John McCain and the Bailout

September 29, 2008 by Pelikan
Filed under: Barack Obama, John McCain, Presidential Campaign 2008, U.S. Congress, U.S. Economy, U.S. Financial Crisis 

The truth is, neither Sen. John McCain nor Sen. Barack Obama had any natural affinity to add value to the work of fashioning the bill for the proposed $700 billion bailout of Wall Street. What each did have was the opportunity, as titular heads of their parties, to take the temperature down, reassure and convince holdouts, and stay out of the way.

What wasn’t needed at such a serious time in our nation’s financial history was for either one of them to turn Washington into one more campaign stop. That’s what McCain did.

Today, after the House defeated the bailout bill, McCain released a statement, which said, in part:

I returned to Washington last week to work on a bipartisan rescue plan. It was the only plan at that time on the table but lacked enough support to pass. It also lacked sufficient accountability and transparency to justify expenditure of the taxpayers’ money.

What a pompous ass. Guess what, John? Apparently the plan “lacked enough support to pass” after you left Washington as well. Since well over 100 Republicans voted against the bill, either McCain didn’t work hard enough or he still has a problem with conservatives.

At 8:30 a.m. the day McCain announced he would suspend his campaign, Obama called to suggest they do a joint statement to help calm the markets and highlight the bipartisan nature of finding a solution to the financial crisis. McCain’s response? Later that day, he announced his campaign would be suspended so he could return to Washington and help fix things. He spent the night, though, in New York. Congressional leaders were already burning the midnight oil in Washington, but McCain’s routine couldn’t be disrupted too much. When he went to the White House for a meeting with Congressional leadership and the president, he didn’t say a word for 40 minutes – not a peep. He left D.C. for his Northern VA condo and didn’t go back. His campaign said he was “making phone calls.” He phoned it in. He showed up for the White House photo-op and phoned it in.

Obama on the other hand bent over backwards to not politicize the process. He laid out four principles by which he would judge any bailout bill. He kept informed, helped with votes where he could, and kept his own presidential campaign circus out of the way. No campaign gimmicks, he played the adult in the room.

McCain has made it sound like that without his crossing of the Potomac, financial markets would have crumbled and the U.S. would have coronated King Henry I, Tsar of the Economy. Does any sentient being from here to Wasilla, Alaska think that Barney Frank or Chris Dodd would have reported out Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s plan in its original form – as a straight-up giveaway with no accountability? Paulson’s original plan was dead long before Johnny Mac rode back into Washington on his white horse.

So, in the end, what did presidential aspirant John McCain bring to the bailout debate? Nothing, save audacity, gimmickry and his presidential campaign.

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Comments

One Comment on John McCain and the Bailout

  1. oswegodem on Tue, 30th Sep 2008 3:44 pm

    2. This is one maverick that should stay out of most goings-on in Washington.

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