"The American people are facing a moment of economic crisis. No matter how this began, we all have a responsibility to work through it and restore confidence in our economy. The jobs, savings, and prosperity of the American people are at stake.However, the Obama campaign also released a "set of principles" that Obama wanted McCain to support. However, Marc Ambinder reports McCain would not agree to this so they were left on "the cutting room floor."
"Now is a time to come together - Democrats and Republicans - in a spirit of cooperation for the sake of the American people. The plan that has been submitted to Congress by the Bush Administration is flawed, but the effort to protect the American economy must not fail.
"This is a time to rise above politics for the good of the country. We cannot risk an economic catastrophe. Now is our chance to come together to prove that Washington is once again capable of leading this country."
Here are the five principles outlines by Obama:
First, there must be oversight. We should not hand over a blank check to the discretion of one man. We support an independent, bipartisan board to ensure accountability and complete transparency.Interestingly, when President Bush addressed the nation just minutes later, he essentially agreed to the exact same set of principles in his own speech. So the question is: Why wouldn't McCain agree to a fairly innocuous, Mom and apple pie set of conditions for a bill?
Second, we need to protect taxpayers. There should be a path for taxpayers to recover their money, and to turn a profit if Wall Street prospers.
Third, no Wall Street executive should profit from taxpayer dollars. This plan cannot be a welfare program for CEOs whose greed and irresponsibility has contributed to this crisis.
Fourth, we must help families who are struggling to stay in their homes. We cannot bail out Wall Street without helping millions of families facing foreclosure on Main Street.
Fifth, we both agree that this financial rescue package should move on its own without any earmarks or other measures. We have different views about the need for other action, but this must be a clean bill.
Democrats fear this morning that McCain is setting up a scenario in which he will vote against the bill, rally conservatives to his side and, most importantly, distance himself from both President Bush and Congress before the election.
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Comments
The problem with this scenario for McCain is that he suspended his campaign explicitly to help negotiate a solution to the crisis -- presumably one he could agree to. If he ends up voting against the bill that is ultimately passed, it will be tantamount to admitting that his negotiating skills and supposed bipartisan appeal have failed.
Posted by: 47thieves
| September 25, 2008 12:08 PM
Nothing that McNutjob does will surprise me from here on out. By next Friday, he'll be claiming that he's always supported a Marxist revolution ...
Posted by: danconley
| September 25, 2008 12:18 PM
Except that McCain expressly adopted five eerily similar principles in his speech at the Clinton Global Initiative this morning, absent of course, the protections for homeowners and earmarks for economic stimulus. In fact, McCain hints that he came up with these ideas all by himself over the past week. Which I guess is true, except for the 60% of them that Obama publicly announced last night.
Posted by: cuckooman
| September 25, 2008 2:41 PM
Let Warren Buffett Manage the Financial Bailout
Congress is rightly concerned about how and who will manage the bailout. There is no doubt that banks should not be given blank checks at arbitrary pricing for their toxic assets. Also, the Senior Executives of banks benefiting from the bailout must also agree to forgo bonuses for a number of years.
The markets need a quick positive signal from Congress, delays could bring down the entire financial world. Congress should pass a simple bailout package without getting bogged down into the hows and whys. They should request Warren Buffett to manage the entire bailout package. He is the shrewdest investor and will drive hard bargains with banks before giving them a dime. Let him impose conditions as he deems fit. He is already of the opinion that bankers will have to give up bonuses for a while.
Going by Warren's track record, an investment of $700 billion of tax payers money will probably come back to the treasury as $1 trillion. All he needs is a handful of good people to help him manage this.
Posted by: What's my name
| September 25, 2008 3:57 PM
AHAHAHA...always supported a Marxist Revolution, that's a good one.
Though when this latest ruse fails miserably: www.marxist.com
I'll be the first to welcome all the new comrades
Posted by: euthyfro
| September 25, 2008 4:58 PM
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