Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt, a Republican, today issued a statement on news reports that said Sen. Barack Obama plans to use Missouri law enforcement to threaten and intimidate his critics through "truth squads."
St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch, St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce, Jefferson County Sheriff Glenn Boyer, and Obama and the leader of his Missouri campaign Senator Claire McCaskill have attached the stench of police state tactics to the Obama-Biden campaign.
What Senator Obama and his helpers are doing is scandalous beyond words, the party that claims to be the party of Thomas Jefferson is abusing the justice system and offices of public trust to silence political criticism with threats of prosecution and criminal punishment.
This abuse of the law for intimidation insults the most sacred principles and ideals of Jefferson. I can think of nothing more offensive to Jefferson’s thinking than using the power of the state to deprive Americans of their civil rights. The only conceivable purpose of Messrs. McCulloch, Obama and the others is to frighten people away from expressing themselves, to chill free and open debate, to suppress support and donations to conservative organizations targeted by this anti-civil rights, to strangle criticism of Mr. Obama, to suppress ads about his support of higher taxes, and to choke out criticism on television, radio, the Internet, blogs, e-mail and daily conversation about the election.
Barack Obama needs to grow up. Leftist blogs and others in the press constantly say false things about me and my family. Usually, we ignore false and scurrilous accusations because the purveyors have no credibility. When necessary, we refute them. Enlisting Missouri law enforcement to intimidate people and kill free debate is reminiscent of the Sedition Acts - not a free society.”
“It is the height of absurdity that Governor Blunt would try to deceive voters about the role of respected Missourians across the state who want to see this election be about the truth, not false attacks like the ones we’ve seen today,” said Justin Hamilton, spokesman for Obama’s Missouri campaign. “It’s clear why Missouri voters are rejecting the kind of campaign that they’re running.”
A call from a conservative commentator for Gov. Sarah Palin to step aside from the GOP ticket because of her performances in media interviews has ignited questions of whether the Alaskan governor is hurting, not helping, the Republican chances.
The issue started with a column by conservative Kathleen Parker in The National Review. Her thesis is that recent interviews have shown the Alaska governor is "out of her league" and should leave the GOP presidential ticket for the good of the party:
As we’ve seen and heard more from John McCain’s running mate, it is increasingly clear that Palin is a problem. Quick study or not, she doesn’t know enough about economics and foreign policy to make Americans comfortable with a President Palin should conditions warrant her promotion.
Yes, she recently met and turned several heads of state as the United Nations General Assembly convened in New York. She was gracious, charming and disarming. Men swooned. Pakistan’s president wanted to hug her. (Perhaps Osama bin Laden is dying to meet her?)
And, yes, she has common sense, something we value. And she’s had executive experience as a mayor and a governor, though of relatively small constituencies (about 6,000 and 680,000, respectively).
Finally, Palin’s narrative is fun, inspiring and all-American in that frontier way we seem to admire. When Palin first emerged as John McCain’s running mate, I confess I was delighted. She was the antithesis and nemesis of the hirsute, Birkenstock-wearing sisterhood — a refreshing feminist of a different order who personified the modern successful working mother.
Because of Paker's opinion piece, others in the mainstream media are starting to wonder if she is hurting John McCain rather than help him.
Tony Fabrizio, a GOP strategist, says Palin’s recent CBS appearance isn’t disqualifying but is certainly alarming. “You can’t continue to have interviews like that and not take on water.”
“I have not been blown away by the interviews from her, but at the same time, I haven’t come away from them thinking she doesn’t know s—t,” said Chris Lacivita, a GOP strategist. “But she ain’t Dick Cheney, nor Joe Biden and definitely not Hillary Clinton.”
There is no doubt that Palin retains a tremendous amount of support among rank-and-file Republicans. She draws huge crowds, continues to raise a lot of money for the McCain campaign, and state parties report she has sparked an uptick in the number of volunteers.
Asked about Palin's performance in the CBS interview, a McCain official briefing reporters on condition of anonymity said: "She did fine. She's a tremendous asset and a fantastic candidate."
But there is also no doubt many Republican insiders are worried she could blow next week’s debate, based on her unexpectedly weak and unsteady media appearances, and hurt the Republican ticket if she does.
Nancy Gibbs of Time magazine wrote yesterday:
Now that confidence seems gone, replaced by cockiness — which is just insecurity on steroids. With Charlie Gibson the waters were smooth if shallow; with Katie Couric she seemed forever at risk of drowning in her own syntax. But if she's growing less surefooted with each passing day of cramming, who can blame her, when the highly experienced Republican pols around her don't seem to trust her to talk past her talking points. Talk about undermining your brand; if she was picked as the Outsider Original Maverick with the experience and courage to help clean up Washington, you can't argue that she's not giving interviews because the press is so mean to her. She's ready for a cage fight with Nancy Pelosi but won't sit down with Campbell Brown?
But maybe the problem isn't Palin herself but the campaign handlers. She is a successful politican by her own right. It wasn't by chance that she became governor of her state, she earned it through the political process. She has shown to have tremendouse fortitude in dealing with countless smears, e-mail hackings, attacks om her religious beliefs and baseless attacks on her family matters.
What the McCain campaign should do is to give her the best pre-debate education of the issues it can. Get her up to speed on foreign affairs and domestic problems. But don't craft the answers for her. Let her develop what she is going to say in her own voice. In other words, on Oct. 2, let her be Sarah Palin.
If she's going to be criticized for her answers (she will, MSNBC and others will dissect them syllable by syllable) she might as well give her own thoughts, and not the spin of the campaign. The McCain campaign should unleash her. She can handle Biden on her own. From what we have seen, when allowed to be herself, she can do quite well.
House Republicans on Saturday held steadfast in their opposition to the $700 billion bailout proposal being considered in Congress, saying that it would be too costly for taxpayers.
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) told reporters at the Capitol that his members will not agree to a bill “that bails out Wall Street at the expense of American taxpayers.”
"Somebody, maybe it was Einstein, said things should be done as quickly as possible, but no quicker than possible," Republican Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) told the reporters. "We're not moving on any kind of artificial timeline. We're moving toward the very best solution in the shortest period of time."
But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he hoped a framework for an agreement could be in place before 6 p.m. Sunday Eastern, before the markets open in Asia for Monday's trading.
"The goal is to come up with a final agreement by tomorrow," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said from the floor of the Senate. "We may not be able to do that, but we're trying very hard."
Lawmakers want Treasury to receive the authority in tranches, receiving $250 billion immediately and another $100 billion if needed as certified by the president. The remaining $350 billion would be subject to a congressional vote, giving lawmakers the opportunity to vote to rescind the funds.
But a Senate aide familiar with the discussions said Treasury is pushing for a larger initial authority, likely around $500 billion.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) returned to Washington after his presidential debate with Sen. Barack Obama (R-Ill.) in Mississippi last night. His campaign office told Politico that Republicans want McCain's participation in the process to be seen by the public in a better light.
The latest House GOP posturing comes amid a Republican effort to ensure John McCain is credited with whatever progress is made in the talks.
McCain arrived back in Washington just before dawn Saturday, and his campaign said he planned to “resume negotiations with the administration and Congressional leaders from both parties to forge a bipartisan solution to our economic crisis.”
Republicans are clearly worried that their presidential candidate’s first effort to engage in the bailout negotiations didn’t come off as well as they might have hoped – that in the public’s mind, a deal was close until McCain parachuted in, a White House meeting collapsed and McCain left for the debate in Mississippi with the various factions farther from a deal than they’d been before.
House Republicans are now trying hard to recast those events.
What actually happened, they say: By not taking a stand on the modified version of the Treasury Plan that Democrats, Senate Republicans and the White House seemed nearly ready to support, McCain gave House Republican the time they needed to force a better deal for taxpayers and homeowners alike.
During a brief session in the Capitol on Friday, McCain reminded a small band of Republican leaders that he had given them a political opening in the landmark legislative fight.
According to people present, McCain then told his congressional colleagues, “Now, go get something.”
While McCain greeted his top allies on Capitol Hill, lawmakers were working toward a compromise deal in a bipartisan, bicameral meeting. When that meeting ended, both Dodd, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and Bennett said that negotiators had agreed on a plan that could pass both houses of Congress and be signed by the president.
Gregg, a Republican from New Hampshire, told Politico Friday that the compromise wouldn’t have come together so quickly if Democrats didn’t know that McCain was on his way. “We wouldn’t have had as much movement [Thursday] as we did have, if he hadn’t come to town and some of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle wanted to upstage him,” Gregg said.
With the deal struck, Republicans in the House believed that the trap was set, not so much for McCain as for their own leader, Boehner.
As House Republicans saw it, Democrats and the White House were close to a deal and just needed McCain to sign on so they could roll Boehner under the bus and claim a bipartisan victory.
... But if the Democrats and the White House were ready for a game of “ganging up on Boehner” – as the minority leader said later – McCain didn’t play along.
So, there was the first formal debate between the presidential candidates and the general consensus is that the Democrat won.
CNN reported that Newsweek's post-debate poll showed 61 percent of respondents said the Democrat won, 19 percent said the Republican won and 16 percent said they were undecided.
The poll also found 56 percent said the Democrat candidate did better than expected in the debate while 11 percent said the same for the Republican.
In the Los Angeles Times poll, 54 percent of 725 respondents surveyed declared the Democrat senator the winner of the debate, compared with 15 percent who said the Republican won.
An ABC News poll found that those who watched the first debate between the candidates said the Democrat won by 45 percent to 38 percent.
The problem with these polls? They're all from 2004. Bush had a terrible night by all accounts. But in the end, it did not matter as he won the only poll that counts: the one that you and I participate in November.
It's a sad day for America and the world today as one of the greatest film legends of all time, Paul Newman, passed away on Friday at age 83 from lung cancer.
Newman was nominated for Academy Awards for acting in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," "The Hustler," "Hud," "Cool Hand Luke," "Absence of Malice," "The Verdict," "Nobody's Fool" and "The Road to Perdition," as well best film for directing wife Joanne Woodward in "Rachel, Rachel." He won as best actor for "The Color of Money" in 1986.
He started the Newman's Own food line in 1982 with salad dressing and later added popcorn, salsa, marinades, spaghetti sauce, lemonade, cereal and steak sauce. The products generated more than $200 million in donations to charities. Newman also founded camps for severely ill children and a foundation to fight drug abuse.
He was married since 1958 to Woodward. Their marriage was one of Hollywood's rare enduring marriages. Asked for the secret, Newman said he had no reason to roam: "I have steak at home. Why should I go out for a hamburger?"
His trademark blue eyes were color blind, which prevented him from pursuing his goal of becoming a Navy pilot in World War II.
You think of Paul Newman, and you smile. You think of his smile and you smile even wider. It was the last great movie star grin. It seems that way today, anyway, in the wake of Newman's death.
He was a rogue you could trust. Across a full panoply of heroes, antiheroes, near-villains and ordinary flawed men, the kid from Shaker Heights, Ohio--half-Catholic, half-Jewish, all charisma--reminded audiences that looks could be everything, in theory, but in the hands of a fine actor who was also a movie star, they were simply another set of tools to bring to the set.
"I was always a character actor," Newman once said. "I just looked like Little Red Riding Hood."
Obama said McCain adviser Henry Kissinger backs talks with Iran “without preconditions,” but McCain disputed that. In fact, Kissinger did recently call for “high level” talks with Iran starting at the secretary of state level and said, “I do not believe that we can make conditions.” After the debate the McCain campaign issued a statement quoting Kissinger as saying he didn’t favor presidential talks with Iran.
Obama denied voting for a bill that called for increased taxes on “people” making as little as $42,000 a year, as McCain accused him of doing. McCain was right, though only for single taxpayers. A married couple would have had to make $83,000 to be affected by the vote, and anyway no such increase is in Obama’s tax plan.
McCain and Obama contradicted each other on what Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen said about troop withdrawals. Mullen said a time line for withdrawal could be “very dangerous” but was not talking specifically about “Obama’s plan,” as McCain maintained.
McCain tripped up on one of his signature issues – special appropriation “earmarks.” He said they had “tripled in the last five years,” when in fact they have decreased sharply.
Obama claimed Iraq “has” a $79 billion surplus. It once was projected to be as high as that. It’s now down to less than $60 billion.
McCain repeated his overstated claim that the U.S. pays $700 billion a year for oil to hostile nations. Imports are running at about $536 billion this year, and a third of it comes from Canada, Mexico and the U.K.
Obama said 95 percent of “the American people” would see a tax cut under his proposal. The actual figure is 81 percent of households.
Obama mischaracterized an aspect of McCain’s health care plan, saying “employers” would be taxed on the value of health benefits provided to workers. Employers wouldn’t, but the workers would. McCain also would grant workers up to a $5,000 tax credit per family to cover health insurance.
McCain misrepresented Obama's plan by claiming he'd be "handing the health care system over to the federal government." Obama would expand some government programs but would allow people to keep their current plans or chose from private ones, as well.
McCain claimed Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower had drafted a letter of resignation from the Army to be sent in case the 1944 D-Day landing at Normandy turned out to be a failure. Ike prepared a letter taking responsibility, but he didn’t mention resigning.
One interesting snippet from the debate last night was Sen. Barack Obama's "I've a bracelet too!" moment. This was widely praised by Democrats after the debate as showing that he cared for the troops in Iraq.
The problem was that Obama really stumbled on remembering the soldier's name. Normally it wouldn't be a big deal, but his stumbling was about the same as Gov. Sarah Palin's reaction to Charlie Gibson's question on the Bush Doctrine, which liberals loudly pronounced as her greatest mistake in that interview.
In case he has to remember who it is, it's Sgt. Ryan David Jopek, 20, who was killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb on Aug. 2, 2006.
Most Democrats say Sen. Barack Obama held his ground on the foreign policy portion of the debate and scored well on the economy. Republicans say Sen. John McCain exhibited superior knowledge on foreign affairs and look more presidential.
But what did independents and undecided voters say?
CBS News and Knowledge Networks conducted a poll of about 500 uncommitted voters reacting to the debate in the minutes after it happened.
Thirty-nine percent of uncommitted voters who watched the debate tonight thought Barack Obama was the winner. Twenty-four percent thought John McCain won. Thirty-seven percent saw it as a draw. Forty-six percent of uncommitted voters said their opinion of Obama got better tonight. Thirty-two percent said their opinion of McCain got better.
Sixty-six percent of uncommitted voters think Obama would make the right decisions about the economy. Forty-two percent think McCain would. Forty-eight percent of these voters think Obama would make the right decisions about Iraq. Fifty-six percent think McCain would.
An online MSNBC poll has Obama up 52 percent to 34 percent at 1 a.m. Eastern Saturday. That poll is unscientific and would have a larger percentages of Democrats participating because of the demographics of the network's viewership. But there were more than 350,000 voters. About 250,000 votes have been cast on Drudge, and McCain has a 67 percent to 31 percent edge there.
Most cable network pundits saw the debate through their political prisms. David Gergen on CNN saw it as a tie, but that was good for Obama as he felt McCain needed to win after the rough week he had. "John McCain needed a clear victory tonight," he said. "I think a tie was not in his interest. He is behind. And this is his best subject night ... I think he needed a clear victory tonight and that eluded him."
The McCain campaign was quick to release an ad showing Obama agreeing with McCain on a number of issues during the debate:
No one hates saying that more than I do. Like so many women, I’ve been pulling for Palin, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly. I’ve also noticed that I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted.
Only Palin can save McCain, her party, and the country she loves. She can bow out for personal reasons, perhaps because she wants to spend more time with her newborn. No one would criticize a mother who puts her family first.
Two St. Louis-area prosecutors have joined Sen. Barack Obama's campaign "Truth Squad", and are asking Missouri law enforcement to target anyone who lies or runs a misleading TV ad during the presidential campaign.
FactCheck.org took a look at this latest McCain ad that touches on Sen. Barack Obama's statement that he would meet with Hugo Chavez without preconditions. The ad is playing in Florida along with a Spanish verison.
The facts cited by the announcer in this ad are all correct. They go back to an answer he gave in a Democratic primary debate in 2007:
Question, July 27, 2007 debate: In 1982, Anwar Sadat traveled to Israel, a trip that resulted in a peace agreement that has lasted ever since. In the spirit of that type of bold leadership, would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea, in order to bridge the gap that divides our countries?
Obama: I would. And the reason is this, that the notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them — which has been the guiding diplomatic principle of this administration — is ridiculous.
Now, Ronald Reagan and Democratic presidents like JFK constantly spoke to Soviet Union at a time when Ronald Reagan called them an evil empire. And the reason is because they understood that we may not trust them and they may pose an extraordinary danger to this country, but we had the obligation to find areas where we can potentially move forward.
And I think that it is a disgrace that we have not spoken to them…
The Associated Press reported that the ad was condemned by the Venezuela Information Office. The office said it is an "attempt at fear-mongering" that demonizes Venezuela and Chavez. The U.S.-based office, which is funded by Chavez's government, said his words "were taken out of context and used as a baseless attack."
There is a lot of spin coming from the Democrats today that Sen. John McCain injected presidential politics into the bailout negotiations, causing them to stall. But ironically, if people can remember as far back as Monday, it was Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid himself who called for McCain to help out.
Reid told Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Monday night that the White House must gain support from Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain if it hopes to ensure bipartisan backing for the bailout plan, according to multiple media reports, most of which cited Democratic sources.
McCain holds the key to such a bipartisan vote, according to Reid, because Republicans are likely to defer to his position on a bill that holds political peril. McCain on Tuesday night joined Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) in lending qualified support for the $700 billion package, but it remains unclear whether his backing is strong enough and timely enough to persuade the Congressional rank and file.
Other key Democrats also wanted McCain involved in the process.
"I think if you look at the Republican side, at the McCain campaign and the leadership, I'm not convinced they are working to get their side to the table," Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) said on Monday. "But the week is young." Casey is a member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.
But as soon as McCain announced he would come to Washington (on his own, not because of a phone call from the president), Reid did a political about face and criticized the move that he advocated just hours earlier.
“If we lose progress on this because of one person, that’s John McCain,” Reid said. “He’s standing in the way.”
And in another press conference, Reid said, "It appears to me that John McCain is trying to divert attention from his failing campaign. Coming back here is not going to add to the process.” Reid said the Senate is “doing just fine” without McCain. “We should not have presidential politics entering here.”
Before the white House meeting, Reid gave a terse one-word answer when asked by a reporter what he thought would come out of the meeting. “Nothing,” Reid replied.
CNN's Dana Bush is reporting that Sen. John McCain leaving the Capitol to head to Mississippi to appear in tonight's scheduled debate. McCain spent the morning talking to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and a number of key Republican leaders in Congress.
McCain advisers told CNN that they understand that the senator's presence on Capitol Hill is pure dynamite and they need to get him out of here as fast as possible.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid laid the blame for the lack of a bailout plan squarely at the feet of Sen. John McCain by saying the insertion of presidential politics has not been helpful.
Reid said that train came off the tracks after one senator, who is not normally here, decided to show up.
"It's time -- the time is now for House Republicans to come to the negotiating table and for presidential politics to leave the negotiating table.
The insertion of presidential politics has not been helpful. I repeat: The insertion of presidential politics has not been helpful. It's been harmful.
A few days ago, I called on Senator McCain to take a stand, let us know where he stands on the issue, on this bailout. But all he has done is stand in front of the cameras. We still don't know where he stands on the issue."
These comments come after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made similar comments about McCain on ABC's "Good Morning America." “He hasn't been involved in this, and now as there's some discussion about putting this off, I don't think that we can do that. I think Senator McCain's involvement is sort of a blip.”
In describing the financial crisis, Reid said, "this is a problem created by Repubilcans."
He also said that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chairman Bernake need to be more realistic in crafting a plan.
Most people are focused on what the Dow is doing in the midst of the current financial crisis. But the hgeart of the problem is really in the credit markets.
According to financial-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com, the bond market primarily includes government-issued securities and corporate debt securities, and facilitates the transfer of capital from savers to the issuers or organizations requiring capital for government projects, business expansions and ongoing operations. Most trading in the bond market occurs over-the-counter, through organized electronic trading networks, and is composed of the primary market (through which debt securities are issued and sold by borrowers to lenders) and the secondary market (through which investors buy and sell previously issued debt securities amongst themselves). Although the stock market often commands more media attention, the bond market is actually many times bigger and is vital to the ongoing operation of the public and private sector.
Now, the stock market often seems out of sync with the credit crisis embroiling the financial system. Thursday was a case in point. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shot higher when the stock market opened on hopes that the bailout plan getting hashed out in Congress would offer a salve to the financial system. But the short-term credit markets that lie at the center of the crisis were telling a different story. Libor, a widely followed benchmark interest rate for many dollar loans between banks that is set each morning in London, jumped by its most since 1999, rising to 3.77% from 3.48. A similar measure set in the morning in New York, NYFR, also registered a sharp gain.
Jumps in Libor and NYFR are a sign that banks are becoming increasingly wary of doing business with one another. Thursday's move could have been a sign that credit-market participants didn't think Washington was moving ahead fast enough with its bailout plan, thought it is moving in the wrong direction, or that a major player is in deep trouble, said Michael Darda, chief economist at MKM Partners.
"It's very disconcerting," he said. "There have been several occasions when the credit market and the equity market diverged over the past year and in virtually every case it was the stock market that was wrong."
President Bush made brief comments from the White House this morning, trying to assure Wall Street and the American public that a deal will be reached to solve the current financial crisis.
"The legislative process is sometimes not very pretty,. We are going to get a package passed. We will rise to the occasion," he said in short remarks that were intensively watched on Wall Street.
"Any time you have a plan this big that is moving this quickly, that requires legislative approval, it creates challenges," Bush said. He said members of Congress "should be allowed to express their opinions," but emphasized that "there is no disagreement that something substantial must be done."
The markets have responded with a wait-and-see attitude. The Dow is down about 80 points at 10:08 a.m., which is a gain from its previous low for the day of a drop of about 150 points.
In the meantime, negotiations continued on Capitol Hill. Sen. John McCain spent the early part of the day in Sen. Mitch McConnell's office. After meeting with the Senate Republican leader, the presidential candidate walked through the Rotunda and marched into Rep. John Boehner office. Boehner is the House Minority Leader and is front and center in the opposition to the bailout plan.
President Bush is expected to make comments from the White House concerning the crisis on Wall Street just one day after a meeting of Washington's top power-brokers collapsed into a partisan food fight.
The expectation is that the president will start a public arm-twisting of House Republicans to get this deal done. Those GOP congressman, who already face a difficult election cycle, are hearing loud and clear from their districts that voters do not want this deal.
Markets all across the globe were down sharply Friday. Dow futures before the opening bell were off about 150 points. The political nightmare came as the collapse of Washington Mutual Inc. — the largest bank failure in U.S. history — gave Wall Street more bad news.
Wall Street wants to hear that Washington has started on a road toward a plan. It doesn't need to have a plan in place today. It just needs a sense of hope. If the partisan chaos continues in Washington, and there seems to be no hope of a compromise, the markets might collapse in numbers we have not seen since the Great Depression.
At one point during the meeting, Bush said that without fast action to help the financial industry, "this sucker could go down."
The stakes of the meeting were evident after it broke up, when Democrats were huddled for a post-meeting conference in the White House's Roosevelt Room. Two sources with knowledge of the situation but not allowed to speak of it publicly said there was a knock on the door and Paulson, who helped devise the administration's plan, asked to come in.
Paulson then pleaded with the Democrats not to blow up the deal by criticizing the House Republicans. The Democrats countered that they had been working with Paulson all week amid criticism of the plan from their own party and constituents.
Paulson repeated his plea that they not do anything that would spook the financial markets Friday morning and genuflected in front of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
"I didn't know you were Catholic," the speaker quipped.
In the Roosevelt Room after the session, the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., literally bent down on one knee as he pleaded with Ms. Pelosi not to “blow it up” by withdrawing her party’s support for the package over what Ms. Pelosi derided as a Republican betrayal.
“I didn’t know you were Catholic,” Ms. Pelosi said, a wry reference to Mr. Paulson’s kneeling, according to someone who observed the exchange. She went on: “It’s not me blowing this up, it’s the Republicans.”
Mr. Paulson sighed. “I know. I know.”
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass), who was inside the meeting, told The Associated Press that he did not think that Democrats were going to see a substantially different proposal from the plan the administration has been trying to sell to lawmakers and which had been the focal point of closed-door talks for days. "It's an ambush plan," he said.
Meeting articipants said the atmosphere descended into arguments.
"I didn't know I was going to be the referee for an internal GOP ideological civil war," Frank, D-Mass., said on CBS's "The Early Show."
Sen. Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican who appeared on the same show, said many GOP lawmakers dislike the proposal that has been pushed on the administration's behalf principally by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
"Basically, I believe the Paulson proposal is badly structured," Shelby said. "It does nothing basically for the stressed mortgage payer. It does a lot for three or four or five banks . ... "
A meeting of all of Washington's high-power elite sitting around a table inside the White House ended Thursday afternoon with no deal in place to bail out Wall Street as it suffers through its worst financial crisis in decades.
Both Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain left the West Wing without talking to reporters. Their silence spoke for itself.
David M. Herszenhorn and Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times reported that Sen. Shristopher Dodd (D-Conn) lokked tired and annoyed while complaining that late complications in the negotiations were making the episode sound more like “a rescue plan for John McCain,” than one for the country’s financial system.
It does no good, Mr. Dodd said, “to be distracted for two or three hours by political theater.”
The senator was apparently alluding to a growing revolt by conservative House Republicans against the proposed $700 billion rescue, and the fact that Senator McCain has not yet endorsed the plan, whose concept runs contrary to the policy positions he has taken for years.
Democrats complained of being “blindsided” by a new conservative alternative to the plan first put forward by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. And the outcome casts doubt on the ability of Congress to move quickly on the matter, even after leaders of House and Senate banking committees reached a bipartisan agreement Thursday on the framework for legislation authorizing the massive government intervention.
It was McCain who urged President Bush to call the White House meeting attended by House and Senate leaders as well as Obama, his Democratic rival. But the candidates left without commenting to reporters outside, and the whole sequence of events confirmed Treasury’s fears about inserting presidential politics into what were already difficult negotiations.
Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, who have both sought to distance themselves from the unpopular Bush, sat down with the president at the White House for an hourlong afternoon session that was striking in this brutally partisan season and apparently without precedent. By also including Congress' Democratic and Republican leaders, the meeting gathered nearly all Washington's political power structure at one long table in a small West Wing room.
"All of us around the table ... know we've got to get something done as quickly as possible," Bush told reporters, brought in for only the start of the meeting. Obama and McCain were at distant ends of the oval table, not even in each other's sight lines. Bush, playing host in the middle, was flanked by Congress' two Democratic leaders, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
No one else spoke, and all the visitors left the White House without talking to a huge media group gathered outside.
The Associated Press is reporting that congressional sources have said that the bailout accord reached on Capitol Hill this afternoon offers $250 billion immediately and could have an additional $100 billion if the Treasury secretary certified it was needed. The additional $350 billion would be granted only with a vote from Congress.
Confident but not yet celebrating, congressional leaders agreed today on a multibillion-dollar bailout plan for Wall Street aimed at staving off a national economic catastrophe. President Bush brought the two men fighting to succeed him to a historic White House huddle on how to sell a deal to lawmakers who were still resisting.
Welcoming Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, Bush said, "My hope is that we can reach an agreement very shortly."
The tentative accord would give the Bush administration just a fraction of the $700 billion it had requested up front, with half the money subject to a congressional veto, congressional aides said. Under the plan, the Treasury secretary would get $250 billion immediately and could have an additional $100 billion if he certified it was needed. The last $350 billion could be blocked by a vote of Congress under the arrangement, designed to give lawmakers a stronger hand in controlling the unprecedented rescue.
The aides described the details on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
ABC News is reporting reaction to Rep. Alcee Hastings comments concerning Gov. Sarah Palin. Yesterday, the Florida Democrat told a group of Jewish and African-Americans that “If Sarah Palin isn’t enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama, then you damn well had better pay attention.” He also told the group “anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks. So, you just think this through,”
Hastings spokesman David Goldenberg told ABC News that he was trying to argue that Palin is an "extremely conservative woman who is out of touch with mainstream America."
After saying that Palin "don't care too much" about Jews and blacks, Hastings argued that African Americans and Jews should come together behind Obama because there are many issues on which they agree.
"Just like Jews, blacks care about affordable health care, energy independence, and the separation of church and state," said Hastings. "And just like blacks, Jews care about equal pay for equal work, investment in alternative energy, and a woman's right to choose."
Asked about the Hastings criticism, Palin spokeswoman Maria Comella said, "We’re taking a pass."
New state polling from North Carolina has moved that state from from “Likely Republican” to “Leans Republican” in the Rasmussen Reports Balance of Power Calculator. With this change, Obama still leads in states with 193 Electoral College votes while McCain is ahead in states with 174 Electoral College votes. When “leaners” are included, it’s Obama 255, McCain 247.
Currently, states with 124 Electoral College votes are leaning slightly in one way or the other. Five states with a total of 36 votes -- New Hampshire, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Virginia -- are pure toss-ups.
A fundamental agreement to the $700 billion Wall Street financial crisis bailout has been announced by Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), who said this afternoon that Congress is prepared to give extraordinary powers to the secretary of Treasury to purchase hundreds of billions in bad debt. But at the same time, leading House Republicans reacted by saying the deal does not yet exist.
Dozen of the top negotiators from both parties and both chambers of Congress met at the Capitol for three hours this morning to hammer out the deal.
"We believe we are prepared to act expeditiously on a package," Dodd said. He described the agreement as a "set of principles" and not completed legislative language. Dodd expected the completed bill would be ready for the president's signature in a few days. Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah) said, "We have a plan that will pass the House, pass the Senate and be signed by the president, and bring certainty to the markets."
But House Republicans were still balking at the deal. Republican minority leader Rep. John A. Boehner of Ohio, reacting to Dodd's announcement, said: "There is no bipartisan deal at this time. There may be a deal among some Democrats, but House Republicans are not a part of it.”
Dodd said the compromise includes a provision that would limit excessive executive compensation. What it does not appear to have is a provision that would allow judges to restructure mortgages for homeowners facing foreclosure.
FiveThirtyEight.com is reporting this morning that polls suggest that the public is responding poorly to Sen. John McCain's suspension of his campaign to work on the financial crisis. In fact, Sen. Barack Obama has increased his growing lead.
The web site reports that two polls that were doing field work yesterday show gains for Obama:
The Research 2000 poll has Obama jumping from +4 to +6, on the strength of a +7 in the daily sample conducted yesterday. And Rasmussen Tracking has him moving from a +2 to a +3, his largest lead over McCain since 9/6.
But there was some good news for McCain. Hotline has Obama at a +4, down from a +6 yesterday. Battleground, which has a strong (3-4 point) Republican lean, has him at -1, one point better than yesterday.
The winner of today's Stupidest and Most Insulting Palin Smear Award goes to Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), who told a group of Jewish and African-American Democrats in Florida yesterday they should fear the GOP vice presidential nominee, Gov. Sarah Palin, that because she has a gun and hunts, she wouldn't "care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks."
Hastings said, "Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don't care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks."
He also challenged the audience, "If Sarah Palin isn't enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama, then you damn well had better pay attention."
“If Sarah Palin isn’t enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama, then you damn well had better pay attention,” Rep. Alcee Hastings of Florida said at a panel about the shared agenda of Jewish and African-American Democrats Wednesday. Hastings, who is African-American, was explaining what he intended to tell his Jewish constituents about the presidential race. “Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks. So, you just think this through,” Hastings added as the room erupted in laughter and applause.
After telling attendees that the most important thing Jewish and African-American Democrats could do to support one another was to get Sen. Barack Obama elected president, Hastings had one more message: “For those of you like me that supported Sen. Hillary Clinton, she lost! Get over it!”
Appearing on CNBC this morning, Rep. Paul Kanjorski said the proposed $700 billion bailout legislation was "almost an accomplished fact."
“The package is basically done, the hard issues are resolved and we are going to move on," The Democrat from Pennsylvania and a member of the House Financial Services Committee said. "Right now, the votes are there for it.” He said he believed that the president could have the bill on his desk by the weekend.
“I have already bought two tickets for the candidates to get back to Mississippi for tomorrow night,” he said. “Let’s get them on their presidential debate and let us tend to the business of government.”
Sen. John McCain was scheduled to appear on "Late Night With David Letterman" but cancelled late Wednesday afternoon, telling Letterman he had to hustle down to Washington to work on the financial crisis bailout compromise.
So who did Letterman get to sub in for him? None other than Keith Olbermann, who reportedly is a supporter of Sen. Barack Obama.
"I'm more than a little disappointed by this behavior," Letterman told his audience. "We're suspending the campaign. Suspending it because there's an economic crisis, or because the poll numbers are sliding?
"You don't suspend your campaign," he added. "Do you suspend your campaign? No, because that makes me think, well, you know, maybe there will be other things down the road -- if he's in the White House, he might just suspend being president. I mean, we've got a guy like that now!"
Letterman, while interviewing Olbermann, found out that at the same time McCain was getting ready for an interview with Katie Couric of CBS just three blocks away. Letterman then arranged for a live feed from that location, which showed McCain getting made up to go on with Couric. “He doesn’t seem to be racing to the airport,” Letterman said. After listening to Couric ask the presidential candidate a few questions, Letterman quipped, “Hey, John, I’ve got a question: You need a lift to the airport?”
He asked Olbermann if he thought this was all McCain’s fault, or whether other factors had come into play. Olbermann gleefully replied: "He ditched you.”
"It's a tough sell to most of our members," said Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., after a closed-door meeting with Paulson and Bernanke. "It's a terrible plan, but I haven't heard anything better."
"They sold the war, they sold the stimulus package and some other things. It's the 'wolf at the door'" argument, said Davis, who is retiring at the end of the year.
If Republicans weren't exactly clamoring for Bush to show them the way, Democrats insisted the president step up, for reasons of their own.
"It is time for him to explain why his administration sat on its hands for months and only now has come to realize the need for immediate and unprecedented government action," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
"It is time for him to explain how he could tell our country for months that our economy was fine, yet overnight declare that if American taxpayers don't accept his bailout bill, our country will face an economic disaster."
Translation: Neither Reid nor House Speaker Nancy Pelosi intended to put their rank and file in the position of voting for legislation that Republicans could oppose and then use as a campaign issue against them. But if many Republicans were planning to vote for the measure eventually, they were quiet about it on Wednesday.
Democratic leaders hope to nail down details of the measure early Thursday, ahead of an extraordinary summit meeting in the afternoon at the White House, which will bring together Republican and Democratic presidential nominees, along with Mr. Bush and top leaders from Congress.
Much is still uncertain and the contours of a likely bill could change. But the outlines of a potential compromise began to emerge late Wednesday after congressional leaders started considering restrictions on the bailout plan that could break the pool of money into installments.
A likely bill would include limits on executive pay in situations where the government puts a large amount of money into a failing institution. In certain cases, the government could receive warrants that would give it the right to acquire shares in the company. Also included is beefed-up oversight through the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress.
Gov. Sarah Palin answers Katie Couric question on the $700 billion Wall Street bailout proposal, saying that without the bailout there is a possibility of a Depression.
Here is a transcript of the interview, as released by "CBS News With Katie Couric":
COURIC: Sarah Palin kept up her busy schedule today, meeting with several world leaders who are here in New York for the UN session. But she took time out for an exclusive interview, in which we discussed the state of the economy at length. We began, though, by addressing reports that the lobbying firm of Senator McCain's campaign manager received payments from Freddie Mac until last month. I asked for her reaction to that.
PALIN: My understanding is that Rick Davis recused himself from the dealings of the firm. I don't know how long ago, a year or two ago that he's not benefiting from that. And you know, I was — I would hope that's not the case.
COURIC: But he still has a stake in the company, so isn't that a conflict of interest.
PALIN: Again, my understanding is that he recused himself from the dealings with Freddie and Fannie, any lobbying efforts on his part there. And I would hope that's the case because, as John McCain has been saying, and as I've been on a more local level been on a much more local level been also rallying against is the undue influence of lobbyists in public policy decisions being made.
COURIC: Then we focused on the $700 billion government bailout of bad debt and I asked her if she supports it.
PALIN: I'm ill about the position that America is in and that we have to look at a $700 billion bailout. At the same time we know that inaction is not an option and as Senator McCain has said unless this nearly trillion-dollar bailout is what it may end up to be, unless there are amendments in Paulson's proposal, really I don't believe that Americans are going to support this and we will not support this. The interesting thing in the last couple of days that I have seen is that Americans are waiting to see what John McCain will do on this proposal. They're not waiting to see what Barack Obama is going to do. Is he going to do this and see what way the political wind's blowing. They're waiting to see if John McCain will be able to see these amendments implemented in Paulson's proposal.
COURIC: Why do you say that? Why are they waiting for John McCain and not Barack Obama?
PALIN: He's got the track record of the leadership qualities and the pragmatism that's needed at a crisis time like this.
COURIC: But polls have shown that Senator Obama has actually gotten a boost as a result of this latest crisis with more people feeling that he can handle the situation better than John McCain?
PALIN: I'm not looking at poll numbers. What I think Americans at the end of the day are going to be able to go back and look at track records and see who's more apt to be talking about solutions and wishing for and hoping for solutions for some opportunity to change, and who's actually done it?
COURIC: If this doesn't pass, do you think there's a risk of another Great Depression?
PALIN: Unfortunately, that is the road that America may find itself on. Not necessarily this as it's been proposed has to pass or we're going to find ourselves in another Great Depression. There has got to be action — bipartisan effort — Congress not pointing fingers at one another but finding the solution to this, taking action, and being serious about the reforms on Wall Street that are needed.
COURIC: Would you support a moratorium on foreclosures to help average Americans keep their homes?
PALIN: That's something that John McCain and I have both been discussing whether that is part of the solution or not ... you know, it's going to be a multifaceted that has to be found here.
COURIC: So you haven't decided whether you'll support it or not?
PALIN: I have not.
COURIC: What are the pros and cons of it, do you think?
PALIN: Well, some decisions that have been made poorly should not be rewarded, of course.
COURIC: By consumers, you're saying?
PALIN: Consumers and those who were predator lenders also. That's, you know, that has to be considered also. But again, it's got to be a comprehensive long-term solution found for this problem that America is facing today. As I say, we are getting into crisis mode here.
COURIC: You've said, quote, "John McCain will reform the way Wall Street does business." Other than supporting stricter regulations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two years ago, can you give us any more example of his leading the charge for more oversight?
PALIN: I think that the example that you just cited, with his warnings two years ago about Fannie and Freddie — that, that's paramount. That's more than a heck of a lot of other senators and representatives did for us.
COURIC: But he's been in Congress for 26 years. He's been chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee. And he has almost always sided with less regulation, not more.
PALIN: He's also known as the maverick, though. Taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. Trying to get people to understand what he's been talking about — the need to reform government.
COURIC: I'm just going to ask you one more time, not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation?
PALIN: I'll try to find you some, and I'll bring them to you.
Sen. Barack Obama said late tonight that he will visit the White House for a meeting with President Bush and Sen. John McCain on the administration's proposed $700 billion bailout of struggling Wall Street firms.
Bush had called on both candidates to come to the White House to help work out a compromise between the administration and Congress, which is balking at the proposal.
Obama though, is steadfastly contending that Friday's scheduled presidential debate should go on. McCain has said he would stay in Washington if no bailout agreement is reached by Friday morning.
The campaigns issued a joint statement yesterday:
The American people are facing a moment of economic crisis. No matter how this began, we all have a responsibility to work through it and restore confidence in our economy. The jobs, savings, and prosperity of the American people are at stake.
"Now is a time to come together - Democrats and Republicans - in a spirit of cooperation for the sake of the American people. The plan that has been submitted to Congress by the Bush Administration is flawed, but the effort to protect the American economy must not fail. This is a time to rise above politics for the good of the country. We cannot risk an economic catastrophe. Now is our chance to come together to prove that Washington is once again capable of leading this country."
Obama also offered his principles on his own, principles in which he asked McCain to support:
I believe that several core principles should guide this legislation. First, there must be oversight. We should not hand over a blank check to the discretion of one man. We support an independent, bipartisan board to ensure accountability and complete transparency.
Second, we need to protect taxpayers. There should be a path for taxpayers to recover their money, and to turn a profit if Wall Street prospers.
Third, no Wall Street executive should profit from taxpayer dollars. This plan cannot be a welfare program for CEOs whose greed and irresponsibility has contributed to this crisis.
Fourth, we must help families who are struggling to stay in their homes. We cannot bail out Wall Street without helping millions of families facing foreclosure on Main Street.
Fifth, we both agree that this financial rescue package should move on its own without any earmarks or other measures. We have different views about the need for other action, but this must be a clean bill.
This is a time to rise above politics for the good of the country. We cannot risk an economic catastrophe. This is not a Democratic problem or a Republican problem - this is an American problem. Now, we must find an American solution.
Gawker says sources have told it that the right-wing, pro-Israel newspaper will fold on Monday. The Sun's editor and spokesman would only say "no comment" on the report.
"I don't want to comment on that," said Sun editor Seth Lipsky, when reached by phone by The New York Observer, and asked about the Gawker item. When asked again if the paper's closure is imminent he said, "No comment." The Sun's spokesman, Michael Moi, said that there is no staff meeting scheduled today to discuss the paper's future.
Sen. John McCain dropped a bombshell on the American political scene this afternoon by suspending his campaign as of Thursday, canceling advertisements, TV shows and fund-raisers, to return to Washington to work on the Senate's efforts to approve a $700 billion bailout of the struggling financial markets.
In announcing the move, he called on Sen. Barack Obama to follow suit.
McCain's actions put in some doubt whether the scheduled debate on Friday would go off as planned. McCain was asking Obama to cancel the debate if no bailout package is approved by early Friday.
"I am calling on the president to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself," McCain said. "It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem."
Obama did not agree, suggesting that McCain was playing a political game.
“It’s my belief that this is exactly the time the American people need to hear from the person who in approximately 40 days will be responsible with dealing with this mess," he said in Florida. "What I think is important is that we don’t suddenly infuse Capitol Hill with presidential politics."
Obama then criticized McCain's ability to multi-task.
"Presidents are going to have to deal with more than one thing at a time. It’s not necessary for us to think that we can do only one thing, and suspend everything else."
While Republicans welcomed the move as a demonstration of McCain's ability to provide leadership in a crisis, the candidate was also quickly criticized by a number of Obama supporters who sense a cynical motive by the McCain camp.
“It would not be helpful at this time to have them come back during these negotiations and risk injecting presidential politics into this process or distract important talks about the future of our nation’s economy,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said in a statement. “If that changes, we will call upon them. We need leadership; not a campaign photo op.”
“What, does McCain think the Senate will still be working at 9 p.m. Friday?” Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania told The New York Times, referring to the scheduled start time of the debate. “I think this is all political — I wish McCain had shown the same concern when he didn’t show up in the Senate to vote on the extension of the renewable energy tax credit.”
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who is leading House Democrats in the talks with the White House, said McCain was reaching for a victory. “It’s the longest Hail Mary pass in the history of either football or Marys,” Mr. Frank told a group of reporters outside the House chamber.
The move also hit the entertainment world. McCain had been scheduled to appear on "Late Night With David Letterman." When Letterman heard about the cancellation, he let the GOP candidate have it on his show, according to The Drudge Report:
Dave kept saying, "You don't suspend your campaign. This doesn't smell right. This isn't the way a tested hero behaves." And he joked: "I think someone's putting something in his metamucil."
"He can't run the campaign because the economy is cratering? Fine, put in your second string quarterback, Sara Palin. Where is she?"
"What are you going to do if you're elected and things get tough? Suspend being president? We've got a guy like that now!"
There's nothing like bad economic news to help out the opposition party. In this case, Sen. Barack Obama has regained momentum (and the lead) in a variety of polls with less than six weeks from the presidential election.
More voters trust Obama to deal with the economy, and he currently has a big edge as the candidate who is more in tune with the economic problems Americans now face. He also has a double-digit advantage on handling the current problems on Wall Street, and as a result, there has been a rise in his overall support.
The McCain campaign pollsters told reporters on a quickly arranged conference call that the Post poll is an "outlier" not representative of other surveys and that they believe the national race is still neck and neck.
That could be true, but there are other signs that McCain is in deep trouble. And if the campaign truly believes this race is still neck and neck, then the Republicans have already lost. Obama has started to build substantial leads in a more significant polls from individual battleground states.
In Iowa (seven electoral votes), the Des Moines Register/Selzer & Co.’s poll, conducted from Sept. 8 to Sept. 10, showed Obama leading McCain by 12 percentage points (52 to 40) among the registered voters in Iowa. Marist has Obama leading by 10 in that state.
As of today, The InsiderAdvantage/Poll Position Survey in Colorado (nine electoral votes) has Obama leading by nine percentage points, (50 to 41). Yesterday, that same polling organization had Obama and McCain tied in Ohio (20 electoral votes.) That state had been leaning toward McCain.
In Florida, which has been seen as close but likely a McCain state, a NBC/Mason-Dixon Poll released yesterday has Obama up by two percentage points.
In Virginia, a traditionally red state, CNN reported today that McCain's advantage is slipping in that state, which has 13 electoral votes.
The latest round of polls could be a clear warning sign for McCain six weeks before Election Day that the Republican presidential nominee still has work to do to lock down certain states that previous GOP nominees had to spend little time or effort doing so.
In the latest poll of polls, the Arizona senator only holds a 1 point lead over Barack Obama (47-46 percent) while 7 percent remain undecided. The poll of polls is an average of three recent surveys of the state.
With less than 6 weeks until the general election, the Obama campaign’s 50 state strategy appears to have ended. The campaign has pulled out of Alaska and North Dakota, and it is poised to close offices in Georgia and Montana, states that Democrats feel they cannot win. George W. Bush won all four states, and their combined 24 electoral college votes, by a wide margin in 2004.
The Obama campaign is focusing on swing states. Today, Obama is in Florida while running mate Joe Biden is set to deliver a speech on foreign policy in Ohio. McCain currently leads in both states by 2 percentage points. The Republican team is in New York City, where McCain and Sarah Palin are meeting with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko.
None of this is good news for McCain. The Republicans had some strong momentum on their side after the convention. But the relentless attacks on Gov. Sarah Palin and the distressing news from Wall Street are now starting to take their toll. The upcoming debate may be McCain's best shot at stopping the bleeding, as the nation watches the candidates together, it's his best opportunity for him to demonstrate how his leadership is best for America as the country fights through the current economic crisis. If he falters in the debate, the poll numbers are going to drop even farther, and there would be little time to make up ground.
Now that Sen. Barack Obama is regaining his strength in the polls, showing not only increased leads in national tracking polls but more importantly to him, growing leads in key battleground states, Democrats are once again feeling confident about their chances in November.
But with that confidence, some Democrats are starting to play with fire over the $700 billion Wall Street bailout proposal being considered on Capitol Hill. Under normal circumstances, this would be an ideal issue to politically attack a sitting president. The problem is that with the general election less than six weeks away, if the bailout plan is not passed quickly, and matters get much worse on Wall Street, there could be a backlash against Democrats just in time for voters to go to the polls.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) went on the offensive this afternoon, hitting hard at President Bush for "fiscal dereliction of duty." He said the president has been absent from the fiscal crisis when the country needed him the most.
"Congress and especially the American people have a right to know — where is President Bush?" Reid asked. "President Bush has sent Congress an unprecedented $700 billion bailout proposal — $700 billion straight from the pockets of every single man, woman and child in America, and yet President Bush has been absent from what may well be the most important debate on economic policy in a generation.
"I think the president should be available. He's given two brief statements to the press and a press release admonishing the Congress to accept his bailout plan immediately. Other than that, President Bush has been silent." Bush is scheduled to address the nation at 9:01 p.m. Eastern today.
The GOP is also jumping into the political game. USA TODAY's Kathy Kiely reports that Sen. John Cornyn said the bailout is "unacceptable on a number of bases." Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., described the proposal as "the largest corporate bailout in American history." Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, told NPR this morning that he wouldn't vote for the proposal as it stands. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., an outspoken critic of the bailout, says he plans to slow down the bill. Sen. Mitch McConnell, the GOP leader, called the proposal a work in progress.
Great sound bites, but the bickering is already having its effect on the markets, reports Bloomberg. The dollar is slipping again, trading at $1.4664 per euro at 1:32 p.m. in New York, compared with $1.4648 yesterday. It touched $1.4866 on Sept. 22, the weakest level since Aug. 22. The yen fell 0.6 percent to 155.55 per euro, from 154.63 yesterday. The yen dropped 0.5 percent to 106.10 per dollar, from 105.56. The Dow is holding steady today, up 43.8 points at 2:42 p.m. Eastern, after yesterday's huge drop.
"The trouble they're having getting this package passed and further underlying economic weakness are sending the dollar lower," said Andrew Wilkinson, a senior market analyst in Greenwich, Conn., at Interactive Brokers Group, which handles about a fifth of all options traded in the United States.
Playing a political game of chicken is not in the best interests of the country. Yes, there are questions about oversight and accountability in regards to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's bailout plan. It is certainly scary to sign off on a $700 billion plan that even rocket scientists can't understand. But what is the cost of inaction? While the opposition is bipartisan, it is the Democrats who control Congress, and they are the ones who would be blamed if nothing is approved and Wall Street experiences a major meltdown. On Main Street, inaction would be devastating to every family in America.
Right now, Congress is doing what it does best, and that is nothing but complain, point fingers at the opposition, and try to score political points.
This is a time when both sides need to take a breath, sit down with the best economic minds (yes, Paulson and Fed chair Ben Bernake are among them) and iron out a plan that has the best chance of working. And they have to do it fast. That means take the political bickering off the table, and for the good of the country, get working.
The stock market took a huge hit yesterday while investors watched Capitol Hill fret over ramifications of Treasury Secretary's Henry Paulson's $700 billion bailout plan.
Other financial indicators also showed that investors were nervous. The U.S. dollar suffered one of its largest one-day drops in years, while the price of oil and gold was sharply higher.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 372.75 points, or 3.27 percent, to close at 11,016, nearly wiping out all of Friday's gains. The Nasdaq composite index fell 94.92, or 4.2 percent, to close at 2,179. The Standard and Poor's 500-stock index was down 47.99, or 3.8 percent, to close at 1,207. The price of crude oil leaped to $120.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a $16.37 increase. Earlier in the day, the price was up by $25.55. The euro rose as high as $1.4660 versus the dollar, the highest since Sept. 1, according to Reuters Dealing. In early New York trading, the dollar was down 0.7 percent on the day at 106.71 yen. Sterling also benefited from dollar selling, hitting its highest in more than three weeks at $1.8473.
Reporting late Monday night for The New York Times, David M. Herszenhorn wrote that Congress and the administration were inching closer to a bailout deal that would include help for homeowners facing foreclosure and more oversight:
As heated debate began on Capitol Hill, Congress and the administration remained at odds over the demands of some lawmakers, including limits on the pay of top executives whose firms seek help, and new authority to allow bankruptcy judges to reduce mortgage payments for borrowers facing foreclosure.
Congressional leaders and Treasury officials also said they were close to an agreement over a proposal by some Democrats in which taxpayers could receive an ownership stake, in the form of warrants to buy stock, from firms seeking to sell distressed debt.
Lawmakers want to require an equity stake, while the administration wants flexibility on that matter, a Treasury official said.
Despite the progress, the rancor in Congress ratcheted up the pressure on Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, the architects of the proposal to let financial institutions, including some foreign firms, pass their most distressed assets to the United States Treasury.
Both are scheduled to testify before the Senate banking committee on Tuesday morning, where they must now sell the bailout plan to dubious lawmakers and to an increasingly angry public. They will also appear before the House Financial Services committee on Wednesday afternoon.
"Mad Men," AMC's show set in a New York advertising agency in the 1960s, took top honours at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards last night. It is the first series from a cable channel other than HBO to claim the prestigious best drama award.
"30 Rock" won for best comedy series, while its stars Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey took out the best comedic actor and actress awards.
Bryan Cranston of "Malcolm In The Middle" fame won best actor for his role as a terminally ill high school teacher who cooks crystal methamphetamine on the side in the AMC series "Breaking Bad."
Best Actress went to Glenn Close for her work in "Damages."
Jeremy Piven won his third Best Supporting Actor Emmy for the HBO comedy "Entourage."
Zeljko Ivanek won for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series for his role in "Damages." Jean Smart won Outstanding Supporting Actress category for her role in "Samantha Who?," and Dianne Wiest won for Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Dramatic Series for the HBO series "In Treatment."
"Survivor's" Jeff Probst won for Outstanding Host for a Reality TV Show.
Here are the winners: Outstanding Drama Series: "Mad Men" Outstanding Comedy Series: "30 Rock" Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program: Jeff Probst, "Survivor" Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Tina Fey, "30 Rock" Lead Actor in a Drama: Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad" Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Glenn Close, "Damages" Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock" Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie: Paul Giamatti, "John Adams" Writing for a Drama Series: Matthew Weiner, "Mad Men" Directing for a Drama Series: Greg Yaitanes, "House" Guest Actress in a Drama Series: Cynthia Nixon, "Law & Order: SVU" Guest Actor in Drama Series: Glynn Turman, "In Treatment" Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program: Don Rickles, "Mr. Warmth: the Don Rickles Project" Outstanding Miniseries: "John Adams" Reality-Competition Program: "The Amazing Race" Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie: Eileen Atkins, "Cranford" Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or Special: Kirk Ellis, "John Adams" Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Special: Jay Roach, "Recount" Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie: Tom Wilkinson, "John Adams" Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie: Laura Linney, "John Adams" Made for Television Movie: "Recount" Writing for a Comedy Series: Tina Fey, "30 Rock" Director in a Comedy Series: Barry Sonnenfeld, "Pushing Daisies" Guest Actress in a Comedy Series: Kathryn Joosten, "Desperate House" Guest Actor in a Comedy Series: Tim Conway, "30 Rock" Variety, Music or Comedy Series: "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series: "The Colbert Report" Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series: Louis J. Horvitz, "Academy Awards" Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Dianne Wiest, "In Treatment" Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Zelijko Ivanek, "Damages" Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Jean Smart, "Samantha Who?" Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Jeremy Piven, "Entourage"
Gov. Sarah Palin is drawing Obama-size crowds, as 60,000 people are estimated to attend a campaign event north of Orlando this afternoon.
"He won't say this, so I'll say it for him," the Alaska governor said as she finished her first Florida stump speech before 60,000. "There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you. John McCain wore the uniform of his country for 22 years -- talk about tough."
Her speech in the Central Florida retirement community of The Villages was occasionally interrupted by chants of "Sa-rah, Sa-rah" and "USA, USA."
It was the largest crowd ever for a political event at The Villages, community spokesman Gary Lester said. The Republican bastion is a frequent stopping place for GOP candidates.
More than four hours before Palin arrived, cars and golf carts jammed nearby roads and thousands of people clogged the Disneyesque Sumter Landing town center area to wait in the baking heat for a glimpse of Palin.
Palin T-shirts, buttons and hats - most of them making reference to lipstick, pit bulls, hockey or some combination of those elements - were everywhere. There were also people wearing McCain items, but usually with Palin's name on them somewhere.
Palin took the stage around 4:30 p.m. accompanied by husband Todd Palin, whom she introduced as "Alaska's first dude," daughters Piper and Willow and infant son Trig.
Palin's speech lasted about 23 minutes and stuck to tested themes. She accused Obama of failing to offer a prescription for the crisis in the nation's financial markets and said the Democrat would bring higher taxes.
Here are the nominations for tonight's 60th annual Emmys:
BEST DRAMA Nominees: "Boston Legal," "Damages," "Dexter," "House," "Lost," Mad Men."
BEST COMEDY Nominees: "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Entourage," "The Office," "30 Rock," Two and a Half Men."
BEST ACTOR, COMEDY Nominees: Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"; Steve Carell, "The Office"; Lee Pace, "Pushing Daisies"; Tony Shalhoub, "Monk"; Charlie Sheen, "Two and a Half Men."
BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY Nominees: Christina Applegate, "Samantha Who?"; America Ferrera, "Ugly Betty"; Tiny Fey, "30 Rock"; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "The New Adventures of Old Christine"; Mary-Louise Parker, "Weeds."
BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA Nominees: Glenn Close, "Damages"; Sally Field, "Brothers & Sisters"; Mariska Hargitay, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"; Holly Hunter, "Saving Grace"; Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer."
BEST ACTOR, DRAMA Nominees: Gabriel Byrne, "In Treatment"; Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad"; Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"; Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"; Hugh Laurie, "House"; James Spader, "Boston Legal."
BEST REALITY HOST Nominees: Tom Bergeron, "Dancing With the Stars"; Heidi Klum, "Project Runway"; Howie Mandel, "Deal or No Deal"; Jeff Probst, "Survivor"; Ryan Seacrest, "American Idol."
BEST REALITY COMPETITION Nominees: "The Amazing Race"; "American Idol"; "Dancing With the Stars"; "Project Runway"; "Top Chef."
MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE Nominees: "Bernard and Doris"; "Extras"; "The Memory Keeper's Daughter"; "A Raisin in the Sun"; "Recount."
BEST ACTOR, DRAMA Nominees: Gabriel Byrne, "In Treatment"; Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad"; Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"; Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"; Hugh Laurie, "House"; James Spader, "Boston Legal."
BEST REALITY HOST Nominees: Tom Bergeron, "Dancing With the Stars"; Heidi Klum, "Project Runway"; Howie Mandel, "Deal or No Deal"; Jeff Probst, "Survivor"; Ryan Seacrest, "American Idol."
BEST REALITY COMPETITION Nominees: "The Amazing Race"; "American Idol"; "Dancing With the Stars"; "Project Runway"; "Top Chef."
MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE Nominees: "Bernard and Doris"; "Extras"; "The Memory Keeper's Daughter"; "A Raisin in the Sun"; "Recount."
MINISERIES Nominees: "The Andromeda Strain"; "Cranford"; "John Adams"; "Tin Man."
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, speaking with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, said this morning that the White House will try to have foreign firms included in the $700 billion bailout.
"We are talking very aggressively with other countries around the world," Paulson said in an interview on ABC News' "This Week." "If a financial institution has business operations in the United States, hires people in the United States...they have the same impact on the American people as any other institution."
On "FOX News Sunday" with Chris Wallace, Paulson urged Congress to quickly approve the bailout plan because the country's regulatory system for financial market is outdated and must be overhauled.
The market is clogged up, Paulson said. American companies are unable to raise money in normal ways.
"If we get to a situation where companies can't readily raise financing, where it's difficult for farmers and small business men to get loans, where people's retirement incomes are threatened, that's a situation we don't want to have," he said.
He also told Wallace that not all financial institutions could be saved. "I can't say that there won't be more financial institutions that have problems here. The concern I have is for the American people and the economy. ... We're not doing this to protect our financial institutions in and of themselves." He also said that the final tab would not be $700 billion because the government would be able to recoup much of its initial investment through the eventual sale of these assets.
"This is not a spending program," Paulson said. "It would be extraordinary circumstances, highly unlikely, that the cost would be anything like the amount we spend for the assets."
Paulson will also appear on CBS' "Face the Nation" and on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Academic Dean at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Bill Grueskin, welcomed his new students earlier this month with words of wisdom on the state of journalism, and the effect online media has on more traditional forms of journalism. Grueskin, as deputy managing editor for news at The Wall Street Journal, supervised the development of the Journal’s Web site, wsj.com, before being appointed to Columbia eariler this year.
Grueskin tells his students that nobody really knows how newspapers will ultimately adapt to the World Wide Web. He describes some trends he sees, as reported by Kerry Weber:
1. We are experiencing an explosion of news sources. RSS feeds are becoming the online equivalent of the old, out-of-town newsstand by making numerous viewpoints on a single topic available in once place, said Grueskin, who uses Pageflakes.
2. The Internet provides a new way to engage readers. Not only are readers responding to articles online, but they’re being asked to take part in the news gathering process. Grueskin referenced the example of Joshua Micah Marshall of talkingpointsmemo.com, who asked his readers to help him sort through over 3,000 pages of documents regarding former Atty. General Alberto Gonzales. Marshall’s coverage of Gonzales’ involvement in the unwarranted dismissal of several U.S. attorneys earned him the George Polk Award for Legal Reporting.
3. The industry is demonstrating an increased willingness to innovate and to create new voices online. From Nate Silver’s fivethirtyeight.com to Rafat Ali’s paidcontent.org, online journalists have pursued their specific interests and created new sites tailored to their own unique audiences, said Grueskin.
Grueskin encouraged journalism students to bring this new media mindset to their work, while maintaining a dedication to the craft and the values for which it stands.
“You have a responsibility, now, to our industry. Democracy works badly when the press is not healthy and vigorous,” said Grueskin. “Create models that will make it vibrant and healthy for a long time.”
Al Franken took some time off this week to help "Saturday Night Live" writers pen a skit that spoofed negative ads by Sen. John McCain.
Johnathan Martin and Josh Krau Shaar of Politico reported last night that two NBC sources told them that the liberal candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota phoned in a spoof of McCain recording campaign ads. SNL's head writer, Seth Meyers, actually wrote the skit, but it was Franken who came up with the original idea. A spokesman for Sen. Norm Coleman’s campaign told Politico that it was ironic that the Democrat had a hand in spoofing negative campaigning.
“Angry Al has run one of the nastiest, most negative attack campaigns in Minnesota history,” said Coleman spokesman Luke Friedrich. “Angry Al complaining about someone else’s campaign ads is about as funny as 'Saturday Night Live' will get this year.”
Franken's campaign was damaged earlier this summer when Republicans unearthed a racy Playboy article and even more when it was revealed that in 1995, his last year on the program, Franken had joked about rape while crafting one of the show’s skits.
Faced with a groundswell of criticism, Franken distanced himself from his past work as a comedian. In June, he apologized for some of his more controversial comedy routines when he accepted his party’s endorsement.
“For 35 years I was a writer. I wrote a lot of jokes. Some of them weren’t funny. Some of them weren’t appropriate. Some of them were downright offensive. I understand that. And I understand that the people of Minnesota deserve a senator who won’t say things that will make you feel uncomfortable,” Franken said in his nomination speech.
