In 1995 McCain wanted Ø regulation. Now he wants lots of it. How convenient

[NNN0LHI]

http://weblogs.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/politics/blog/2008/09/mccain_always_for_less_regulat.html

McCain: "Always for less regulation"???

Two articles today are helpful in understanding the politicking going on over the Wall Street financial crisis, as McCain tries to hang onto a hard-won beachhead on the change/reform issue, while Obama works to force him back into the pigeonhole of traditional Republican.

First, this piece in the NYTimes captures a moment in McCain's past that he would rather have forgotten:

"While he has few footprints on economic issues in more than a quarter century in Congress, Mr. McCain has always been in his party’s mainstream on the issue.

"In early 1995, after Republicans had taken control of Congress, Mr. McCain promoted a moratorium on federal regulations of all kinds. He was quoted as saying that excessive regulations were 'destroying the American family, the American dream' and voters 'want these regulations stopped.' The moratorium measure was unsuccessful.

“ 'I’m always for less regulation,' he told The Wall Street Journal last March, 'but I am aware of the view that there is a need for government oversight' in situations like the subprime lending crisis, the problem that has cascaded through Wall Street this year. He concluded, 'but I am fundamentally a deregulator.'

"Later that month, he gave a speech on the housing crisis in which he called for less regulation, saying, 'Our financial market approach should include encouraging increased capital in financial institutions by removing regulatory, accounting and tax impediments to raising capital.'

[dchill]

1. He STILL doesn't want regulation...

But he DOES want the presidency. LIE LIE LIE. USA USA USA.

[Supersedeas]

2. seems to me, his political ambitions have a way of shifting his behavior