McCain Suspends Campaign to Help With Bailout

FoxNews ^ | 9/24/08 | Sharon Kehnemui Liss, FOXNews.com

[Qwackertoo]

John McCain announced that he will suspend his presidential campaign on Thursday to return to Washington to help with bailout negotiations. He urged his opponent Barack Obama to do the same.

The Arizona senator also asked the Presidential Debate Commission to postpone Friday’s scheduled debate with Obama so that he can work on the financial crisis bailout plan now on Capitol Hill.

“America this week faces an historic crisis in our financial system. We must pass legislation to address this crisis. If we do not, credit will dry up, with devastating consequences for our economy. People will no longer be able to buy homes and their life savings will be at stake. Businesses will not have enough money to pay their employees. If we do not act, ever corner of our country will be impacted. We cannot allow this to happen,” McCain said.

Excerpt

[mewzilla]

Tancredo Demands ‘Bailout’ Provisions that Bar Handouts to Illegal Aliens

[grey_whiskers]

Late to the thread (as usual).

You *do* realize what will happen if the credit markets freeze entirely, don't you?

Finance is run on "just-in-time" as much as manufacturing; and in addition to companies financing operations through bonds (long term debt) instead of stocks (because Congress has made debt tax-advantaged and equity tax penalized), many companies (and banks!!) rely on short-term paper to buy inventory *and* to meet payroll.

No credit...no paychecks, and involuntary bankruptcy.

The problem is that the mark-to-market feature of Sarbanes Oxley is biting everyone on the ass. If a commercial or an investment bank needs to raise cash by selling real estate (or derivatives based on them), and has to do it fast, then the price *drops*. That's ok, let the greedy slimebages pay? Great, except the "mark-to-market" feature has now devalued EVERYONE's collateral and derivatives based on that collateral -- causing the need to sell more property to meet margin requirements (in a fractional reserve sense, not in a TD Waterhouse stock account sense) -- thus driving values down even more.

There is not enough *cash* available to back up all the credit commitments -- some funds are leveraged 30-40 to 1.

It is analogous to the human body going into shock, or, in other respects, to a "race condition" on a database.

The answer is to use the government not to "bail them out" but to "backstop" -- two ideas are to lend the companies money at LIBOR + some percent (so the govt. makes a profit), or to buy some of the worst properties, and SELL THEM BACK at a higher price later.

There was an article on FR yesterday about what was done in Sweden in a similar crisis -- it looked like a good idea from what I could see.

Cheers!

[nikos1121]

.....the latest Lindsey Lowan or Brittany Spears rumors are thinking McCain chickened out and he's trying to delay Palin's debate.

First off these people usually don't end up voting. Secondly, where did you hear that they were postponing the Palin debate?

[teddyballgame]

Fair enough, no offense intended. Re-addressing McCain’s past stabs in the back gets me riled.

[LibLieSlayer]

No problem... I think we all have plenty that keeps our anger peaked. I walk through my days seething disdain for every liberal in America. If a person is a dim or lefty... they are my enemy... because they hate everything that I love. Sorry I riled you and I do understand. Maybe we can save our republic yet. Sad how many FReepers seem to have already given up.

LLS

[cleveland gop]

You need to also add to the group those who only source of “income” are the entitlement checks we provide for them. And these people were allowed to buy houses.

I’m no expert in the banking industry but I would imagine that banks would try to help people out if they know you work and have a legitimate source of income.

So illegals and welfare recipiants fit into the group that made this mess.

[mewzilla]

No banker in his right mind wants to be stuck managing vacant properties. Of course they'll work with mortgage holders in distress.

I've got more questions: What's the average value of homes in foreclosure? What percentage of homes in foreclosure are actual primary residences? What percentage are owned by illegals?

Who the HADES are we really bailing out?!

[mass55th]

"FDR, Lincoln, Truman, and Madison all held much greater responsibilities under much more trying circumstances than any Senator today, and they all found the time to run for office."

The last thing I knew, John McCain was still running for President. He's simply chosen to put a temporary hold on his campaign, to head back to Washington at a critical time in the nation's economy. It's no different than him holding off on the beginning of the convention because of Gustav.

As of tomorrow, I believe Congress was planning on heading home to campaign for their respective offices, and wouldn't be back until after the elections in November. Is this bailout something that should be put off until after the elections? Or rushed through without proper consideration? I see Bambi got an offer he couldn't refuse from President Bush, and ended up going back to Washington anyway. It would have looked a whole lot better for him if he'd joined McCain initially, and accepted the invitation from the beginning. His flip comment, "If they need me, they can call me," was in very poor taste. He's always saying that McCain doesn't get it, well, Obama doesn't get it either.

As far as suspending the debate, I doubt it will make any difference anyway. The majority of the people who plan to vote have already made up their minds who they are voting for. Elections are not decided by debates. And in reality, the "meetings" they have between candidates can hardly be called true debates.

Please remember that as far as Lincoln, and Madison goes, Presidential campaigns were a lot different than they are now. There wasn't TV, internet, or air travel. Lincoln left Springfield in February of 1861 and never got back again until after his death. And in 1864, Lincoln thought his chances of winning the election were pretty slim.

TV broadcasts started in the early 40's, and I'm not sure just how much of the political campaigns were televised in the early days. As a kid in the early 50's, I can remember my father watching the Democrat Convention on our black and white TV. Adlai Stevenson was the party's nominee in both '52 and '56. I grew up in a Democrat house. My first ballot was cast for Hubert Humphrey, because that's who my father said I had to vote for. Thank God for Ronald Reagan, because that's when I finally came to my senses. If my Dad were alive today, he wouldn't even recognize his party anymore.

Granted things would hopefully not get as bad as during the Great Depression. I grew up listening to my parents talk about how bad it was. I also grew up in the 50's (born in '47), and lived through the Cold War. Unfortunately, Russia is once again rattling their sabers, the Muzzies are trying to take over the world, Iran is threatening Israel and us, China is poisoning everyone, and North Korea is once again being problematic. It's not as if there weren't threats out there. At any time, one or more of those issues could get out of hand. You just never know.

The thing that pi$$es me off about this whole housing bailout is that I've never owned a house or piece of property in my 61 years. Yet, I'll be paying on mortgages that people never should have gotten to begin with. I raised two sons alone. I could have used a house back when my kids were little, but that was during the Carter years, and I never would have been able to afford a mortgage, let alone pay for any repairs to a house. Now that I'm retired, I don't have the need for a house. I live in a very affordable 2-bedroom apartment in central New York State. If something breaks, the landlord has to fix it.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out in the end. I'd love to see the people responsible for this mess brought to justice. I'd love to see the Democrats once and for all, take responsibility for the mess they've made of the economy. I'm glad to see that the FBI is investigating all of this, and hope that the truth will finally come out, but whether that is ever allowed to happen remains to be seen.

[1L]

You are truly an idiot if you think I’m a leftist. (At least, browse some posts before making statements like this). I’m probably (no, make that almost certainly) more conservative than you are. Obama is/would be a disaster for the US, but McCain is simply wrong here. He doesn’t need to suspend anything and this is all rhetoric — something Obama and leftists would do.

[1L]

>>No, this says “McCain = Action; Obama = Talk”.<<

That’s all rhetoric; something the RATS would try to do and claim superiority on. There is absolutely nothing single-handedly John McCain can do in Washington on this issue — at least nothing that he can’t also do by phone. If he needs to show up and vote, fine. He doesn’t need to suspend his campaign to do it. If they are orchestrating a stunt here to make McCain a “savior”, then that’s doing exactly what liberals would do or try to do. And those of us who are really conservative and wondering what further mess Washington can get us into by trying to solve this mess shouldn’t fall for this idiocy.

[1L]

>>the country is facing what could be it’s worst financial meltdown in over 70 years<<

And the government is who got us into this mess. You really think they can solve this issue? Or just put it off until a bigger mess comes about in a few years or even months?

>>you cannot be physically in two different states at the same time<<

Name me one thing, other than vote, he is able to do in Washington? There’s this thing called the phone, another thing called the fax machine, and even if McCain doesn’t or can’t use email, his staff can. He only needs 6-8 hours notice of a vote to be there for that and he can reschedule his campaign to a location within a couple of hours flight time of Washington.

>>Will the country have a major collapse if the debates are postponed a week or so? I hardly doubt it.<<

I agree with this, and honestly, I think the debates (if you want to call them that) are stupid. However, this smacks clearly of McCain not being ready or willing to debate. Even if that’s truly not the case, since there’s not much he individually can do, this is a PR stunt. That’s what liberals do.

>>I prefer a leader who can tell the difference<<

I prefer a leader who puts substance over style and one who doesn’t do something just for political show or to try and make himself out to be the one who flies in at the last minute and solves everyone’s problems. That’s unrealistic — at least in real crises that Presidents will deal with.

[Nascar Dad]

Credit Crunch? What Credit Crunch?

Based on data from the St. Louis Fed, Total Consumer Credit Outstanding reached an all-time high of $2.572 trillion in July (see chart above). The way the banking system is described in the media, you’d think the supply of commercial bank credit has completely dried up, e.g. do a Google News search for “credit crunch” and you get almost 45,000 results. At least for consumer credit, and at least through July, the supply of consumer credit has never been higher.

http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2008/09/what-credit-crunch.html

[stockstrader]

I agree with this, and honestly, I think the debates (if you want to call them that) are stupid.

I couldn't agree more. The gulf between the candidate (and parties) has never been greater (especially with the most far-left EXTREME ticket ever on the democratic side)!!

Debates are great where people haven't seen the candidates speak (not possible in today's world)--and/or don't know a lot about their individual positions.

These so-called debates are nothing more than American Idol-type 'performance art'--where the media gets to play 'gotcha'--and will spin it to to absurd levels for their candidate (and we all know who that is).

[af_vet_rr]

First off these people usually don't end up voting. Secondly, where did you hear that they were postponing the Palin debate?

Well McCain's people suggested next Thursday for the Presidential debate. That's the same night as the VP debate, therefore the VP debate would have to be moved back (I don't see them holding both debates on the same night and I'd bet the organizations involved would not sign off on it anyways). It's a moot point - the organizations running Friday night's debate are going through with it, regardless of whether McCain shows up or not.

[af_vet_rr]

The thing that pi$$es me off about this whole housing bailout is that I've never owned a house or piece of property in my 61 years. Yet, I'll be paying on mortgages that people never should have gotten to begin with.

You and I do have something we agree upon after all.

This year we are seeing the government bail out individuals and companies that have made bad decisions. For proof of just how far to the left the GOP has gone, you need only look at that - they've bought into the liberal belief that people (and now companies) who make stupid decisions are actually victims and deserve to be bailed out.

The worst thing about this, is that the expectation is now there, that if large numbers of people or companies do something stupid, the government will come and bail them out.

It would almost be worth going through a major recession versus conditioning people and companies to accept that the government will protect them from themselves.

Companies will have much less to fear if they believe they have the government waiting with a safety net.

[maine-iac7]

Name me one thing, other than vote, he is able to do in Washington?

He's a SENIOR Senator - and just by going, he has panicked the dems, who have been deliberately foot dragging to milk this for all they can, while trying to stuff in earmarks and exact trades.

As well, he has a lot of clout with many on both sides and can have more influence face to face than by a 'phone call.' (I would hope to hell that when the country is in crisis, we'll have a president that will tackle it front and center, up close and personal, and not treat it as secondary to some personal activity that he doesn't want interupted. The debate isn't due until Fri. night. Why aren't you wondering why obambi couldn't have gone to DC without being co-ercered, to do the job he's getting paid for, on Thurs and Fri? Our Senators aren't supposed to just 'phone in'

By McCain going there, it has put an end to the foot dragging and focused the blame where the blame is.

Meanwhile, 'bambi intended not even to vote "present' but absent, while squirreled away in a hotel room being coached for a debate.

However, this smacks clearly of McCain not being ready or willing to debate.

ummm - where have you been for months? McCain has challenged obambi for months for a series of Town Hall debates - where a prepared script or safety in soft-ball questions from a moderator wouldn't provide a safety net.

Not really replying to you because I think you may realize your statements are wrong, at best - but for others reading them who might give them some credence.

Not sure where you're coming from - but will give you the benefit of just being a mugwump = mug on one side of the fence, wump on the other.

[RepublitarianRoger2]

I wasn’t really “trying” anything — not attempting to “sell” or persuade anyone. My post was simply in direct response to a previous post that was suggesting the same thing, and it seemed reasonable to me, that’s all. Your mention of the timing of McCain’s announcement does at least appear to lend credence to the claim that he is living up to his “maverick” title. Whether the impetus for McCain’s decision was because he (a) is committed to his duty to the country, (b) thought that it would be a shrewd political squeeze on Obama because it would allow him to challenge Obama’s commitment to do the same and expose him as less committed if Obama hesitated — as it turns out he did, or (c) knew or deduced ahead of time he would be called by Bush and therefore wanted to make the announcement ahead of time to appear proactive, or (d) all of the above, I can’t say. But it did have the effect of making Obama look like the slacker he is.

[af_vet_rr]

I think that is Palin going on Courics' show.

Both Palin and McCain went on Couric's show. McCain also made time to go on all three networks yesterday as well, so I'm sure he will be at the debate tonight - he wouldn't have made time for the networks yesterday if he wasn't planning on it, otherwise the Democrats would point out that he can make time for the networks but not for the debate.

FYI, CBS execs were not happy that Letterman was showing the live video of McCain getting makeup put on right before the start of the interview with Couric:

NYPost

CBS News executives were red- faced yesterday trying to explain how David Letterman used unaired news footage of Sen. John McCain with Katie Couric to embarrass the Republican presidential candidate.

McCain canceled his appearance on Letterman's show late Wednesday, several hours before he was due to appear - claiming he had to return to Washington to deal with the financial crisis.

Later in the show, Letterman showed an internal, live video of McCain being tended to by a make-up artist before the Couric interview. Both Couric and Letterman are on CBS.

Letterman said on the air that McCain had called him personally to apologize and said he was racing to the airport.

"He doesn't seem to be racing to the airport, does he?" Letterman told viewers.

"I feel like we've caught him getting a manicure," Letterman quipped, as a make-up woman dabbed at McCain's face.

Asked if CBS officials had a problem with Letterman using the internal news feed, a spokeswoman for "The Evening News" refused to address the issue.

[1L]

>>he has panicked the dems<<

This is nonsense. Its just as bad for us to drink the kool-aid as it is for liberals. It seems like you’ve sucked down a gallon of it.

If you really think that this bail-out business is anything BUT a big political grab bag by both parties, you have no business commenting on politics. By acting like he is “needed” or can “save America” he’s doing nothing other than hurting the conservative movement (which is being tremendously hurt by his candidacy anyway) in the sense that it shows he thinks Washington can solve the problems — never mind its the problems they created.

What McCain should have done from the campaign trail is say, “I will go to Washington when and if I’m needed, but I’m going to spend this time getting the message across about why we are in this mess and who’s responsible for it...” and then go into detail about the issues he brought up (if all that is indeed correct) a few years ago. Also, he should talk about not going to agree to the best of a bad set of choices, etc. THAT would have been much more effective than this circus he’s started.

>>clout with many on both sides<<

Please tell me you are joking. Do you honestly believe any RAT senator or house member is going to support McCain’s ideas here — especially if they see it possibly hurting Obama in November? Regardless of what McCain was a year or two years ago, he is the ENEMY now (according to RATS).

>>Why aren’t you wondering why obambi couldn’t have gone to DC without being co-ercered<<

I don’t care one whit about what Obama does or doesn’t do, other than I wish he would get in his car and drive east from Washington and keep going for 2 hours.

>>McCain has challenged obambi for months for a series of Town Hall debates<<

Right and backing out of this one makes it looks like that was all talk.

I agree with your assessment of the debates — they are truly stupid. However, they exist. McCain’s already agreed to them. Backing out and using the vote (that may not happen this week anyway) as an excuse is ridiculous. He can be there for a few hours on Friday regardless of what happens the rest of the week and he should have prepared well before now.

>>mug on one side of the fence, wump on the other<<

I don’t know what the hell any of this means. My conservative credentials speak for themselves. I’ve been on this forum for a decade spouting conservatism and trying to tell other so-called conservatives to stop acting like liberals — i.e. name calling, personal attacks, and drinking the kool-aid regardless of who pours it (among other things). These actions by McCain show he isn’t advancing conservatism at all.

My point here is the following (for clarity at the risk of repetition):
1. McCain going back to Washington smacks of one of two things — a) him chickening out of the debate; and/or b) trying to show the country that he can walk in and fix things. A speaks for itself and if its B, he’s engaging in the actions that got us into this mess and is attempting to show Washington is the answer to our problems when its the problem in the first place.

2. EVERYTHING that’s going on in Washington this week is political posturing. The only thing they are interested in is winning elections. Whatever so-called “fix” they come up with is going to blow up in our faces at some point, but it is geared only toward their political hopes, not what the country needs.

3. McCain could do much more good on the campaign trail educating everyone on what happened and how to really prevent it from happening again.

[maine-iac7]

Methinks thou doth protest profusely - ala...