McCain Suspends Campaign For Bailout
From Fox News:
McCain Suspends Campaign to Help With Bailout
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
John McCain announced that he will suspend his presidential campaign on Thursday to return to Washington to help with Wall Street bailout negotiations. He urged his opponent Barack Obama to do the same.
The Arizona senator also asked the Presidential Debate Commission to postpone Friday’s scheduled debate with Obama so that he can work on the financial crisis bailout plan now on Capitol Hill.
“America this week faces an historic crisis in our financial system. We must pass legislation to address this crisis. If we do not, credit will dry up, with devastating consequences for our economy. People will no longer be able to buy homes and their life savings will be at stake. Businesses will not have enough money to pay their employees. If we do not act, ever corner of our country will be impacted. We cannot allow this to happen,” McCain said in remarks to reporters from New York.
A senior Obama campaign official told FOX News that Obama still plans to go forward with Friday’s debate. Obama is expected to issue a statement shortly.
McCain said he will leave the campaign trail after delivering an address to former President Clinton’s Global Initiative on Thursday morning. He canceled a Wednesday afternoon taping of The Late Show With David Letterman show and a Thursday interview with FOX News.
McCain’s move suggests he’s serious about dealing with the bailout since he had negotiated strongly to make the first of the three debates between the candidates on foreign policy, McCain’s strong suit. The first debate had been set for Friday at the University of Mississippi in Oxford…
Within minutes of McCain’s statement, Obama’s campaign issued its own statement suggesting that the idea to work together came from that camp.
“At 8:30 this morning, Senator Obama called Senator McCain to ask him if he would join in issuing a joint statement outlining their shared principles and conditions for the Treasury proposal and urging Congress and the White House to act in a bipartisan manner to pass such a proposal,” spokesman Bill Burton said.
“At 2:30 this afternoon, Senator McCain returned Senator Obama’s call and agreed to join him in issuing such a statement. The two campaigns are currently working together on the details,” Burton continued…
In his remarks to reporters, McCain said he did not think the Bush administration’s $700 billion bailout plan, being shepherded by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, adequately addresses the crisis at hand.
“It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the administration’s proposal. I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time,” he said…
“I am confident that before the markets open on Monday we can achieve consensus on legislation that will stabilize our financial markets, protect taxpayers and homeowners, and earn the confidence of the American people. All we must do to achieve this is temporarily set politics aside, and I am committed to doing so.” …
While McCain’s decision appears to put partisanship aside, both campaigns have used considerable energy casting the other as not definitive or aggressive enough on the financial rescue and other reforms…
McCain is suddenly talking like “a hard-charging populist,” Obama said, even though Obama claims McCain’s policies favor the rich.
The McCain campaign responded that Obama incorrectly claimed that he “‘blew the whistle’ on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac CEOs for their golden parachutes, when he actually hired one for a critical job in his campaign and reportedly had his campaign seeking policy advice from another.
“The truth is that while John McCain sounded the alarm on the need to reform Freddie and Fannie to protect American taxpayers, Barack Obama took record amounts of their money and refused to take action to reform and regulate them. If ‘lying’ is saying you did one thing when you actually did the opposite, then Barack Obama just lied,” said McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds.
Not that anybody asked us, but we think this is nonsense.
And that it will not calm any jitters, but instead have the opposite effect.
Oh well.
John McCain is just doing the job that Barry Hussein refuses to do.
Actually I thought that neither one would get near DC to have their name on the record as being for/against this mess – so I have to give McCain a thumbs up (even if it is only for putting Obama on the ropes).
I still think that the hypcritical irony of charging We The People $700 billion to socialize the mortgage industry makes me want to puke. Only out done by the very Congresscritters who set this mess up, refused to oversight it at all, and banked scammed money on it – now attempting to ‘fix’ it – Right – isn’t there a bridge or some swamp land to sell too?
BHO will just have to debate his teleprompter and will probably end up losing.
Not sure why he suspended the campaign other than to make a statement. Maybe all of the undecided voters are losing their homes and this will swing votes his way. I’m sure they have an internal poll to that affect.
first time I have cross posted a COMMENT.. lol this was actually in response to a great deal of commenting on Mike Volpe’s article: http://theeprovocateur.blogspo.....icide.html
“I don’t think there is a heck of a lot that McCain can do, but I would suspect his motives are true.
The Debate WILL happen in any event, so those who think he is trying to shy away are a bit overly excited anyhow.
The possibility that the “anointed one” will not rise up to take office has really got these little bees with their stingers out. Yes.. vicious little bees, with a vicious hive mentality.”
Of course we are reminded of the friendly Chinese “blessing:” “May you live in interesting times”
There’s more going on than we know. While he may very well be wanting to help with the “negotiations,” that is not a reason for a campaign suspension. I’m known for always seeking to be positive (honest, but positive), but on this I have to warn people something bigger than a mere electoral defeat is occurring. I won’t speculate here.
Whatever happens, remember someone had to stand against Hussein. McCain was the only who had a shot.
First off the campaign has been in suspense he is now just admitting it! If the fundamentals of the economy were so good how could we have the worst situation since the Great Depression? Bush speaks like he has marbles in his mouth McCain like they are in his head!
Obama’s got it locked up, we better grow our own vegetables, raise chickens in the back yard, make our own boi-die!sel, and get out of debt FAST. The tax man is a comm’en and we all gonna be a slave of the State!
I guess Obama didn’t get the memo. The Obama campaign claims that the idea of suspending the campaign & the debates were really their idea while their candidate is out there clamoring that they go on.
http://ukpress.google.com/arti.....vrx0hvurJA
If the Bailout of Doom is the equivalent of the Spanish Armada coming to destroy us all, I would have much preferred McCain done the debate regardless. Canceling the debate and rushing off to Washington appears to me to be bad form. This is how our ancestors did it:
“In the midst of all this excitement, Drake [37] had never moved from his place on the bowling-green; he did not even stop his game. “There is plenty of time,” he said, as he aimed his bowl, “to win the game and beat the Spaniards too!”‘
Note in passing.
Simon Sez: “Obama’s got it locked up, we better grow our own vegetables, raise chickens in the back yard, make our own bio-diesel, and get out of debt FAST. The tax man is a comm’en and we all gonna be a slave of the State!”
Sez may well be right in general if not in all particulars. And here all along I was looking forward to a relaxing time spent in the re-education camp.
Good News!
The House and Senate have reached a ‘deal’ on the bailout.
Ummm…can we get a couple more drinks?
Good lord.. I was hoping they wouldn’t figure out a deal..
I’m siding with the Huckster on this one.. http://www.huckpac.com/?FuseAc.....og_id=1899
just to clarify
May you live in interesting times is a Chinese curse.
I think about it often…
Suspending the campaign was a good idea. It reminds us all that politicians have to take care of stuff sometimes, instead of constantly jockeying for airtime and pointing fingers. I thought Bush’s address last night was as good as it could be — this isn’t “Wall St versus Main St” as the Democrats keep on saying. Dems and Repubs are both guilty in this.
Besides, the campaigns will have to change dramatically after the deal succeeds or fails, because both McCain and Obama will have to adjust their policy promises to accomodate this enormous chunk of money that will be missing.
A.C. yeah.. it is a curse. pardon my tongue-in-cheek reflection on appropriate messages.
Somebody buy me a beer?
Oh good. So now he threatens to basically delay the presidential election if they don’t pass “his” version of the bill. Dear God, what will he do with an “Immigration Pearl Harbor.”