Read Stephen Hayes's account of the events concerning the Balls Up on Wall Street Crisis - created by Franks, Reid, Schumer and Dodd; dumped on the American Taxpayer; endangering the American Economy; and scuttling Obama's Auadacious Hopes of a Redistribution of Waelth President.
These four weasels and their Media stooges should be run out of office - for starters.
Stephen Hayes presents a genuine piece of reportage:
Yesterday afternoon, I went to CNN to talk about bailout politics. When I arrived, I was surprised to learn from the other two panelists--CNN's Gloria Borger and the Washington Post's Dana Milbank--that a deal on an amended version of the Treasury Department's $700 billion bailout plan was close. I was surprised because I had been hearing the opposite--that House Republicans were increasingly opposed to a deal and that such a deal seemed less likely yesterday than it was when the plan was originally proposed. But others, including the Associated Press, were reporting that a deal was imminent.
Then, earlier today, the AP reported that such a deal had, in fact, been reached. The Washington Post soon followed, in an article that strongly suggested McCain was irrelevant to the process and reported that he had arrived after a deal had been struck.
McCain's "Straight Talk Air" landed at National Airport just after noon, and McCain's motorcade sped toward the Senate. But by then, senior Democrats and Republicans colleagues were already announcing that a deal in principle had been reached.
The Obama campaign gleefully sent the Post story out to reporters at 4:22 and affixed its own headline: "'Straight Talk Air' lands after deal was announced."
So what happened? I'm not sure anyone knows the full story, but here is my take. When John McCain announced that he was suspending his campaign, Democrats moved quickly to portray the decision as strictly political. (Senator Chuck Schumer said as much in an interview on CNN.) An
important element of their case was convincing reporters that a deal was close and McCain presence was (a) unnecessary, (b) potentially detrimental, or (c) both.
But that's a hard case for them to make for two reasons. First, Harry Reid. On Wednesday Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had explicitly called for McCain to use his influence as party leader to bring House Republicans along. "We need, now, the Republicans to start producing some votes for us," Reid said. "We need the Republican nominee for president to let us know where he stands and what we should do." Reid explained that McCain was crucial to any deal because his approval of a deal would give congressional Republicans political cover necessary to sign on to a bipartisan agreement. The second reason: House Republicans were never on board. Earlier this week, they gave Vice President Dick Cheney an earful about their opposition to the deal. Yesterday morning, a group of about 50 conservative House Republicans got together and when one speaker asked for a show of hands from those who support the bailout, less than a handful said they were likely to support it. One staffer for a Republican in House leadership said: "Understand one thing. House Republicans were never on board."
By this morning, Senator Christopher Dodd and Representative Barney Frank--the two lead congressional Democrats on this issue--were telling reporters that a deal was close. But according to House sources, those claims were nonsense. "This was a smart political move by Senator McCain--working in a bipartisan fashion to try to get something done," says a senior House Republican aide. "It's something he's done in the past." Democrats, this Republican says, immediately began plotting to deny McCain credit for a deal if one was reached and to blame him if a deal was not reached.
For all of Obama's 'thigh-tingling and soaring words,' he does not get it. Country over self; service over self-interest; sacrifice over personal interest.
McCain understands and lives those tenets. Obama is the deer in the head-lights. The moving vehicle rolling at him is Service, Leadership and Command Presence. He called for a limo and finds a forty foot Peterbilt hauling Commitment roaring at him.
Jump to the curb, Senator!
McCain was begged to help bailout Reid, Dodd,Schmer, and Barney Franks. He came. He saw the disaster and now he is helping fix the boondoggle created by the redistribution of wealth nutbags. The Genii is out of the bottle and Obama is running to Old Miss!
You know what, Senator? McCain will be in Old Miss, even if he stays in D.C. - this call to service can not be called back.
"When you start injecting presidential politics into delicate negotiations, you can actually create more problems, rather than less," Obama said on CNN.
Aides from both camps were moving ahead with preparations at the University of Mississippi, where officials expressed confidence that the debate would take place on time this evening at 9 o'clock.
Some leading strategists in both parties have said the first debate could be the most decisive moment in the campaign, no matter when it happens.
Karl Rove, who guided George W. Bush's rise to the White House, has said "it may be the fall's most critical event."
But many other strategists, including some deeply involved in the presidential campaign, say the cumulative effect will be more important than any single encounter.
"It's not until you get through all three of them that you see the ultimate impact," said Bill Carrick, a Democratic campaign veteran.
John McCain's chief pollster, Bill McInturff, said much the same thing this week. The Republican strategist described the period of the presidential and vice presidential debates - from today until Oct. 15 - as "a two-and-a-half-week black hole" in the flow of the campaign.
"Something's going to happen," the McCain adviser told reporters. Including next week's vice presidential face-off, "we'll have four debates. We'll wait three or four days after those last debates are over, and we'll know where we're at."
Those with experience in national campaigns agree these events have the potential to sway the outcome of a presidential contest that remains highly competitive.
McCain seemed to have scored a tactical victory in the lead-up to his first meeting with Obama, once again shaking up the race and perhaps providing himself with new talking points tonight.
Wince? Wince, Barney?
Get this. Barney Franks who was instrumental in over-catering the mortgage give away affair that collapsed American Credit is hissing mad about John McCain's Leadership and wants none of it!
Here's the Scoop, Dears! Barney whispered to The Crypt's deliciously available Ryan Grim ( dear me - The Crypt? Grim?)
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said that "nobody mentioned McCain" during the several-hour-long meeting on the $700 billion market rescue plan, other than Frank and that his Republican colleagues "winced" when he did.
"He’s been irrelevant to the process. He remains to be," said Frank. "I was afraid that his dropping in here, like Andy Kaufman’s Mighty Mouse—'here I am to save the day'—I thought that would slow things down. I didn’t see any sign of our Republican colleagues paying any attention to him whatsoever."
Franks went on. "Nobody mentioned him. The man’s irrelevant to the whole process. No Republican mentioned his name. I’m the only one who raised his name. They winced when I did," he said.
"I don’t think anyone takes that seriously," said Frank of McCain's suggestion that Friday's debate be delayed. "Sen. McCain trying to use the necessity for his presence to reach a deal that we’ve already reached as a reason to duck the debate is unworthy of him. There is absolutely no reason not to go to the debate."
Frank was equally cool about today's meeting with the White House. "The White House isn’t show and tell. We’re going to the White House because the president asked us to go. Nobody thinks at this point that anything useful’s going to happen. But we now have to get things drafted and worked on. The White House meeting is just an interruption in our schedule," he said.
Though he said McCain's presence would be unhelpful, he did say, getting a dig in at McCain's running mate, that there "were times when I was ready to suggest that, when we got to some of the more complicated issues about how do you price these sophisticated instruments, that we ask him to make Sarah Palin available to give us her expertise."
I am a
Canna
What Flower
Are You?
