McCain's Big Gamble

Just had a listen to Newt Gingrich on Fox and its his opinion that McCain is risking his whole political future over the outcome of the next 12 hours.

The way Newt has called it(and I totally agree) if McCain can do a maverick and after his meeting with Obama in Bush's office can take control of the agenda and get a deal sorted that is not just a bail out but a workout, and does not simply go to Washington to get the Bush/Paulsen plan passed, he then will be seen to have taken over as leader of the country on this issue and the result in November will be a foregone conclusion. Obama will then be seen as a freshman senator who lacks experience and his election chances will be nill.

However the alternative to that, is that all that McCain accomplishes is some variant of the Bush/Paulsen plan at which point everyone will be entitled to say why did he bother going and avoid the debate. He will have gambled and lost.

Do you agree with Newt's analysis?

Originally posted by kmax87

Do you agree with Newt's analysis?

Originally posted by kmax87
Just had a listen to Newt Gingrich on Fox and its his opinion that McCain is risking his whole political future over the outcome of the next 12 hours.

The way Newt has called it(and I totally agree) if McCain can do a maverick and after his meeting with Obama in Bush's office can take control of the agenda and get a deal sorted that is not just a bail out ...[text shortened]... ing and avoid the debate. He will have gambled and lost.

Do you agree with Newt's analysis?

Originally posted by Palynka
The corollary is that anything that McCain proposes will now probably be supported by Republicans and vilified by Democrats almost regardless of what he proposes.

And just when everybody seemed to agree that pure partisanship should not be a factor in the outcome.

Enron, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; the Big Three
By Julia A. Seymour
Business & Media Institute
7/16/2008 5:25:43 PM

"19 Times Bigger than Enron, and the Networks Didn't See It Coming Cooking the books but protected by powerful politicians, the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac financial crisis was seen a mile away by print media, but mostly overlooked by networks."

"Now every American man, woman and child could be on the hook for $2,000, according to one estimate from the National Taxpayers Union. "

"Enron x 19 = Fannie Mae
In the case of Fannie Mae, the network media have a history of underreporting the scandal. But everyone who was watching the network news in 2001-2002 knew about Enron, a company that overstated its earnings by millions of dollars, damaging its employees and shareholders when the truth came out.

Compared to the Fannie Mae scandal of 2004, Enron was a drop in the bucket - yet the problems weren't splashed on TV news night after night.

As the truth came out, the problems at Fannie Mae in 2004 were 19 times bigger than Enron, with roughly $11 billion in earnings restatements. Yet, the TV news media on ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC barely made a peep."

The NBC "Today" show hinted at problems with the two government-sponsored companies on July 14 when Andrea Mitchell reported Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) reaction to a bailout:

"John McCain also says the survival of the mortgage giants is essential, despite some of their past practices,"

.......
" How is it possible that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were able to place such risk on the taxpayers for so long? Washington politics. According to the July 16 Politico newspaper, Fannie and Freddie have spent $170 million on lobbying since 1998, and $19.3 million in campaign contributions to well-known Democrats and Republicans since 1990."
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"They've stacked their payrolls with top Washington power brokers of all political stripes, including Republican John McCain's presidential campaign manager, Rick Davis; Democrat Barack Obama's original vice presidential vetter, Jim Johnson; and scores of others now working for the two rivals for the White House," said Lisa Lerer for Politico.

In an Wall Street Journal op-ed co-bylined by his vice presidential pick, Sarah Palin, McCain suggested bold reforms for Fannie and Freddie that would "terminate future lobbying, which was one of the primary contributors to this great debacle.

he and Palin wrote:

For years, Congress failed to act and it is deeply troubling that what we are seeing is an exercise in crisis management rather than sound planning, and at great cost to taxpayers.

We promise the American people that our administration will be different. We have long records of standing up to special interests…

But McCain's own campaign staffers are those special interests, a fact that casts doubt on both McCain's hiring judgment and his ability to pursue tough reforms of Fannie and Freddie.

Aquiles Suarez, listed as an economic adviser to the McCain campaign in a July 2007 McCain press release, was formerly the director of government and industry relations for Fannie Mae. The Senate Lobbying Database says Suarez oversaw the lending giant's $47,510,000 lobbying campaign from 2003 to 2006.

And other current McCain campaign staffers were the lobbyists receiving shares of that money. According to the Senate Lobbying Database, the lobbying firm of Charlie Black, one of McCain's top aides, made at least $820,000 working for Freddie Mac from 1999 to 2004. The McCain campaign's vice-chair Wayne Berman and its congressional liaison John Green made $1.14 million working on behalf of Fannie Mae for lobbying firm Ogilvy Government Relations. Green made an additional $180,000 from Freddie Mac. Arther B. Culvahouse Jr., the VP vetter who helped John McCain select Sarah Palin, earned $80,000 from Fannie Mae in 2003 and 2004, while working for lobbying and law firm O'Melveny & Myers LLP. In addition, Politico reports that at least 20 McCain fundraisers have lobbied for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, pocketing at least $12.3 million over the last nine years.

For years McCain campaign manager Rick Davis was head of the Homeownership Alliance, a lobbying association that included Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, real estate agents, homebuilders, and non-profits. According to Politico, the organization opposed congressional attempts at regulation of Fannie and Freddie, along the lines of what John McCain is currently proposing. In his capacity of president of the group, Davis went on record in 2003 and insisted that no further reform of the lenders was necessary, in contradiction to his current boss's sentiments. "[Fannie and Freddie] are subject to an innovative and stringent risk-based capital stress test," Davis wrote. "The toughest in the financial services industry."