So, John McCain gets involved in an area about which he knows nothing - economics, the "mental recession," all that - and immediately messes things up. In sum, McCain "suspends" his campaign (not really, as his offices are all open, he's appearing on news shows, Palin's busy making a fool of herself...in other words, life goes on at Camp McCrazy), pulls out of the first presidential debate (well, maybe, we're not sure about that), goes to a crucial White House meeting and basically has nothing to say, etc.
As if all that's not bad enough, we then get McCain joining with right-wing House Republicans, some of whom "are saying privately that they'd rather 'let the markets crash' than sign on to a massive bailout." One House Republican even mused, "For the sake of the altar of the free market system, do you accept a Great Depression?" Yeah, just what we need, bread lines and soup kitchens, sounds great!
So what's John McCain doing that's SO constructive he can't make the debate tonight? Nothing, according to this:
Reid said McCain was "not helpful" by suspending his campaign and heading to Washington, claiming it was difficult to "understand what John McCain said at the [White House] meeting." He said McCain spoke last and only for several moments, and did not contribute anything."McCain only hurt this process," Reid said.
Asked if McCain expressed interest in taking part in negotiations on Capitol Hill, Reid said, "No."
And then there's this classic quote about John McCain:
Following the meeting, Frank and Dodd implored President Bush to persuade House Republicans that the situation is urgent. "The president has got to go to work here," said Frank. As for McCain's offer of assistance, Frank said, "God save us from such help."Frank gave reporters copies of the House Republicans' set of principles, and he said that their primary goal - insuring bad bank loans, rather than buying them - had already been rejected by Paulson as unworkable. He noted that no House Republicans raised the insurance idea at a House hearing yesterday; if anyone had, he said, Paulson would have rejected the idea out of hand.
So, there you have it: John McCain comes to Washington after barely being seen there the past 1 1/2 years, huddles with the most right-wing Republicans in Congress, has nothing constructive to add at the emergency White House summit, apparently signs on to an "unworkable" idea that House Republicans (or the McCain campaign?) hatched at the last minute, and hangs out with people who are trying to figure out whether preserving the "altar of the free market" is worth a new Great Depression.
Yeah, that's our pal John McCain: leadership, integrity, "country first" and all that (***snark*** ***eye rolls***). "God save us" is right!
This is very, very disgraceful of them.
So dumb seems pretty plausible ;)
I hope that Wall Street and its financial elites will see how reckless McCain is with this stunt. Just when Democrats, the White House and Paulson had agreed on a bill to rescue mainly rich people, McCain had to derail the process so that he will have an excuse not to debate.
Cowardly of McCain to dodge, but very, very reckless and irresponsible to play with the world economy for personal gain.
On the other hand, according to a pro-McCain free marketer on the show with Plotkin, this whole thing happened because of excessive regulation (i.e., telling Fannie and Freddie to make more loans for homeownership) and what we need is less regulation not more. The Free Marketers are out in force. NO ONE is challenging them and their basic philosophy. It is precisely what I was afraid of, and the reason I urged the Democrats to tackle free market Friedmanism and come up with an alternative economic philosophy pronto. McCain is coming off smelling like a rose; even though his erratic performance has been remarked upon, he sounds more in tune with what the general voter is thinking than Obama, who is tarred with supporting Bush. Beyer is doing a good, reasoned and polite job, but she is not going for the gut.
NO: oversite, no limit, no regulations, and a blank check. Bush is not out to save the Seventh Cavalry, he's trying to save Custer's scalp and to hell with the troopers.
I don't see investors bailing out of the market. What's the rush? Me thinks something is rotten in the District of Columbia.
I'm a registered Republican, a Vietnam Vet, and a retired vet. I was trying hard to vote for McCain until he selected Mrs. Airhead for his wing man.
Our country cannot have Flailin Palin guarding our 6. According to the insurance actuary tables McCain has 2 to 4 years before his skin cancer kills him. I think the pressures of the office will kill him sooner. No president since the FDR-Truman era has had so many problems occurring all at once.