The President speaks tonight

There is a tradition that prophecy in these days is given only to fools; and since I'm not such a big fool as to want others to know how foolish I really am, I wont attempt to predict what will transpire.

That said, I wonder if anyone would be surprised if it turns out that he will try to motivate us to approve the
Paulson Plunder Plan of Cash for Trash (no editorializing or sloganeering here, boss) by scaring the stuffing out of us?

Well,now, there has got to be balance. If he's too gloom and doom, then the market will falter more and it may go past the tipping point. He can only scare us so much.

He may have to throw in some calls for sacrifice and patriotism too. Not from the super-rich CEO's and presidents of the banks mind you, that would silly, but from the average taxpayer.

And McCain just suspended his campaign to focus on 'the crisis'. Is this the first move of the coup?

Aside from having one of a hundred votes on the final product, McCain has no portfolio in this crisis. Didn't he say he didn't know anything about economics just recently?

My wife told me that Harry Reid told McCain to stay out of it. He has no business in the discussions (he serves on none of the appropriate committees or sub-committees). All he can do is insert himself into a process he does not understand, has no background for, and no business sticking his unwanted neck into.

Now, I hear that McCain has a full day scheduled tomorrow in New York and has not canceled his attendance at any of those events. So if he's going to Washington to save America in this crisis, when is he plannning on doing it, Friday?

I think he's desperate not to debate Obama Friday night.

McCain runs back to Washington. Congress approves the bailout. He takes credit for 'getting things done'? Maybe that's the plan.

What Bush does on the other hand is say 'Hello out there--are you listening everybody?--this is our only hope and it's either this way or no way. Thank you'.

50 years from now someone examining his legacy might look back and say 'It wasn't so bad'. IMO they'll need some distance to do that. It'll be like passing some freshly road killed skunk on the highway. The aroma is going to follow us down the road a ways.

A lot is riding on this for McCain. House Republicans clearly don't want to sign off on the bail out. I assume the plan could pass despite House Republican opposition. But that would seem to doom McCain with important constituents. If McCain can get them to sign off (apparently a visit from Cheney didn't move them at all and I doubt Bush's speech will persuade the skeptics on the right), then he can take some credit (but only for reeling in the conservative rump). If he can't pull this off...the Republican party would be split (and not without good reasons) and Obama can point to the 'ideology-driven partisanship' of Congressional Republicans.

McCain's suspension of his campaign and request to postpone the debate seems a little hysterical.

So, do people think the confluence of this crisis and the election is a good thing or a bad thing for the country? Does it focus people on the issue in a special way or is something going to happen—rejection or acceptance—because there's an election coming, which isn't good for the country?

I think it's nice in that the real issues should stay on the front burner for a change. If 10 days before the election someone opens the can on say, flag burning, I don't think the public will bite. People know what matters right now, and it's about time.

#7 there was commentary that I agree with at:

http://www.electoral-vote.com/

their conclusion that Wall St. as long as it knows the problem is being addressed is not likely to collapse for the time being. My own personal POV after the past 8 catastrophic years would be to be very skeptical about an outgoing administration and its (former CEO of huge investment giant Goldman-Sachs) treasury secretary.

The election and the campaigns should be going on as before. The work on the bills will be done by the respective congressional committees charged with the task--McCain and Obama not belonging to these committees would not normally have any input until a final vote for passage or not. McCain I think would like to create the impression he's more important to the process than he is.

I would expect Mccain to be diving under his desk when this stuff is discussed, given his role and that of his chief financial advisor in how things developed. Or perhaps he cynically figures we have such short attention spans that nobody connects the dots any more.

This is a rather long (10 min) video that is quite interesting regarding the speech, what the president said and, of course, what was left unsaid. Check it out.

I'm listening to this over and over


over and over...

As another bank (washington Mutual) goes under, here's some comic relief.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A grainy YouTube video surfaced Wednesday showing Sarah Palin being blessed in her hometown church three years ago by a Kenyan pastor who prayed for her protection from "witchcraft" as she prepared to seek higher office.
The video shows Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate, standing before Bishop Thomas Muthee in the pulpit of the Wasilla Assembly of God church, holding her hands open as he asked Jesus Christ to keep her safe from "every form of witchcraft."
"Come on, talk to God about this woman. We declare, save her from Satan," Muthee said as two attendants placed their hands on Palin's shoulders. "Make her way my God. Bring finances her way even for the campaign in the name of Jesus. ... Use her to turn this nation the other way around." http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/09/25/2008-09-25_sarah_palin_once_...

What the hell is this?

theoria>

Just curious: Have you seen the Palin interview with Katie Couric? It is hilarious, not kidding. The Putin airspace line makes her sound like she's stoned, but the "I'll get back to ya" line tops everything.

Interesting editorial from Eliot Spitzer, before he ran into some personal problems. Predatory Lenders' Partner in Crime: How the Bush Administration Stopped the States From Stepping In to Help Consumers.

Several years ago, state attorneys general and others involved in consumer protection began to notice a marked increase in a range of predatory lending practices by mortgage lenders. Some were misrepresenting the terms of loans, making loans without regard to consumers' ability to repay, making loans with deceptive "teaser" rates that later ballooned astronomically, packing loans with undisclosed charges and fees, or even paying illegal kickbacks. These and other practices, we noticed, were having a devastating effect on home buyers. In addition, the widespread nature of these practices, if left unchecked, threatened our financial markets....
...
Predatory lending was widely understood to present a looming national crisis. This threat was so clear that as New York attorney general, I joined with colleagues in the other 49 states in attempting to fill the void left by the federal government. Individually, and together, state attorneys general of both parties brought litigation or entered into settlements with many subprime lenders that were engaged in predatory lending practices. Several state legislatures, including New York's, enacted laws aimed at curbing such practices.

What did the Bush administration do in response? Did it reverse course and decide to take action to halt this burgeoning scourge? As Americans are now painfully aware, with hundreds of thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure and our markets reeling, the answer is a resounding no....
...
In 2003, during the height of the predatory lending crisis, the OCC invoked a clause from the 1863 National Bank Act to issue formal opinions preempting all state predatory lending laws, thereby rendering them inoperative. The OCC also promulgated new rules that prevented states from enforcing any of their own consumer protection laws against national banks. The federal government's actions were so egregious and so unprecedented that all 50 state attorneys general, and all 50 state banking superintendents, actively fought the new rules.

But the unanimous opposition of the 50 states did not deter, or even slow, the Bush administration in its goal of protecting the banks. In fact, when my office opened an investigation of possible discrimination in mortgage lending by a number of banks, the OCC filed a federal lawsuit to stop the investigation....
...
When history tells the story of the subprime lending crisis and recounts its devastating effects on the lives of so many innocent homeowners, the Bush administration will not be judged favorably. The tale is still unfolding, but when the dust settles, it will be judged as a willing accomplice to the lenders who went to any lengths in their quest for profits. So willing, in fact, that it used the power of the federal government in an unprecedented assault on state legislatures, as well as on state attorneys general and anyone else on the side of consumers.

#13>

I'd guess that this is the video they're talking about. Any ideas about the authenticity?

>15 jasonseidner:
Yes I've watched it. If it weren't so painful -- and appalling -- to watch, I'd find it hilarious. She could be vice-president. Scary, scary, scary. Although I'm sure she was perfect for Wasilla.

>17 Jesse_wiedinmyer:
I guess that's it. Do you suspect the audio is not authentic? Here's an explanation of sorts http://news.bostonherald.com/news/2008/view.bg?articleid=1121557&srvc=2008ca... I don't see any 'denial' yet.

I dunno one way or the other. Just seems a bit over the top.

Theoria>

I guess the lesson to be learned is that it's better to be confident and have nothing behind it than to be an average person who sits at home and thinks, "Nah... I don't have what it takes to run for governor".

> 13 As I wrote in another thread, there's a nasty element to the story. The minister Thomas Muthee who sought blessing for Sarah Palin in matters of finances and witchcraft, reportedly accused a woman of witchcraft back home in Kenya, after which "Mama Jane", harassed by townsfolk and police, left town. (Apparently, African women have been stoned for such "offenses".)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Muth...

As with Obama and the Rev Wright fuss, one shouldn't assume that Palin agrees with Muthee's activities back home, but, sheesh, can you imagine the gleeful outrage on the right if that was Obama, whose father was Kenyan, accepting a blessing from such a man?

> 16 The Bush administration ..."will be judged as a willing accomplice to the lenders who went to any lengths in their quest for profits."

Wasn't it about that time that bankruptcy rules were rewritten to exclude the little guy?