Stephanopoulos: McCain Holds Key to Administration's Bailout Passage on Capitol Hill

[babylonsister]

Stephanopoulos: McCain Holds Key to Administration's Bailout Passage on Capitol Hill

September 23, 2008 3:21 PM


ABC News' George Stephanopoulos reports: If Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain doesn't vote for the Bush administration's $700 billion economic bailout plan, some Republican and Democratic congressional leaders tell ABC News the plan won't pass.

"If McCain doesn't come out for this, it's over," a Top House Republican tells ABC News.

A Democratic leadership source says that White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten has been told that
Democratic votes will not be there if McCain votes no -- that there is no deal if McCain doesn't go along.

McCain has expressed concerns about Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's plan, which would amount to costing the American taxpayer two Iraq wars.

The Republican presidential candidate has suggested the original proposal lacks sufficient oversight, and he has said whatever plan emerges should protect family savings, homes, and student loans, and should eliminate obscene CEO compensation packages.

McCain said this week that any company that receives government aid should not be compensated more than $400,000 -- the highest-paid government employee.

more...

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/09/stephanopoulo-4.html

[AtomicKitten]

1. This should nicely wedge McBush between a rock and a hard place.

[babylonsister]

4. My first thought, too. They're boxing him in right nice. nt

[AtomicKitten]

7. OK, now we're ready to watch him flail about.

[Pirate Smile]

2. Good - the Dems are not going to let McCain and the R's run against them and Bush.

Smart.

[Bucky]

3. Agreed. McCain is currently screwing up the courage to kill it, I think.

Such votes to Republicans are not about policy, they're about self marketing and "sending a message"--no matter how many new homeowners they screw.

The right thing to do here is not to kill it, but to amend it so that the law has real teeth to restrain profiteering from the same private speculators that started this mess to begin with.

Obama should NOT under any circumstances skip this vote. He needs to amend it and pass it, not toss it all out. He needs to show real leadership here. This is a golden moment... he may not get another one.

[ContinentalOp]

9. Why not toss it all out?

There's no way they will ever come to a "compromise" that is anything but a massive bailout for the industry and a massive ripoff of taxpayers. Why should Obama vote for any bailout?

[Bucky]

10. I think it's the proposition of massive home foreclosures.

If these predatory lenders start having to call in their loans in bulk, you could have serious market chaos and a six figure jump in the number of homeless families. That's a bit much just to make a point.
I don't like 'em, either, but they're essentially holding the loan recipients hostage here. We need to defang the bastards before we rescue the homeowners they suckered into taking on too much debt.

[ContinentalOp]

13. If those people can't pay their mortages they will default anyway right?

I don't get it. :shrug:

[Bucky]

14. The point of the bail out is to create a lienholder strong enough to allow slower payments

The bottom line includes saving homeowners as well as the banks that punked them to begin with.

My suggestion is to let the lenders eat shit, but still protect the homeowners. That will require some kind of bail out, but the individual bad actors on the supply side of the bad loans should be punished.

[David Dunham]

5. McCain will in the end vote for it. His corporate sponsors will insist on it.

[jazzjunkysue]

12. Yep. He will, and right now, the senate still has the votes.

[islandmkl]

6. this is becoming a chess game...

and the players may only get one or two moves before CHECKMATE!

...i actually prefer these stakes...lets us see where our 'leaders' stand when they have nowhere to hide...

[tekisui]

8. Indeed!

[mascarax]

11. But...McCain Doesn't Vote Any More

I thought he stopped voting approx. April 4, 2008. Why start now? Too much controversy! He's a reformer, not a voter.

[ShadowLiberal]

15. This coulld actually backfire on us if that story is true

I'd hate to be the party pooper, but I'm a very pessimistic person, and with congress already having a record low approval rating, if McCain's support can really determine things from behind the scenes then he could screw us both at the polls and in the economy.

All McCain would have to do is refuse to agree to anything, and if his lack of support is really enough to kill the bill congress doesn't pass it, and then who does McCain blame for not passing the bill? The democratic majority in congress of course, it would give him a chance to brand congress the do nothing congress (as if some don't already feel that label describes it). If that happened chances are McCain's lack of support derailing the bill would get far less attention then congress not passing a bill and going into recess for the rest of the year.

Besides that it would give McCain a powerful bargaining chip to load up the bill with junk for the top 1% and his corporate buddies on the threat of not letting a bill pass.

[GarbagemanLB]

16. ...except McCain would have to be FOR it in order to criticize congress for not passing it...

[curious one]

17. He will not vote. He wants to reserve the right for future bragging.