In the face of a historic federal bailout that is intended to save a crucial sector of the financial markets, Senator John McCain has suspended his campaign for President. In doing so the Senator has taken politics out of problem solving, at least for the moment.
Some may call it a political ploy. I see it as an example of one of the driving forces behind his campaign and his service to our country. John McCain has repeatedly stated that we must serve a cause greater than ourselves and throughout his life he has done so. The temporary suspension of his campaign, in deference to one of the most drastic economic decisions in our nation's history, is done, in, fact to again serve a greater cause .
The collapse of Wall Street financial institutions that over extended their risks has raised the need for the federal government to step in in order to prevent a ripple effect that could deepen the crisis. John McCain warned of this crisis over two years ago. As a sponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, McCain saw the needs to reign in unbridled overextension of risk. This bill would have headed off what is now being called a crisis. However this bill was blocked by Democrats as well as some of the Republican, good old boys, that Sarah Palin and John McCain have been known to take on before.
A check of the congressional record shows McCain giving a speech about apparent accounting fraud at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Not only that, McCain said he was "concerned" about the magnitude of the role played by these government sponsored entities in the mortgage market, when they were obviously not being regulated in a responsible manner.
Now some may argue that deregulation led to this crisis. They may claim that the ideological penchant for less regulations credited to conservative Republicans are responsible for it. You may claim that but such a claim cannot be made about John McCain who warned us of this situation and provided a bill that would have prevented it. A bill that Democrats blocked.
I contend that proper regulation was not applied to these troublesome institutions. However, overregulation would also produce negative effects. The right type of regulation in the form of moderation was required and that is what John McCain offered. I will also add that the accounting fraud McCain mentioned in the congressional record was conducted in large part by Democrats, some of the very Democrats who led groups like FannieMae and are now economic advisors to Barack Obama. People like Franklin Raines who had to go before a House subcommittee to address allegations that he and his finance team had cooked the mortgage giant's books, when Raines was the C.E.O. of the now failed Fannie Mae. In 2004.
It should also be noted that Under the Clinton administration mandates were created that forced FannieMae and FreddieMac to extend a set percentage of high risks loans to low income and minority applicants. This was a government fiat that obliged these institutions to enter even more higher risk loan extensions.
So one side can blame the other. Republicans can be blamed for too little regulation and Democrats can be blamed for attempts to create too much regulation and shady record keeping. But whichever side you want to blame you cannot blame Senator John McCain.
Despite the record that shows McCain was right, politics prevented his solutions from being applied to avoiding the crisis we are now in. Now, faced with hammering out a solution to the problem we did not avoid, John McCain has made a bold move to suspend politics and politics as usual. John McCain has stepped up to bat and he has declared his intentions to put country first.
Senator McCain has said that he would rather lose an election and win a war than win an election and lose a war. These words are now echoed by deed. They are echoed in his actions to put a cease to talking about action and actually taking action.
Whatever your opinion, John McCain has just upped the ante. The suspension of his campaign and call for his opponent to head back to Washington, D.C. with him allows McCain to get hold of this crisis and take control of it. He has just forced Barack Obama to either show up or shut up. Either continue with your campaign of words or demonstrate leadership through your actions.
Both presidential candidates are incumbent senators. They can talk about what they will do as a president but what are they doing within their current capacities? John McCain has just shown us that he will live up to those responsibilities. Once again John McCain answers a call to duty.
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Comments: 22
Perhaps someone here could direct me to the appropriate website to find the pertinent information. My understanding of the US financial market is that we have the Fed, which is not a governmental agency but rather a consortium of bankers, which lends money to financial institutions for them to in turn lend to businesses and others seeking financing. Then, there is the stock market in which businesses offer shares to investors in return for operating capital. I have heard on the tv network I am now defaulting to, Bloomberg, that people are investing vast sums in 0% interest Treasury Notes because they are looking for a safe place to put their money. So, what's the "crisis"? It sounds like a political soundbite to increase fear and lower rationality to me.
This drama of stopping the campaign done after he had agreed with Obama to do a joint speech on the economy...not a man of his word is he. I suppose we can expect that from someone who left POW behind after he came home...
Debates are important stuff. And it won't look good for McCain if Obama shows up and there is an empty chair next to him.
It is familiar stuff. Much like keeping Palin from the Press even though she was a JOURNALISM MAJOR and should understand how to answer a reporter.
Americans are smart enough to see through this charade.
The press WANTS the race to be close, because a close race keeps viewers/listeners on the edge of their seats, tuned in attentively to see and hear more advertisements. Bottom line. So of course, they're going to say that the 'lead' keeps trading off.
The American people are sick and tired of the disastrous policies that have been forced on us these last seven years. How could we not be? Have you really paid attention to ANY of the news lately?
Palin was an act of desperation, which paid off for a week or so, because it was controversial enough that the press just ate it up. Good for ratings. But now that we, the people, want to see the substance, she's forced into hiding... This is the same thing. Another stunt that'll play well for the press. But it won't take long for people to realize that there's really nothing behind it but a little free publicity. Another act of desperation... On top of that, it just plain smells of fear.
If the popular vote still matters in this country, and I say very seriously that I DO have my doubts about that, it will most certainly be a landslide victory for Obama. Will that save this country from the peril looming in our future? Well, I have my doubts about that, too, but it is the better option of the two...
You're a riot.
Of course it's unintentional, since I think you believe all the crap you write.
EVERYONE has seen through McCain's stunt, even the Republicans. This is just McCain's latest, now predictable, stunt. Every time he starts falling in the polls again, he does something outlandish to try to distract the country from the issues.
FDR could run the country during WWII AND campaign for the presidency. John McCain can't walk and chew gum at the same time.
This isn’t an act of patriotism. It is an act of avoidance. Why? Is this a plan to cut the debates short? We can only speculation. The reason it’s speculation is the Bush and McCain camps are loaded with misinformation and twisted facts. A large segment of the population has no respect for politics. It’s hard to blame them.
How do we get politicians to clean it up? We want to trust congress and the President. We want facts and issues.
Dishonesty is nothing new in politics, Winston Churchill said "A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on" and Adolph Hitler was quoted as saying "Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it" which probably explains why some modern day politicians keep repeating the same lies over and over even after they have been debunked. Factcheck.org a non partisan group that debunks misleading ads from both campaigns has called the latest ads by one candidate for president "particularly egregious".
Have the lies already worked on you? Have you already fallen for the propaganda? Valdimir Lenin the former communist leader of the Soviet Union knew a thing or two about propaganda. He said "A lie told often enough becomes truth". So have you been falling for the empty propaganda that some politicians have been spewing in our direction? Or are you going to stand up and show the world that American voters are not as stupid as some of our politicians take us for.
It is time for voters to put aside the wedge issues that the campaigns and lobbyist always use to manipulate and trick us into voting against our own best interest. Put aside abortion, gay marriage, wars, religion, etc. We will not have a country to be able to fight for or against those issues if the economy gets worse. Our current economy is destroying families, causing mental breakdowns and hardship for millions. Put aside party lines, put aside racism, put aside it all and think of your country as a whole. One thing I think everyone can agree on is that America wins when the economy works for everyone. Get educated, learn the truth, vote smart, and help spread the word.
Too much capitalism and ppl scream....too much gov't involvement and ppl scream. Mcain gets $150,000 campaign money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while Obama received over $500,000!!! Anyone screaming about this???
Put the blame game to rest already...its simply more of the same.
I VOTE Sarah Palin for President. She fought the BIG oil companies and won! Now she is someone I trust to do the right thing.
Seriously, McCain also gave us campaign reform that didn't work. For all
his experience and long tunure in the Senate McCain has not been very
effective. Campaign reform was a joke before it was even passed. I do
hope that someday we are serious about taking the money out of these
campaigns, but whatever legislation brings that about I doubt it will
have McCain's name on it, as I doubt that McCain's legislation
on the mortage crisis would have averted this catastrophe.