Politics Risen Above
Bailout deal collapses as what some people hoped would be a rubber-stamp session turns out to be a negotiation, and quickly devolves into a shouting match. Dems, who reluctantly agreed to participate in non-partisan session when they thought it meant everyone would agree with them, outraged. McCain-bashing reports are silent on what Obama did to help … disappointing, seeing how eager he is to sit down and sort out difficult issues with contrary parties.
Roundup starts with a quick deconstruction of the Obamist standard-bearing wire service, which decries McCain poll-boosting tactic, reporting McCain “did nothing to help” in econ summit, citing the most unimpeachable of sources. It’s the non-news within the news. OP’s in the tank. via Herald:
His efforts to re-energize his presidential campaign will partly turn on who wins the public relations battle, destined to play out for days. Things didn’t go too well for McCain on Thursday.
Top Democrats in Congress ridiculed his role after a chaotic end to a White House summit meeting that McCain had requested, and which included Democratic nominee Barack Obama. McCain’s own campaign said the session “devolved into a contentious shouting match.”
The campaign statement suggested Obama was at fault. But Democrats were disdainful.
“John McCain did nothing to help,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who attended the meeting. “He only hurt the process.”
Reid, Hero of the Surge, is well known for his bi-partisan props, his roll-up the sleeves willingness to get things done. Good thing everyone’s agreed to keep the politics out of it for the benefit of America.
Hours later, when negotiations hastily resumed in the Capitol, House Republicans refused to send a representative authorized to bargain.
“This is the president’s own party,” said Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, a chief Democratic negotiator. “I don’t think a president has been repudiated so strongly by the congressional wing of his own party in a long time.”
“We still don’t know whether Sen. McCain works with them or not,” he added.
Turns out McCain’s not overly enthusaed about it, either.
“At this moment, the plan that has been put forth by the administration does not enjoy the confidence of the American people as it will not protect … taxpayers and will sacrifice Main Street in favor of Wall Street,” the McCain campaign said in a statement. “We are still optimistic that a bipartisan solution will be found,” it said.
OP sniffs around for some House GOP McCain bashing. Forced to make do:
Even the House’s Republican leader, John Boehner of Ohio, passed up a chance to praise McCain’s leadership powers shortly before the two met in the Capitol at midday Thursday. Asked by reporters if McCain could help win House Republican votes for the proposed package, Boehner shrugged and said, “Who knows?”
Boehner later said in a statement that McCain “has a vital role to play in this process, and he has a history of working together with both parties to make things happen.”
Other Republicans gave McCain more credit. “They got something done this morning only because McCain came back,” said Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C. DeMint later called the administration’s proposal “a trillion-dollar Band-Aid that does not contain a single item that will stimulate our economy.”
Then there’s the question of when McCain stopped beating his wife:
In truth, McCain has faced a no-win situation for days. To support the bailout or a similar plan could put him at odds with millions of voters and many House Republicans at a time his campaign is sliding in the polls. Also, McCain has struggled to distance himself from the unpopular Bush, and embracing the administration’s plan clearly would not help.
Obama has an easier path. No one will accuse him of being a Bush clone even if he ends up siding with the administration. And Democrats in general are more receptive to government regulation of powerful institutions.
Interesting, I thought regulation wasn’t on the table at present. It’s a bailout with some strings attached. Curious also that a few points is “sliding.” McCain’s struggle to distance himself has been largely in the minds of Obamists … such as the vaunted Obamist Press wire service … who have suspended their knowledge of recent history to paint McCain as a Bush clone.
In further parroting, I mean reporting, OP billboards Barney Frank’s take with … guess whose fault. Despite the OP’s eagerness to find GOP support for the notion of McCain leadership, it manages to bury this:
McCain’s leadership in the negotiations “is to try to stop us from yelling at each other, announcing deals that don’t exist, to actually talk to the House and the Senate and get agreement and then go to the press,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said on NBC’s “Today” show: “Try to create organization out of chaos. Three days ago (Sen.) Harry Reid said there’ll be no deal without John McCain’s support. Nothing happened for three days. John comes back to town, now he’s being criticized for coming back.”
Ambinder at Atlantic Monthly: Hold the McCain bashing. Dems say McCain didn’t sandbag anything or even do his unhinged angry trip-wire vet thing. Boehner told the truth, Dems couldn’t handle it:
Though Sen. Chris Dodd implied that Sen. McCain sandbagged the rest of the negotiators by bringing up alternative proposals, McCain himself did not bring up those proposals, according to four independent sources briefed by four different principals inside the meeting, including two Republicans and two Democrats.
“McCain has not attacked the Paulson deal,” said a third Republican who was briefed by McCain direclty. “Unlike the [Democrats] in the [White House] meeting, he didn’t raise his voice or cause a ruckus. He is urging all sides to come together.”
Republicans like John Boehner brought up the concerns of House GOPers and McCain acknowledged hearing about their concerns. And McCain, and staffers, did seek to gauge the level of support of the GOP working group’s white paper. The Democrats were left with the impression that McCain endorsed the GOP efforts, but they concede that he did not raise them directly.
The fact is that Boehner doesn’t have 100 votes from his conference — 100 votes that Nancy Pelosi really wants. And that’s not McCain’s fault.
Responsibility for rubber stamping is McCain’s, however.
But Boehner and the White House — and McCain — if they want to get something passed — do have the responsibility to persuade these Republicans to support the bailout .
After all, if not to get these recalcitrant Republicans on board, why did McCain go to Washington in the first place?
Hot Air: One big sticking point is the ACORN/La Raza bailout, Dem plan to funnel bailout $$$ via the Housing Trust Fund to its political allies. Malkin with more on that.
Instapundit: Never mind since when was the GOP on board … since when were the Dems on board?
Meanwhile, ABC: Debate still a question mark.
NYT, with some of the weird details of what went on:
In the Roosevelt Room after the session, the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., literally bent down on one knee as he pleaded with Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, not to “blow it up” by withdrawing her party’s support for the package over what Ms. Pelosi derided as a Republican betrayal.
“I didn’t know you were Catholic,” Ms. Pelosi said, a wry reference to Mr. Paulson’s kneeling, according to someone who observed the exchange. She went on: “It’s not me blowing this up, it’s the Republicans.”
Mr. Paulson sighed. “I know. I know.”
It was the very outcome the White House had said it intended to avoid, with partisan presidential politics appearing to trample what had been exceedingly delicate Congressional negotiations.
Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut and chairman of the Senate banking committee, denounced the session as “a rescue plan for John McCain,” and proclaimed it a waste of precious hours that could have been spent negotiating.
But a top aide to Mr. Boehner said it was Democrats who had done the political posturing. The aide, Kevin Smith, said Republicans revolted, in part, because they were chafing at what they saw as an attempt by Democrats to jam through an agreement on the bailout early Thursday and deny Mr. McCain an opportunity to participate in the agreement.
…
House Republicans have spent days expressing their unease about a huge government intervention, which they regard as a step down the path to socialism.
Mr. Smith, the aide to Mr. Boehner, said the leader had directed a group of Republicans a few days ago to see whether they could come up with alternatives that relied less on tax funds in providing the rescue package; that led to Mr. Cantor’s mortgage-insurance approach. He said Mr. Boehner thought Mr. Cantor’s idea should be taken into consideration in the talks.
At 4 p.m., Mr. Bush convened his meeting at the White House; Mr. McCain had already met with House Republicans to hear their concerns. He later said on ABC that he had known going into the White House that “there never was a deal,” but he kept that sentiment to himself.
The meeting opened with Mr. Paulson, the chief architect of the bailout plan, “giving a status report on the condition of the market,” Tony Fratto, Mr. Bush’s deputy press secretary, said. Mr. Fratto said Mr. Paulson warned in particular of the tightening of credit markets overnight, adding, “that is something very much on his mind.”
Mr. McCain was at one end of the long conference table, Mr. Obama at the other, with the president and senior Congressional leaders between them. Participants said Mr. Obama peppered Mr. Paulson with questions, while Mr. McCain said little. Outside the West Wing, a huge crowd of reporters gathered in the driveway, anxiously awaiting an appearance by either presidential candidate, with expectations running high.
Instead, the first politician to emerge was Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the senior Republican on the banking committee, waving a sheet of paper that he said detailed his own concerns. “The agreement,” Mr. Shelby declared, “is obviously no agreement.”
The House Republicans’ revolt shocked Democrats; the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, said later that he was under the impression that Mr. Boehner had been a strong advocate for moving forward with the Paulson plan.
Representative Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat, who attended the White House meeting, was shocked as well. “We were ready to make a deal,” Mr. Frank said later.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:00 am on Friday, September 26, 2008
3 Responses to “Politics Risen Above”
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September 26th, 2008 at 9:42 am
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September 26th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
“Bailout deal collapses”
Good. It’s not the government’s job to steal my money and give it to halfwits who engage in bad business deals.
That’s theft (aka socialism).
No more balouts with my money. If the dickheads in Washington want to bail out corporations who make bad loans or deadbeats who can’t pay back their loans (aka Democraty voters) let them use their own money to do it.
September 27th, 2008 at 8:24 am
The problem is that they think our money is their money!