McCain to suspend campaign

[Townsend]

The Republican presidential hopeful called Obama before he made the statement and told him he was going to suspend his campaign, according to a McCain senior adviser.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26872907/

I know, I know...he won't really but I thought it was a fun subject line.

[pmcalk]

Man, you beat me to it!

[waterboy]

How quaint. All the republican legislators are in a tizzy till they figure out who is their real leader...Bush or McCain. Most everyone else is sitting back trying to figure out the best way to cover their butts. A few like Shumer who wants to dole out the money in parcels and see if it works and a few real maverick republicans continue to work on the best way to proceed for the country.

If republicans follow Mac, and he continues to be against it, they look like obstructionists who won't act to protect their country. If he continues to be against it and they follow Bush, they are at risk in the fall for following the lead of an unpopular President. Of course a negotiated compromise bill is going to pass so they can then blame an unpopular president and a liberal Democratic party. Great political stuff here. Cynical and self serving.

If Mac decides to support the bailout he suffers the wrath of true conservatives who want Wall Street to suffer and Dems to take the blame. Those who then follow him face that wrath this fall as well. Quite a quandary, but not to worry, Mac has a plan.

McCain scores well on this one by default. The important thing for his campaign is that this decision in his party...IS ALL ABOUT HIM! Screw the country! He'll transfer that attention and use it to rally the party behind the "Maverick".  Even though Obama was the first candidate to suggest that CEO pay be limited and loans in foreclosure rewritten in any bill, look for Mac to steal that just like he did the change mantra. AND, by stopping the debate and grandstanding in the Senate, he'll take credit for a compromise even though Dems and Republicans in both houses are already negotiating with the President and have a bill that Bush will sign. What a guy.

While they all play Mexican Sweat Poker with our money, the country holds their breath.

[we vs us]

Ok:  It's interesting on the face of it, and succeeds in doing what Palin's selection did, which is completely change the momentum of the campaign (and just in time, too:  McCain's numbers are really starting to sag).  So that's a plus for him there.  But I'm not really sure what he hopes to accomplish in Washington that isn't already being done. Congress is hashing through the biggest bank bailout in history, and they're being remarkably bipartisan about it.  Of course, that's bipartisan in skewering Paulson's plan, but who's counting?

[iplaw]

What a surprise.  

McCain actually wants to do his job and be a part of solving this mess.  He's a sentaor in a closely divided senate.  Every vote counts at this point, Obama's included.

Obama's clearly not interested in voting because it's too risky and since too many people are watching he can't vote present. He's running from his duty to help guide America through this mess.

The debate Friday night can and should be postponed.  No one is going to give a rat's donkey if the debate happens a few days later. If conventions can be postponed due to a natural disaster, a debate can be postponed for a financial crisis.

Obama better get on board with this or he's going to look foolish and selfish.

[iplaw]

I think regardless of what Obama does, McCain needs to stick to his guns and skip the debate if they won't budge.  Let Obama answer the typical hard hitting questions he gets from the MSM like, "What's your favorite movie" or "What's your favorite color" or "Boxers or briefs"

Or better yet, let him and Biden debate one another. They don't seem to agree about much lately.

[Hoss]

quote:Originally posted by iplaw

....

Obama better get on board with this or he's going to look foolish and selfish.

Or so say Republicans.

You can look at it both ways.  McCain suspends his campaign because his poll numbers are dropping, so he's calling a time out.

On the other hand, Obama wants to continue on AND have dialog.

Since when does being a multitasker make you look 'foolish and selfish'?  I guarantee you if the shoe were on the other foot, you'd be sayin' 'Obama's just stallin'.  Right?

Either decision is going to be spun for political gain by BOTH parties.  Who reached out first, though?  Obama?

[iplaw]

A sentaor can't possibly divide time between passing historic legislation in a 4 day time crunch and run a campaign.  I know Obama thinks he's the Lord Messiah and can do it all, but I expect the undivided attention of these jackasses when they're asking for 700 billion dollars of our money.

[Conan71]

Hmmm, looks like Bush might have been right and obstructionist Democrats got this one wrong...

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E3D6123BF932A2575AC0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print

September 11, 2003
New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae
By STEPHEN LABATON
The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.

Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry.

The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios.

The plan is an acknowledgment by the administration that oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- which together have issued more than $1.5 trillion in outstanding debt -- is broken. A report by outside investigators in July concluded that Freddie Mac manipulated its accounting to mislead investors, and critics have said Fannie Mae does not adequately hedge against rising interest rates.

''There is a general recognition that the supervisory system for housing-related government-sponsored enterprises neither has the tools, nor the stature, to deal effectively with the current size, complexity and importance of these enterprises,'' Treasury Secretary John W. Snow told the House Financial Services Committee in an appearance with Housing Secretary Mel Martinez, who also backed the plan....

(edited for brevity, full story is linked)

....Fannie Mae, which was previously known as the Federal National Mortgage Association, and Freddie Mac, which was the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, have been criticized by rivals for exerting too much influence over their regulators.

''The regulator has not only been outmanned, it has been outlobbied,'' said Representative Richard H. Baker, the Louisiana Republican who has proposed legislation similar to the administration proposal and who leads a subcommittee that oversees the companies. ''Being underfunded does not explain how a glowing report of Freddie's operations was released only hours before the managerial upheaval that followed. This is not world-class regulatory work.''

Significant details must still be worked out before Congress can approve a bill. Among the groups denouncing the proposal today were the National Association of Home Builders and Congressional Democrats who fear that tighter regulation of the companies could sharply reduce their commitment to financing low-income and affordable housing.

''These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis,'' said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ''The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.''

Representative Melvin L. Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, agreed.

''I don't see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing,'' Mr. Watt said.

Barney Frank and Mel Watt, I salute you... nothing to see here.... [)]

Here's a summary of the policy issues:

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/09/16/whose-policies-led-to-the-credit-crisis/

[Gaspar]

Our lovely congress has tacked billions in earmarks to this financial bailout plan.  Pelosi wants her new museum, and all of her goblins want their pets fed too.

If they continue like this and the bill goes into a long debate we will melt down.

It's commendable what McCain has chosen to do.  He has always been the most successful member of congress for working across party lines, and perhaps he can help them come to some solution.

Pelosi and Reed are not going to bend, so it may be necessary to pay their blackmail to get a solution passed.  Either way, someone needs to be there and take control of this congress or we all suffer.

[FOTD]

A desperate joke..Ha Ha.....fun to see McLame try to put on his Superman costume to save the economy (something he knows nothing about).

He gets roasted for this....The devil knows this to be true. He is a loser. Doomed.

He had everything to lose and nothing to gain by debating.

Ya'll posters need to get on with reality.

HAIL MARY!

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by Gaspar

Our lovely congress has tacked billions in earmarks to this financial bailout plan.  Pelosi wants her new museum, and all of her goblins want their pets fed too.

If they continue like this and the bill goes into a long debate we will melt down.

It's commendable what McCain has chosen to do.  He has always been the most successful member of congress for working across party lines, and perhaps he can help them come to some solution.

Pelosi and Reed are not going to bend, so it may be necessary to pay their blackmail to get a solution passed.  Either way, someone needs to be there and take control of this congress or we all suffer.

Source?

[FOTD]

Chickensh*t.....all of you wingnutz.

[guido911]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

quote:Originally posted by Gaspar

Our lovely congress has tacked billions in earmarks to this financial bailout plan.  Pelosi wants her new museum, and all of her goblins want their pets fed too.

If they continue like this and the bill goes into a long debate we will melt down.

It's commendable what McCain has chosen to do.  He has always been the most successful member of congress for working across party lines, and perhaps he can help them come to some solution.

Pelosi and Reed are not going to bend, so it may be necessary to pay their blackmail to get a solution passed.  Either way, someone needs to be there and take control of this congress or we all suffer.

Source?

Yeah, what conan said.

[FOTD]

McCain Camp is trying to deep six the VP Debate out of fears that Palin will be a disaster. So, they are using this trumped Up "McCain Must be in D.C." excuse to say the First Presidential Debate should replace the VP Debate. A major poll today showed Palin as a major drag on the ticket and McCain is losing a point or two each day the economy is the headline story. So, they can't afford a Palin disaster. Pretty cynical.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/24/mccain-camp-to-propose-postponing-vp-debate/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080924/ap_on_el_pr/mccain;_ylt=Avk.Ukh9v4TArXMhiyBUkFSs0NUE

"With respect to the debates," Obama said in Tampa, Fla., where he is preparing for the debate Friday night, "it is my belief that this exactly time that the American people need to hear from the person who, within 40 days, will be responsible for this mess... It is going to be part of the president's job to deal with more than one problem at once....In my mind, it's more important than ever that we try to present ourselves to the American people."


http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/09/mccain_postpone_debate_for_cri.html



41 daze to go for McSame. Will he chant "Mission Accomplished!?"