An Autobailout Theory

I am not, as a rule, a cynic. I’m a realist, evened out with a healthy dose of cynicism and optimism that gives me a nice balance… but something about the way the auto bailout is unrolling is giving me pause.

Was this whole scenario designed to give “President” Bush an opportunity to ride in on his white horse and save the day – thus helping his ‘legacy’ and numbers?

Part of me thinks not, as the gop – evidenced in how they ran some of their campaigns this season – is NOT that calculated and coordinated…

But then I think, perhaps it was.

Consider that Senate republicans assured UAW President Ron Gettelfinger that the Senate would pass the auto loan bill, only to renege on their agreement to the UAW and kill the bill.

Then during this morning’s UAW press conference on the failed Senate bill, an announcement from the Treasury Department is released that says it will open TARP funds because Bush will not let the auto industry fail.

More indicative is that during Gettelfinger’s presser, he spoke about the manner in which he was mislead by the gop, saying the gop had lied to him and killed the loan guarantees bill. It was then that a reporter informed him that the Treasury Department, on Bush’s urging, had just pledged support from the TARP funds for the auto industry because the Senate had failed to reach an agreement.

Hmmmmm… interesting.

Granted, no one that has a brain and uses it is going to think better of Bush for “saving” the auto industry, they’re rightfully going to place the blame at the feet of the gop for sinking the rescue package, and the rust belt knows that.

Having said all that, if in fact there is collusion between Senate republicans and the White House, I think it still scores very few points for Bush.

But still… it’s ‘interesting’ to say the least.

McCain's Keystone Kampaigning

Sen. McCain’s inane posturing about suspending his campaign went over like a lead balloon… spewing forth that he would stroll into town on his white horse, sheppard the economic crisis through Congress while collecting bipartisan support.

Well, as if he hadn’t already made himself and his campaign looked amateurish, this latest development will.

Speaking at a rally today, McCain took credit for helping the bailout bill pass, as did his surrogates…

Mitt Romney; “[T]his bill would not have been agreed to had it not been for John McCain. ... But, you know, this is a bipartisan accomplishment, a bipartisan success. And if people want to get something done in Washington, they just watch John McCain.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham; “But here are the facts, and I’m not overselling anything. The fact is that the House Republicans were not in the mix at all. John didn’t phone this one in. He came and actually did something. ... You can’t phone something like this in. Thank God John came back.”

Senior McCain adviser Steve Schmidt; “Earlier in the week, when Senator McCain came back to Washington, there had been no deal reached. ... What Senator McCain was able to do was to help bring all the parties to the table, including the House Republicans.”

Got that? McCain helped to get his republican colleagues in Congress to go along with the plan.

Well… apparently someone forgot to tell his colleagues, as the bailout plan failed today, with 133 republicans voting against the bill and a scant 65 voting for it.

McCain certainly did a good job, didn’t he?

McCain’s campaign more and more looks like the Keystone Kops.

Do you suppose there’s anyone actually running the campaign, or is it more so the fact that the campaign’s surrogates just go out and say anything at anytime.

How else can one explain the complete disarray of a once formidable campaign?

I knew it…

When Sen. McCain decided to suspended his presidential campaign earlier in the week, he said that he was doing it so he could go back to DC and help broker a deal on a financial bailout, saying “I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.”

Well, a solution didn’t happen… the debate is going to go on with McCain… and McCain left DC in a hurry.

Lost in the dust is this gem from Rep. Roy Blunt (r-MO); “I do think that John McCain was very helpful in what he did. I saw him this morning, we’ve been talking with his staff. Clearly, yesterday, his position in that discussion yesterday was one that stopped a deal from, uh, finalizing that no House Republican, in my view, would’ve been for. Which means it probably wouldn’t have passed the House.”

Well, if I’m reading this correctly, and I like to think I am… Blunt is blaming McCain’s presence for screwing up the bipartisan agreement. Turns out a deal WAS close yesterday but then a group of House republicans, egged on and supported by McCain, proposed a plan that wouldn’t create bi-partisan support.

So McCain told the world he was suspending his campaign to help broker a deal, then promptly fucked that up because it was too bipartisan.

And he wants to lead?

Give me a break.

McCain has blinked…

Rather than allow Sen. Obama a national stage to himself (Plan B), Sen. McCain has blinked and WILL attend tonight’s debate.

His campaign's statement; “Senator McCain has spent the morning talking to members of the Administration, members of the Senate, and members of the House. He is optimistic that there has been significant progress toward a bipartisan agreement now that there is a framework for all parties to be represented in negotiations, including Representative Blunt as a designated negotiator for House Republicans. The McCain campaign is resuming all activities and the Senator will travel to the debate this afternoon. Following the debate, he will return to Washington to ensure that all voices and interests are represented in the final agreement, especially those of taxpayers and homeowners.”

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight…me thinks this didn’t quite turn out the way that McCain and his surrogates envisioned.

Ain’t it great?

UPDATE: Apparently McCain has already won tonight's debate… at least that’s what his campaign is saying as there’s already an ad floating around that declares it as such.

Give me a break…

Is republican stupidity contagious?

Last week Sen. McCain trotted out his standard line that the “fundamentals of our economy are strong.” Never mind that he said this on the very day that Wall Street started to implode with not one but two major banking institutions collapsing and a major insurance carrier starting to disintegrate.

He was, rightfully so, ridiculed for the remarks and was accused of being “un-informed”, “naïve”, or “senile.” (or my choice; all of the above)

Well, apparently the stupid IS contagious as in an interview with CNBC yesterday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice echoed McCain’s inane comment:

QUESTION: How does a United States in the middle of a global financial crisis affect diplomatic efforts around the world and your efforts?
RICE: Everybody understands that this is a very specific, indeed once-in-a-lifetime – well, we certainly hope – circumstance. But people have confidence in the United States. As the President has said, this is a financial crisis, but the fundamentals of the U.S. economy are strong.

Huh?

If the economy is fundamentally strong, why do we need a $700 billion bailout?

Rice continued to seemingly kiss McCain’s ass as she repeated his backtracking mantra that he was referring to the American worker, saying; “Everyone understands our great ability to innovate, the productivity of our workers, the ability of the country to move quickly. And so I believe the United States’ standing has not been really affected.”

Um, Ms. Rice… you do know that McCain has already picked a running-mate, right? And you do know that you’re saying something that the bastion of rose-colored glasses, the White House, even disagrees with?

Is she trying to apologize for not supporting McCain’s bid whole-heartedly, or is she simply trying to distance herself from the White House by disagreeing with everything they say?

Perhaps she doesn’t want to end up like Colin Powell, marked for life because he was a member of the Bush(whacked) Administration.

Stay tuned…