McCain Economic Surrogate: We Shouldn't Fire SEC Chair

The former director of the Office of Management and Budget and one-time John McCain vice presidential hopeful Rob Portman said on Sunday that he disagreed with McCain's call to fire SEC chairman Chris Cox in the wake of horrendous financial news.

"Well, first of all," Portman said, "the SEC does have jurisdiction over the financial markets and therefore some accountability ought to go to the SEC. Chris Cox is a smart, competent guy, he's a former colleague of mine. I think he's doing a descent job in a very tough situation. I do not share the fact that Chris Cox ought to go. I do think the SEC has been lax. And if you look at what they could have done, including valuing some of these mortgage-backed securities so there weren't some of the runs we have seen over the last two weeks, they could have been more proactive and more aggressive."

Appearing on CNN's Late Edition, Portman, whose good standing among Republicans on economic matters catapulted him high on the V.P. list, generally echoed McCain's talking points this past week: that the SEC has accountability in the current crisis, that more streamlined regulatory measures are needed, and so on.

But Cox's firing (which, it should be noted, a President can't perform in the first place) was a step too far for him.

"You know, I think I agree with Senator McCain's general assertion, which is the SEC has accountability here," said Portman, when asked by host Wolf Blitzer to clarify. "They have the ability to regulate the financial markets and the responsibility to do so and they could have done more and should have done more. It's also easy, I will say, for us to look back 20/20 hindsight. But my point on Chris is that I know him to be a competent and smart guy."

Earlier in the day, longtime conservative writer George Will described McCain's call for Cox's firing as "un-presidential behavior by a presidential candidate."

Comments

[Roschelle]

10:17 AM on 09/22/2008

Just this month...well in the Sept/Oct edition of Contingencies magazine McCain expresses the same sentiment concerning deregulation...calling for a market-based healthcare system

http://roschellenelson.blogspot.com/2008/09/mccain-and-his-market-based-healthcare.html

[realpolitic]

08:07 AM on 09/22/2008

Does McCain speak for the McCain campaign?

[Heaphy]

02:02 AM on 09/22/2008

John McCain claimed on 60 Minutes tonight that even if he doesn't have the power to fire someone as President, he will somehow force that hapless person to resign if he chooses to do so. At the very same time, his surrogate Rob Portman is contradicting the candidate's message about firing Chris Cox. McCain's campaign is in a perpetual state of angry chaos. His economic advisors from Phil Gramm to Carly Fiorina to Rob Portman seem incapable of staying disciplined and on message, because their candidate is flailing around wildly. The conduct of a campaign is an excellent predictor of how a government would function. Vote for McCain if you LOVE undisciplined chaos, because that is just what the country will get with McCain.
- Jim Heaphy

[uclafan]

01:26 AM on 09/22/2008

McCain on 60 minutes tonight said that he still thinks he should be fired, and he knows he can't do it but he'll make him... hmm...palinesque

[deliriousgod]

01:30 AM on 09/22/2008

people McCain wants out but can't fire "WILL resign" (or what?)

[endecott]

01:15 AM on 09/22/2008

Look . I am no fan of McCain but that doesn't mean that he is wrong in thinking that Mr. Cox the head of the S.E.C. should be fired. He absolutely should be, along with many other public officials that allowed this travesty to happen. No one should be defending them, just because they don't like McCain.

[smoovejef]

05:39 AM on 09/22/2008

I don't think its about not liking McCain, but about not liking McCain's kneejerk reactions that give the appearance of speaking before thinking. When you make executive decisions from an emotional platform, you risk sounding like a zealot instead of a leader. If you plan on being POTUS, you speak like you lead; with knowledge, thought and intelligence. For Sen. McCain, his response was none of those.

[OldKnute]

11:33 PM on 09/21/2008

OH GREAT,,, More McCain,,, Sledge Hammer,,, Tactics!

High Noon on Wall Street,,,,, Guns Blazing.

WRONG!

Ok,, OK,, Lemmie think a bit here???

OK what these folks on Wall Street seem to be asking is for AMNISTY tied right in with a Bail-Out?

Nope,, Nope,, those are two different Horses in the same Barn.

A Resolution Trust is possibly good,,,, if,,, IF,,, the Repubs and Lobbyists don’t force the Home owners out like before, claiming the Government shouldn’t be in the Real Estate Business.

Umm???

Who will be able to afford the,,, Liquidated Homes,,,, just like under the S&L Crisis?

Ummm?,,, Rich Republican opportunists. That’s WHO.

NOT GOOD!

Ok, for Main Street. Most of the front end of a loan is Interest anyways, what if a current homeowner with a ARM or Sub-Prime was allowed to pay say,,, 60% or 70% of the increased monthly payment to stay in the Program??????

This way the banks still get SOME interest revenues and the CASH they need, the homes don’t go into foreclosure, the neighborhoods don’t become a sea of plywood windows, and the NEXT round of ratcheting up and defaults are softened?

As true Values were inflated,, the Banks also share the NEW valuations HITS, 50/50 with the IN HOME buyers, as Housing Markets and Appraisals stabilize?

Good for Main Street and Wall Street.

Huh??? Huh?

Feedback desired!!!

All the best

Knute Neo-LIB

[Vermontah]

10:59 PM on 09/21/2008

"I do not share the fact that Chris Cox ought to go."

How do you share a fact? Shouldn't that be "opinion"? But thinking more about what he said, it sort of sums up the Repugs, doesn't it? Opinion IS fact. Facts don't have to be true. War is peace. Up is down.

[JMorgan]

10:20 PM on 09/21/2008

This is a swindle. Paul'son demands a "clean" bill with no limitations on CEO salaries or restrictions on golden parachutes. The legislation includes nothing about the cause of the problem, nothing to fix it or prevent it again, and nothing to help the American citizens who are drowning in debt&losing their homes.

The legislation includes a paragraph unheard of before this. It gives Paul'son, a prime player in this crisis, who has been asleep at the switch, the man who told Congress last year, "Subprime problem? No way!", it gives him total & complete authority and autonomy in handling this crisis. He is to be subjected to NO OVERSIGHT OR REVIEW WHATSOEVER. Not by any administrative agency, not by any court.

This is the Bus'h administration squeezing the last dregs from the middle class on its way out of town.

In another segment of Stephanopoulos's show, ChrisDodd&JohnBoehner both beat the drum for it. They refused to answer Stephanopoulos's question asking them what exactly Paul'son told them in Friday's meeting that scared them. "It was sobering". That was it. Stephanopoulos wanted to know the words used, & they refused, "Don't want to scare the (kiddies) American people."

Cokie Roberts speculated that some (not her, just the "conspiracy minded") think this crisis is being manufactured, pre-election, to shift more massive wealth to the cronies.

See Naomi Klein suggest it's more "shock economy" on Friday's Real Time with Bill Maher.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WgDjJqFP0Y

[Pupster]

10:15 PM on 09/21/2008

So stupid of McCain to go after Chris Cox. People who know better know that Cox was just doing the directive of Bush, McCain and the dereg crowd. Can't really blame the guy when he was told to do nothing and he did it.

[Vote For America]

09:44 PM on 09/21/2008

Sept 21 Polling Update
http://voteforamerica.net/editorials/Comments.aspx?ArticleId=63&ArticleName=Poll+Update+

Obama 289, McCain 249
http://voteforamerica.net/electoral.aspx

The Red November: An analysis on campaign marketing
http://voteforamerica.net/editorials/Comments.aspx?ArticleId=50&ArticleName=The+Red+November

Their Possible Pasts
http://voteforamerica.net/editorials/Comments.aspx?ArticleId=60&ArticleName=Their+Possible+Pasts

Cindy McCain's Fallacious Rebuttal
http://voteforamerica.net/editorials/Comments.aspx?ArticleId=54&ArticleName=Cindy+McCain%27s+Fallacious+Rebuttal

Does Bush Even Support McCain?
http://voteforamerica.net/editorials/Comments.aspx?ArticleId=64&ArticleName=Does+Bush+Even+Support+McCain%3f

[Ged2012]

08:30 PM on 09/21/2008

One major differences between McCain and Obama is that McCain's surrogates tell one thing, but their patron says another. What kind of staff meeting do they have, anyway? First, the blackberry; next, Fiorina's assertion that neither Palin nor McCain does not have the ability to head a company; and now McCain asserting the firing of the SEC Chairman with his supporter saying otherwise.

Obama's leadership and organizational skills is impeccable and unrelenting: Very disciplined. No panicking. Sticking to the issues. Working one step at a time.

[ShamusNYC]

08:15 PM on 09/21/2008

Gosh, a McC surrogate with his own opinion...

Wonder if Nancy Phottenhofer (or however you spell it) is jealous - guess she'll have to ask Steve Schmidt how she feels about this...

[Smirk]

07:48 PM on 09/21/2008

From the article:

"Chris Cox is a smart, competent guy, he's a former colleague of mine. I think he's doing a descent job in a very tough situation."

Depending on who made it--whether Portman misspoke or the reporter mistyped--the word "descent" instead of "decent" is either a Freudian slip or telling typo.

[PT6]

07:29 PM on 09/21/2008

What is it about McCain's team! They love to kick their candidate around!

How many are under the bus now? Gramm, HP exec, now this one!

Someone should donate $1,000 to a children's charity for each one under the bus.

That is at least $3,000, but I bet I missed a few.

[Erdgeist]

07:04 PM on 09/21/2008

Lee Pickard, a former SEC official, said Cox made a change in the SEC rule in 2004 that led to the demise of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and Merrill Lynch. The original rule that was removed was the "net capital rule" that required firms to value all of their tradable assets at market prices then apply a "haircut", or a discount to the assets at risk. Stocks, for example, have a haircut of 15% while a 30-year T-bill has a less risky haircut of 6%. This and more allowed these firms to increase their debt-to-net-capital ratios. E.g., in the case of Merrill Lynch, to as high as 40-to-1. For more on this check out this URL: http://www.nysun.com/business/ex-sec-official-blames-agency-for-blow-up/86130/?print=5279202221