“Keep in mind House Democrats and Senate Democrats and me and the leadership are all pretty burned up about this thing,” Obama said at a news conference after the TV interviews. “This wasn’t happening on our watch. We weren’t preventing some of the regulatory reforms that might have prevented us from getting here.”
Audacity indeed. Meanwhile Frank and Dodd are finding out what happens when you come to an “agreement” without talking to the very people who have objections. After today’s contentious White House meeting, many fear any deal is breaking down:
Paulson walked into the room where Democrats were caucusing after today’s meeting at the White House and pleaded with them, “Please don’t blow this up.” Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chair of the House Financial Services Committee was livid saying, “Don’t say that to us after all we’ve been through!” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “We’re not the ones trying to blow this up; it’s the House Republicans.” “I know, I know,” Paulson replied.
Never fear, though, as Frank will gladly pin his own failures on McCain as the Hill goes into an all-nighter to try to get this solved. Predictably, there are already attempts to lard up the bill with plenty of handouts to those who helped get us here in the first place. The markets will not like this news in the morning. While Obama himself is refraining from knocking McCain, his campaign certainly isn’t:
So make no mistake: John McCain did not “suspend” his campaign. He just turned a national crisis into an occasion to promote his campaign. It’s become just another political stunt, aimed more at shoring up the Senator’s political fortunes than the nation’s economy. And it does nothing to help advance this critical legislation to protect the American people during this time of economic crisis.
There’s some indication that McCain backs something along the lines of the House GOP’s plan:
[A] key Republican lawmaker stated that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) wants to explore new ideas, like loaning money to financial institutions or insuring the companies, rather than buying their toxic debt… Rep. Spencer Bachus (Ala.), the ranking Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, attended the meeting at which some say a deal was reached. But he later issued a statement saying he wasn’t authorized to negotiate or approve any deals for House Republicans… He added that McCain is interested in using loans or insurance rather than having the government purchase the toxic debts of Wall Street institutions.
These are the main principles of the House GOP alternative, which Paulson has said he doesn’t think will work:
1. Government should be providing mortgage insurance instead of buying up toxic debt 2. The companies that hold the assets should be paying premiums for that insurance, not taxpayers 3. Cut down on regulations and taxes that are keeping capital on the sidelines during this crisis, allowing for private investment to come into the market instead of just tax dollars 4. Temporary tax relief for companies to allow them to invest and create jobs
