McCain undermines Bush, Senate Repubs, spoils deal

[HoyaNyr320]

The developments over the past few hours have been mind-boggling. There was a deal this morning. McCain arrived to the Hill after this was announced. He then went over to the House side and talked with Republicans there about a different proposal. Now, after the White House meeting there is no longer a deal.

This is bi-partisan leadership? Wow.

[Bando]

You got a source for that? I've heard that too, but reports are coming in quick and seem to be conflicting.

[HoyaNyr320]

All from cnn.com and reports from the Situation Room.

[TC]

I called it yesterday at 3:45 in the McCain to Suspend His Campaign thread. My guess would have been for him to wait to get to the floor to vote against the bill, but guess not.

He's a Maverick! He's willing to sandbag everybody and not give an opinion until he can play it into a political stunt!

I've been calling in to my Congressman every day this week telling him he should oppose the bailout, guess I'll be calling in all next week telling him to oppose McCain's bailout. BTW, my Congressman has not had an opinion on the bailout any time I've called.

[kchoya]

Sept 25, 2008 17:31:20 GMT -5 TC said:

I called it yesterday at 3:45 in the McCain to Suspend His Campaign thread. My guess would have been for him to wait to get to the floor to vote against the bill, but guess not.

He's a Maverick! He's willing to sandbag everybody and not give an opinion until he can play it into a political stunt!

I've been calling in to my Congressman every day this week telling him he should oppose the bailout, guess I'll be calling in all next week telling him to oppose McCain's bailout. BTW, my Congressman has not had an opinion on the bailout any time I've called.

I'm confused. Are you upset with McCain for derailing the bailout you are against or not?

[Boz]

Sept 25, 2008 17:10:04 GMT -5 HoyaNyr320 said:

There was a deal this morning.

This news comes as a surprise to Minority Leader Boehner.

[TC]

Sept 25, 2008 17:39:05 GMT -5 kchoya said:

I'm confused. Are you upset with McCain for derailing the bailout you are against or not?

I'm happy with Jim Bunning (R-KY).

I'm not happy with McCain - all he's done here is substitute something I don't like with something I'm likely to hate even more.

[kchoya]

Sept 25, 2008 17:46:54 GMT -5 Boz said:

Sept 25, 2008 17:10:04 GMT -5 HoyaNyr320 said:

There was a deal this morning.

This news comes as a surprise to Minority Leader Boehner.

Tsk, tsk. Why would you let the facts get in the way of a chance to slam John McCain?

[jerseyhoya34]

I guess the question I have is, when you boil it right down, how has John McCain helped today? What were the deliverables at the end of the day that he has brought about for the American people one day into his effort to bring about a compromise? Unfortunately, Wall Street will vote tomorrow morning on the McCain Plan.

The reality of it all is that McCain has not suspended his campaign. He has brought it to Washington. His campaign is still active on the ground elsewhere, and his advisors are still attacking Barack Obama in whatever free media they can use.

[jerseyhoya34]

Sept 25, 2008 17:46:54 GMT -5 Boz said:

Sept 25, 2008 17:10:04 GMT -5 HoyaNyr320 said:

There was a deal this morning.

This news comes as a surprise to Minority Leader Boehner.

No WMD in Iraq also came as a surprise to Minority Leader Boehner.

[HoyaNyr320]

Sept 25, 2008 17:46:54 GMT -5 Boz said:

This news comes as a surprise to Minority Leader Boehner.

Boehner was SILENT the entire day, as the Senate Republicans along with the Democrats announced a deal was in place. He would have remained silent if McCain had not joined up with him.

[Boz]

OK, first of all, you're in the tank. That's fine, there's no problem with that, but what you are alleging is not fact.

I could just as easily create a new thread entitled "Obama stands on sidelines during crisis, comes running when George Bush calls him, still does nothing." Equally misleading and ridiculous.

There was no agreement this morning. Democratic leaders reported that based on some discussions, but with no consultations with senior Republican leadership. But no, THEY couldn't have been playing politics with this, only Republicans do that!!

Boehner never agreed to a deal. Shelby never agreed to a deal. The ranking member of the Financial Services Committee, Bachus, never agreed to a deal. Cantor never agreed to a deal. Pick just about any serious player in this and I don't think you can find anyone who did so.

There was some agreement on portions of the plan, but just because the media reported what Barney Frank and Chris Dodd wanted them to does not mean that the Republican leadership had agreed on a bill.

I have no problem with criticizing McCain, but I have no patience for this ridiculous spin.

[TC]

Shelby opposes the whole proposal and has been replaced by Bennett. Bennett, spoke at the press conference :

www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2008/09/22/daily51.html

So yes, the House Republicans never agreed, but it seems like the Senate Republicans did.

Supposedly McCain's plan has less regulation and more corporate tax cuts. I'll be calling my Congressman again in the morning.

Also, the Dallas Fed Governor has come out against any use of $700B. I'm hopeful the whole thing goes down in flames - public opinion is strongly against it.

www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=abK2j4XZsBuU

[TBird41]

Sept 25, 2008 21:57:30 GMT -5 TC said:

Shelby opposes the whole proposal and has been replaced by Bennett. Bennett, spoke at the press conference :

www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2008/09/22/daily51.html

So yes, the House Republicans never agreed, but it seems like the Senate Republicans did.

Supposedly McCain's plan has less regulation and more corporate tax cuts. I'll be calling my Congressman again in the morning.

Also, the Dallas Fed Governor has come out against any use of $700B. I'm hopeful the whole thing goes down in flames - public opinion is strongly against it.

www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=abK2j4XZsBuU

The article disagrees with you on the Dallas Fed Governor's stance:

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher said the U.S. Treasury's proposed $700 billion rescue of financial institutions would be ``a critical first step'' toward calming markets even while adding to the U.S. government's fiscal burden.

"Critical First Step" seems to imply he thinks it's pretty important. Maybe it's just me though...

[HoyaNyr320]

Word is that Obama brought a staffer from his Senate office to the White House meeting today. McCain? A Campaign staffer.

www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0908/Staffing_the_White_House_meeting.html?showall

Think about that for a minute. What does that say about how the two candidates approaching this issue?

[TC]

Sept 25, 2008 22:07:24 GMT -5 TBird41 said:

The article disagrees with you on the Dallas Fed Governor's stance:

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher said the U.S. Treasury's proposed $700 billion rescue of financial institutions would be ``a critical first step'' toward calming markets even while adding to the U.S. government's fiscal burden.

"Critical First Step" seems to imply he thinks it's pretty important. Maybe it's just me though...

Wow.....here's what it used to read :

"Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher said the proposed $700 billion rescue of financial institutions backed by Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke would plunge the U.S. government deeper into a fiscal abyss.

The plan by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to buy troubled assets from financial institutions would put "one more straw on the back of the frightfully encumbered camel that is the federal government ledger," Fisher said today in the text of a speech in New York. "We are deeply submerged in a vast fiscal chasm."

[HoyaNyr320]

Sept 25, 2008 21:31:20 GMT -5 Boz said:

OK, first of all, you're in the tank. That's fine, there's no problem with that, but what you are alleging is not fact.

I could just as easily create a new thread entitled "Obama stands on sidelines during crisis, comes running when George Bush calls him, still does nothing." Equally misleading and ridiculous.

There was no agreement this morning. Democratic leaders reported that based on some discussions, but with no consultations with senior Republican leadership. But no, THEY couldn't have been playing politics with this, only Republicans do that!!

Boehner never agreed to a deal. Shelby never agreed to a deal. The ranking member of the Financial Services Committee, Bachus, never agreed to a deal. Cantor never agreed to a deal. Pick just about any serious player in this and I don't think you can find anyone who did so.

There was some agreement on portions of the plan, but just because the media reported what Barney Frank and Chris Dodd wanted them to does not mean that the Republican leadership had agreed on a bill.

I have no problem with criticizing McCain, but I have no patience for this ridiculous spin.

You don't think Senate Republicans were in on these negotiations? You think Democrats just announced there was a deal for the hell of it? Senate Republicans had agreed to the core principles!!!!

Who's spinning now?

[StPetersburgHoya (Inactive)]

Here's the time line today - Banking and Finance Committee Dems and Reps from both houses have an agreement in principle and are working it out in a caucus in foreign relations committee chamber, McCain shows up, House republicans suddenly have a different proposal and won't vote for anything proposed by Democrats, McCain has his meeting and allegedly says that he doesn't think there's a compromise after not saying much in the meeting, Congressman Shelby, a friend of the McCain campaign runs out and yells to the press that there is no deal. The injection of presidential politics set this thing back at least 24 hours if not a couple of days. During that time WaMu failed. The market is going to open 200 points down if this isn't fixed by the opening bell. McCain hasn't received a single electoral college vote and he already is mismanaging the economy.

Now he has the following options:

1) Try to hammer out a compromise, fail, go to the debate anyways - And pretty much admit he didn't have any effect and it was a stunt

2) Try to hammer out a deal, keep working and don't go to the debate - Obama gets a 90 minute town hall on all the networks where he can lay out what he'd do about the economy, McCain gets no message out, and looks ridiculous in the process.

3) Try to hammer out a deal, and the current proposal goes to a vote in the Senate - McCain either has to vote against what his base wants or has to vote against it and risk looking like he wasn't willing to try to reach a compromise and lead when the market is tanking.

4) Try to hammer out a deal and succeed in getting something done - McCain can possibly win, but he'll probably have to vote for something that his party doesn't like.


Republicans have turned a national crisis into political theater worthy of the Schivo (sp?) scandal. This isn't leadership, its politics and McCain is getting exposed.

[sead43]

Sept 25, 2008 23:03:43 GMT -5 StPetersburgHoya (Inactive) said:

Republicans have turned a national crisis into political theater worthy of the Schivo (sp?) scandal. This isn't leadership, its politics and McCain is getting exposed.

this editorial is hilarious in light of all this:

www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/editorials/view/2008_09_23_Reform_we_can_believe_in/

[SirSaxa]

The House and Senate Democratic and Republican leadership has been working all week around the clock to try to craft an emergency deal with Hank Paulson -- the Administration's Republican Sec. of the Treasury. This is essentially a huge effort by the Dems -- and responsible Republicans on the Hill -- to solve the crisis.

All week long they have been negotiating and getting closer and closer to a solution.

This morning, the Democratic Leadership and Republican Senator Bennett of Utah announced that they had a deal. No one said otherwise.

Then at the White House, suddenly the House Republicans have an entirely new plan.... never before presented... after a week of around the clock negotiations and hearings.

Paulson says their plan won't work.

The Republicans are fighting with one another about how to solve their own crisis, and doing everything they can to put McCain in the middle of it.

I really don't see how anyone cannot see that this is a blatant, political ploy and the Global Economy be damned. This is truly shocking.

Remember what Republician Senator Bennett -- who has been deeply involved in the negotiations all week, said yesterday:

“I now expect we will indeed have a plan that can pass the House, pass the Senate, be signed by the president, and bring a sense of certainty to this crisis that is still roiling in the markets,” said Robert Bennett, Republican of Utah. “That is our primary responsibility, and I think we our now prepared to meet it.”

And Mr. Bennett, one of the senior members of the banking committee, made a point of describing the meeting as free of political “posturing.”

“We focused on solving the problem, rather than posturing politically and it was one of the most productive sessions in that regard that I have participated in since I have been in the Senate.”[

NY Times on Bailout Bill