it is the collective holding of breathe of us Dem electorate to see if McCain’s BS will fly w/ the … I dont know how to state this nicely so I wont at all… the rest of the electorate.

Posted by jennifer on 25 September 2008 @ 1pm

I might have still been impressed if he’d managed to prevent the deal. Oh well. Let me get my wallet out for the Bush administration, again….

Posted by Sam on 25 September 2008 @ 2pm

COUNTY FIRST!!!

“According to a list of attendees circulating for today’s White House meeting, McCain is bringing a campaign aide, while Obama’s bringing a Senate staffer.”

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0908/Staffing_the_White_House_meeting.html

hmmmmm, campaign aide . . . that sounds political . . .

Posted by JPS on 25 September 2008 @ 2pm

“Look! Up there in the sky, spiraling down toward us!”
“It’s a sick bird!”
“It’s a crashing plane!”
“No, it’s SUPER McCAIN!”
*CRASH*

Posted by A.R.Yngve on 25 September 2008 @ 2pm

Now here’s the fun calculation: do House and Senate Republicans stall the deal and throw up phony roadblocks in order to allow McCain to dodge the debate and showboat? After all, McCain’s barely arrived in Washington (is he actually there yet?) and can’t possibly claim to have had anything to do with creating a deal. Give him 24 hours of stalling and something could be spun up with nice photo ops and everything.

I’m thinking that the answer here is ‘no.’ McCain’s campaign is almost certainly trying to make such a thing happen, but look at it from the point of view of the Congressional GOP leaders involved. They’ve been busting their asses for a deal to happen all week, and they’re supposed to hand all of the leadership credit to a guy who hasn’t shown his face in the Capitol since last April? And it’s a guy who they never liked much in the first place.

Moreover, I don’t think that anybody is voting for this for truly political reasons. Politically, this thing is a loser. People will be challenged in primaries over it. Nobody in Congress is voting for this bill for political reasons. They’re supporting it because they are convinced that we’re going to be plunged into another Great Depression *next week* if they don’t pass something. I happen to disagree with them about how to respond, but that’s another matter. Bottom line is that anyone who is voting for this thing is doing so because they think that even the slightest delay would destroy America. Which makes it pretty unlikely that they’d hold it up for the sake of a failing Presidential candidate’s desperate posturing.

Posted by Jackson Landers on 25 September 2008 @ 2pm

Wait – I changed my mind. John McCain and Sarah Palin are right to halt their campaign until this crisis has passed. Even though neither of them even serves on any of the relevant committees and Palin isn’t even a member of Congress.

That’s why I’m telling both my kids after work that the toys are going into storage. There will be no running about. No playing of any kind until this GRAVE ECONOMIC CRISIS has passed.

Does this sound harsh and pointless? No, folks, that’s just *leadership.*

Posted by Jackson Landers on 25 September 2008 @ 3pm

“The House Republican leader says in a statement: “I am encouraged by the bipartisan progress being made… However, House Republicans have not agreed to any plan at this point.”

“With that in mind, I look forward to joining my colleagues, President Bush, Sen. McCain, and Sen. Obama at the White House later today to take the next critical steps on a rescue package.”

Posted by JPS on 25 September 2008 @ 3pm

I knew it was over last week when the bullshit (per Waldo) hit the fan on Wall Street. John “deregulation ” McCain was cooked last week and this desperate attempt to short circuit the debates is craven in it’s construction. I have been shaking my head in disbelief and assume there is a master plan that I am clearly not able to see though the mist. It’s over and unless the democrats implode like the CMO market, this tide could be high. Not enough to sweep away Virgil but it will be ugly.

It’s not all sunshine for the democrats, Obama will have no money for programs even with a tax hike. The real issue is what happens when Obama has to govern. For the sake of the country, I hope He and Congress can have a nice long honeymoon.

Posted by perlogik on 25 September 2008 @ 3pm

That honeymoon, perlogik, is going to be about a day long. Not only will Obama have the Republicans (angry about losing even more members) to contend with, but all of a sudden Democrats are going to wake up and realize that they’re a co-equal branch of government that can actually participate in guiding the country. The eight years of White House rule will be over in a snap. This is, on balance, a good thing. We’ll just wonder what took them so long.

Posted by MB on 25 September 2008 @ 3pm

hmmmmm, campaign aide . . . that sounds political . . .

The guy hasn’t voted since April and when he finally does show up he brings a campaign staffer?

I really feel sorry for McCain’s Senate staff. They must be bored out of their minds by now.

Posted by Dan Kachur on 25 September 2008 @ 5pm

Ok so THAT went real well . . . Jesus F’n Christ, John McCain is like a guy who comes to your wedding claiming to be marriage counselor, gets drunk and passes out on your wedding cake, and pisses his pants.

Posted by JPS on 25 September 2008 @ 9pm

Hold it gang. It looks like the deal just broke down.

You all are just plain wrong if you believe any U.S. Senator should be out campaigning during an economic crisis rather than be in Washington trying to do something about it. Like him or not, he’s just doing what he believes is right.

If he was out there on the stump you’d all be bitching that he should be in Washington doing something.

Posted by Watts on 25 September 2008 @ 9pm

If he was out there on the stump you’d all be bitching that he should be in Washington doing something.

No, I wouldn’t.

Posted by Waldo Jaquith on 25 September 2008 @ 9pm

Hey Watts, if you actually paid attention, it sounds like McCain stumbling into this thing is part of the reason it got derailed. Now that its a complete cluster fuck he’s heading on down the road.

Oh breaking news, on his way out of town I think he just swerved into oncoming traffic and drove some grandma into a ditch . . . Wow didn’t even stop or look back.

Jesus.

This is incredibly depressing . . . I don’t know what I think of this insane bail out deal, but folks we are in some serious shit here . . . FT is reporting on all sorts of foreign investors now saying that the US has permanently lost its place as the worlds preeminent currency . . . you know that’s what has fucking held up our economy, you know because our manufacturing sure isn’t the foundation of our economy anymore, its our shopping malls and our credit cards.

The next thing that could happen is the oil market could start trading in euros instead of dollars . . . then we are screwed!

This is all like some crazy nightmare . . . oh, and what!? If this insane man wins, his sidekick has a 1/5 chance of assuming the Presidency before the term is out . . . holly shit . . .

I really want to be able to feed my family in 4 months, this is really scary stuff people.

Oh and then there is this:

http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSPEK16693720080925

“Chinese regulators have told domestic banks to stop interbank lending to U.S. financial institutions to prevent possible losses during the financial crisis, the South China Morning Post reported on Thursday.”

Posted by JPS on 26 September 2008 @ 8am

“Hey Watts, if you actually paid attention, it sounds like McCain stumbling into this thing is part of the reason it got derailed.”

Wait a minute. It was settled before he got there yet his presence screwed things up?

I’m confused.

Posted by Watts on 1 October 2008 @ 2am