Matthews Blames Bailout Crash On McCain's Failed Leadership

Chris Matthews points to John McCain's failure to provide the leadership that he promised -- and took credit for:

McCain said he was going to lead the Republican charge, he was going to make sure that this was a bipartisan success...he called charge, and the Republican retreated. That's what happened here.

Here's video:

Here's what McCain staff and surrogates were saying before the vote:

"This bill would not have been agreed to had it not been for John McCain... This is a bipartisan accomplishment, a bipartisan success. And if people want to get something done in Washington, they just watch John McCain. He's been the guy whose name is at the top of major pieces of legislation for a long time."
-- Mitt Romney, NBC's Today show, 9/29/08

"What Senator McCain was able to do was to help bring all of the parties to the table, including the House Republicans, whose votes were needed to pass this"
-- Steve Schmidt, NBC's Meet the Press, 9/28/08

"We're optimistic that Senator McCain will bring House Republicans on board without driving other parties away, resulting in a successful deal for the American taxpayer."
-- McCain spokeswoman Kimmie Lipscomb, 9/26/08

Comments

[PADebbie]

Wasington recieved a messagae from a friend giving the talking points of the Reps. about the Bailout. Sen. Obama took that information and

[PADebbie]

went into the meeting spewing all the information in the meeting, causing the meeting to blow up

[PADebbie]

No Bailout deal thanks to the Senator.

[Aleka4]

Here is a hint: It makes you look stupid to just pull crap out your arse and fling it.

[lungfish]

McCain says he doesn't know anything about economics. But that didn't stop him from spending the majority of his career pushing deregulation and supporting the policies that led to this failure of a President and the current financial crisis(?).­.
He says he doesn't know anything about economics but he is suspending his campaign to go to Washington and provide leadership in the greatest economic crisis of our lives (if you believe the hype).
He says he doesn't know anything about economics and proves it by buddying up with Phil Graham....
I guess that is the problem...­. its what he says and what he does. He is a liar and clearly at least as incompetent as George Dubya.
McCain=Bus­h=Incompet­ence

[desertbloom]

And, your nose has grown an inch with each of your posts!

[PADebbie]

Sen. O took that information and went into the meeting spewing all the information in the meeting, causing the meeting to blow up. No Bailout deal thanks to the Senator.

[kjwhite]

You're nuts, where are you getting this nonsense? Senator McCain asked George Bush to call that meeting so McCain could have a photo-op. McCain, who knows nothing about economics, sat silent through the whole meeting listening to the REAL commitee members each announce they were IN AGREEMENT with the bailout, then at the end McCain popped out with something about a small group of republicans not being for it and wanting to handle the crisis in a different way. then the arguments began among the republicans.

So by the time the meetng was over, all the bi-partisan communications had broke down, thanks to McCain. Senator Obama didn't even feel the two candidates should be there mixing campaign politics with the "delicate negotiations" going on. Get your facts straight!

Important note - Senator Obama came to the meeting with his Senatorial aide, John McCain showed up with his campaign manager. You tell me, who meant business and who was looking for publicity?

[PS4OBAMA]

PADebbie - your post is so Ridiculous that it doesn't even deserve a comment.

[vooter]

This was a GREAT day for America, folks. A great day. If McCain or Obama had had any sense, they both would have come out last week and said "ABSOLUTELY NOT!" to this bill. It was a total no-brainer. The American public--by about 99 to 1--knew what a complete, unadulterated CRIMINAL RIPOFF this bailout bill was, and they let their representatives know it. The Federal Reserve and Wall Street are criminal vampires who have committed one of the biggest frauds in world history, and the rejection of this bailout will hopefully hurt both of those institutions AND allow the market to correct the way it should have been allowed to correct eight years ago. IT'S A GREAT, GREAT DAY, and I hope the Dow drops another couple of thousand points, because it needs to--and if you don't understand why it needs to, then you shouldn't be involved in this argument.

[BlueOnBlue]

My retirement savings went down 7% today. All told, Americans lost $1.1 trillion in market value. Great day, indeed!

This issue has been demagogued to death by politicians. Do you need to have all the banks close before you figure out it wasn't such a great day?

[pegbo]

I agree with you Blue. This is not a great day. I feel bad for the retirees that lost a lot of their retirement savings. These people that think it was such a great day probably have another 30 years to save for their retirement. I hope they get to feel the hurt someday too.

[JohnIII]

You're right. We are going to be in for some tough times though. But we have to feel the pain at some point. We've become too greedy as a country. It needs to be corrected. Naturally corrected. How much is enough? We just found out how much.

I am curious about the democrats that voted against it. Why weren't they behind it? I'm not sure you can blame McCain for their actions.

[bennettkw]

This is Republican President Bush's bailout. In the past Democrats have been suckered into voting in favor of difficult bills pushed by a Republican president only to be blamed for it come election time. Pelosi guaranteed she would bring in the Democrat vote if only the Republican leadership in the House would do likewise. She brought in her vote; the House Republican leadership failed to do so, in the process going against their own president and McCain, de facto leader of their party. In the morning, McCain claimed victory. If only there had been a "Mission Accomplished" sign behind him. They never learn.

Republican policies and regulatory failures created this mess and Republican congressmen/women will have to stick their necks out if the bill is going to pass. And let's all remember, when they do, they are literally voting against the same "free market" they have been promoting for the past generation. Economic hypocrites! Before the week is out they will be required to stick their necks out again. Come November, chop, chop, chop!

[julescator]

I give you a week and one peek at your 401K tomorrow to change your tune. Nobody likes this bill or the Republicans that proposed it, but we all know that the alternative is devastating. You will notice it by the end of the week. I hope you don't have a financial portfolio full of stocks and/or mutual funds or a pension coming or a 401K. If you do you just lost an aweful lot of it. Tomorrow, you will lose a lot more. Wednesday, you will lose a lot more, Thursday, you will lose a lot more. By Friday you will be yelling "pass that damn bill". The press told you this was a Wall Street bailout, but it was an American economy bailout. If you have no part in the American economy ( no job in America, no bank in american, no savings in America and no house in America) then you will be fine!

[vooter]

I own gold and silver bullion--how about you? Believe it or not, some of us actually prepared for this. Some of us have been screaming from the rooftops for years that this was going to happen, only to be accused of being wackos in tin-foil hats. Well, I definitely LOVE my silver-foil hat--how about you? LOL....

[PADebbie]

Sen. Obama took that information and went into the meeting spewing all the information in the meeting, causing the meeting to blow up. No Bailout deal thanks to the Senator.

[PADebbie]

Its really funny how on the 1 2 th of Sept. Sen. Obama on his way to Wasington recieved a messagae from a friend giving the talking points of the Reps. about the Bailout. Sen. Obama took that information and went into the meeting spewing all the information in the meeting, causing the meeting to blow up. No Bailout deal thanks to the Senator. That same night the Senator ran to every news media INCLUDING Fox asking no probally begging for air time, where he blamed the Rebs. for the meeting blowing up! He at that point saved his _ _ _ !

[desertbloom]

My dear, if you are going to spew forth endless posts, please work on your spelling, grammer, and FACTS.

[Teeninchee]

This latest example of crisis management McCain style proves WE ARE IN TROUBLE if there is a McCain presidency.

[BabsfromKansas]

UNPHUCKINB­ELIEVABLE!

John McCain & Sarah Palin Joint Interview With Katie Couric

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAyLluhF4uc

[BlueOnBlue]

That Tina Fey really has her down. But who was the guy playing McCain? He did pretty well, too.

[dutchman]

There have been so many moments in the last 10 years (I'm counting the impeachment years) where I've said that things can't get any worse, but seeing this video trumps them all.

Simply unbelievable. And sad.

[BGDiNLV]

Man saw this coming a mile away!!!! Watch the bill wil pass just before the elections.­.Watch and see!!!

[desertbloom]

Yeah, watch carefully while McCain now swoops in to save the day.

Do you smell a Republican set up?

"Country First" is a very hollow slogan. This is all about McCain and his addiction to drama.

Pathetic.

[upgrade01a]

Personally, I think a better plan would be the following:

Give a 700 billion dollar tax rebate (that should be around 3,500 each tax payer if there are now 200 million tax payers) with the following caveat:

You must immediately deposit your money into one or more banks or financial institutions for at least 6 months before spending. You may electronically transfer any amount at anytime during this period.

The institutions will compete for their piece of the 700 billion.
Let the bad loans fail or folks like Warren Buffet may buy them at highly discounted values.

Another consideration:

Place a freeze on the paper money supply for 6 months. They (the FED) may not print up anymore money during this period.

This would be a bailout for “main street not wall street”, so the Democrats should be happy. It is also a “free market solution”, so the Republicans should be happy.
In addition, the taxpayer will not lose any money, unless they make a very bad choice or take a very high risk with their $3,500 investments over the next 6 months.

The FED did a bad thing by making interest rates artificially low.

… anyway, just a thought.

FYI - interesting take on the whole thing (worth the read, even if you disagree):
http://mises.org/story/3131

[Synthon]

$3,500 per tax payer is not going to help much when vast numbers have already lost >$100k so far this year in their 401k accounts (and still falling). If the stock market keeps tanking, there are going to be a lot of destitute Baby Boomers over the next 20+ years.

[almoguy]

They should have bought a tractor and some land instead of stocks and that Caribbean Cruise. Growing stuff is really fun and nutritious !

[InLosAngeles]

Why didn't we just pass the bill today and shove it in the face John McCain & the repubs? We had the votes. Why did so many deomcrats vote no if this bill was so important? Seems like we are acting just as political as they are.

[nellie]

Constituents don't like this bill. I don't either. We can do better.

[JGoodhue]

I think you are catching on. If it's approved, blame the GOP for bailing out the rich. If it's not approved, blame the GOP for not looking out for the less fortunate. Either way, Pelosi gave her speech and blamed the GOP for the fallout.

[pegbo]

I got an e-mail from a Democratic rep from my district who had heard from 100 constituents not to vote for it. And yes he is up for re-election. I am sorry but if this bill wasn't good enough, they should have come up with something else. Of course, the repubs probably did this on purpose. Tell the dems we have the votes and vote it down, so the dems look bad.

[Gary47]

Come on DNC and Obama - this is a story just waiting to be an ad. Get it up and running!

[Richard22]

Bush dug us into a hole. McCain threw dirt on us as we tried to climb out.

[KOisGod]

What the criminal re p igs accuss others of, they themselves are in the act of doing.

Rove 9:29:08

[PADebbie]

Debbie blames the Bailout on the Democrats.­..especial­ly Pelosi, Bawrny Fwank, Pinky Reid.....T­hey can't even find 11 Dems to jump aboard their Socialist Bailout plan?? Go figure.

[mikep007]

You talk to yourself Debbie?