Well it appears that the Treasury department is still trying to pull something over on the American people.  Why is Wall Street executives receiving a one on one with Treasury officials?  Read full story here.

Well, Treasury officials had a secret conference call with Wall Street executives.  Unfortunately for them, some bloggers were on the call.

The ‘Treasury boys’ on the call made it clear that “the tranching is a mere formality, and the Treasury boys as much as said so. They could take the $700 billion max as soon as the bill has passed.”  That was always obvious.

And they admitted that “the exec comp provisions sound like a joke, They DO NOT affect existing contracts, they affect only contracts entered into during the two years of the authority of this program and then affect only golden parachutes.”  Both of these provisions were ‘concessions’ sought by Democrats.  Of course, no one could have predicted this bill’s ‘concessions’ to Democrats were farcical.  No one at all.

There’s more….full account.

1. The tranching is a mere formality, and the Treasury boys as much as said so. They could take the $700 billion max as soon as the bill has passed,

2. However, they do not plan any action immediately, will wait a couple of weeks. They want to focus their efforts on stronger companies but also made noise about protecting the financial system. This, by the way, is the Japanese convoy system all over.

3. There seemed to be a lot of tap dancing about what price they will pay for assets and no straight answer about their policy on warrants. They did say that if the amount sold was greater than $100 million, they would take warrants. FYI, the current draft allows them to pay up to the price at which the assets were initially booked (yikes) . I wonder if this is obfuscation, if they have an idea of what the plan to do but will not admit it in any public forum.

4. As the person who listened to the call stressed, DealBreaker wasn’t clear on the bifurcated process. If you come to the Treasury and you are in trouble, you get reamed. Bear/AIG style treatment, execs probably fired. But if you participate on a voluntary basis, the intent is to make it very user friendly. That is consistent with Paulson’s position during the negotiations.

5. The exec comp provisions sound like a joke, They DO NOT affect existing contracts, they affect only contracts entered into during the two years of the authority of this program and then affect only golden parachutes. More detail on that point, but I don’t need more detail to get the drift of the gist.

Last Thursday Sen. John McCain dropped everything to come to Washington DC to solve the Wall Street meltdown.  The Arizona senator cancelled his appearance on David Letterman, appeared on CBS, suspended his campaign, and immediately came to Capitol Hill for a meeting with President Bush.  Then on Sunday McCain and his senior campaign manager took full credit for the bipartisan agreement that came about on Sunday evening.  McCain patted himself on the back for bringing House Republicans to the negotiation table.  Leadership.  Monday the Republicans voted the bill down.  Why?  Because their feelings were hurt.  Give me a break.  These people were elected to be stewards of the American economy as well as the American public as a whole.  You do not abdicate from that fundamental responsibility because your feelings got hurt.  It appears that Republicans have put their interest in being re-elected above the interest of the American people.  If John McCain, as an aspiring official leader of the republican party, cannot even unify his own party for the benefit of  the nation, what kind of leader will he be in the White House?  By the way, where is the current leader…..President Bush?  Why was he unable to rally his party behind this bill that he claims is essential to stabilize our financial markets?  This is President Bush’s proposal yet his own party will not support it. 

As part of the deal, Citigroup will absorb up to $42 billion of losses on Wachovia’s $312 billion pool of loans — but the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation will absorb losses beyond that. In return, the banking giant has given the FDIC $12 billion in preferred stock and warrants as compensation.In a statement, the FDIC, which insures the nation’s retail bank deposits, emphasized that Wachovia did not fail and that the Deposit Insurance Fund would not be affected.

“For Wachovia customers, today’s action will ensure seamless continuity of service from their bank and full protection for all of their deposits,” FDIC Chairman Sheila C. Bair said in a statement. “There will be no interruption in services and bank customers should expect business as usual.”  Link

 Link to actual pdf of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL FOR TREASURY AUTHORITY

TO PURCHASE MORTGAGE-RELATED ASSETS

Section 1. Short Title.

This Act may be cited as ____________________.

Sec. 2. Purchases of Mortgage-Related Assets.

(a) Authority to Purchase.–The Secretary is authorized to purchase, and to make and fund commitments to purchase, on such terms and conditions as determined by the Secretary, mortgage-related assets from any financial institution having its headquarters in the United States.

(b) Necessary Actions.–The Secretary is authorized to take such actions as the Secretary deems necessary to carry out the authorities in this Act, including, without limitation:

(1) appointing such employees as may be required to carry out the authorities in this Act and defining their duties;

(2) entering into contracts, including contracts for services authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, without regard to any other provision of law regarding public contracts;

(3) designating financial institutions as financial agents of the Government, and they shall perform all such reasonable duties related to this Act as financial agents of the Government as may be required of them;

(4) establishing vehicles that are authorized, subject to supervision by the Secretary, to purchase mortgage-related assets and issue obligations; and

(5) issuing such regulations and other guidance as may be necessary or appropriate to define terms or carry out the authorities of this Act.

Sec. 3. Considerations.

In exercising the authorities granted in this Act, the Secretary shall take into consideration means for–

(1) providing stability or preventing disruption to the financial markets or banking system; and

(2) protecting the taxpayer.

Sec. 4. Reports to Congress.

Within three months of the first exercise of the authority granted in section 2(a), and semiannually thereafter, the Secretary shall report to the Committees on the Budget, Financial Services, and Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committees on the Budget, Finance, and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate with respect to the authorities exercised under this Act and the considerations required by section 3.

Sec. 5. Rights; Management; Sale of Mortgage-Related Assets.

(a) Exercise of Rights.–The Secretary may, at any time, exercise any rights received in connection with mortgage-related assets purchased under this Act.

(b) Management of Mortgage-Related Assets.–The Secretary shall have authority to manage mortgage-related assets purchased under this Act, including revenues and portfolio risks therefrom.

(c) Sale of Mortgage-Related Assets.–The Secretary may, at any time, upon terms and conditions and at prices determined by the Secretary, sell, or enter into securities loans, repurchase transactions or other financial transactions in regard to, any mortgage-related asset purchased under this Act.

(d) Application of Sunset to Mortgage-Related Assets.–The authority of the Secretary to hold any mortgage-related asset purchased under this Act before the termination date in section 9, or to purchase or fund the purchase of a mortgage-related asset under a commitment entered into before the termination date in section 9, is not subject to the provisions of section 9.

Sec. 6. Maximum Amount of Authorized Purchases.

The Secretary’s authority to purchase mortgage-related assets under this Act shall be limited to $700,000,000,000 outstanding at any one time

Sec. 7. Funding.

For the purpose of the authorities granted in this Act, and for the costs of administering those authorities, the Secretary may use the proceeds of the sale of any securities issued under chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, and the purposes for which securities may be issued under chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, are extended to include actions authorized by this Act, including the payment of administrative expenses. Any funds expended for actions authorized by this Act, including the payment of administrative expenses, shall be deemed appropriated at the time of such expenditure.

Sec. 8. Review.

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

Sec. 9. Termination of Authority.

The authorities under this Act, with the exception of authorities granted in sections 2(b)(5), 5 and 7, shall terminate two years from the date of enactment of this Act.

Sec. 10. Increase in Statutory Limit on the Public Debt.

Subsection (b) of section 3101 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by striking out the dollar limitation contained in such subsection and inserting in lieu thereof $11,315,000,000,000.

Sec. 11. Credit Reform.

The costs of purchases of mortgage-related assets made under section 2(a) of this Act shall be determined as provided under the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990, as applicable.

Sec. 12. Definitions.

For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) Mortgage-Related Assets.–The term “mortgage-related assets” means residential or commercial mortgages and any securities, obligations, or other instruments that are based on or related to such mortgages, that in each case was originated or issued on or before September 17, 2008.

(2) Secretary.–The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Treasury.

(3) United States.–The term “United States” means the States, territories, and possessions of the United States and the District of Columbia.

It is John McCain and the House Republicans (Far, far, right republicans or conservatives) who are trying to destroy the bailout deal that was on its way to being solidified Thursday afternoon.  Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said as much  yesterday:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “We’re not the ones trying to blow this up; it’s the House Republicans.”

“I know, I know,” Paulson replied.

Until McCain air-dropped down onto Capitol Hill, after an almost six month absence, and caused a break down of the negotiations, Congress was on its way to sealing the deal.  The fundamentals of the deal had been agreed upon and both sides were on their way to a developing consensus.  Then McCain showed up.  A blind man can see through this very obvious and desperate attempt to resuscitate an ailing campaign that is caught in a downward spiral.  The consensus of Republicans and Democrats on th Hill is that McCain severely disrupted the negotiation process by dropping in and injecting presidential politics and partisanship into an almost completed bipartisan effort.  The Arizona senator did not propose an alternative plan, McCain came to DC to cause chaos for the sake of causing chaos.  He was silent almost the entire time during the meeting with Bush.  No offering of solutions or even possibilities.  But it is essential that he be on Capitol Hill at this time (snark). 

House Republicans, consistent with McCain’s belief and tacit support, propose that the bailout be funded through private money.  They also propose a suspension  of  “mark-to-market regulatory rules for long-term assets.”  More deregulation!! Seriously!  The proposal has already been rejected as not feasible by Secretary Paulson, a member of the Republican party by the way.  Free-market, free-market, free-market, free of all government regulation was McCain’s public mantra before last week.  The proposal by the House Republicans is a completely ridiculous non-starter and an obvious ploy by House Republicans to help McCain with his excuse not to show up at the debate tonight and face the American people.  Such Republicans claim that Paulson’s plan “fundamentally alters the nation’s free-market system in that it broadly socializes firms’ money-losing mortgage assets and places the U.S. on a slippery slope whereby profits will also be nationalized.”  Last week, McCain listed his conditions for a bailout plan, the bipartisan proposal included such conditions.  Apparently,  McCain looked at his falling poll numbers and changed his mind.  Lets call it what it is, McCain is gambling with the American economy in order to rehabilitate his campaign.  He is willing to gamble America’s standing in the world to win this election.  And by the way, the world is listening.  The German Minister of Economics is now saying that America will no longer be a powerful nation.  McCain has always been a gambler but now he is a gambler gambling with someone elses money.  McCain first, Country second.

Sen Barack Obama is leading Sen. John McCain 49-47 in North Carolina according to latest Rasmussen polls.  Why is this significant?  Well Rasmussen is owned by Republican pollster Scott Rasmussen.  Notice how they always conduct their polls in cahoots with Fox News.  That’s why.  Not really legitimate in terms of pollsters.  So the fact that they have Sen. Obama ahead by 2 points in the traditionally red state of North Carolina is very significant.  Last week McCain was ahead by 3 points according to Rasmussen.  Rasmussen is the last of the McCain arsenal, if they can’t even distort there surveys so McCain comes out on top, it is a scary situation for Sen. McCain.   This is the first time in eight Rasmussen polls that Obama has ever had the edge over McCain in North Carolina.  Link

McCain, the voters are paying attention.

John McCain has asked to call off the debate on Friday because he feels that his immediate presence is needed in Washington DC.  McCain has not been to work since April but now he feels that he should miss the debate to address the financial situation.  As scary as the idea, in and of itself, of McCain being the person handling the economic turmoil that our financial industry finds itself in, McCain makes this decision at a time when we the voters need to hear his plan for getting us out of this mess.  Attempting to postpone the debate makes him appear unprepared, desperate, and unable to handle more than one thing at a time.  Hey wait…turns out that McCain isn’t prepared.  Link

The debate on Friday was to focus on Mr. McCain’s perceived strength, foreign policy. Mr. McCain had not planned to devote large blocks of time to debate practice as did Mr. Obama, who was holing up with a tight circle of advisers at a hotel in Clearwater, Fla., on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to prepare. Mr. McCain had a preparatory session on Wednesday afternoon at the Morgan Library in Manhattan, but advisers said it had been interrupted by his decision, announced immediately afterward, to suspend his campaign 

For the record, though McCain claims that his suggestion is an effort to rise above politics, his decision to delay the debate could not be more political.  The polls came out yesterday showing Sen. Obama with a growing lead and McCain and his campaign panicked.  Obama is within four points of McCain in West Virginia!!!!!!  West Virginia is solid red country!!!  They realized that Sen. Obama has the wind at his back and the McCain campaign are trying to turn off the fan with a political stunt because they can’t do so with a good economic plan (they don’t have one).   Not only does McCain think that the current situation warrants a delay of his debate but warrants a canceling of the vice presidential debate.  Seriously?????  Do they really think that the American people are going to put Palin in the White House without hearing her debate and speak in a non-McCain staged environment.  McCain does not sit on any of the relevant committees that are currently in deep negotiations.  Several Congressmen have come out and said that McCain’s presence would actually hurt the process.   The crisis began a week ago..you remember……when McCain said that “the fundamentals of our economy is strong.”  Why didn’t McCain cancel the debate at that time?  McCain appears frantic and erratic……he does not appear to be the steady leader we expect of a future President.   If we had a debate in 1934 during D-Day we think that McCain can make his way down to Ole Miss without the the nation falling into a vortex.  You need to be able to multitask as the leader of the free world.  What’s next…..should we suspend the election until McCain catches up?  The main stream media has rejected McCain’s latest ploy as pure politics. 

It was stated best in Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal:

Last we checked, the President of the United States was still George W. Bush, the Secretary of the Treasury was still Henry Paulson, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve was still Ben Bernanke, and Congress still had 533 members not running for President who are at least nominally competent to debate and pass legislation.

So count us as mystified by Senator John McCain’s decision yesterday to suspend his campaign and call for a postponement in Friday’s first Presidential debate so that he and Barack Obama can work out a consensus bill to stabilize the financial system. This is supposed to be evidence of leadership?

 Washington Post

Can McCain pull this off - persuading the public to forget how he and his fellow Reagan Republicans changed the nation’s economic rules in ways that allowed Wall Street to run amok, and refocusing its attention on his decisiveness at this moment of crisis? I doubt it…….McCain’s ploy was transparent.

The Dallas Daily News

Democrats accused Mr. McCain of pulling a stunt to halt a slide in the polls. They also tweaked him for declaring the economic situation so dire it requires suspension of his campaign, a week after he declared the fundamentals of the economy are sound.

Some independent analysts agreed. “It is a stunt. It is a ploy,” said David S. Birdsell, dean of the school of public affairs at Baruch College in New York, an expert on presidential debates.

He called it a “very high-risk strategy” for Mr. McCain to take responsibility for brokering a solution to the economic crisis. “He’s not president yet,” Dr. Birdsell said, adding that pulling out of a debate is unprecedented. “That notion that we take one of the most sacred obligations and rituals of American politics and suspend it because there’s an urgent national question is highly problematic.”

Rocky Mountain News (CO):

If Winston Churchill could leave London in December 1941 and travel to America to address a joint session of Congress even as British troops in the Far East were reeling under Japanese attacks, somehow we think John McCain can make his way down to Oxford, Miss., for a debate Friday evening without imperiling the future of America. In this case, Barack Obama is right.

New York Times Editorial

We don’t know if Mr. McCain or Mr. Obama will do any good back in Washington. But Mr. McCain’s idea of postponing the Friday night debate was another wild gesture from a candidate entirely too prone to them. The nation needs to hear Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain debate this crisis and demonstrate who is ready to lead. 

National

Rasmussen          Obama 48   McCain 48
Hotline/Diageo    Obama 47   McCain 43
Gallup                 Obama 47   McCain 44

Battleground State Polls

SurveyUSA here

VIRGINIA     Obama 51 - McCain 45

Quinnipiac here: 
COLORADO:        Obama  49  - McCain  45
MICHIGAN:         Obama  48  - McCain  44 
MINNESOTA:      Obama  47  - McCain  45
WISCONSIN:        Obama  49  - McCain  42

Trust to handle the economy:
CO:    Obama 47 - McCain 41
MI:    Obama 50 - McCain 38
MN:    Obama 45 - McCain 45
WI:    Obama 47 - McCain 40

NBC/Mason-Dixon 
FLORIDA:   Obama  47 - McCain 45

Arkansas:               Obama 41 - McCain 53
Massachusetts:     Obama 55 - McCain 39
Oregon:                  Obama 52 - McCain 41
Pennsylvania:        Obama 50 - McCain 46
Vermont:               Obama 56 - McCain 38
National:                Obama 48 - McCain 46

PPP here

COLORADO:        Obama 51 - McCain 44

INadv/PollPos
OHIO:     Obama 46 - McCain 46

This past weekend on This Week, George Will said that John McCain’s response to this financial crisis made conservatives “fearful” of McCain’s decision making process.  We have been saying this all along.  McCain tends to make knee-jerk, impetuous, impulsive decisions out the box and then tries to clean up after himself later.  This could not be more evident than when he chose Sarah Palin as his running mate.  The McCain campaign has chosen to shield Palin from the press in hopes that the American people will forget that she is applying to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.  We pointed out back in May that people should look at McCain’s temperament and decide if the Arizona senator is the type of person we want making decisions for our nation in times of crisis.  Will said on Sunday that McCain “showed his personality [last] week.”  We agree.  McCain is showing us how he will lead, we should pay attention and believe him.  When you have a hard core GOP conservative like George Will raising red flags about McCain’s temperament……again, pay attention.  Will expands on his concerns below.

Channeling his inner Queen of Hearts, John McCain furiously, and apparently without even looking around at facts, said Chris Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, should be decapitated. This childish reflex provoked the Wall Street Journal to editorialize that “McCain untethered” — disconnected from knowledge and principle — had made a “false and deeply unfair” attack on Cox that was “unpresidential”

In any case, McCain’s smear — that Cox “betrayed the public’s trust” — is a harbinger of a McCain presidency. For McCain, politics is always operatic, pitting people who agree with him against those who are “corrupt” or “betray the public’s trust,” two categories that seem to be exhaustive — there are no other people.

Conservatives who insist that electing McCain is crucial usually start, and increasingly end, by saying he would make excellent judicial selections. But the more one sees of his impulsive, intensely personal reactions to people and events, the less confidence one has that he would select judges by calm reflection and clear principles, having neither patience nor aptitude for either.

It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed? “

Economic Town Hall with Senator Joe Biden 

DATE: Today, Tuesday September 23

TIME: Doors Open at 10:45 a.m.
Event starts at 12:00 p.m. 

LOCATION:

Veterans Park

14300 Featherstone Road
Woodbridge, VA 22191
Multipurpose Room 1
Seating is limited and you must RSVP to
703-725-3755 or email SSternberg@vaobamaforchange.com

Joe Biden in Washington DC

Washington DC
Hilton Washington
5:00 pm (EDT)

Sen. John McCain, at the helm every time the nation has experienced a financial crisis, now claims that he is the one that will fix this problem.  McCain was in Congress and was implicated in the Keating Five scandal or more popularly known as the savings and loan crisis.  You know, the crisis that resulted in a government bailout of  $126 billion dollars. 

McCain was also one of the Senators who helped pass the deregulation bill that caused the current crisis.  McCain had this to say about the bill’s passing on 60 Minutes last night:

Q: In 1999, you were one of the senators who helped pass deregulation of Wall Street. Do you regret that now?

McCAIN: No. I think the deregulation was probably helpful to the growth of our economy.

If you had any doubt as to how a McCain administration would handle the current financial crisis, the above quote is your answer. Incompetence and denial, denial, denial, denial.  McCain is a pure free-market ideologue.  He believes that the government should get out of the way and let the private sector regulate itself….well it is that exact ideology that is directly responsible for the greatest collapse of the financial industry since the Depression.  To put the cherry on top, the McCain campaign refuses to rule out that Phil Gramm, architect of the deregulation bill that caused this crisis and referred to Americans as a “nation of whiners,”  will be the Treasury Secretary in a McCain administration.  Also, remember McCain’s plan, until last Friday, to privatize social security?  Imagine the state the nation’s social security program had we followed McCain’s advice and invested in stock market.  Thanks for everything Senator McCain but it is really time to turn the page.

Speaking at a rally in North Carolina on Sunday, Sen Obama gave his requirements for any bailout for the financial industry.  Bush appointed Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson seems to want Congress to sign a blank check for 700 billion dollars giving him full discretion to spend it anyway he chooses.  When asked on Meet the Press on Sunday as to whether he would curtail excessive CEO compensation, Paulson opined such a requirement may discourage companies from participating in the program.  Not so much.  Meanwhile he is asking for 5% of the gross national product to spend as he pleases.  Hasn’t he been at the helm this entire time and could have raised the alarm about the potential of this happening years ago…..now he wants the Americans to just trust that he will prudently spend 700 billion in the best interest of the the majority.  I think not.  So, Mr Paulson, you and the other republicans keep saying how this needs to be a “clean bill.”  Well, if by “clean bill” you mean no oversight and no safeguards and assistance for the American taxpayers/main street………you’re on something.  As for Mr. Paulson’s objectivity, one reader summed it up perfectly:

Reuters reports today that “The incoming Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., was awarded an $18.7 million cash bonus for half a year of work as the chief executive of the Goldman Sachs Group.” The massive bonus was, not surprisingly, approved by Goldman Sachs at the very same time Paulson was both CEO and Treasury Secretary designate. This raises a very simple question: What is Goldman Sachs buying with this brazen payoff to someone they knew was headed to one of the most powerful government posts in America?
 

Sen. Obama insists that the following conditions must be included in any financial industry bailout.

Excerpt from Sen. Barack Obama’s speech in North Carolina on Sunday Sept 21, 2008 

The era of greed and irresponsibility on Wall Street and in Washington has led us to a perilous moment. They said they wanted to let the market run free but instead they let it run wild. And now we are facing a financial crisis as profound as any we have faced since the Great Depression
 
But here’s the truth:
 
Regardless of how we got here, we’re here today.  And the circumstances we face require decisive action because your jobs, your savings, and your economic security are now at risk.
 
We must work quickly in a bipartisan fashion to resolve this crisis to avert an even broader economic catastrophe. But Washington also has to recognize that economic recovery requires that we act, not just to address the crisis on Wall Street, but also the crisis on Main Street and around kitchen tables across America.
 
As of now, the Bush Administration has only offered a concept with a staggering price tag, not a plan. Even if the U.S. Treasury recovers some or most of its investment over time, this initial outlay of up to $700 billion is sobering.  And in return for their support, the American people must be assured that the deal reflects the basic principles of transparency, fairness, and reform.

First, there must be no blank check when American taxpayers are on the hook for this much money.

Second, taxpayers shouldn’t be spending a dime to reward CEOs on Wall Street.

Third, taxpayers should be protected and should be able to recoup this investment.

Fourth, this plan has to help homeowners stay in their homes.

Fifth, this is a global crisis, and the United States must insist that other nations join us in helping secure the financial markets.

Sixth, we need to start putting in place the rules of the road I’ve been calling for for years to prevent this from ever happening again.

And finally, this plan can’t just be a plan for Wall Street, it has to be a plan for Main Street.  We have to come together, as Democrats and Republicans, to pass a stimulus plan that will put money in the pockets of working families, save jobs, and prevent painful budget cuts and tax hikes in our states.

David Brooks writes in the New York Times that Sarah Palin is unqualified:

In the current Weekly Standard, Steven Hayward argues that the nation’s founders wanted uncertified citizens to hold the highest offices in the land. They did not believe in a separate class of professional executives. They wanted rough and rooted people like Palin.

I would have more sympathy for this view if I hadn’t just lived through the last eight years. For if the Bush administration was anything, it was the anti-establishment attitude put into executive practice.

And the problem with this attitude is that, especially in his first term, it made Bush inept at governance. It turns out that governance, the creation and execution of policy, is hard. It requires acquired skills. Most of all, it requires prudence.

……..

Sarah Palin has many virtues. If you wanted someone to destroy a corrupt establishment, she’d be your woman. But the constructive act of governance is another matter. She has not been engaged in national issues, does not have a repertoire of historic patterns and, like President Bush, she seems to compensate for her lack of experience with brashness and excessive decisiveness.

Sen. Chuck Hagel said to the Omaha World-Herald 

“But I do think in a world that is so complicated, so interconnected and so combustible, you really got to have some people in charge that have some sense of the bigger scope of the world,” Hagel said. “I think that’s just a requirement.” 

So is Palin qualified to be president?

“I think it’s a stretch to, in any way, to say that she’s got the experience to be president of the United States,” Hagel said.

Ross Douthat agrees at the Atlantic:

Now that we’ve seen the entirety of the Palin-Gibson tete-a-tete, I concur with Rich Lowry and Rod Dreher. The most that can be said in her defense is that she kept her cool and avoided any brutal gaffes; other than that, she seemed about an inch deep on every issue outside her comfort zone. Yes, the questions were tougher than the ones that a Tim Kaine or Tim Pawlenty probably would have been handed, but they were all questions that a vice-presidential nominee needs to be able to answer. And there’s no way to look at her performance as anything save supporting evidence for the non-hysterical critique of her candidacy - that it’s just too much, too soon - and a splash of cold water for those of us with high hopes for her future on the national stage.

And in the Washington Post, Richard Cohen lets loose on McCain:

McCain has turned ugly. His dishonesty would be unacceptable in any politician, but McCain has always set his own bar higher than most. He has contempt for most of his colleagues for that very reason: They lie. He tells the truth. He internalizes the code of the McCains — his grandfather, his father: both admirals of the shining sea. He serves his country differently, that’s all — but just as honorably. No more, though….

His opportunistic and irresponsible choice of Sarah Palin as his political heir — the person in whose hands he would leave the country — is a form of personal treason, a betrayal of all he once stood for. Palin, no matter what her other attributes, is shockingly unprepared to become president. McCain knows that. He means to win, which is all right; he means to win at all costs, which is not.

In the Weekly Standard, Steven Hayward

In the current Weekly Standard, conservative Steven Hayward argues that the nation’s founders wanted uncertified citizens to hold the highest offices in the land. They did not believe in a separate class of professional executives. They wanted rough and rooted people like Sarah Palin.

I would have more sympathy for this view if I hadn’t just lived through the last eight years. For if the Bush administration was anything, it was the anti-establishment attitude put into executive practice.

And the problem with this attitude is that, especially in his first term, it made Bush inept at governance. It turns out that governance, the creation and execution of policy, is hard. It requires acquired skills. Most of all, it requires prudence.

What the nations leading women are saying about Sen. Barack Obama and why they support him.

“Change has never been easy, it’s always been hard-fought with bumps and bruises along the way, but these women leaders have had the tenacity to charge on. I am honored to have the support of such remarkable women who have broken down barriers and paved the way for change for my daughters and generations of women. In accepting their support I also accept the great responsibility to carry the torch by advancing women’s rights and bringing the change women need,” said Senator Barack Obama. “For every Sally Ride, Tory Burch, or Billie Jean King, there are hundreds of young women out there whose dreams seem a little more possible. As president, I will work to safeguard and support those dreams for my daughters and future generations of Americans through policies that further opportunity for all.”

“As the son of a single mother, Senator Obama embodies the American dream and is on the side of working women. For generations, women have fought to advance their rights and achieve equality,” said Stacey Snider, Chairman of DreamWorks who was named as one of Fortune’s 50 most powerful women in business.  “We are indebted to them for opening doors that were previously locked shut. But there is still work to be done. Women still just make 77 cents for every dollar men make for the same work. Senator Obama is the presidential candidate with a record for standing up for women; and he will advance our rights by enacting laws that close the income gap. In this defining moment in our history, women must exercise our vote and elect Barack Obama president in November.”

“Barack Obama understands the struggles that middle class Americans are facing every day,” said Linda Chavez-Thompson, Executive Vice President Emerita, AFL-CIO.  “John McCain has voted with President Bush 90% of the time and will continue the failed policies of that administration.  In contrast, Barack Obama will open the doors of opportunity for the middle class by reducing their taxes, protecting their jobs, making college affordable, and ensuring that every American has access to quality, affordable health care.  He will strengthen families by making equal pay for equal work a reality, expanding family leave, and securing our seniors’ retirement security.  I am proud to support Barack Obama.”

“There is no doubt that Barack Obama has awakened a new generation of political involvement in America,” said motivational speaker and Olympic gold-medalist and the first African-American to win an individual Olympic medal in artistic gymnastics Dominique Dawes.  “He speaks to the hope and personal responsibility that inspires my generation.  I am proud to endorse Barack Obama because I know he will work to ensure that the American dream is within reach for every child across the country.”

This list consists of the hundreds of women who support Sen. Barack Obama because of his vision and unwavering commitment to the strengthening and equality of women.

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Remarks of Senator Barack ObamaConfronting an Economic Crisis As Prepared For Delivery

Tuesday, September 16th, 2008

Golden, Colorado

Over the last few days, we have seen clearly what’s at stake in this election. The news from Wall Street has shaken the American people’s faith in our economy. The situation with Lehman Brothers and other financial institutions is the latest in a wave of crises that have generated tremendous uncertainty about the future of our financial markets. This is a major threat to our economy and its ability to create good-paying jobs and help working Americans pay their bills, save for their future, and make their mortgage payments.

Since this turmoil began over a year ago, the housing market has collapsed. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had to be effectively taken over by the government. Three of America’s five largest investment banks failed or have been sold off in distress. Yesterday, Wall Street suffered its worst losses since just after 9/11. We are in the most serious financial crisis in generations. Yet Senator McCain stood up yesterday and said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong

A few hours later, his campaign sent him back out to clean up his remarks, and he tried to explain himself again this morning by saying that what he meant was that American workers are strong. But we know that Senator McCain meant what he said the first time, because he has said it over and over again throughout this campaign – no fewer than 16 times, according to one independent count. 

Now I certainly don’t fault Senator McCain for all of the problems we’re facing, but I do fault the economic philosophy he subscribes to. Because the truth is, what Senator McCain said yesterday fits with the same economic philosophy that he’s had for 26 years. It’s the philosophy that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down. It’s the philosophy that says even common-sense regulations are unnecessary and unwise. It’s a philosophy that lets Washington lobbyists shred consumer protections and distort our economy so it works for the special interests instead of working people.

We’ve had this philosophy for eight years. We know the results. You feel it in your own lives. Jobs have disappeared, and peoples’ life savings have been put at risk. Millions of families face foreclosure, and millions more have seen their home values plummet. The cost of everything from gas to groceries to health care has gone up, while the dream of a college education for our kids and a secure and dignified retirement for our seniors is slipping away. These are the struggles that Americans are facing. This is the pain that has now trickled up.

So let’s be clear: what we’ve seen the last few days is nothing less than the final verdict on an economic philosophy that has completely failed. And I am running for President of the United States because the dreams of the American people must not be endangered any more. It’s time to put an end to a broken system in Washington that is breaking the American economy. It’s time for change that makes a real difference in your lives.

If you want to understand the difference between how Senator McCain and I would govern as President, you can start by taking a look at how we’ve responded to this crisis. Because Senator McCain’s approach was the same as the Bush Administration’s: support ideological policies that made the crisis more likely; do nothing as the crisis hits; and then scramble as the whole thing collapses. My approach has been to try to prevent this turmoil.   

In February of 2006, I introduced legislation to stop mortgage transactions that promoted fraud, risk or abuse. A year later, before the crisis hit, I warned Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke about the risks of mounting foreclosures and urged them to bring together all the stakeholders to find solutions to the subprime mortgage meltdown. Senator McCain did nothing.

Last September, I stood up at NASDAQ and said it’s time to realize that we are in this together – that there is no dividing line between Wall Street and Main Street – and warned of a growing loss of trust in our capital markets. Months later, Senator McCain told a newspaper that he’d love to give them a solution to the mortgage crisis, “but” – he said – “I don’t know one.”

In January, I outlined a plan to help revive our faltering economy, which formed the basis for a bipartisan stimulus package that passed the Congress. Senator McCain used the crisis as an excuse to push a so-called stimulus plan that offered another huge and permanent corporate tax cut, including $4 billion for the big oil companies, but no immediate help for workers.

This March, in the wake of the Bear Stearns bailout, I called for a new, 21st century regulatory framework to restore accountability, transparency, and trust in our financial markets. Just a few weeks earlier, Senator McCain made it clear where he stands: “I’m always for less regulation,” he said, and referred to himself as “fundamentally a deregulator.”
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John McCain’s primary surrogate on all things economy Carly Fiorina said yesterday that Sarah Palin does not have the experience to run a company.  And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, she then went on MSNBC and said that her candidate, John McCain, does not have the experience to run a corporation.  If McCain’s own economic advisor says that he cannot run a corporation, how does McCain expect the American people to believe that he can, especially when he has admitted that he “doesn’t understand the economy.”.  The Obama campaign released the following:

“If John McCain’s top economic advisor doesn’t think he can run a corporation, how on Earth can he run the largest economy in the world in the midst of a financial crisis? Apparently even the people who run his campaign agree that the economy is an issue John McCain doesn’t understand as well as he should,” said Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor.

It is former Senator and McCain economic advisor Phil Gramm who is primarily responsible for the law that caused this economic meltdown.  Chair of the Senate Banking Committee at the time and acting under cover of darkness, then Sen. Phil Gramm pushed through a bill titled the Commodity Futures Modernization Act (CFMA).  Gramm did so right after the Bush v. Gore decision in 2000 when only financial industry lobbyists were paying attention in Washington.  Then Senator Gramm and the REPUBLICAN CONTROLLED CONGRESS secretly slid through the CFMA.  The bill deregulated swaps which is the primary reason for the biggest financial meltdown since the Depression.  Yes, it is the deregulated swaps and lack of oversight that are “at the heart of the subprime meltdown” according to Michael Greenberger, former director of the Commodities Futures Traders Commission division of trading and markets in the late 1990s.  Sen. McCain is a strong proponent of deregulation of the nation’s financial markets and it was that deregulation and “the smartest person [McCain] knows,” Phil Gramm, that is primarily responsible for this crisis.  Gramm, then Chairman of the Senate banking committee, routinely turned down SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt’s request for more funds to police the financial industry.  McCain now claims that he plans to clean up Wall Street but until yesterday the Arizona senator stood firmly behind the policies, (deregulation) that put Wall Street in its current state.  Gramm’s recklessness in the financial industry has not dulled his glow in McCain’s eyes.  Dubbed an “economic guru” by Sen. McCain, Gramm is still closely connected to the campaign. If McCain gets in the White House, you can bet that Phil Gramm policies will be the driving force in the financial industry.  The two senators have been close friends since they served together in the House in the 1980s.  McCain chaired Gramm’s failure of a presidential campaign and Gramm was McCain’s formal senior economic advisor until six weeks ago when he called America and its people “a nation of whiners.”  McCain’s entire presidential campaign staff is comprised of people like Gramm.  How can someone who admits to “not understand the economy” and surrounds himself with the very people who caused this problem in the first place possibly represent reform or bring reform for that matter?

Survey USA just released its poll results for Virginia today and though McCain had a post-convention Palin bounce, the Commonwealth is again moving towards Sen. Barack Obama for President.  In the state of Virginia Sen. Obama leads Sen. McCain 50% to 46%.  Keep up the GREAT work Virginia!! 

Virginia Men, Voters Age 50+, Independents, Take Another Look At Obama: In an election for President of the United States in Virginia today, 09/15/08, 7 weeks till votes are counted, Democrat Barack Obama defeats Republican John McCain 50% to 46%, according to this latest SurveyUSA poll conducted for WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, WJLA-TV in Washington DC, WTVR-TV in Richmond, and WJHL-TV in the Tri-Cities. Compared to an identical SurveyUSA poll released one week ago, immediately following the Republican National Convention, Obama is up 3 points; McCain is down 3. The movement solidifies Virginia place as America’s 2008 battleground. 

One week ago, McCain led among men by 11 points. Today, McCain and Obama tie. One week ago, McCain led among voters age 50+ by 14 points. Today, McCain leads by 1. One week ago, Obama led among lower income voters by 6 points. Today, Obama leads by 20. One week ago, McCain led among Independents by 21 points. Today, McCain leads by 4. 17% of Republicans today crossover to vote Democrat, up from 11% last week and 7% last month. 12% of Democrats cross over to vote Republican, compared with 10% in the two previous polls. Strikingly: week-on-week movement in the DC suburbs was to McCain; movement in the Shenandoah and Central VA was to Obama.

In Virginia, there is still no evidence that Sarah Palin is attracting women to the GOP ticket. McCain polled at 44% before he picked Palin, and at 43% in each of the two polls conducted after Palin was announced.

The GOP dirty tricks campaign has begun.  It started with Florida’s “No Match, No Vote” law requiring that a voter’s identification match up exactly with the state or federal database in order to vote.  If the voters identification does not match with the voter rolls on Election Day, the voter is given a provisional ballot and two days to prove his/her identity for their vote to count.  The law disproportionately excludes Latino and African American voters.  Republican Secretary of State, Kurt Browning, sent notice to the state’s 67 supervisors of elections that the law would take effect on September 8th.  This means that if your name is “Robert” and the federal/State database says “Bob,” that is not an exact match and you need to correct it or you will be disenfranchised.  If your identification indicates that you are a Jr. or Sr. and it does not match the federal/state database, or vice versa, it is not a match.  Better safe than sorry, correct your information by the voter registration deadline in your state.   In Florida, the voter registration deadline is October 6th.  Make sure that you are registered in Florida and properly identified here.

The Republican party is planning to used foreclosure list in Michigan to block African-Americans from voting on November 4th.  They will use the lists to challenge voters at the polls in predominate African-American communities.  Michigan Republican party Chairman said “[w]e will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren’t voting from those addresses[.]”  Michigan allows election challengers to challenge any voter who they “have reason to believe” is not a “true resident of the city or township” on election day.  The Michigan GOP plans to use foreclosure lists to attempt to challenge voters as not being “true residents.” If you have recently been foreclosed on and no longer reside in your forclosed home, please change your address here and you will be assigned to the proper precinct on Election Day.  Again, be safe rather than sorry correct your address by the voter registration deadline.  In Michigan, the voter registration deadline is Oct 6th.  Check your address and registration in Michigan here.  

Sen Barack Obama raised $66 million and added 500,000 new donors in August.  The Obama campaign has broken all previous fundraising records.  This does not include the $10 million raised right after Sarah Palin’s speech thus the September numbers are in high gear as well.  McCain and the RNC combined total for August was $67 million. Not sure yet how much the DNC raised for August.  But the Obama campaign alone raised $66 million. 

In the past two elections the republican party has duped the majority of the electorate that they are the party of national security.  The common claim is that America has not been attacked since 9/11 and that the Bush administration in responsible for keeping us safe up until this point.  My rejoinder is that we were not attacked for several decades before 9/11 either but we were still attacked on 9/11.  The point being that the Bush administration has not foreclosed the threat of a future attack by taking out Bin Laden and al-Qaeda either.  This is despite its claim that “..terrorism will not stand..” and spending the country into 9.6 trillion dollars in debt. 

It was democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama that supported the initiative that resulted  in the killing of a top al-Qaeda leader Abu Laith al-Libi.  Sen. John McCain publicly and verbally opposed  the CIA initiative that made this happen.  As a matter of fact, McCain attacked Obama as naive for “wanting to bomb an ally.” The CIA initiative proposed not informing Pakistani Intelligence or tribal authorities of future strikes of al-Qaeda because both had warned off targets in the past.  The next day, the CIA took out the third in command to al-Qaeda with just such a raid. If the Bush administration would have followed McCain’s simplistic and weak foreign policy advice of continuing to coddle Pakistani’s corrupt dictator Pervez Musharref we would have missed an important opportunity. 

Remember, McCain is the one that says he knows how to “win wars” and will ”follow Bin Laden to the gates of hell ” because he knows how to do it my friends, he knows how to do it.  McCain also claims that he  “knows how to find Bin Laden.”  Okay, so if McCain knows how to find Osama Bin Laden, why hasn’t he told the Bush administration?  Is this a secret that McCain will release only if we elect him President?  Isn’t that some sort of bribe…elect me and I’ll tell you how, otherwise forget about it.  McCain has been in the Senate for seven years following the 9/11 and we still have not found Bin Laden, why on earth would he not share this master plan with the rest of the Senate or better yet with Bush and Cheney?  Sounds more like me first than “Country First.”

Reaction to Palin’s interview with Charlie Gibson….McCain, are you freaking kidding me????  Not only does your choice of vice president not know what the Bush doctrine is, but she also doesn’t seem to be aware that we have recently conducted a cross-border military strike along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border that took out a key al-Qaeda operative.  All done without the approval of the Pakistani government.   Shouldn’t the VP choice at least be aware of current military and foreign policy decisions made by the U.S. government within the last five months?  This is the person that, in McCain’s JUDGMENT, is the person he best thinks should be a heartbeat away from Putin, AND, second in command of the most powerful nation in the world….seriously, COME ON!