WTF was this comment by McCain? - what a rude SOB.
“MCCAIN: I know you grow a little weary with this back-and-forth. It was an energy bill on the floor of the Senate loaded down with goodies, billions for the oil companies, and it was sponsored by Bush and Cheney.
You know who voted for it? You might never know. That one. (points to Obama) You know who voted against it? Me. I have fought time after time against these pork barrel—these bills that come to the floor… .”
One of my readers seized the moment and took to the mouse to produce some nifty Obama graphics featuring the phrase, including this one:
The right wing is losing its cookies over Grampy’s new bailout proposal, btw. Read the Michelle Malkin meltdown and Freeper head explosions below the fold.
McCain’s proposal to buy up (more?) mortgages has the wingers apoplectic. The base is crumbling. Michelle Malkin:
I can’t underscore enough what a rotten idea John McCain’s ACORN-like government mortgage buy-up is. I said it during my liveblog. And I’ll say it again: “HE WANTS TO EXPAND THE BAILOUT. He wants to do what ACORN wants to do. We’re Screwed ‘08.”
This was his supposed “game-changer.” This was the very first thing out of his mouth during the debate tonight — his big pitch right off the bat. The McCain campaign immediately sent out this fact sheet on the proposal, which will cost at least $300 billion. The proposal involves directing the Treasury Secretary to “purchase mortgages directly from homeowners and mortgage servicers.” That’s on top of the trillion-dollar crap sandwich, the $85 billion to AIG, the $25 billion to automakers, the $200 billion in capital and credit lines to Fannie and Freddie, and who knows what else we’ll be forking over to California, Massachusetts, etc., etc., etc.
He spent the entire debate assailing massive government spending — while his featured proposal of the night was to heap on more massive government spending to pursue home ownership/retention at all costs. If Obama had proposed this, the Right would be screaming bloody murder about this socialist grab.
I’m so incredibly angry about this that I can’t see straight.
Get over it! I don’t care what McCain says. He can say whatever he wants, just so long as we keep NOBAMA out of the WH!
Why don’t you wait and here what the plan is first? McCain said he will have freezes, cuts, and his budgets with be revenue neutral. Give the man a chance.
Is it just me or do we have to chose between two very bad candidates?
I forget, which one is the socialist?
Yawn. I would vote for Satan rather than The Empty Maxist Suit.
I love you koolaiders. You amuse me. SOCIALISM IS GOOD BECAUSE MCCAIN SAYS SO! RAH RAH RAH!
Memo to Michelle Malkin: try attacking the other side. I have become so tired of this woman.
This is going to backfire because most Americans have to pay their mortgages and their taxes and only a small percentage of homeowners are in trouble. If it looks like welfare, and it smells like welfare, it’s welfare. This will cost him a couple of points in the polls.
That made me apoplectic. Talk about frigging socialism and right after this bailout monstrosity that he suspended his campaign to help push through. How in the world did this guy become the standard bearer of our nominally “conservative” party? He is a BIG GOVERNMENT LIBERAL. Is he as bad as Obama? Of course not but he is the ultimate proof that we are left with two liberal parties in the US. We have no national conservative party. We have the democrat party and the democrat-light party.
It just depends on what the guidelines for the buy are, but right now..I have to go the same way our COMRADES on the other side. Whatever it takes to defeat Obama..we can deal with the details with McCain the White House, and Palin swinging the gavel in the SEnate..sorry Harry, but she is the President.
Well, here’s the thing. They bring in Sarah Palin to shore up the conservative base and the theory is that that frees up McCain to work on winning over the independents. We just had a fantastically unpopular bailout of ... how many billions are we up to? ... and McCain essentially said he’s going to ADD to that. Is this going to win over the independents? I’m thinking it’s not. But yes, in theory, it’s all about keeping Obama and his thugs out of power.
Carla Fiorina is on Fox right now supporting this Socialism and is proud of the idea that Gov’t should be doing this.
I am sick to my stomach over it. Carly Fiorina is on Fox now saying we have to stop falling house prices! Government can now set the value of houses? What happened to the free market? It’s called a bubble for a reason!!!!!!! Somebody pinch me.
NOBAMA can spend all night flatulating out of his mount and the RATS won’t give a RATSASS, just as long as he wins. WELL, WE’D BETTER WAKE THE HELL UP TOO, AND STOP THE INTERNAL WHINING FOR KRIPES SAKES!
No, he’s only proposed trillions in spending/economic cuts via global warming. No need to get worked up over that, of course. Because McCain’s socialism is good, right?
Yeah, she stands up for conservatism and following the law. The guy you idolize stands for socialism and breaking the law. I can see where you tire. We may have to vote for this tired old hump named McCain just to keep the Marxist out, but if Mc gets in, it isn’t exactly a victory.
I understand how you feel, but these morons like Malkin need to stand back and take a careful look at the man they are helping to get into office, Barack Obama. McCain’s desire to spend $300 billion pales in comparison to any of a number of Obama’s proposals, such as the $775 billion World Poverty Relief bill. Add to that all the lost freedom, which is nearly impossible to get back, that Obama wants to see legislated, and people like Michelle Malkin need to just shut the hell up and quit preening in front of their blogging mirrors. No offense to anyone other than Michelle intended.
“WELL, WE’D BETTER WAKE THE HELL UP TOO, AND STOP THE INTERNAL WHINING FOR KRIPES SAKES!”
Hard not to when our candidate just poked us in the eye like that.
Can’t - the socialists have taken over this thread. I’ve said it before, FR needs a socialist enema.
so who is going to bankroll the island where FReepers can live? I couldn’t be more mad at McCain right now even if I tried.
“How in the world did this guy become the standard bearer of our nominally ‘conservative’ party?”
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I was somewhat surprised that McCain proposed the mortgage buyout plan considering how he decries “out-of-control” government spending and how he has been for a market free from regulation. Isn’t what he proposing a form of social welfare spending which would send most conservatives....especially the fiscal variety straight into orbit?!!!
Not surprised by the reactions from the site as most fiscal conservative classmates would be pissed....and the campus Ron Paulites will be downright livid. On the other hand, the campus Democrats and progressive groups will be relieved....and some even laughing about this....
The thing about the mortgage plan is that it’s essentially what was in the bailout bill that Congress just passed. In other words, McCain’s big new proposal has already been enacted by the Democrats.
“so who is going to bankroll the island where FReepers can live? I couldn’t be more mad at McCain right now even if I tried.”
If they ask Richard Mellon Scaife nicely, he might be willing to cough up the cash. I can loan a pickup truck to help move their shit from mom’s basement…
“They use only the right hand, of course.”
...but then how do they use the mouse to select the good Sarah Palin pictures?…
I just love the way McCain keeps shooting himself in the foot.
He makes damn sure to throw the base a dog-whistle that he doesn’t consider black people to be human. It overjoys the base, but they were voting for him anyway. But the dog-whistle is so damn loud that the undecided voters can catch it easy—and the undecideds ain’t necessarily as racist as the GOP base is…
It is kind of frightening that “me” didn’t know that the government had already passed a bill to buy all those bad mortgages. Or understand the complexity of unwinding the bad ones from the good ones in the mortgage-backed securities they now comprise.
And for all the talk of experience, neither one of them has been a chief executive of a state, a city, or a corporation. But in that case, I’ll take “that one,” the smart one, please.
“so who is going to bankroll the island where FReepers can live? I couldn’t be more mad at McCain right now even if I tried.”
Uh, the FReepers are mad on account of all teh socialesm but they go and ask this question?!? Wouldn’t this island-bankrolling be good ol’ socialism according to their views? Talk about cognitive dissonance, if that’s the proper term for these people’s amazing ability to hold such paradoxic (paradoxical?) thoughts inside their heads for a stupendously long time before said heads explode!?!
I swear, McCain must have pulled that bail out idea out of his ass on the spot, or an hour or two before. No way no how would that buyout “stabilize home prices”, there was no clue as to how to pay for it, and it would start a new round of speculation. Not even one smidgeon of a concept on either the reality of people end or the reality of good governance end. No mention of the idea of interest-only or anything like that - just one big fucking handout, mostly to the banks.
One commentator said “I guess should have bought a bigger house!”.
What really annoys me is that this proposal by McCain is the single best solution to the ongoing financial market problems that we’ve seen to date.
This is a plan that would actually work, and it would work very well. Far better than just dropping billions on Wall Street.
I had been building an idea that I wanted to send to the Obama campaign and my legislators saying that the US Government should drop the stupid bailout and take a couple of hundred billion (I thought 100 to 200, but 300 may be more realistic, especially when you figure in other costs) and refinance people’s mortgages and other bad debt. Anyone in financial distress is eligible, and mortgages are refinanced at 5% for however many years the homeowner wants (and can reasonably pay). The government would have the ability to forgive chunks of debt after the refinancing as well, to help ensure people don’t become locked in debtors prison (a home that is worth less than the mortgage when they need to move - for job or whatever purposes). In order to prevent foreclosures on investment properties, dumb investors would even be eligible, albeit at less favorable rates (say 7.5% - a 2.5% idiot tax).
This would take bad loans off of the books of various banks and investors, and it would allow people to keep their homes.
It’s a win-win. Plus, later, the government would be able to sell the mortgages to banks, and get back a significant chunk of the taxpayers money, reducing the cost significantly.
For other people with distressed/bad debt, such as credit cards and medical costs, the government could offer a 1 time only chance to refinance debt through the government at a low rate, with certain limitations.
All in all, it would be far more effective than what is going down now.
And McCain, of all people, proposes something very similar to this. If people would have used their brains before the bailout, it would have been obvious that this would work much better.
Add a healthy dose or regulation and some punitive measures for bad actors within the banking system, and you would have a fix that works.
Grrr.
Instead $700 billion giveaway to the banks, and my 401k continues to fall.
“...who knows what else we’ll be forking over to California, Massachusetts, etc., etc., etc.
WTF is that all about?”
Despite the fact that Blue states overwhelmingly support Red states with their taxes (Cali last time I checked gets something like 89 cents back for each dollar of taxes we send to the Feds), we don’t count because we’re Blue states.
No actual people live here, none worth treating like human beings at least, so every dollar spent here is wasted in their eyes. How’s Cletus gonna buy another CSA flag for his monster 4x4 pickup if he has to pay taxes to support some Cadillac-driving welfare queen in L.A.?
I’m getting fed up with the ignorance and bigotry of the Republicans…
Hi Jerry. You need to spend a lot of time at http://calculatedrisk.blogspot.com/ where it explains why your idea actually wouldn’t work. It’s too complex to summarize in a sentence or two.
I always love to see the Freepers going apeshit. Also, i caught McCain’s “That one” comment during the debate last night and looked at my wife and said “I bet he loses his temper soon and calls him “boy” or the n-word on live TV and this election will be over”.
Jerry- the reason Peggy alludes to is that these refinances aren’t really going to fix anything, as the house is often worth less than the debt owed, and even when it isn’t, the total shelled out is only maybe 2% different. If the government were to just go out, buy up the distressed mortgages and decide that, hey, you owe 20k less than you did last week! please keep paying at your present rate, on time, in full-
that would be a total handout, but it would work (i think), and be a lot better from the economy than going supply-side and just buying up a bunch of bad mortgage-backed SIVs. Harder, though. Lots more paperwork, lots more stakeholders.
If the government were to just go out, buy up the distressed mortgages and decide that, hey, you owe 20k less than you did last week! please keep paying at your present rate, on time, in full-
Yeah, that really wouldn’t work, unless the government would be willing to write more like $100k-$200k off the mortgage. Truthfully, I’d much rather that the government put that money into helping people who are in trouble with unemployment insurance, education grants, food stamps, and the like rather than spend billions to keep people in McMansions in the exurbs.
I wonder if the “That One” comment was a way of covering up momentary forgetfulness of his opponents names. Nastiness seems to be the standard McCain response to momentary memory loss, confusion or just the need to buy time in response to a question. Examples:
1) The “Not You” response to Brokaw’s question about who he’d appoint to Treasury. McCain needed a second to think, so he insulted Brokaw to use up a few seconds while he came up with an answer.
2) Spain is now considered an “adversary” by the McCain campaign because he misunderstoon a question in an interview.
Incidentally, if you want evidence that there was a memory thing going on in this debate, remember the bailout question from Oliver - whom McCain correctly addressed as Oliver at the beginning of his rambling response, but referred to as “Alan” about 2/3rds into it. Search the transcript for “Oliver” and “Alan” to confirm.
I’m totally not standing up for McGrumpy, but the whole “that one” comment is something my elderly grandparents would say. I don’t think it has anything to do with racism it’s an age thing. My grandmother would often refer to one off us kids as “that one”. So instead of being callous it just kind of shows how old McCain is. In my humble opinion of course. I leave the door wide open to admit my mistakes in judgment. Either way it was very rude of McCain and I actually respect Obama for never once losing his cool last night. No matter what McCain said he never lost that look of mild amusement.
Nothing fills me with hope more than seeing freepers despair.
<blockquote?I love it. Even FR isn’t ideologically pure enough</blockquote>
Careful. I’ve seen purity tests here too. Stray too far from orthodoxy and it won’t be long before someone is calling you a “fauxgressive” and equating you with a freeper.
What bothered me more than that (because simplifying out all the clauses and everything, it kind of comes down to “Which Senator? That one” which would be a natural phrasing) was a clip of McCain talking to the audience about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
He goes up to the front row and addresses the guy on the end. “You may not have ever heard of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac until this year...”
He was addressing a man in business attire, who looked every inch upper middle class. The man he was addressing might easily have been a lawyer, a top realtor, or a bank branch manager. But the man he was addressing was also black.
As if McCain thinks only white people get to buy houses.
Of course, McCain’s so white, he doesn’t know how many houses he has.
I love seeing Freepers in their natural habitat. Wish I could poke them with a stick.