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McCain Flub? Republican Says He'd Fire SEC Chair as President

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September 18, 2008 1:47 PM

ABC News' David Wright reports: At a joint rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Thursday, Republican John McCain slammed the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) for being "asleep," saying that if he were president, he would fire Chris Cox, the chairman of the SEC since 2005 and a former Republican congressman.

McCain said the SEC has allowed trading practices, such as short selling, to stay in place, that turned the "markets into a casino."

"The regulators were asleep, my friends," McCain said. "The chairman of the SEC serves at the appointment of the president, and in my view, has betrayed the public trust. If I were president today, I would fire him."

But while the president nominates and the Senate confirms the SEC chair, a commissioner of an independent regulatory commission cannot be removed by the president.

From time to time, presidents have attempted to remove commissioners who have proven "uncooperative."  However, the courts have generally upheld the independence of commissioners. In 1935, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt fired a member of the Federal Trade Commission, and the Supreme Court ruled the president acted unconstitutionally. 

Asked how McCain would fire Cox if the president does not have the formal power to fire the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the McCain campaign pointed to former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt, who resigned in 2002 when it was made clear to him that he had lost the confidence of the Bush administration.

"Not only is there historical precedent for SEC chairs to be removed, the president of the United States always reserves the right to request the resignation of an appointee, and maintain the customary expectation that it will be delivered," said McCain spokesperson Tucker Bounds.

SEC Chair Chris Cox released a statement Thursday in which he disagreed with McCain that he should be fired, and defended the regulatory agency he heads.

“While I have great respect for Sen. McCain, we have sometimes disagreed, and this is one such occasion," Cox said in a statement. "The SEC has made plain that we have zero tolerance for naked short selling. In this market crisis, the men and women of the SEC have responded valiantly, as they always do –- with the utmost dedication and professionalism."

The White House said this week it wants to stay out of politics, but a Bush administration spokesperson said today of SEC Chairman Cox, who was nominated by President George W. Bush, "The chairman has the president's support."

Campaigning together in Iowa today, McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin accused the Obama campaign of taking political advantage of the recent economic crisis.

"My opponent sees an economic crisis as a political opportunity instead of an opportunity to lead," McCain said.

Palin said, of Obama, “He likes to point the finger of blame, but does he ever lift a finger to help?”

McCain accused Obama of taking more campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives than anyone, aside from the chair of the congressional committee that regulates the lenders.

“While Sen. Obama was lining his pockets with campaign contributors, he didn’t lift a finger,” said McCain, who took credit for warning Congress of the impending crisis two years ago.  McCain also noted that the former head of Obama’s vice presidential search committee, Jim Johnson, was formerly a Fannie Mae executive.

The Obama campaign says that, when talk show host Sean Hannity asked Palin last night whether there should be an investigation of campaign contributions by Fannie and Freddie executives, she deferred, saying, “that’s significant, but even more significant is the role that lobbyists play in this.”

Obama campaign staffers note that several of McCain’s top advisors –- including campaign manager Rick Davis, vice presidential vetter Arthur Culvahouse, and McCain consigliere Charlie Black -– lobbied on behalf of the mortgage giants.

ABC News' Martha Raddatz, Lisa Chinn, Alyssa Litoff, Bret Hovell and Imtiyaz Delawala contributed to this report.

September 18, 2008 in McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Vote 2008: Democrats, Vote 2008: Republicans | Permalink | User Comments (857)

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Please

Mccain and Keating and deregulation

we lost a trillion dollars then and keating went to jail
now

Mccain and Gramm and deregualtion

we lost a trillion dollars and Gramm writes our future economic policies

you have got to be stupid to vote for the same guy who was at the center or hanging with the center of both collapses.

throw these bums...

this economic bum and liar out.

Posted by: dl | Sep 18, 2008 1:56:02 PM

If the SEC was asleep at the wheel then where was McCain and Bush prodding them to wake up. McCain is shirking responsibility for his role in lauching this mess....i.e, de-regulation and de-masculizing federal agencies until they are incompetent. McCain = Bush. Same Republican philosophy. McCain thinks the problem is lack of leadership not policy. He is still pushing for de-regulation (I think...it is hard to tell since he flip-flops constantly)...

Posted by: indy_voter | Sep 18, 2008 1:56:50 PM

it was deregulation and chummy relationships with the deregulating lobby that got us the S and L crisis and the Keating 5.

and it is deregulation and chummy relationships that just got this mess...and the second time trillion dollar buy out... and now McCain is pullin gthis bull as the guy who got it here for us...the deregualtion lobbyist

wrote his freakin economic platforma nd policies.

same guy two different buddies

same results

Mccain Keating
Mccain Gramm

same team
same tactics
same results

throw these bums out.

Posted by: dl | Sep 18, 2008 2:00:23 PM


This gets funnier by the minute ,I had not IDEA THAT BARACK WAS THE PRESIDENT OF THIS COUNTRY FOR THE PAST 8 YEARS .

FUNNY HOW THE SO CALL AGENT OF CHANGE MCCAIN FORGOT TO MENTION HIS BUDDY pres BUSH .LOL


MCCAIN IS GOING DOWN .WELCOME TO THE TITANIC MCBUSH ENJOY THE SINK.

Obama / Biden /08 .

Posted by: really! | Sep 18, 2008 2:00:39 PM

“Big Brother had nothing on the Obamas. They plan to herd American youth into government-funded reeducation camps where they’ll be brainwashed into thinking America is a racist, oppressive place in need of ’social change.’”

Investor’s Business Daily is referring to an organization known as Public Allies.

Has Investor’s Business Daily gone of the proverbial deep end?

Perhaps not. Just in case you’ve never heard of Public Allies, know that there are about 250 separate and unique references on Google comparing it to the Hitler Youth Corp.

No, that’s not a sick joke or exaggeration! In many cases, these comparisons are not made lightly, foolishly or flippantly.

Public Allies is an extremely radical leftist organization that seeks to bulldoze free America and replace it with a totalitarian socialist state.

Investor’s Business Daily goes on in the aforementioned editorial — aptly named “Michelle’s [Obama] Boot Camps For Radicals” — and states:

“But its real mission is to radicalize American youth and use them to bring about ’social change’ through threats, pressure, tension and confrontation — the tactics used by the father of community organizing, Saul ‘The Red’ Alinsky.”

But wait until you hear — as radio personality Paul Harvey would say — “The Rest of the Story.”

Barack Hussein Obama plans to use Public Allies, which he features on his campaign Web site, as the model for a national service corps.

He calls his Orwellian program, “Universal Voluntary Public Service.”

And why not?

After all Obama was a founding board member of Public Allies and his wife, Michelle, was executive director of the Chicago cell

Posted by: HP Boston | Sep 18, 2008 2:00:53 PM

I guess McCain noticed his poll numbers and will say and do anything.

The McCain camp is in Panic tone and total disarray.

Posted by: Vanessa | Sep 18, 2008 2:02:09 PM

McCain accusing Obama of politicizing the financial crisis is the height of hypocrisy. What does he expect him to do, keep silent? Then he'd be all over him for being out of touch. And wasn't there a situation in Georgia a little while back that McCain HUGELY politicized, trying to act like the world's hero?

More hypocrisy from a lying hypocritical campaign.

Posted by: jon in maryland | Sep 18, 2008 2:02:27 PM

Senator McCain should fire himself for his 26 years of pursuing deregulation.

Posted by: Dan | Sep 18, 2008 2:04:44 PM

Wow..the dumb and ignorant are going to be excited about wealth redistribution which is what Obama/Biden want. If this country thinks this Dem ticket will make our economy better, they are in for a shock. Sounds like we're inching closer to the Socialism that Obama wants and it will be the complete downfall of this country. Biden now saying it's "patriotic" for those that have worked hard for their money to just give hand outs to the middle class?
What? Sorry to say, those like Donald Trump won't see it that way.
McCAIN/PALIN.....TRUE COUNTRY FIRST, TRUE CHANGE, TRUE REFORM

Posted by: Emma | Sep 18, 2008 2:11:43 PM

When Obama discusses the issues of the day the McCain camp calls him an opportunist. They'd rather talk about lipstick and celebrities?

The McCain philosophy of deregulation has had a direct impact on this mess. Obama should raise the issue. It is a fundamental difference between the parties.

McCain again shoots from the hip and misses the mark.

Posted by: SET | Sep 18, 2008 2:13:03 PM

Another day, another dishonest statement by John "Spin" McCain!

Today's regulations are REPUBLICAN regulations. They emphasis the need to leave all markets without any oversight whatsoever.

Personally, if Billions (Trillions?) of taxpayer dollars are going to be used to bail out unregulated companies "too large to fail" I would like the goverment to actually be awake: 1) requiring full disclosure 2) drilling down and investigating risky no-doc loans and the conversion of B grade mortgages into A grade securities 3) acting to stop risky, dishonest, greedy behavior that threatens to destroy the U.S. economy.

FEC Chairman Chris Cox didn't do these things. He did not require meaningful disclosure of risky actions in the financial sector. He did not investigate these risky actions. He did not order the end to these risky actions. He followed the REPUBLICAN doctrine of LOOK-THE-OTHER-WAY regulation perfectly.

Now we pay the price. For the Bush-Gramm-McCain policies.

John McCain is looking for someone to fire, he should fire HIMSELF. He and his mentor, Phil Gramm, believe in and created this situation.

Posted by: John | Sep 18, 2008 2:15:22 PM

Emma,

Is Donald Trump really a game changer?

I think McCain's record of deregulation is more significant.

Posted by: ? for Emma | Sep 18, 2008 2:15:28 PM

Well, at least Obama created the stimulus package (oops - that was just a lie he said in Golden, Colorado - while the bipartisan package was similar to an idea he had, he couldn't even bother to come off the campaign trail to vote for the package, which McCain did vote for).

Obama is great at speeches, there's no doubt, and he certainly is compelling in front of his bank of flags, but so was Adolf Hitler.

Posted by: traci | Sep 18, 2008 2:17:13 PM

traci, talk about a stretch. Now you are comparing Obama to an evil dictator who committed genocide.

How about we talk about the economy?

Posted by: Wow | Sep 18, 2008 2:19:52 PM

If the SEC was asleep, it was because McCain slipped them a mickey. The system was deregulated, just the way you wanted. This is the result, please take you bow. Keep in mind McCain wants to also throw Social security into this gamblers mix. It is easy to be for somethign when it is up and against it when it is down. We need more from a President.

Posted by: Jason | Sep 18, 2008 2:20:11 PM

HP Boston: Another day another smear on a good non-profit organization trying to help our youth. You stoop to a new low...but hey, your probably proud of it.

Posted by: linda n carolina | Sep 18, 2008 2:20:47 PM

McCain and Camp are losing it. gaffe after gaffe. Talk tough and screw it up, he is even throwing the Country of Spain under the bus just so he doesn't have to say he was confused or did not understand the question.

He is not showing much in the realm of leadership, understanding, steadiness, and political acuity.

Headlines should read "McCain Campaign in Total Meltdown"!

Posted by: Thinking | Sep 18, 2008 2:22:04 PM

Oh, nice touch Traci. Compare Obama to Hitler. Low blow, but typical of many radical right wingers.

Posted by: Wm. J. LePetomaine | Sep 18, 2008 2:22:46 PM

Obama the genius going to the UN Security Council to censor Russia.

Posted by: geevill | Sep 18, 2008 2:24:46 PM

Obama got owned today. Obama's radical policies are now being exposed. Obama walked into a trap by attacking McCain-Palin, now they are springing it on him.

McCain and Palin hit back on Obama, right in the jaw, with the truth!

Sarah Palin speaking about Obama:

“When it comes to reform, has he hever once said, ‘We did’ instead of ‘I will’?

Brilliant!!

Obam has done NOTHING. When it comes to helping the American people, Obama's all talk and no walk!

McCain-Palin '08
Hillary 2012

Posted by: USVet | Sep 18, 2008 2:26:20 PM

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