Right Wing Nation

Instapundit:

To test Nancy Pelosi’s hypothesis that after eight years of President Bush the economy is in far worse shape than it was under President Clinton at a time of “budget surpluses,” I went to Lending Tree to see what kind of mortgage terms I could get to buy my first home today. . . .

So what kind of offer did I get today in the midst of this horrible financial crisis? I got four offers, the lowest of which was a 15-year fixed-rate VA mortgage of 6.0%, zero points and zero down, yielding a monthly payment of $948.20. Yes, that’s right, as bad as everyone says the economy is today, I can get the same mortgage as I had twelve years ago for about $250 a month less than I was paying 12 years ago in the midst of a “great” economy.

But what about the rise in prices of real estate, you might argue? Good question. So I checked Realtor.com to see what my old house might cost today. While that particular home isn’t currently on the market, another home with the same floorplan and in the same division is listed at $139,000. Plugging that amount into the 6.485% effective annual percentage rate of the mortgage I was offered today and I could buy my old home again today for $1,209.69 a month–about a dollar less than what I was paying for the same home in 1996.

And speaking of useless wackjobs, Georgia used to have Cynthia McKinney and Indiana used to have Julia Carson — as nutty as McKinney ever thought about being, just not as obnoxious. Well, Julia passed away, and her hip-hop thug grandson, Andre, got elected.

He voted against the bailout — and are you ready for the reason? It didn’t have home foreclosure protections. In other words, he wants taxpayers to buy houses and give them away.

Hell, he makes Julia look sane.

From the youtube page:

Sing for Change chronicles a recent Sunday afternoon, when 22 children, ages 5-12, gathered to sing original songs in the belief that their singing would lift up our communities for the coming election. Light, hope, courage and love shine through these nonvoting children who believe that their very best contribution to the Obama campaign is to sing.

Sing for Change was a confluence of hard work, good will, and shared vision. Inspired by ideas raised at a grassroots Obama fundraiser, a music teacher, Kathy Sawada, and the children composed and rehearsed the songs in less than two weeks. Several musicians heard of the effort and volunteered to accompany the children. Parents and older siblings designed and provided the T-Shirts and the banner. There’s a first for everything, but rarely do so many firsts come together at once: for the children and their parents, this is their first performance, first video, first banner, and first involvement with grassroots work on a presidential campaign.

If you want to watch the Hitler Obama Youth sing to Fearless Leader, you can click the link. It’s way too disturbing to embed here.

I heard about this on Rush, but it turns out, Exurban League thought of exactly the same thing I did.

Others chiming in. Reason: Die Obamajugend Singt! Roger Simon: “Watching this video has disturbed me more than almost anything I have seen in recent years. It is the kind of exploitation of children that reminds me of Young Pioneer Camps I saw when visiting the Soviet Union in the Eighties.”

Heh.

“The sky in the east is red
the sun rises
Maobama rises in America
he brings the sun…”

Another commenter:

Last Sunday I attended a community picnic for “Obama families.”

When we walked into the community center, they tried to shuffle the kids off to one side to “learn about voting” while an aggressive campaign worker told us to sign-in on a clipboard. When I asked why she needed our phone number, address, and email, she said, “we just want to know how many people attended.” Classic Alinsky organizing. My wife spoke Democrat to them and my kids and I were able to enter without further indoctrination.

Inside, a popular children’s entertainer, Rebecca Frezza, was performing but she had changed all of the lyrics of her songs to, I kid you not, “I Love. Bar-ack Oh-Baaaa-mah.” Most disappointing because my daughters are fans and couldn’t hear the songs the way they knew them.

After that were two speeches by our local NJ assemblywoman and an adviser to Obama’s campaign. Both speeches were about how “amazing” Obama’s convention speech was, how the stadium spectacle brought them to tears, and how they were initially inspired to support Obama by Will-I-Am’s youtube video. I couldn’t make this stuff up. Both speeches ended with some hope-and-change chanting. I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a room with 200 sweaty Democrats (adults and kids) chanting “yes we can” but I’d rather reenact the torture scene from Syriana than do that again.

I’m happy to report that my daughters, ages eight and five, caught the creepy stench of group-think in the air and were extremely uncomfortable. My Democrat wife too had to admit that it was a little scary. After we left I bought my kids an ice cream cone to sooth the pain.

And another:

O holy Child of Chicago!
Descend to us, we pray;
We’ll suck your toes and kill all those
Who stand in your way.

As sick and twisted as this is, I suppose humor is the only way to deal with it.

At first glance, it looks like Obama has a good idea.

Adopting a proposal backed by some House Republicans, he wants to hike the FDIC insurance limits from $100,000 to $250,000, which would, presumably, restore faith in banks while giving small business owners a place to park their cash.

There are just two problems. First, McCain beat him to it.

John McCain
Fox News’ “Fox & Friends”
September 30, 2008

John McCain: “I have talked to the President this morning and recommended an increase from $100,000 to $250,000 FDIC insurance on deposits. I also strongly recommended that we use the exchange stability fund that the Treasury has available — $250 billion — to shore up these institutions. Also, the Treasury has at its disposal about $1 trillion that they could begin without Congressional authority buying up some of these terrible mortgages and help stabilize the situation. So I’ve talked to the President. I know that we have to act. Even though we failed yesterday, even though I went back and was able to get more Republicans on board or help get more Republicans on board, we will go back to this, and I will be engaged always where I think America needs engagement.”

Note that Obama was so shameless he even lifted the amounts. But worse, the House GOP proposed that yesterday, and guess who would have none of it?

The presidential candidates’ support for increasing the FDIC cap is welcome news. Increasing the FDIC cap is a proposal put on the table by Roy Blunt and House Republicans but ruled out by Democrats during the negotiations that led to yesterday’s unsuccessful vote.

So once again, Obama adopts McCain’s ideas.

I got chided over at Hot Air by somebody who claimed the “facts” have been out there for two weeks, and I just wasn’t paying attention.

Sorry, but no, they have not. Where are the economic analyses balancing a bailout against none? I’ll tell you where they are: Nobody has bothered to do any.

Pardon my skepticism, but hysteria tends to do that to me. Let’s see those analyses.

Not everybody is shrieking “the sky is falling!” Here’s law professor Ilya Somin:

Past history shows that stock market drops, even big ones, don’t necessarily cause longterm damage to the economy. Today’s drop in stock values, while the largest in absolute terms, is not even in the top 10 relative to total shareholder value. The 1987 stock market crash was much more severe - a 22.6% loss in share value on the Dow Jones in one day - three times today’s 7% drop. Yet the economy recovered swiftly, in part because policymakers were wise enough to let failing firms go bankrupt and free up their resources for use by more efficient industries.

Like me, Somin is waiting for more analysis. And economists across the political spectrum are signing a petition against a bailout, saying in part the same thing I am.

If the plan is enacted, its effects will be with us for a generation. For all their recent troubles, Americas dynamic and innovative private capital markets have brought the nation unparalleled prosperity. Fundamentally weakening those markets in order to calm short-run disruptions is desperately short-sighted.

For these reasons we ask Congress not to rush, to hold appropriate hearings, and to carefully consider the right course of action, and to wisely determine the future of the financial industry and the U.S. economy for years to come.

So everybody, take your meds, calm down, and start doing the math.

Oh, speaking of skepticism, Mike Pence had the best line:

“I must tell you, there are those in the public debate who have said that we must act now. The last time I heard that, I was on a used-car lot,” said Rep. Mike Pence, R-Indiana. “The truth is, every time somebody tells you that you’ve got to do the deal right now, it usually means they’re going to get the better part of the deal.”

That’s exactly how I feel. Does anybody else think this is remarkably like all that green nuttiness? Ratify Kyoto and use only one sheet of toilet paper, or we’re all going to DIE! Give us 700 billion dollars now or we’re all going to DIE!

Uh-huh.

I forgot something I needed for one of those errands, so here in a little while, I’m going to have to go back downtown. Duh.

Off to mail those Congress critter letters, and do another errand.

I’m sending this to Peterson, Specter, and Casey today.

It seems imprudent to rush a bailout bill. There have been no committee hearings, and as far as I have been able to tell, very little data. Forbes reported this week that, “’It’s not based on any particular data point,’ a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. ‘We just wanted to choose a really large number.’” This does not encourage me, nor does it make me tend to accept that a disaster is waiting to happen, and the Great Depression will repeat.

I neither accept nor reject the disaster scenario, because no evidence has been given either way, at least in the media. That a certain person does accept it is not evidence: It’s an appeal to authority, a logical fallacy.

I don’t write to encourage you either to accept or deny the scenario, or vote for or against the bailout. I merely ask that you solicit evidence and weigh it carefully before you vote. A bailout could, after all, be as destructive to the economy as none at all.

There’s no problem at Fannie Mae, you wingnuts!

From — of all places — the LA Times, about that $700 billion.

“It’s not based on any particular data point,” a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. “We just wanted to choose a really large number.”

They made it up to be sufficiently ginormous to frighten everyone into rapid action.

And it worked.

The Obama thugs hacked Macsmind.

What’s ironic is that for the last eight years, idiots have been going on TV claiming they’re being silenced (while speaking on TV) and howled about the Bush-Cheney fascist state, and free speech. Except the only fascist tactics and free speech violations have been by the Obama campaign.

Fascinating, that.

By now, everybody’s heard how Obama piped up and said, “I wear a bracelet too!” then had to look at it because he didn’t know the soldier’s name. Well, it turns out that the family of that soldier have repeatedly asked Obama not to wear it, or use their son as a campaign trick.

Barack Obama played the “me too” game during the Friday debates on September 26 after Senator John McCain mentioned that he was wearing a bracelet with the name of Cpl. Matthew Stanley, a resident of New Hampshire and a soldier that lost his life in Iraq in 2006. Obama said that he too had a bracelet. After fumbling and straining to remember the name, he revealed that his had the name of Sergeant Ryan David Jopek of Merrill, Wisconsin.

Shockingly, however, Madison resident Brian Jopek, the father of Ryan Jopek, the young soldier who tragically lost his life to a roadside bomb in 2006, recently said on a Wisconsin Public Radio show that his family had asked Barack Obama to stop wearing the bracelet with his son’s name on it. Yet Obama continues to do so despite the wishes of the family.

Hope and change?

Opposition to the bailout continues to grow.

Biden speaks for McCain.

Tax breaks — that is, stealing less money from businesses — is not corporate welfare.

This is corporate welfare.

The loan package for automakers would reward them with $25 billion in below-market loans, costing taxpayers $7.5 billion to subsidize the retooling of plants and development of technologies to help U.S. carmakers to build cleaner, more fuel efficient cars. Companies would not have to begin repaying the loans for five years, drawing objections from Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., who predicted they would return for more help when the money is due.

Then we have this:

I have read Dodd’s proposed statute and in some respects, it is far worse than has been reported. Senator Dodd has placed a loophole in the bill that is explicitly designed to siphon off tens or hundreds of billions of dollars to the Housing Trust Fund and the Capital Magnet Fund even if there are no net profits in the $700 billion venture.

That Housing Trust Fund goes to ACORN. Taxes funding election fraud. ACORN also pressures banks to lend to underqualified applicants. So you see, until we put an end to housing welfare, we’ll have another bailout and another and another and another.

And I’ll give you three guesses which Presidential candidate worked for ACORN, and the first two don’t count. (Hint: He did something that’s like a mayor, but without real responsibilities.)

Shadegg is wondering how much of this is chicken little hysteria.

But I think that in some ways the question doesn’t matter any more. Because Secretary Paulson chose to raise the matter in the way he did — that is, to go public in a very high-profile way, not just with his concern, but with a kind of Chicken-Little, the-sky-is-falling kind of demand — it became a self-fulfilling prophecy.

That is to say, once the secretary of the Treasury announces to the world that there is a pending financial collapse, perhaps as great as the Great Depression, and Congress must act — he has sent a signal that essentially tells world markets that Congress must act. I will tell you that has been one of the most frustrating things about this since the very beginning…

I can’t tell you how many members of Congress were stunned at that news, and were stunned that none of their local bankers were calling them. And then they called their local bankers, as I called my local bankers, and my local bankers said, “I think things are just fine.” I talked to one banker who said, “Gosh, we’ve got money, and we’re liquid, and we’re making a profit. And we’re in the market selling loans, and we’ve got competitors trying to sell loans against us.”

So, at that point, there’s a disconnect. Secretary Paulson is claiming that this is a catastrophe of generational proportions that could go worldwide. And none of what we were hearing back home matches that. And I’m not speaking just for myself, but also for many of my colleagues who were making similar calls. They weren’t being called by their bankers, or by any of the businesses back home saying, “I can’t borrow any money”…. If, in fact, Paulson had struck a chord with the American banking community, wouldn’t you think that after he announced on Friday that there was a crisis of liquidity that threatens the entire nation’s financial solvency and Americans’ jobs from coast to coast, that my community bankers in Arizona wouldn’t have been picking up the phone by Monday morning, if not over the weekend, to say that “I share the Secretary’s concerns”?

Yesterday, I saw that government-sponsored ads for subprime mortgages — housing welfare — are still running on television.

Started the prednisone yesterday, and the hip is much better today, but after doing errands (not so great an idea), it’s starting to hurt hurt. I’ll hold off on the pain pills as long as possible, but the problem is that sitting hurts. So I’m going to lie down.

Obama invoked Kissinger while defending his “talk with no preconditions,” and Kissinger slaps him down for misquoting him.

Then, Biden pulls a John Kerry in Pennsylvania.

Campaigning in Pennsylvania coal country on Thursday, the Democratic vice presidential nominee said the government should steer more money to clean coal — a term used to describe a variety of emerging technologies that burn coal for electricity without producing as much pollution.

“I am for clean coal,” he told The Associated Press following a speech in Wilkes-Barre

That was after he said this:

I don’t think there’s much of a role for clean coal in energy independence, but I do think there’s a significant role for clean coal in the bigger picture of climate change. Clean-coal technology is not the route to go in the United States, because we have other, cleaner alternatives. But I would invest a considerable amount of money in research and development of clean-coal and carbon-sequestration technologies for export.

and this:

“We’re not supporting clean coal,” Biden replied, putting his hands on the woman’s shoulders. “Guess what? China’s building two every week, two dirty coal plants, and it’s polluting the United States. It’s causing people to die.”

I guess he took my advice.

Looking at the “Catholic vote.”

The first post-debate debate ad.

300 retired Generals and Admirals endorse McCain.

Breaking news: Obama is a jackbooted thug.

Barack Obama’s campaign is trying to silence the National Rifle Association’s latest ad campaign using strong arm tactics by threatening them with possible legal action if they run the ads

Why the thuggery? Because the NRA is right, and Obama doesn’t want you to know until after election day (hint for Obama: Nobody cares what you have to say about the Second Amendment; it’s your record that counts).

Instapundit has more. Follow the links.

Obama hates the First Amendment as much as he does the Second.

Even Bill Clinton admits it. Noel Sheppard reports:

Going very much against the media meme that the current financial crisis is all George W. Bush and the Republicans’ fault, Bill Clinton on Thursday told ABC’s Chris Cuomo that Democrats for years have been “resisting any efforts by Republicans in the Congress or by me when I was President to put some standards and tighten up a little on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac”

Here’s the video.

Seriously. These are the three candidates running for Peterson’s House seat. Thompson is the Republican, McCracken is the Democrat, and Fryman is the Libertarian.

No matter who wins, we’ll have the ugliest representative in the House.

This time, from Obama:

A $100,000 state grant for a botanic garden in Englewood that then-state Sen. Barack Obama awarded in 2001 to a group headed by a onetime campaign volunteer is now under investigation by the Illinois attorney general amid new questions, prompted by Chicago Sun-Times reports, about whether the money might have been misspent.

The garden was never built. And now state records obtained by the Sun-Times show $65,000 of the grant money went to the wife of Kenny B. Smith, the Obama 2000 congressional campaign volunteer who heads the Chicago Better Housing Association, which was in charge of the project for the blighted South Side neighborhood.

While Obama preens in front of a mirror, McCain is showing leadership.

Democrats had dared Sen. John McCain to show leadership on the Wall Street crisis and he stepped up. He put his campaign on hold Wednesday and challenged Sen. Barack Obama to postpone Friday’s debate, which Democrats had hoped to turn into a forum on failed Republican economic policies.

Less than a month after he canceled the first night of the Republican National Convention, Mr. McCain again flashed his signature maverick style, declaring President Bush’s proposed $700 billion bailout dead and, as he’s done so often in the past, said he could help broker a bipartisan deal to cut through the political clutter…

[ . . . ]

The McCain campaign said last night that Mr. Obama’s refusal would not affect their plans. The Arizona senator announced that he was canceling his political commercials and would return to Washington after a final nonpartisan speech Thursday to the Clinton Global Initiative. He also said he was suspending fundraising, though the link on his Web site for contributions to his campaign compliance fund still worked Wednesday night.

Mr. McCain said top leaders from both parties should meet and hammer out details of a bill that that they would then present to their colleagues as the best solution possible - exactly the way he has crafted deals on other major issues, such as judicial nominees and immigration.

“I am confident that before the markets open on Monday, we can achieve consensus on legislation that will stabilize our financial markets, protect taxpayers and homeowners, and earn the confidence of the American people,” he said. “All we must do to achieve this is temporarily set politics aside, and I am committed to doing so.”

Or as a correspondent put it, Obama has gone from “voting present to voting not present.”

You’d think in trying to iron out what to do about this housing welfare mess that the Democrats would drop their usual dishonesty, wouldn’t you. Think again.

Leave it to Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid to crash the Energy Freedom party. Not only is he crashing the party, he’s doing so through the side door where he thinks no one can see him.

Just when it appeared that we could celebrate Congress lifting the ban on oil shale, Senator Reid “has decided to sneak an extension of the oil shale ban through as Congress fights over the financial bailout.”

What a slime bag. Fortunately, DeMint caught it.

Democrat Senate Leader Harry Reid has decided to sneak an extension of the oil shale ban through as Congress fights over the financial bailout. Oil shale in America’s West is estimated to hold be between 800 billion and 2 trillion barrels of oil — that is more than three times the proven oil reserves in Saudi Arabia alone.

But that’s not all. It’s not even the sleaziest crap the Democrats are trying to pull. Senator Graham reported that the bailout:

includes a reported $100 million more in funding for the left-wing housing entitlement thugs and heavily tax-subsidized fraudsters at ACORN.

Tax money for ACORN? They’re criminals, their agenda is criminal, and they belong behind bars, not getting money to register dead people. Of course, Obama is a big ACORN supporter (see here, and here, and here, and here, and here) — that’s what community organizers do, voter fraud. Well that, and write grant proposals so they can get even more tax money to create more government dependency.

You just can’t get any slimier than this.

You can get almost as slimy, especially if you look in Illinois, where sleazy politics is an art form.

Sources tell CBS 2 News Chicago that Federal agents claim to have enough evidence to indict Blagojevich on fraud and conspiracy charges.

Another station reports:

Prosecutors also mentioned Blagojevich in an indictment as the intended beneficiary of at least one extortion attempt by Blagojevich fundraiser and businessmen Antoin “Tony” Rezko.

Rezko was convicted June 4 on 16 of the 24 counts against him. He awaits sentencing in October on mail and wire fraud, aiding and abetting bribery and money laundering convictions. He still faces two more trials.

The Chicago Sun-Times has reported Rezko could cut his prison time significantly by cooperating in investigations of other public figures.

That would be Obama’s butt buddy. Blowjobjevich is the Democrat Governor of Illinois. Delay was sleazy, but nowhere near as filthy as these Democrats.

The Phoenix Business Journal:

U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., may be throwing a monkey wrench into efforts to pass a $700 billion bank bailout, instead favoring alternative plans that looks to free up capital and credit markets via tax and regulatory relief while allowing financial institutions to temporarily skip dividend payments to shareholders.

Republican and Democratic officials in Washington said McCain was offering alternatives Thursday to the $700 billion plan backed by the Bush administration, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

That plan has the federal government acquiring bad mortgage assets from struggling banks with the goal of keeping them afloat and allowing more credit to flow.

McCain appears to be siding with conservatives and House Republicans who question the bailout and its costs to taxpayers as well as government rescuing private lenders and perhaps taking ownership stakes in rescued banks.

The alternative plan allocates less public money and relies more on tax breaks, lifting regulatory barriers and using less bailout-oriented mechanisms to free up capital and credit. It also seeks to create a privately funded mechanism to ensure mortgages and mortgage-backed securities.

One Republican official said McCain is standing up for taxpayers as he, President Bush, congressional leaders and presidential foe Sen. Barack Obama try to hash out a deal. A deal was close to being finalized Thursday but House Republicans and McCain are looking to get alternatives considered.

That’s exactly what he should be doing.

Then, there’s this.

According to Gingrich and Dick Morris on Hannity and Colmes, McCain has killed the Paulsen bailout and will present his own version, which will require the government to lend, not give the money, and regulations will be reformed and taxes will be loosened to help them pay us back.

Both Gingrich and Morris were giddy. They both said McCain has shown that he will stand up to anyone–including the president–to fight for the country, and he’s changed the argument: Now, the Dems support giving a trillion dollars to the Wall Street “fat cats,” as they called them over and over, but McCain has refused, in the name of the taxpayer.

Both Gingrich and Morris said that McCain had utterly and totally pwned the Dems, who will be forced to support McCain’s plan.

McCain will then go to the public and explain that Obama supported the bailout, but McCain crafted an alternative, despite immense pressure from the president and the Department of the Treasury.

As a bonus, McCain stood up for the conservative wing of the party, not the moderates, as everyone expected him to do. Both Gingrich and Morris said McCain has totally won the argument.

Let’s hope it all pans out this way.

I hate talking heads and never watch their shows, so no, I did not see Hannity and Colmes, because I hate that show. If it is true, I also don’t know that Newt and Dick have any idea what they’re talking about. Newt usually doesn’t run his trap without something behind it, but Dick Morris is another story.

I’ll be watching to see what happens, and what McCain does, and I’ll be posting about it. Got that doctor appointment today, sometime. Haven’t made it yet (they don’t start taking calls for another thirty minutes).

The arthritis is really, really painful today. I finally broke down and called my doctor. Off to the pharmacy (that is not going to be fun) now, see the doctor tomorrow.

Swimmingly, apparently.

On entering a room filled with several Pakistani officials this afternoon, Palin was immediately greeted by Sherry Rehman, the country’s Information Minister.

“And how does one keep looking that good when one is that busy?,” Rehman asked, drawing friendly laughter from the room when she complimented Palin.

“Oh, thank you,” Palin said.

Pakistan’s recently-elected president, Asif Ali Zardari, entered the room seconds later. Palin rose to shake his hand, saying she was “honored” to meet him.

Zardari then called her “gorgeous” and said: “Now I know why the whole of America is crazy about you.”

“You are so nice,” Palin said, smiling. “Thank you.”

A handler from Zardari’s entourage then told the two politicians to keep shaking hands for the cameras.

“If he’s insisting, I might hug,” Zardari said. Palin smiled politely.

Blink. Blink.

His Changeyness is fond of whining that he puts country first, too, in response to McCain’s campaign slogan. So let’s look at that whine.

Senator McCain has suspended his campaign to return to Congress.

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, every corner of our country will be impacted. We cannot allow this to happen.

[ . . . ]

Tomorrow morning, I will suspend my campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me.

I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.

We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved. I am directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the commission on presidential debates to delay Friday night’s debate until we have taken action to address this crisis.

So what’s Obama doing?

Preparing for the debate in Florida, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama held a previously unscheduled news conference, arguing the debate should go on.

“I believe that we should continue to have the debate,” Obama said. “It’s my belief that this is exact time when the American people need to hear form the person who in approximately 40 days will be responsibly for dealing with this mess and I think that it is going to be part of the President’s job to deal with more than one thing at once.”

Obama said that unlike McCain, he will not suspend ads, or campaign events scheduled between now and Friday’s debate.

Let’s summarize. McCain is putting his campaign on hold to deal with a national crisis. Obama is whacking his pud as he looks at himself in a mirror.

So what was that about putting country first, Oh Hope-y One?

Update: When the phone rang at 3 am, McCain answered it. Obama’s still asleep.

That’s what Ace calls naming names on the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac fiasco — on the news.

Chuckles Schumer:

I think Fannie and Freddie over the years have doe an incredibly good job and are an intrinsic part of making America the best-housed people i the world . . . if you look over the last 20 or whatever years, they’ve done a very, very good job.

Johnny Mac:

For years, I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac . . . and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market . . . the GSEs need to be reformed without delay.

Alan Greenspan:

Enabling these institutions to increase in size — and they will once the crisis in their judgment passes — we are placing the total financial system of the future at a substantial risk.

Also awesome: Bloomberg (!) pulls no punches.

Maybe the one must see of the entire election season. One of the most powerful ads I’ve ever seen, from Catholic Vote. Beautifully done, moving, and very powerful.

Have you noticed that the only numbers we’re getting is the amount of the bailout? In the last couple of days, I’ve heard 700 billion and 1 trillion. But you know, there are some things we — not to mention Congress — need to know.

First, what will be the estimated economic cost of the bailout?

Second, what will be the estimated economic cost of no bailout?

Surely, economists somewhere are calculating these numbers, right? If the cost of the bailout is greater than the cost of no bailout, then passing a bailout bill would be insane. No informed decision can be made without these two numbers, so I repeat, economists are calculating them somewhere, surely?

Unfortunately, I doubt it. I’m sure this will be decided with no data or reference to cost or the real world. It’s a Democratic Congress, after all.

Oh. I’m not seeing those missing numbers, but these economists don’t like the bailout (h/t Andy Roth).

Rasmussen reports the number of respondents opposed to the bailout is growing.

I’ve been getting 500 errors on all of the admin pages here all morning. Seems to be working now. Rather, I got this page. We’ll see if it posts.

Rachel makes an astute observation.

You know what’s funny? It’s always people like this, the ones who fear a fascist police-state, who don’t think regular citizens should be allowed to have guns. And they say we’re the stupid ones.

The Palin Derangement Syndrome Database!

And Palin Rumors, also excellently done.

Ol’ Joe Motormouth outdoes himself:

Joe Biden’s denunciation of his own campaign’s ad to Katie Couric got so much attention last night that another odd note in the interview slipped by.

He was speaking about the role of the White House in a financial crisis.

“When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the princes of greed,” Biden told Couric. “He said, ‘Look, here’s what happened.’”

So was that before or after he jumped in his time machine? And what’s funnier is that Katie Couric didn’t catch it.

Thanks — I think — to Hube. These Earth First nutjobs need to be committed. Seriously.

http://view.break.com/567077 - Watch more free videos

Thank your nearest university for turning these wackos out onto the streets.

Lunch, then off to headquarters.

I wouldn’t let this get out, if I were you — and I certainly wouldn’t say it anywhere near Pennsylvania or West Virginia.

I don’t think there’s much of a role for clean coal in energy independence, but I do think there’s a significant role for clean coal in the bigger picture of climate change. Clean-coal technology is not the route to go in the United States, because we have other, cleaner alternatives. But I would invest a considerable amount of money in research and development of clean-coal and carbon-sequestration technologies for export.

This isn’t on the site yet — I just got it in my mail queue from the campaign. It’s too good not to share, even if I can’t link to anything. It looks like Palin is rubbing off on the campaign.

DECONSTRUCTING OBAMA:
Barack Obama’s Rhetoric Vs. His Record

ARLINGTON, VA — At today’s speech in Green Bay, WI, Barack Obama offered a speech long on rhetoric but out of step with the reality of his record. See below for a deconstruction of Barack Obama’s speech:

DECONSTRUCTING #1: Barack Obama Decried The Same Special Interests That Have Given Him More Money In Four Years Than Any Member Of Congress In The Past Two Decades Save For One

Barack Obama: “We’re here because for too long, the doors of Washington have been thrown open to an army of lobbyists and special interests who’ve turned our government into a game only they can afford to play — who have shredded consumer protections, fought against common-sense regulations and rules of the road, and distorted our economy so that it works for them instead of you.” (Barack Obama, Remarks, Green Bay, WI, 9/22/08)

· In Just Four Years, Barack Obama Has Received More Money From Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac Than Any Other Member Of Congress In The Past Two Decades (Since 1989) Except Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Chris Dodd. (Lindsay Renick Mayer, “Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac Invest In Lawmakers,” Center For Responsive Politics’ “Capital Eye” Blog, www.opensecrets.org, 9/11/08)

DECONSTRUCTING #2: Barack Obama Decried The Same Corporate Tax Breaks That He Has Voted For Time And Time Again

Barack Obama: “We are here because an ethic of irresponsibility has swept through our government, leaving politicians with the belief that they can waste billions and billions of your money on no-bid contracts for friends and contributors, slip pork projects into bills during the dead of night, and spend billions on corporate tax breaks we can’t afford and old programs that we don’t need.” (Barack Obama, Remarks, Green Bay, WI, 9/22/08)

· Barack Obama Voted For The 2005 Energy Bill. (H.R. 6, CQ Vote #152: Motion Agreed To 92-4: R 53-1; D 38-3; I 1-0, 6/23/05, Obama Voted Yea; H.R. 6, CQ Vote #158: Passed 85-12: R 49-5; D 35-7; I 1-0, 6/28/05, Obama Voted Yea; H.R. 6, CQ Vote #213: Adopted 74-26: R 49-6; D 25-19; I 0-1, 7/29/05, Obama Voted Yea)

· The 2005 Energy Bill Included $2.8 Billion In Subsidies For Oil And Natural Gas Production. “The conference agreement provides for $14.6 billion in tax breaks and credits between 2005 and 2015, including: — $2.8 billion for fossil fuel production…” (Toni Johnson, “CQ Bill Analysis: HR 6,” Congressional Quarterly’s “CQ Bill Analysis,” www.cq.com, Accessed 7/14/08)

· The Wall Street Journal: Despite Barack Obama Decrying Corporate Lobbyists, “The Farm Bill Is The Ultimate Lobbyist Triumph.” “Which brings us to Mr. Obama, who says he supported the bill though he wasn’t around to vote for it. One of the Illinois Senator’s major campaign themes is that he has no truck with corporate lobbyists, but the farm bill is the ultimate lobbyist triumph. Every special interest gets massaged.” (Editorial, “Change You Can’t Believe In,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/22/08)

DECONSTRUCTING #3: Barack Obama Decried John McCain For Not Pushing Reforms Even Though “Obama Was Notably Silent” When John McCain Was Pushing For Reform

Barack Obama: “When it comes to regulatory reform, Senator McCain has fought time and time again against the common-sense rules of the road that could’ve prevented this crisis.” (Barack Obama, Remarks, Green Bay, WI, 9/22/08)

· The Washington Post: In 2006, John McCain Pushed For Fannie And Freddie Regulation While “Obama Was Notably Silent.” “In 2006, he pushed for stronger regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — while Mr. Obama was notably silent. ‘If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole,’ Mr. McCain warned at the time.” (Editorial, “‘Always For Less Regulation’?” The Washington Post, 9/19/08)

· John McCain Called For Increased Regulation Of Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac. “In 2006, he called for tighter regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two federally chartered, privately run mortgage giants that the government now has taken over.” (Steve Thomma, “Out Of Bounds! Obama Misstates McCain’s Position On Regulation,” McClatchy Newspapers, 9/20/08)

· In Just Four Years, Barack Obama Has Received More Money From Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac Than Any Other Member Of Congress In The Past Two Decades (Since 1989) Except Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Chris Dodd. (Lindsay Renick Mayer, “Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac Invest In Lawmakers,” Center For Responsive Politics’ “Capital Eye” Blog, www.opensecrets.org, 9/11/08)

DECONSTRUCTING #4: Barack Obama Decried The Very Same Bill That His Running-mate Voted For, His Advisers Pushed, His Major Republican Backer Co-Authored And President Clinton Signed

Barack Obama: “His economic plan was written by Phil Gramm, the architect in the US Senate of the de-regulatory steps that helped cause this mess.” (Barack Obama, Remarks, Green Bay, WI, 9/22/08)

· The Washington Post: Barack Obama Attacks John McCain On Legislation That Was Supported By Members Of His Economic Team. “One element of the Obama campaign’s brief against Mr. McCain is that he supported repeal of the law separating commercial banks from investment banks. … Would it be churlish to point out that another author of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley law is former congressman Jim Leach, a founder of Republicans for Obama? Or that Obama advisers Lawrence H. Summers and Robert E. Rubin supported the repeal — which was signed by President Bill Clinton?” (Editorial, “‘Always For Less Regulation’?” The Washington Post, 9/19/08)

· Joe Biden Voted For The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Modernization Act Of 1999. (S. 900, CQ Vote #354: Adopted 90-8: R 52-1; D 38-7; I 1-0, 11/4/99, Biden Voted Yea)

· President Clinton: Former Secretary Bob Rubin “Worked Very Hard On This.” CLINTON: “But I do want to thank all the members here and all those who aren’t here and I’d like to thank two New Yorkers who aren’t here who have been mentioned — former Secretary of the Treasury Bob Rubin, who worked very hard on this, and former chairman, Senator Al D’Amato, who talked to me about this often.” (President Clinton, Remarks, Washington, D.C., 11/12/99)

· Obama Adviser Larry Summers Was Involved In Negotiating The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, And Called It A “Major Step Forward Toward The 21st Century.” “Mr. Summers, the Obama adviser, was among those who negotiated the [1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley] measure on behalf of the Clinton administration, and he praised it as a ‘major step forward toward the 21st Century.’” (Michael M. Phillips, Elizabeth Holmes and Amy Chozick, “Candidates Call Upon Big Names For Advice,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/18/08)

· Then-Secretary Summers: “…Gene Sperling And Sarah Rosen And Their Colleagues At The National Economic Council For Everything That They Have Done In Bringing Us To This Point.” (Secretary Summers, Remarks, Washington, D.C., 11/12/99)

· Former Rep. Jim Leach (R-IA) Was The Co-Author Of The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Which Repealed The Glass-Steagall Act And Allowed Competition Between Commercial And Investment Banks And Insurance Companies. (S. 900, Signed 11/12/99)

· President Clinton Signed The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act Into Law On November 12, 1999 As Public Law No. 106-102. (P.L. No. 106-102)

DECONSTRUCTING #5: Barack Obama Decried Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac (Or As His Prepared Remarks Said “Fannie Mac”) Lobbyists Though He Has His Own Connections

Barack Obama: “He’s put seven of the biggest corporate lobbyists in charge of his campaign lobbyists for the insurance industry and the oil industry; for foreign governments and Freddie and Fannie Mac, who paid his campaign manager nearly $2 million to defend them against stricter regulations. I guess they got their money’s worth.” (Barack Obama, Remarks, Green Bay, WI, 9/22/08)

· In Just Four Years, Barack Obama Has Received More Money From Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac Than Any Other Member Of Congress In The Past Two Decades (Since 1989) Except Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Chris Dodd. (Lindsay Renick Mayer, “Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac Invest In Lawmakers,” Center For Responsive Politics’ “Capital Eye” Blog, www.opensecrets.org, 9/11/08)

· The Washington Post: In 2006, John McCain Pushed For Fannie And Freddie Regulation While “Obama Was Notably Silent.” “In 2006, he pushed for stronger regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — while Mr. Obama was notably silent. ‘If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole,’ Mr. McCain warned at the time.” (Editorial, “‘Always For Less Regulation’?” The Washington Post, 9/19/08)

· The Washington Post: “Two Members Of Mr. Obama’s Political Circle, James A. Johnson And Franklin D. Raines, Are Former Chief Executives Of Fannie Mae.” (Editorial, “Tough Decision Coming,” The Washington Post, 8/28/08)

· Jim Johnson Is The Former CEO Of Fannie Mae. “There is no public policy reason to exempt them. It is not fair.’ Inside Fannie Mae’s sprawling Wisconsin Avenue headquarters, Lightfoot’s proposal set off alarms. A team of executives led by chief executive Jim Johnson and Vice Chairman Frank Raines gathered around the firm’s 34-foot-long boardroom table to decide how to respond.” (David A. Vise, “Fannie Mae Lobbies Hard To Protect Its Tax Break,” The Washington Post, 1/16/95)

· The Obama Campaign Has Solicited Franklin Raines, Who “Stepped Down As Fannie Mae’s Chief Executive Under The Shadow Of A $6.3 Billion Accounting Scandal,” For “Advice On Mortgage And Housing Policy.” (Anita Huslin, “On The Outside Now, Watching Fannie Falter,” The Washington Post, 7/16/08)

· From 2002 Through 2005, Obama Economic Adviser William Daley Was A Registered Lobbyist For Fannie Mae. (U.S. Senate Office Of Public Records Website, soprweb.senate.gov, Accessed 7/27/08)

DECONSTRUCTING #6: Barack Obama Decried The Very Same Earmark System That He Has Taken Advantage Of To The Tune Of Nearly $1 Billion

Barack Obama: “The truth is, our earmark system in Washington is fraught with abuse. It badly needs reform — which is why I didn’t request a single earmark last year, why I’ve released all my previous requests for the public to see, and why I’ve pledged to slash earmarks by more than half when I am President.” (Barack Obama, Remarks, Green Bay, WI, 9/22/08)

· During His Time In The U.S. Senate, Barack Obama Requested More Than 300 Earmarks Totaling Nearly $1 Billion. (Obama Senate Website, 9/6/08)

· Barack Obama Has Never Voted Against A Spending Bill During His Time In The U.S. Senate, With The Exception Of A Supplemental Spending Bill To Fund The Troops In Iraq And Afghanistan. (Library Of Congress Website, “Status Of Appropriations Legislation For Fiscal Year 2009,” www.thomas.gov, Accessed 7/29/08; Library Of Congress Website, “Status Of Appropriations Legislation For Fiscal Year 2008,” www.thomas.gov, Accessed 7/29/08; Library Of Congress Website, “Status Of Appropriations Legislation For Fiscal Year 2007,” www.thomas.gov, Accessed 7/29/08; Library Of Congress Website, “Status Of Appropriations Legislation For Fiscal Year 2006,” www.thomas.gov, Accessed 7/29/08)

DECONSTRUCTING #7: Barack Obama Decried The Very Same Lobbyists In Illinois Who Funded His Campaigns In Illinois

Barack Obama: “I’ve spent my career taking on lobbyists and their money, and I’ve won. When I was a state Senator in Illinois, if you wanted a favor, there was actually a law that let you give campaign cash to politicians for their own personal use. In the State House, they called it business-as-usual. I called it legalized bribery, and while it didn’t make me the most popular guy in Springfield, I put an end to it. I brought Democrats and Republicans together, and we passed the first ethics reform in twenty-five years.” (Barack Obama, Remarks, Green Bay, WI, 9/22/08)

· Barack Obama’s Senatorial Campaign Committee Has Accepted $128,000 From Lobbyists And $1.3 Million From PACs. “Obama’s US Senate campaign committee, starting with his successful run in 2004, has collected $128,000 from lobbyists and $1.3 million from PACs, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit organization that tracks money in politics.” (Scott Helman, “PACs And Lobbyists Aided Obama’s Rise - Data Contrast With His Theme,” The Boston Globe, 8/9/07)

· “In Obama’s Eight Years In The Illinois Senate, From 1996 To 2004, Almost Two-Thirds Of The Money He Raised For His Campaigns - $296,000 Of $461,000 - Came From PACs, Corporate Contributions, Or Unions, According To Illinois Board Of Elections Records.” (Scott Helman, “PACs And Lobbyists Aided Obama’s Rise - Data Contrast With His Theme,” The Boston Globe, 8/9/07)

· Barack Obama Raised At Least $24,850 For His Illinois State Senate Campaigns From State Lobbyists. (Illinois State Board Of Elections Website, www.elections.state.il.us, Accessed 2/19/08)

DECONSTRUCTING #8: Barack Obama Claims To Have Taken On Jack Abramoff And His Own Party When It Was John McCain Who Took On Abramoff And The 2007 Ethics Bill Was “Hardly A Test Of Party Loyalty”

Barack Obama: “When I got to Washington, Jack Abramoff and his lobbyist pals had engaged in some of the worst corruption since Watergate. I led the fight for reform in my party, and let me tell you — not everyone in my party was too happy about it.” (Barack Obama, Remarks, Green Bay, WI, 9/22/08)

· John McCain Led The Congressional Investigation Into Jack Abramoff. “In 2005, McCain led the Congressional investigation into the behavior of the lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The investigation was exceedingly unpleasant for Republicans, because it exposed shocking misbehavior by important conservative activists.” (David Brooks, Op-Ed, “The Real McCain,” The New York Times, 2/26/08)

· Joining 82 Other Senators, Barack Obama Voted For The 2007 Lobbying And Ethics Reform Legislation. “Reid, D-Nev., motion to concur in the House amendment to the bill that would overhaul congressional lobbying and ethics rules for members and their staffs and require the disclosure of ‘bundled’ campaign contributions that exceed $15,000 in a six-month period. Former senators would have to wait two years before becoming lobbyists.” (S. 1, CQ Vote #294: Motion Agreed To 83-14: R 34-14; D 47-0; I 2-0, 8/2/07, Obama Voted Yea)

· FactCheck.org: Ethics Bill “Hardly A Test Of Party Loyalty.” “Worth noting, also, is that Obama gave his supposed collaboration with McCain as an example of how he had worked ‘against party loyalty … for the good of America,’ in the words used by Warren in his question. In fact, the measure that became law was sponsored by Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and a bipartisan list of 16 others. … But in the end the bill was hardly a test of party loyalty.” (”Saddleback Bloggers,” FactCheck.org, 8/18/08)

· The Washington Post’s Richard Cohen: “There Is Scant Evidence The Illinois Senator Takes Positions That Challenge His Base Or Otherwise Threaten Him Politically.” “Obama might have a similar bottom line, core principles for which, in some sense, he is willing to die. If so, we don’t know what they are. Nothing so far in his life approaches McCain’s decision to refuse repatriation as a POW so as to deny his jailors a propaganda coup. In fact, there is scant evidence the Illinois senator takes positions that challenge his base or otherwise threaten him politically. That’s why his reversal on campaign financing and his transparently false justification of it matter more than similar acts by McCain.” (Richard Cohen, Op-Ed, “McCain’s Core Advantage,” The Washington Post, 6/24/08)

DECONSTRUCTING #9: Barack Obama Decries Bridges To Nowhere But Forgets That He Voted For It And Against Defunding It To Rebuild A Bridge In New Orleans

Barack Obama: “I also joined with one of the most conservative Republicans in Congress to end the abuse that allowed no-bid contracts to waste taxpayer dollars instead of using them to rebuild the Gulf Coast after Katrina.” (Barack Obama, Remarks, Green Bay, WI, 9/22/08)

· NOTE: Barack Obama Veered Off-Script And Brought Up Rebuilding Bridges In New Orleans Instead Of Building Bridges To Nowhere.

· In 2005, Barack Obama Voted For The Conference Report For The Highway Reauthorization Bill. “Adoption of the conference report on the bill that would bring the total authorization for federal-aid highway, mass transit, safety and research programs, including fiscal 2004 funding, to $286.5 billion through 2009.” (H.R. 3, CQ Vote #220: Adopted 91-4: R 48-4; D 42-0; I 1-0, 7/29/05, Obama Voted Yea)

· The Highway Bill Included The $223 Million Bridge To Ketchikan, AK. “Lawmakers packed $24 billion in special projects into the transportation bill that finally passed Congress yesterday, including $5.9 million for a Vermont snowmobile trail and $3 million for a documentary about Alaska infrastructure. … One of the bill’s biggest winners is Young’s home state. It is awarded $941 million for 119 special projects, according to an analysis by the government watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense. The group found that Young helped to secure $231 million for a bridge in Anchorage to be named Don Young’s Way; $223 million for a bridge to Ketchikan; and $15 million for a Juneau access road, dubbed the Black Ice Highway by group analyst Erich Zimmermann because that’s all you’ll see in the winter if this project is built.’” (Shailagh Murray, “After 2-Year Wait, Passage Comes Easily,” The Washi ngton Post, 7/30/05)

· In 2005, Barack Obama Voted For The Senate Version Of The Highway Reauthorization Bill. “Passage of the bill that would bring the total authorization for federal-aid highway, mass transit, safety and research programs, including fiscal 2004 funds, to $295 billion through 2009. The bill includes $234 billion for highway programs and $54 billion for public transportation programs. It would increase the rate of return to states on their Highway Trust Fund contributions to 92 percent by 2009. It also would direct the Transportation secretary to notify state and local governments that receive federal funds of a new law related to minority-owned small businesses that compete for federal contracts such as federal highway projects.” (H.R. 3, CQ Vote #125: Passed 89-11: R 46-9; D 42-2; I 1-0, 5/17/05, Obama Voted Yea)

· Barack Obama Voted Against An Amendment That Would Transfer $125 Million Of The “Bridge To Nowhere” Earmark Funds To Rebuilding A Bridge In New Orleans In The Fiscal 2006 Transportation Appropriations Bill. “Coburn, R-Okla., amendment that would transfer $125 million in funding from the Ketchikan-Gravina and Knik Arm bridge projects in Alaska to the reconstruction of the Twin Spans Bridge connecting New Orleans and Slidell, La. It would place remaining Alaska bridge funds into a general highway fund for Alaska.” (H.R. 3058, CQ Vote #262: Rejected 15-82: R 11-43; D 4-38; I 0-1, 10/20/05, Obama Voted Nay)

DECONSTRUCTING #10: Barack Obama Copies John McCain’s Anti-Earmark Pledge

Barack Obama: “And we will put every corporate tax break and every pork-barrel project online for every American to see. You will know who asked for them and you can cast your vote accordingly.” (Barack Obama, Remarks, Green Bay, WI, 9/22/08)

· John McCain Said He Will End Earmark Requests And You “Will Know Their Names, And I Will Make Them Famous.” MCCAIN: “Tax cuts for America’s hard-working families; strong support for small businesses, which are the backbone of our economy. And an end pork barrel spending in Washington, an end to the earmark, pork- barrel spending in Washington. My friends, I will make them famous. I want to promise you, I’ll take an ink pen, and I will veto every pork barrel, earmark spending bill that comes across my desk. I will know their names, and I will make them famous.” (CNN’s “Newsroom,” 9/19/08)

DECONSTRUCTING #11: Barack Obama Copies John McCain’s Government Efficiency Pledge

Barack Obama: “As President, I will go through the entire federal budget, page by page, line by line, and I will eliminate the programs that don’t work and aren’t needed. As for the programs we do need, I will make them work better and cost less. I will create a High-Performance Team that evaluates every agency and every office based on how well they’re serving the American taxpayer.” (Barack Obama, Remarks, Green Bay, WI, 9/22/08)

· John McCain Said He Will “Order A Thorough Review Of The Budgets Of Every Federal Program, Department, And Agency.” MCCAIN: “To control spending, I will also order a thorough review of the budgets of every federal program, department, and agency, and I will post the results of these reviews on the Internet for every American to see. While that review is underway, we will institute a one-year pause in discretionary spending increases with the necessary exemption of military spending and veterans benefits.” (John McCain, Remarks At NFIB And eBay 2008 National Small Business Summit, Washington, D.C., 6/10/08)

DECONSTRUCTING #12: Barack Obama Copies John McCain’s Proposal To Create A Standing Financial Market Advisory Group

Barack Obama: “Sixth, we must establish a process that identifies systemic risks to the financial system like the crisis that has overtaken our economy. We need a standing financial market advisory group to meet regularly and provide advice to the President, Congress, and regulators on the state of our financial markets and the risks they face. It’s time to anticipate risks before they erupt into a full-blown crisis.” (Barack Obama, Remarks, Green Bay, WI, 9/22/08)

· John McCain Proposed Creating The Mortgage And Financial Institutions Trust Which Would “Identify Institutions That Are Weak And Take Remedies To Strengthen Them Before They Become Insolvent.” MCCAIN: “We cannot wait any longer for more failures in our financial system. Structures like the resolution trust corporation that dealt with the failed savings and loan industry were designed to clean up the system and worked. Today we need a plan that doesn’t wait until the system fails. I am calling for the creation of the mortgage and financial institutions trust — the MFI. The priorities of this trust will be to work with the private sector and regulators to identify institutions that are weak and take remedies to strengthen them before they become insolvent. For troubled institutions this will provide an orderly process through which to identify bad loans and eventually sell them. This will get the treasury and other financial regulatory authorities in a proactive position instead of reacting in a crisis mode to one situation after the other. The MFI will enhance investor and market confidence, benefit sound financial institutions, assist troubled institutions and protect our financial system, while minimizing taxpayer exposure. Tomorrow I will be talking in greater detail about the crisis facing our markets and what I will do as President to fix this crisis and get our economy moving again.” (John McCain, Remarks, Cedar Rapids, IA, 9/18/08)

DECONSTRUCTING #13: Barack Obama Copies John McCain’s Proposal To Bring The Regulatory System Into The “21st Century”

Barack Obama: “These are the principles that should guide the reforms we need to establish a 21st century regulatory system — a system that recognizes our free market economy has only worked because we have guided the market’s invisible hand with a higher principle — that America prospers when all Americans can prosper.” (Barack Obama, Remarks, Green Bay, WI, 9/22/08)

· John McCain Said “We Need To Fix The Regulatory System And Bring It Into The 21st Century.” MCCAIN: “Well, I don’t want to raise taxes on anybody. I think that would be the worst thing. He even said that he, quote, ‘Wouldn’t raise taxes if the economy was bad.’ Well, the economy is bad. But the point is that we need to fix the broken system. We need to have an FDIC that will insure every American’s bank deposit; that may need more funds. We need to fix the regulatory system and bring it into the 21st century. Of course we need to have oversight and regulation. And I warned about it. Greed and excess and corruption is beset Wall Street. They’ve treated it like a casino and they need to be held accountable and stop walking away with these fat-cat packages.” (NBC’s “Today,” 9/16/08)