be drawn into the market by removing regulatory and tax barriers that are currently blocking private capital formation. Too much private capital is sitting on the sidelines during this crisis.
• Temporary tax relief provisions can help companies free up capital to maintain operations, create jobs, and lend to one another. In addition, we should allow for a temporary suspension of dividend payments by financial institutions and other regulatory measures to address the problems surrounding private capital liquidity.
Immediate Transparency, Oversight, and Market Reform
• Increase Transparency. Require participating firms to disclose to Treasury the value of their mortgage assets on their books, the value of any private bids within the last year for such assets, and their last audit report.
• Limit Federal Exposure for High Risk Loans: Mandate that the GSEs no longer securitize any unsound mortgages.
• Call on the SEC to audit reports of failed companies to ensure that the financial standing of these troubled companies was accurately portrayed.
• Wall Street Executives should not benefit from taxpayer funding.
• Call on the SEC to review the performance of the Credit Rating Agencies and their ability to accurately reflect the risks of these failed investment securities.
• Create a blue ribbon panel with representatives of Treasury, SEC, and the Fed to make recommendations to Congress for reforms of the financial sector by January 1, 2009.
Sep 26, 2008 - 11:46 am 27. HT:proud elitist,
You have not yet explained why the pork is necessary. Answer the question about ACORN and maybe we can talk. They are using money they are not supposed to have in the first place (debt the we the tax payers are responsible for) to do this deal and they what to use 20% to finance a boondoggle. How about using it to pay off the loan. If it goes through with this included, it is nothing more that a back door tax to fund a “project” that arguably was part of the fuel that got us here in the first place.
The only silver lining in this deal (and it is quite tarnished silver) then becomes that it is very unlikely that there will be a profit from which to take 20%. Of course, that means that We The People get to take a bath too.
Sep 26, 2008 - 11:53 am 28. Jack Herman:There’s all this talk by the idiots on Capital Hill that McCain’s visit did nothing. The same clowns (Reid, Schumer, Frank) that created this mess wanted him to leave Washington. Since the talk is that nothing will be passed before midnight, what is the possibility that McCain may offer his idea during tonight’s debate (of course it’s playing politics) and simply slap Barry in the face. Leaving him stumbling and mumbling (Uh, oh, uh) yet again.
Sep 26, 2008 - 12:19 pm 29. Douglas Bogle:What happened to all the people paying for mortgage insurance? PMI.
This money was a gift to the bank, not to be refunded or a tax write off to the consumer.
Where did this money go? And was it not to cover a mortgage gone bad?
If you are a democrat in washington pass the bailout, you won’t. You have the votes and even the support of Bush. No courage or morals.
I hope in watching all of this current situation that we the people begin to select our leader with more care.
Sep 26, 2008 - 12:20 pm 30. Sarah:Dear “HT”
Sep 26, 2008 - 12:26 pm 31. Tom H:In case you haven’t noticed Democrats are not required to give logical explanations for any of their nonsensical ramblings per the example of Obama, their lord and master! It is in your best interest to swallow everything they say without question because after all they know what is best for you and they will do their best to make it happen in spite of any “concerns” you may have.
It is pointless to argue with “proud elitist,” he has reached Darth Vader level in his ability to master the Obama “force”. We let him hang out here for our amusement like a small, furry pet. He certainly has more to say than any other pet we’ve ever had but the muzzle we’ve ordered will be arriving November 5. Unitl then, you’ll just have to endure the barking!
I received an email that stated it would be cheaper to send every American over the age of 18 a check for , like, $500k, than to approve a bailout. After taxes(25%), every American would receive about $295k, which I think could jump start an economy, Hey maybe some people could even start their own bank…..
Sep 26, 2008 - 12:27 pm 32. Fred:I really loath Harry Reid
Sep 26, 2008 - 12:33 pm 33. Charles:Rush Limbaugh reported today that the deal fell apart yesterday and that Obama was called in by Paulson to showcase that he is presidential and he showed up at the cabinet room meeting uniformed. He (Obama) started the argument in the room last night. That’s why Reid is trying to slam McCain, because Obama failed. Where the hell is Boehner and the House GOP to McCain’s rescue? Time to step up guys and fight!
Sep 26, 2008 - 12:33 pm 34. kabud:Our wretched economy of false valuations cannot continue much longer.
It is the domestic counterpart of President Bush’s past friendship falsewith Vladimir Putin.
It is the fantasy world of an everlasting bull market and “successful” government bailouts.
The political leadership in America has demonstrated that it doesn’t understand economics.
They cannot solve the present crisis unless they go back to school and consult the wisdom they have so long neglected.
They have built their post- Cold War world on a false boom, on false “partnerships” with enemies. They have pe rmitted a policy of credit expansion without end.
“Credit expansion,” wrote the Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises, “is the governments’ foremost tool in their struggle against the market economy.
In their hands it is the magic wand designed to conjure away the scarcity of capital goods … and to make everybody prosperous.”
But everyone cannot be prosperous. The boom created by credit expansion cannot last.
This is what the leaders of the United States have missed. “The inescapable consequences of credit expansion,” wrote Mises, “are shown by the theory of the trade cycle.
Even those economists who still refuse to acknowledge the correctness of the … credit theory of the cyclical fluctuations of business have never dared to question the conclusiveness and irrefutability of what this theory asserts with regard to the necessary effects of credit expansion.”
And what are these effects?
Sep 26, 2008 - 12:41 pm 35. Ed Wallis:http://www.financialsense.com/stormwatch/geo/pastanalysis/2008/0926.html
“McCain Accused of Using Economic Crisis for Political Gain”
CORRECTION:
“Senator Accused of Using Socialism and Meaningless Hope’N'Change for Political Gain”
THERE…THAT’S BETTER.
Sep 26, 2008 - 12:47 pm 36. Marc Malone:Hey, proud elite. How are you today?
McCain’s going to D.C. wasn’t just show. The Dems won’t pass this bill without the ‘Pubs, because they don’t want the political fallout of being the only ones giving away the store. It’s radioactive. The ‘Pubs won’t go along without some political cover from McCain. So, Reid called for McCain’s support to get the ‘Pubs to go along, but he wasn’t expecting McCain to drop everything and SHOW UP.
McCain showing up makes this too transparent, so Reid is really upset. I think Reid was setting McCain up to take the blame: “Pubs wouldn’t go along because McCain failed to lead.” So, McCain shows up. Oops. Now, Reid’s really bent. Did he really think McCain would rubberstamp the deal from afar? McCain. Rubberstamp. As if!
So, does McCain need to be an economic whiz for this? No. The guys doing the deal aren’t either. What McCain has is the power to make or break the deal now. No one will sign off without his approval of the deal.
So, the ‘Pubs will offer an alternative plan. They have been listening to their constiuents lately (as have the Dems actually). Whatever they decide will be only slightly modified by the Dems (for their political cover). In the end, the ‘Pubs’ deal will go through after McCain signs off, AND NOT BEFORE.
As for the debates, they’re meaningless now. I could care less. Fix this mess, or fugeddaboutit. If McCain can get something done, it’s game over. Oh, they’ll try to give some plausibility to Obama’s “contributions”, but the guys in Congress are all up for re-election. If McCain squeezes them hard enough, they’ll throw Obama under the bus to save their own, um , skins.
To all those who think the Dems can pass it alone, um, maybe not. The Senate is split 50-49-1. Lieberman is the ‘1′. The Dems wrote him off after his speech at the RNC. Oops. Looks like they may need his vote. They won’t get it. He’s for McCain. He needs McCain to win, because he’s politically finished in the Senate. He’s looking to be Secretary of State in a McCain administration. If the vote goes along party lines, with Lieberman voting with the ‘Pubs, Cheney passes the tie-breaker. Cheney as King-maker. Hmmm….
Sep 26, 2008 - 1:20 pm 37. Ed Wallis:…maybe I should elaborate a bit…
(…just been out after the concrete was laid and cured…good things take time, y’know…)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5tZc8oH–o
10 minutes, but well worth a look. Thanks.
Sep 26, 2008 - 1:26 pm 38. Red Blooded American:I genuinely used to admire John McCain. No longer.
In the words of George Will:
“Under the pressure of the financial crisis, one presidential candidate is behaving like a flustered rookie playing in a league too high. It is not Barack Obama.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR2008092202583.html?nav=hcmoduletmv
I will be so glad when this election is over, so the wing-nuts can either start their gloating or sabotaging or attacking or all of the above. Oh I forgot, the wingnuts will start now because I know that’s what they live for. Traitors.
Sep 26, 2008 - 1:29 pm 39. tomw:Ed Wallis: I love how many of you in here try to immediately change the subject to something you feel you have an advantage on rather than discuss the topic at hand. It’s very telling.
Sep 26, 2008 - 1:37 pm 40. Therese:Bear and Proud Elitist:
If this isn’t political, why don’t the Democrats go ahead and pass what they have agreed on? They have the votes. They don’t need the Republicans and, according to them, the President and Hank Paulson are in agreement. If it’s as good as they say, then go ahead and do it! Then let’s see how the American public responds.
Trying to dump on McCain is not going to work. Too many of us see right through Obama, his rhetoric, his posturing and his emptiness.
Sep 26, 2008 - 1:39 pm 41. MaryL:hey elitist, can’t you not answer simple quetions:
why acorn should be recipient part of the profits nothing to do with the issue (earmarks)
Sep 26, 2008 - 1:49 pm 42. Robert Hurley:the dems has the majority in congress and they can pass this withou the republicans, why?
If McCain had gone to Washington with a solution, I would say it was a good play, but that does not seem the case. So what did he accomplish? He does not seem to be a player in this game. Was it more of a grandstand play without any substantive suggestions. It was in the least a strange strategy
Sep 26, 2008 - 1:59 pm 43. Robert Hurley:Oh by the way the Paulson plan is a Republican plan. The Republican senators signed on to the compromise and praised the negotiation sesssion as non partisan
Sep 26, 2008 - 2:01 pm 44. LSD:Listening to the Democratic leadership I can only deduce that McCain is one powerful individual. They suggest that he has derailed an extrememly urgent agreement (with consensus all-around) by his mere presence! Wow!
Sep 26, 2008 - 2:31 pm 45. jane:If the Senate Republicans signed onto the Paulson plan and obviously Pres Bush would sign it, the Democrats should just march along and push it through. Why do they care if the House Republicans don’t like it?
Sep 26, 2008 - 2:33 pm 46. MaryL:uh, uh, no Robert it was Paulson/Bush plan, McCain only said something towards the end of the meeting after Obama who Reid and Pelosi allowed to lead the conference and made a mess of it (proof: listen to his media interview wherein he said he’s better if he’s across the country, why so he can have his advisers to tell him what to do, that’s leadership?). As a matter of fact the Republicans were afraid that he may go with the Paulson plan but when he saw what it is, he didn’t endorse it and gave the republicans a boost to hold on to their position to work out a plan that will be advantageous to the taxpayers. Obama has not given his position on this.
Sep 26, 2008 - 2:55 pm 47. Herb:It’s amusing to hear all the Democrat bashing on this thread. Where are you getting your information? All reports indicate it was House Republicans who scuttled the deal.
Does that even matter, or should we just by default blame everything on the Democrats?
Sep 26, 2008 - 3:14 pm 48. Sandy Salt:Obama and McCain are both baffoons and we end up suffering because of it. A $700,000,000,000 bailout for criminals is no deal for the American Taxpayer. What are you people thinking. We need to force open the books on these companies and have the FBI and the AG put these people in jail. We also need to seize all their assets and use that to fix the economy. I bet we could go a long way into solving this issue if we started locking people up and taking their ill gotten gains. Treat them like the drug dealers they are. Start by locking up the CEO of WAMU and take his $20mil (for 17 days of work) and let it grease the credit wheels.
Sep 26, 2008 - 3:22 pm 49. Sandy Salt:And another thing. Once the FBI starts investigating they can uncover all the corruption between Wall Street and Washington (and there will be a lot of it). Once that comes to light then maybe we the people can finally flush the toliet that is Washington and put real limits on these career politicians and their lobbyist buddies. This isn’t a Democrat/Republican issue, it is a straight up criminal case that will blow the lid of Washington if the FBI can forget about politics and do their job.
Sep 26, 2008 - 3:34 pm 50. zanne:I can’t believe that ACORN is getting a slice of this pie. Aren’t they under investigation for embezzelment now? This is one sad system.
Sep 26, 2008 - 3:58 pm 51. sixfingers:Where will Obama be when the next 9/11 happens?
Sep 26, 2008 - 4:11 pm 52. crossover:Maybe at a Strawberry festival in Kansas.
We need a President who will find out what is going on, not someone hidding his head in the sand in Mississippi.
Again the question-
If the Democrats control the House and the Senate, and as they claim they had a deal worked out.
Why did they not go ahead and vote for or against it?
I guess Do Nothing Democrats- applies to both the House and Senate.
Sep 26, 2008 - 4:12 pm 53. Judy, NYC:How could we ever survive with a Democrat controlled Congress and a Democrat President?
without mccain’s presence they would have slipped this bullshit past us in the wee hours of the morning as democrats and republicans have done time and again, because they are cut of the same cloth. it is the one covering their asses. mccain is actually the only one who really cared that this was being done in dark, he shone a light on it, and forced the press to cover it and analyze the original bill. poor things, must have really exhausted those dummies having to study. i like what mccain did. obama is just a posturing, boring loudmouth with very little brain and no ideas or passion or thinking of any kind outside of his personal zone. i can’t stomach him, whenever he opens his stupid mouth toads hop out of the empty space.
Sep 26, 2008 - 4:41 pm 54. Doddlin:Burning down the house – Please watch and get the facts.
Sep 26, 2008 - 8:57 pm 55. AdrianS:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5tZc8oH–o
UPDATE TO MR. PHILLIP BERG’S LAWSUIT AGAINST BARACK OBAMA BASED ON OBAMA’S INELIGIBILITY ON HIS CANDIDACY AS REGARDS THE REQUIREMENTS OF NATURAL BORN CITIZENSHIP ACCORDING TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Partial excerpt from an email I sent Mr. Berg:
“I trust the judge did not originally dismiss your lawsuit because it does indeed have merit. We, as Americans, in order to fulfill the intent and directive of our Constitution are bound by patriotic duty to determine the legal status of any citizen running for the Presidency of the United States; such determination of status having to do with a requirement that said citizen must be a natural born citizen. Mr. Obama should be required to present pertinent evidence that would allow a judge or qualified public official to determine if he is, or is not, a natural born citizen. It is a legal requirement.”
Mr. Berg sent this copy of Mr. Obama’s and the DNC’s response.
Update: http://www.nextgenerationcorp.com/NextGenBlog/?p=66
It appears that Mr. Obama is trying to stall the matter. The outstanding issue is Mr. Obama’s birth certificate (Certificate of Live Birth). It appears that so far he has obfuscated this issue as well by providing, or having his agents provide, a false certificate of birth for publication.
But to Mr. Obama’s determent, the people of the United States of America demand that he (Mr. Obama) remove himself from eligibility to run for any political office for which he is not qualified and/or for which he (Mr. Obama) will not publicly present authoritative qualification for his candidacy as required by the Constitution of the United States of America.
God bless.
Sep 27, 2008 - 1:33 pm 56. Ben-Peter:Thank God Pam Meister is jogging America’s memory. I like this point:
“The reaction of the candidates speaks volumes about their readiness to react to crisis. Remember the difference between McCain and Obama when Russia invaded Georgia? At the time, voters trusted McCain on the issue by a two-to-one margin.”
As an Australian, I don’t trust Obama one little bit. At least McCain’s family knows hat it is like to fight down here, when it hits the fan. Actions speak louder than PC memoirs.
Sep 27, 2008 - 5:47 pm 57. Believer:Posted at:
gatewaypundit.blogspot.com
is a video showing the exchange of statements between Dems and Repubs in 2004 re the Fannie/Freddie fiasco. It’s devastating for the Dems.
Scroll down to about 8AM 9/27 — other good stuff at the site as well.
Sep 27, 2008 - 7:17 pm 58. Marc Malone:What I want to know is this: Who isn’t using this for political advantage?
Obama wants the economy to stay in the tank until the election. A McCain led solution would be damaging to him.
House and Senate Democrats are trying to cover their involvement in this mess, by blaming Bush. Yeah, the lame duck was the one taking all the campaign contributions.
Pelosi couldn’t carry the Dems and she knew it. So, she blamed the ‘Pubs BEFORE the vote! She makes it their fault. Aaaw, the poor babies. They don’t want to get blamed for this so the Dems can get re-elected and do more harm, while they get hammered on election day.
If McCain had not grandstanded and announced the suspension of his campaign, I would say he didn’t try to make political hay. He should’ve quietly shown up. Doing that would’ve given him all the power necessary to do what was needed, then he could claim a measured portion afterwards. The right bill could’ve allowed him to deliver every Repub vote, because they could’ve ridden his coattails to re-election. He’d've shown himself as THE leader of the party by delivering their votes, and they’d've benefitted.
The only one who didn’t play politics with this was… Bush! He’s too tired to care anymore about politics.
Sep 30, 2008 - 2:27 pm 59. Robert Guthrie:I don’t care how much money Obama received from ACORN or Fannie or Freddie or Frank Raines. Going back to 1980 the republicans have had the White House for 20 of the last 28 years. The only time the country did well was under the eight years under Clinton. I consider myself a moderate independent which I know fox news hates because your agenda is to stir people up so much that they fear ‘foreigners’ and need saving economically by the government…a republican government…you hope…but the evidence tells a story that you don’t want people to acknowledge…republican policies have almost destroyed the economy of this county and republican handling of the war, in both Iraq and Afghanistan, has resulted in grandstanding and bungling so bad it is embarrassing to me as a citizen of the U.S.
Do I even need remark about Bush v. Gore…are you kidding ‘voter fraud’? How about Ohio in 2004? Your reporting is so biased and unbalanced that you must be aware that you are preaching to the choir. All I see when I watch fox is cheerleading for old & busted!!!
Oct 2, 2008 - 8:35 am