Reid Blames McCain: Deal Was Done, "Then Guess Who Came To Town?"

Video of Reid is below

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid held a press conference on Friday morning in which, in the most blatant of terms yet, he blamed John McCain for throwing a wrench into negotiations over a financial bailout package.

"The insertion of presidential politics has not been helpful, it has been harmful," said the Nevada Democrat. "A few days ago I called on Sen McCain to make a stand, to let us know where he stands on the issue, but all he has done is stand in front of the cameras..."

As the majority leader spoke, negotiations over a bailout were feverishly underway. Things seemed to be heading towards a resolution early Thursday morning, but after McCain arrived in Washington a rebellion was launched among the more conservative bloc of House Republicans. Aides to McCain have gone to great lengths to prove their innocence in spurring this revolt. But, Reid as well as other Democrats, were having none of it

"We had [Republican] Senator [Bob] Bennett, a high ranking official, who said these are the principles," Reid said of the early potential compromise on the $700 billion package. "And then, guess who came to town? And it all fell apart."

Appearing alongside Sen. Banking Committee chairman Chris Dodd, Reid said that negotiations had to start essentially from scratch at 8 p.m. last night. Democrats generally refused to vote in favor of the package without bipartisan support. Conservative Republicans, meanwhile, are insisting that other measures -- tax breaks to companies that buy up bad debt as well as temporary cuts in the capital gains tax -- be included in any agreement.

McCain has been stuck somewhere in the middle, not revealing exactly where he stands. In the process, he has, critics claim, done exactly what he pledged not do do: add unnecessary politics to the equation. Aides to McCain have responded by blaming the breakdown on the ills of Washington partisanship.

"John McCain's decision to suspend his campaign was made in the hopes that politics could be set aside to address our economic crisis," spokesman Brian Rogers said in a statement. "In response, Americans saw a familiar spectacle in Washington. At a moment of crisis that threatened the economic security of American families, Washington played the blame game rather than work together to find a solution that would avert a collapse of financial markets without squandering hundreds of billions of taxpayers' money to bailout bankers and brokers who bet their fortunes on unsafe lending practices."

UPDATE: Here is video of Reid's press conference from Friday morning

Comments

[huffyISaHottie]

if this had happend during the first administration of the bush fiasco those repubs would've walked in step to every bush demands...he's a lame duck and pretty much destroyed the repub brand and this is one way to get back at him

[WFV]

Ok, one question:

Where, exactly, does McCain stand on all of this? Has there been any type of statement from him?

[Hickok]

McCain doesn't stand anywhere on this - the old guy was taking a nap.

[RStone]

McSame goes to Washington.

McSame saves the day.

McSame........

Not!

http://www.boppoll.com
He is over 1,000,000. Keep bopping McSame!!

Obama '08

[burndtdan]

The only statements I've heard from him were passive-aggressive attempts to claim credit for the bailout.

[athenasword]

And what is McCain's role with this "group of conservatives" in the House who stopped work and the "new" proposal? And, how many are in the "group"?

[robeson]

Yes Harry the deal was done. It has your mark. Take a bow. The GW Bush plan to rescue Wall Street with a $700 billion hand-out is slowly being branded the Democratic hand-out. The longer it takes the deeper goes the iron. Harry Reid hasn't got a clue, he is a political dunce. Where are you LBJ?

[TrooAmerican]

You're right but the problem is criticizing persons in office who dont think like aggressive jerks with personal agendas. Does it really make sense to call the guy names and criticize him for tryng to push the legislation we the people would rather have in front of us instead of the Republican junk?
If he actually thought like them and schemed and hatched evil plans like them... then he'd be like them, and he wouldnt be trying to fight for the people and instead would be stepping on them like the Repubs do.

[ajax2]

The central point is most Americans think this bailout is a very bad idea. Convince them of how brave Harry Reid is. Ain't going to happen.
By the way calling Harry Reid a political 'dunce' is extremely mild name calling.