Thursday 25SEP08

39 days to go..... so anyway, I'm sure you've heard by now that Senator McCain is suspending his campaigning and is returning to Washington, DC to have an active hand in resolving the current financial crisis. His official statement, via Ace: 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. Last Friday, I laid out my proposal and I have since discussed my priorities and concerns with the bill the Administration has put forward. Senator Obama has expressed his priorities and concerns. This morning, I met with a group of economic advisers to talk about the proposal on the table and the steps that we should take going forward. I have also spoken with members of Congress to hear their perspective. It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the Administration's proposal. I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time. 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. 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. All we must do to achieve this is temporarily set politics aside, and I am committed to doing so. Following September 11th, our national leaders came together at a time of crisis. We must show that kind of patriotism now. Americans across our country lament the fact that partisan divisions in Washington have prevented us from addressing our national challenges. Now is our chance to come together to prove that Washington is once again capable of leading this country. Emphasis mine, natch. Can you say "Statesman"? I thought you could. Senator Obama has elected to stay on the campaign trail; but has promised to be available to vote "Present" if needed. "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." To pick nits with the (very) junior Senator from Illinois' statement: the election is "approximately 40 days" away, the inauguration (you know, when the elected is actually responsible for things and has to make real decisions) is something like 117 days away. McQ at Q and O picks nits, as well (and rightfully so): Of course I can understand why Obama wants to "continue to have the debate". It's about foreign policy and he can now claim that McCain had his chance and didn't show up. It may end up being mildly embarrassing for Obama to do so, but it is also and excuse for Obama to refuse any future foreign policy debate. My personal take on the situation is that this will work out to be a net positive for McCain; it plays right up to McCain's "Country First" angle. Senator McCain also has a history for trying to enact regulations on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, notably in 2003 and 2005. I'm sure you'll be shocked to learn that all attempts for such regulation were blocked by the Democrats. By sunrise Friday, after Team Obama has run their course of pimping this as 'McCain running home to fix what he has broken", Senator Obama will return to The Capital just in time to vote "Present". I can picture McCain working in DC until Friday afternoon, flying to Mississippi just in time to debate Senator "Where's my TelePrompter" Obama, stomping said leftist's as s into a muddy puddle, the flying back to DC to finish the job. I think Senator McCain knows a thing or two about "multi-tasking". more soon