Political Punch

John Nail:

I don't know which comment of mine your referencing.....I made no comment on teleprompters or planted questions...

Handing over 00 billion with no strings attached does not seem to be that great of an idea. Apparently the republicans told the democrats to push through their plan (non-existent) as the democrats did not need the republicans votes to pass the bill. That is when things blew up.

Obama and McCain should be in there doing their job. We are paying them to be senators and stewarts of the nation.

I know there are economists, some of whom I respect, that think this financial crisis will blow over, that it's a crisis in the financial superstructure that won't ultimately affect the country's industrial base. I have never understood the post-1980 stock market very well, but I know something about economic history, and I know that at a certain point, a financial crisis can get out of hand and lead to a credit crunch that will depress the industrial base and set off a vicious cycle of unemployment. I also know a little bit about international economic history--enough at least to appreciate what would happen if nations began to abandon the dollar the way they abandoned the British pound eighty years ago.

That's a long way of saying that it is simply unpatriotic--it's an insult to flag, country, and all the things that McCain claims to hold dear--for McCain to hold this financial crisis hostage to his political ambitions. McCain doesn't know a thing about finance and is no position to help work out an agreement. If we do suffer a serious bank run, or a run on the dollar, it can be laid directly at his feet.

As I said to friends last night, if McCain had been president at this point, I would have wanted to impeach him.

What did Obama do? We see a lot of reporting on what McCain did not do. And of course the media is giving McCain a lot of trouble because he is in Washington doing his job. He and Obama are paid to be our senators.

Lets hear what Obama did.

Hey know who can't block a vote on the bailout plan? House republicans! Thats right, if pelosi delivers her entire caucus House republicans can't do a thing to stop it. So if the agreement is so universal why doesn't she just do her job and call a vote? Oh wait, because then democrats would be responsible if the plan didn't work. Always politics with the democrats.

There are rumors coming out of the McCain camp about Palin:

McCain Camp insiders say Palin "clueless"
Capitol Hill sources saying that senior McCain people are more than concerned about Palin. The campaign has held
a mock debate and a mock press conference; both are being described as "disastrous." One senior McCain aide was quoted as saying, "What are we going to do?"

The McCain people want to move this first debate to some later, undetermined date, possibly never. People on the inside are saying the Alaska Governor is "clueless."

Where was Obama's plan. All I have heard are Obama's talking points. John McCain submitted a plan, Obama submitted talking points. Where is his plan? All I can find is that he plans on others doing the work and he can take credit if it works and if it falls short he can say it wasn't his plan.

Rex - that is the dumbest comment I have seen on here. I have been to 2 Obama town halls and there were NO teleprompters and no planted questions as I go to ask one.

He is quite good on his feet, much better than McCain because he doesn't spit out the same talking points he actually has knowledge and connects with his audience for his approach and personality

How shocked am I to find more McCain bashing from Jake Tapper! Funny how these bashings are considered newsworthy!

Let both lay out their proposals uninterrupted to the public during the debate; only then will Americans get a true idea of who has the better plan for solving this crisis.

--------------------------------------

Where has the Republican 'plan' been hiding itself for the last week?

The Debate
Sen. McCain let’s talk about the war on Iraq .Thousands of brave Americans dead and injured. Let’s talk about the deregulation of the market and for consequence the collapsed economy. Lets talk of the billions dollars gifted to the oil companies resulting on today price of petrol. * My friends that was Obama fault*.
Senator McCain you are missing the point .What makes a President is the right Judgment. Be cool like cucumber in time of crisis. Not have 7 houses 13 cars or family business hundred million dollars worth. Do not have the temper to pick a fight but the temper to fight every day make the life of the community around you better.* My friends that was Obana job.*.
Sen. you said the fundamentals of the economy are strong. What do you talking about? About the Cindy McCain business? Or about the Wall Street mess?
I don’t know that’s Obama fault to! John McCain is desperate to be President his campaign the most sleazy and shamefully ever!

Jonnie to the rescue save the world one more time! Or I should say the American economy. If jonnie macaroni is not able to debate Obama, he can send always his sidekick chick from Alaska……. Sarah Plaiiiiiiiiin. Is obvious she have more experience from all the USA senators together! ! Friday is debate day If McCain doesn’t come,
Then is chicken McCain or chicken nugget?

I've yet to see Obama lose his cool, unlike McCain's explosions which have been recorded and documented several times before. This is a statement from the McCain campaign and I haven't heard anything like that anywhere else.

If you're doing something to help, you don't have to make a big show of how you're coming in to save the day- your actions will speak for you. McCain doesn't even have to be there all the while-there's no reason why he can't show up for the debate, and he's likely only complicated things, and now the bail out is falling apart.

It's clear to me that Obama has already had a hand in this bailout package - thus the massive handout to ACORN. Too bad we don't have a media to look into that for us.

As for devolving into a shouting match - that's Obama's calling card. If they disagree with you, get in their face and shout them down.

I can't wait until Chicago politics meets the White House. At least I'll have something entertaining to watch while my country goes down in flames.

The events of the last two days can only be considered as posturing.

Let both lay out their proposals uninterrupted to the public during the debate; only then will Americans get a true idea of who has the better plan for solving this crisis.

Looks like another political stunt of McCain's.

McCain, if you want to go to DC to be in touch about the bail-out, that's by all means fine. But WHY do you have to skip the debate? It's only for a couple of hours, you can fly right back to DC if you're that concerned. Number one, Americans deserve to hear what both candidates have to say about foreign policy. Number two, it's nearly impossible to reschedule, and we DO NOT want to give Palin a free pass from facing Biden. ALL candidates have to show up unscripted sooner or later.

Country first? Please. McCain is not the President, neither is he on the Senate Banking Committee or a majority leader that would be needed to break any ties or anything. There's isn't much he can do, and his comment that he will only go to Mississipi to debate if the bail out is done by then just unneccessarily complicates things for the harried senators and congressmen trying to piece together the deal.

North Korea has started reassmebling the nuclear reactor. Foreign policy is equally crucial as is the economy. McCain, you were a soldier in Vietnam-a nightmare people said it was-and many say the conditions in Iraq is similar. There are men and women ducking enemy fire right now in the Middle-East wearing the uniform of the United States. These are the people your foreign policy will affect. They deserve answers.

Do they get a "time-out" from the insurgency?

I think the R's have convinced themselves that the D's always blink. Given the mood of the country and the radioactive nature of the bailout they better realize it's like expecting the D's to cut social security - it ain't gonna happen.

When the R's walk, the timer on the nuke begins its countdown. At some unknowable moment we pass the point of no return and America will become an economic wasteland with McCain as its founding father.

Well done Republicans.

pp and staniam: As senators who do not sit on the relevant committees, neither McCain nor Obama would ordinarily be involved with the negotiations regarding this bill.

Even as President, neither of them would normally be directly involved. They would be expected to keep themselves informed of the progress, talking regularly with those involved in the negotiations.

The idea that it's McCain's (or Obama's) job to rush back to Washington to get directly involved with negotiations on this bill is just incorrect. It isn't.

That's like expecting them to fly out to Iraq or Afghanistan to sit in tactical meetings with military commanders.

So far McCain has done nothing to help this bill. He's essentially yelled "It's going to fail!" by suspending his campaign, then sat in a meeting and done very little, and then issued a statement blaming Obama.

Even if his own statement says he just
said "we need a bipartisan solution". Well, duh. What did he do to actually encourage the formation of that solution? Apparently nothing.

His tactic seems to be to sit by while it crashes and burns (due to the lack of support from members of his and Bush's own party) and try to blame Obama for it.

I don't think that's going to fly.

Just noticed Jack's "meow" at the end. I like that:

McCain - Palin '08 "Meow"

This is McCain's version of "We are raising the threat level to orange." Create fear and the only leader is John McCain to save you.

Just a few comments:

Supposedly, foreign policy is McCain's strongest suit. So why postpone the debate that could conceivably gain him some points? The only thing I can think of is that McCain isn't as sure of his foreign policy ground as he'd like us to think. Given that he spent the summer bashing Obama rather than talking about policy, it wouldn't surprise me.

I refuse to believe the statement from McCain's campaign for several reasons:

1. I've never heard Obama lose his cool, so I find the idea that his conduct led to a shouting match to be unbelievable.

2. The Senators and Congressmen interviewed by the press-even the Republicans-never said ONE WORD about this. Don't you think Sen. Shelby, the ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, would have immediately lambasted Obama to the press if Obama had done what the McCain camp said he did? The consensus on both sides is that they almost had the deal done, then McCain butted in and ruined everything.

3. I've seen at least one comment that says Obama was weak when he told Congress to call him if he was needed. As several others here have said, neither he nor McCain are on the relevant committees (Commerce has to do with trade, not banking), so their presence would not have accomplished anything. Obama was right when he said inserting election politics into delicate negotiations is counter-productive. McCain has proven him right.

Posted by: jeru | Sep 26, 2008 3:11:11 AM

sorry, jeru, factcheck is run by the annenberg folks, who employed bho.
NO
ONE has seeen the bc, only the certificate of live birth which does NOT prove where one is bor.

Bryan T

It is still not certain that Obama will win the election maybe hes the one that is scared to debate!

In team sports, what do the coaches do when their team is trailing in score and the other team has the momentum?

Answer: They call a TIME OUT!

In the 2008 Presidential election, what does John McCain do when he's trailing in the polls, and Obama has the momentum?

Answer: John McCain says "let's postpone the debate" until further notice!

John, you might as well postpone the Election itself comes Nov. 3rd and you're behind in the polls! "Let's resume the voting when I'm no longer trailing in the poll, ok?"

Iam so fed up with Mc
Cain & his insufferable need for drama. It really doesn't make him appear "Presidental". Just another self-centered,egotistical Politition staging a showdown for no other reason than his need to be the center of attention.
I was looking forward to the Friday debates, to be able to evaluate the canidates side by side. I hope that Obama goes ahead without him & treats us to a 90 minute Town Hall meeting. Maybe they will open up the meeting to phone in questions.

Three weeks ago when all you Republicans were dancing in the streets about McChicken's pick of Palin and how "great life was!"

I had one thing to say, and it came to pass today. I said Palin was like a meteor flying across the night sky, shining so brightly...

I also said within a month that meteor Palin would first sputter, then burn out completely and finally hit the ground with a big THUD!!

Well Republicans just after Palin's interview on CBS today with Katie Couric, the meteor has landed - THUD!!!

This plus McChicken's "suspension" of his campaign (what a joke) and him going to Washington today to MESS UP the negotiations on the bailout today, there is only one thing left to say...

Bye, bye McChicken and hello President Obama!!

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's what you call transparency in government.

1. McCain will run from a world crisis that he can't kill people over.

2. McCain cannot handle more than one problem at a time.

3. John McCain doesn't understand that with modern technology he doesn't have to be in DC for his opinion to be made known--OOPS, he knows how to snipe.

4. John McCain helped to scuttle a deal and stifle government action.

5. Most agree that in the meeting John McCain did not lead and likely did not understand.

pp:
give it up...

FactCheck.org staffers have now seen, touched, examined and photographed the original birth certificate. We conclude that it meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship. Claims that the document lacks a raised seal or a signature are false. We have posted high-resolution photographs of the document as “supporting documents” to this article. Our conclusion: Obama was born in the U.S.A. just as he has always said

McCain should not scare house republicans from doing their job this bailout is a joke its nothing but help for the rich who definitely wont share their riches with us but we have to burden their losses. McCain has flip-flopped on everything conservative ideal that we stand for in order to win the election democrats have also fielded a liberal candidate. McCain talks about terrorism happening elsewhere if elected will pass immigration reform which will give criminals american citizenship who'll ruin our society and our culture McCain who cannot keep us safe from local terrorists just talk the talk, America needs a candidate who will secure our borders as well as stengthen our conservative ideals,McCain will split the party with the help of his neoconservative gang. Vote for a person who wont budge from his principles vote chuck baldwin.

PP

yep... thats Obamas job but yet hes whining about having to use his "big plane with his name on it" to leave FL and fly back to washington and maybe not get another debate practise in!

what amazes me about this whole deal, is that people are calling mccain going to washington to help with this bill a stunt. last i heard bho was elected to be the junior senator from illinois, not to run for president. as all the senators, he should be there, earning his pay, and representing his constituants. is this how he would represent the american people?

House republicans should not support this bill and ask for more oversight they have done a commendable job representing the aspirations of majority of americans who are just amazed the way a republican administration is socializing junk of wall street. McCain has jumped on every issue he represented once what next hillarycare, anyhow house republicans have earned my vote mccain can go to hillary supporters or hell.

when in indonesia, and registered as barry soetoro, his religion was listed as muslim, and his nationality as indonesian. i do not care about the religion, what concerns me is the name and the nationality. if this is true, he is not eligible to be potus. as of this time, though a suit has been filed for him to prove he is a natural born citizen, he has not proven that fact. one would think if he was that it would be rather simple to prove the point.

and a pleasant good night to all.....

staniam:

meet ya back here after the election, hope you will post a congratulatory message for Obama after he wins, that is if McCain and Palin don't self destruct first...... I am so looking forward to the debates...

and Dave in Iv..... Bill Donohue? .... I mean really..

herta

what do you care if Mccain wentto washington today to"turn over a few tables" Obama probably couldnt lift them or look silly if he did!

The democrats know their guy is a liberal, Republicans dont know what or how mccain will react after becoming president a funny feeling in the stomach something goes wrong in troopergate changes palin and takes lieberman as his vp instead. He is a shrewd opportunist who believes in swimming with the tide he will ruin the republican party divide it on different issues and will take advantage to strengthen his position. you heard it here first.

sonshine

yea I wont go as far as to call Obama a muslim but its sortof curious!

McCain is unstable, self involved, he thinks more of himself, and his maverick image, then he should.

This man would be terrible for America.

I just do not know what to say, and I think the press is in the same boat, what can anyone say about this man? He is unbelievable, I am numb just think about him.

Dave

ah ACORN the oganization that was set up to disguise Obama lobbyists how fitting!

maybe Palin & Bobby Jindal can perform an exorcism together and get rid of all the witches
and demons in the republican party, or what's left of them after the election

A few reports stated a good percentage of the money from this bailout was to go to ACORN.

If true, do you Dems think it's a good idea to give billions, if not hundreds of billions to Acorn?

I love the smell of Republican fear in the morning..
it smells like.......... victory

Obama is the first and only person who goes to town hall meetings with his fans and has to use multiple teleprompters.

Any idea how they are used?

Does he pick people where he already knows what questions they will ask or
is someone typing like mad telling Obama what to say?

Just curious.

realist

read it! You know Im right! the truth is you young people failed to come through for the Democratic party in the right way and you were endoctrinated by Obamas people but thats not anyone elses fault but your own!

liberati

yea tonight on Larry King some Obama supporters were pushed on Obamas ties to Fanny/Freddy and they failed to see the mccains campaign manager they are in as deep as he is

McCain pushed to have increased regulation for fannie and freddie.

Obama, meanwhile, was getting tons of money from them. Part of the problem, not part of the solution.

The dems are blaming the GOP for not making this work, but are they forgetting that it was the GOP president who proposed this? Are they just out of their minds? So the Dems are siding with Bush, and the GOP senators are not.....

So, why would you want four more years of Obama-biden-bush?

America needs CHANGE....

mcCain-Palin 2008

staniam....his voting record speaks for itself.

realist

you saying it is true doesnt make it so!

sonshine

yea at this point I will go with the far less bizarre campaign and candidate which is mccain

staniam....it is true....using Palin to try to get women votes is pathetic....there are a lot of qualified Republican women who would have been a lot better choice. His voting record speaks for itself.

Yeah, McCain doesn't respect women,
not like Clinton did for sure.
He really was a hit with women.
Loved them all.

Obama loves women so much he wouldn't want his daughters to have to be "punished" by having a baby.
Since when is motherhood a punishment?
Give me a break.

Ed in MA,

Politico,
"When Bush yielded early to Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D- Nev.) to speak, they yielded to Obama to speak for the assembled Democrats. And it was Obama who raised the subject of the conservative alternative and pressed Paulson on what he thought of the idea.'

The Atlantic,
"Though Sen. Chris Dodd implied that Sen. McCain sandbagged the rest of the negotiators by bringing up alternative proposals, McCain himself did not bring up those proposals, according to four independent sources briefed by four different principals inside the meeting, including two Republicans and two Democrats.

"McCain has not attacked the Paulson deal," said a third Republican who was briefed by McCain direclty. "Unlike the [Democrats] in the [White House] meeting, he didn't raise his voice or cause a ruckus. He is urging all sides to come together."

Republicans like John Boehner brought up the concerns of House GOPers and McCain acknowledged hearing about their concerns. And McCain, and staffers, did seek to gauge the level of support of the GOP working group's white paper. The Democrats were left with the impression that McCain endorsed the GOP efforts, but they concede that he did not raise them directly."

It was Obama who brought up the alternative, not McCain. So by your definition wouldn't Obama be the traitor? At worst McCain sought to see if there was any support for the GOP house version. Thats what any negotiator, well any GOOD negotiator should do. McCain didn't raise his voice, democrats did. They torpedoed the meeting because they expected McCain to back Bush and he's not. Thats why he's called Maverick and thats why Obama votes the party line 96% of the time.

Realist

thats not true and you know it... Obama doesnt respect people anyone that puts themselves above everyone is a messianic psychopath !

anita

"4 more years of the last 8" was never a good slogan... Mccain is not Bush and he proved that but in adition he proved today that Obama was bush slight of hand is always good!

We're here because of deregulation. A Republican principle that McCain has supported. I'm not sure what this man is trying to do these days?

zags

yra and did you see on poltico that the popular vote is tied now... isnt that supposedly pro obama like everything else omg its not working out like they planned is it.. harry reid was belicose on Monday because he thought that they would make a deal before mccain got back! they should replace Reid with Clinton NOW!

From Reuters:

Senior Democrats said they came away from the afternoon White House session with the impression that McCain was backing an entirely new Wall Street rescue plan, one differing markedly from a Bush administration proposal under discussion for days.

"House Republicans, in some kind of arrangement with McCain, went off to wherever. I don't know whether they're ready to negotiate this. Their thing was some totally different mortgage insurance plan ... that would clearly delay this for a week or more," Frank told reporters.

PLAYING RUSSIAN ROULETTE WITH THE U.S. ECONOMY TO HIDE FROM A DEBATE IS TREASONOUS.

Deborah Jones,
At LAST...someone who wants to make
an intelligent choice for president.
(Not saying you *should* vote McCain Deborah, but I totally commend you on looking for REASONS and track records and voting records, not just being swayed by propaganda) You are a credit to this country (regardless of how you vote)

Obama's #1 claim is that he can get both sides in a room & get consensus. OK-let's see it.

This is the only reporting I have read thus far that makes the claim that negotiation derailment was Obama's fault. According to Politico and USA Today, a deal had been nearly reached BEFORE McCain appeared.

This blatant political posturing by McCain is an attempt to delay the presidential debate until next week and to suspend the VP debate indefinitely.

McCain picked Sarah Palin over far more qualified candidates to eclipse Obama's speech at the Democrats' convention, and now he is stuck with a running mate that he has absolutely no confidence in. If you ask me, she is far more coherent than McCain.

And deciding to NOT visit our wounded soldiers in Iraq once he learned CAMERAS were not allowed in SHOWS
who is in this for publicity.
There is nothing whatsoever sincere about Obama's concern for America or it's people. He cares about himself only.

Mcbush will Never debate Obama

what in the world would he talk about

Iraq a fools war..... the sound Economy

His plans for Bankrupt America..

His Idea's to get the planners of

9/11 besides chasing them to the

Gates of Hell... wont work...

Libs complain this is a "stunt"...

Let's educate liberals on "stunts"

Speaking in Berlin is a "stunt"

Going back to DC to do your job is a "responsibility"

Try to get that straight.

staniam the obama followers always resort to insults when ever they cannot articulate an intelligent argument.

goodnight i have a double shift again and class in the morning.

Soooo, let's get this straight: McCain forced himself into the meetings but then didn't say anything. The Republicans are mad because Obama actually tried to negotiate something. And, if it's true he asked Paulson what he thought of the Republican "alternative" plan, it sounds like Obama was also trying to do something in a bipartisan fashion. Looking at the facts of what happened, it's pretty obvious all McCain wanted was a photo op.

Let's look at this with some common sense ... if you were going to run a company and they were having major financial problems and you could sit in on the bail-out talks, wouldn't you want to sit in on it?
McCain wants to be prepared for the Presidency.
Obama and blabber-mouth-Biden want to be out running for the presidency and v-presidency and let other people do the real work! .. how prepared will they be?
McCain all the way for the U.S.A.!!

Two brilliant moves by McCain:

1) picking Palin
2) suspending campaign and working in DC

Whoooo hoooo! Obama looks like a LOSER.

Funny, I didn't see anyone come out of that meeting saying Obama caused any arguing.... we got a statement from the McCain campaign saying so. What we did hear was everyone coming out of the meetings bashing McCain. From both sides, not just Dems. Yet here are a bunch of people trying to debate that fact. And they say people are Obama "followers".... I think McCain supporters are in denial.

Obama HID from 10 debates -- 10 town halls Mccain requested.

What is Obama afraid of???

Ed from MA, back your assertion with PROOF! I gave proof showing McCain wanted an alternative and never backed the house plan.

McBush Likes to fire, suspend,

Why does he not just Quit as in drop out

Staniam,

Lol. Good one. :)

what is SHOCKING is that obama had to be summoned and prompted by the president to return to washinghton to do his job. he is a senator he had a job to do.
he looked like a naughty little boy.
oh yeah CALL ME! what leadership.

Yes, and McCain's ads are still running and people were still campaigning today. He hasn't suspended anything other than the debates. This is irresponsible conduct in my opinion.

Is anyone else extremely worried, that the people who share alot of blame getting us here, Barney Frank and Chris Dodd (even Bill Clinton has admitted this) are the ones running the show? How much money have they gotten from the involved parties?

Things were getting resolved until McCain showed up, then he stirred up trouble.

ALL THIS TO HIDE FROM A DEBATE?

McCAIN IS PLAYING RUSSIAN ROULETTE WITH THE AMERICAN ECONOMY.

McCAIN IS A DANGEROUS LOOSE CANNON.

Bush wants Obama to be part of the

Bailout so if it goes wrong as in

Hyper Inflation .... Well Its .Obama's

fault he knew it was a stupid Idea

and McBush knows little about the Ecomony

Yep Id stay away from that quicksand..

Why is McCain holding America hostage with his political stunt?

This is SHOCKING.

McCAIN IS A LOOSE CANNON.

CLEARLY DANGEROUS.

Republicans are the idiots that got us into this mess and Republicans will be the same idiots to mire the U.S. even deeper into the quagmire. Remember John McCain's (the George Bush clone, oh I’m sorry republicans don't like to talk about cloning or anything else of a scientific nature!)...the economy is "fundamentally sound".

I agree with ThankGod4Karma

People no longer live in accordance
with their salaries or with their
bank accounts...they have been living
in accordance with their credit limits.

Once again, McCain is trying to DO something while Obama is TALKING about it. I'm starting to fully believe the
far left is out for the destruction of America. Considering their numbers
and the terrorists who are cheering for them, who needs enemies? Our war is now
WITHIN our country. We have NEVER been so divided by so many false statements and outright lies and unfounded remarks, not just by people, or leaders, but by candidates and MEDIA.
It seems our next war will be a civil war, then for sure the terrorists will gain a stronghold here.

jasoninPA10: "My Point: Just because the SC rules one way, doesn't mean that it is what the Constitution really meant or not. Supreme Courts rule according to their own political persuasion, and everyone knows that."

The constitution itself EXPLICITLY gives sole authority for deciding "what it meant" to the Supreme Court alone. The Founding Fathers forsaw people trying to twist it's words to support their personal opinion and nipped it in the bud by setting in stone who has the final say on interpretation - there is no vagueness here. Constitutionally, the Supreme's interpretation is correct. This doesn't take an expert on constitutional law, a Jr. week long module should have covered it.

Colorado: "so the premise of this story is that obama "the spokesperson for his party' is not even able to bring his own party to agree with him on the terms of the bill?"

No, the entire "story" is a statement from McCain's campaign that is clearly very partisan and, when compared to all other reports, likely taking great liberties with the truth.

I'm starting to feel the fear that our educational system is an even greater disaster than our economy if this board is indicative of our population's critical thinking and reading comprehension ability. Hopefully things look better in the morning.