Does anyone else think that McCain is absolutely losing it? I saw some video of his meeting with the Detroit newspaper and it was awful. Defensive is the best way to describe it. Is he going to finally implode in a way that no one can ignore? Let's hope the final collapse comes before November 4!!!!!

Unconstitutional, unrepresentative and unconscionable. This is day that will live in infamy.

To simplify the bailout bill.
1. Wall street, Goverment, American households are all broke.
2. The government is going to tax American households (through printing of money and inflation) to get money for this bailout.
3. The government is then going to lend this money to Wall Street at a negative interest rate and lose money on it.
4. Wall Street is then going to lend it back to us through bank loans at a high interest rate.
5. American households will be discouraged to work due to high inflation and declare bankruptcy.
6. A high number of bankruptcies will cause Wall street to go into bankruptcy.
7. Wash rinse repeat till we have a serious depression or the value of the dollar is equal to 0.

This is pissing me off. Most Americans, by a LARGE margin, DO NOT support this. PERIOD!! They want Congress to act but not this bill, with or without the 'sweeteners.'

Have you seen Congressman DeFazio's proposal? I have more confidence in the bill he wants to propose than this piece of @#$%. I think if more Americans knew about this (if the press would do its job) they'd support it. Wall Street, on the other hand, would not support it which explains why there is so little coverage in the corporate MSM.

Someone besides NPR, cover this story on a National level, please. We have choices.

Of course McCain didn't speak up to back the bill: he is going to be running against it by tomorrow, if not sooner. I am just surprised he voted for it. He and the RNC are already running ads criticizing Obama for backing the bailout, and now those will increase. When this passes the House and is signed by Bush next week, the Republicans will blast the Democrats for backing it. It's a smart strategy -- cynical but smart -- except that it is so shabbily implemented.

If Krugman says it stinks, but is necessary, I'll hold my nose. Main Street is always hit last in times like these, so we've seen nothing yet.

Our whole economy has been based on credit and consumerism. That's out the window. We are literally rudderless in uncharted waters.

Dark days, indeed.

Yes, but look on the bright side. At least race tracks and wooden arrow manufacturers got to keep their tax breaks. Who says Congress doesn't have its priorities straight?

Way to step up to the plate, senator.

Don't worry. I'm sure McCain will get busy tomorrow accusing Obama of sitting on the sidelines instead of leading. Just like he did immediately after attending the White House meeting where he sat silently.

Obama made a speech. What a surprise.

What did he actually do?

His job.

Festoon.

And, it may be WORSE than the House bill.

Joe:

DeFazio bill is better but NOT “that much better.”

McCain gave a speech about supporting the bailout earlier today at a campaign event. It sounded like full throated support with lots of "if this doesn't pass terrible things will happen" wrapped in it. In the bits I saw in the teevee he looked worn down and actually a bit terrified. I don't know if it was because of the bleak future he was describing if the bill didn't pass or because he thought the audience was going to get ugly with him but he didn't look good.

And there are some arcane and frankly bizarre rules on how people are given time to speak on a bill in the Senate, so perhaps McCain just missed his window. I'd think that the Minority could have given their Presidential nominee time to speak if he'd wanted it, though, unless they didn't trust him to not stick his foot in his mouth, I suppose.

Air-dick Blair, What did Obama do? More than J.S. Mckeating did, as JSM "phoned in" his input this weekend (of course that was subsequent to his mocking of anyone who would ever "phone in" his work during this crisis). And McKeating "seemed somewhat testy when was asked this week about the qualifications of his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, by the editorial board of The Des Moines Register — and he never mentioned her by name today." McKeating? Testy? What a surprise! So other than act like a hot-headed, 5 year old a-hole, what did he actually do? Oh yea, he sat like a rat on the Titanic as it was sinking out of sight and proclaimed, "Yea, but the fundamentals of cruise ships are sound."

OT but you must see this, John McCain Gets BarackRoll'd.

Funniest damn thing I've seen all year and McCain's expressions are hilarious.
h/t to The Fountainhead over at Balloon Juice

McCain wouldn't speak up because when Paulson blows the whole 700 billion and we have nothing to show for it and still go into a recession, the Republican plan is to blame it all on the wasteful, irresponsible Democrats.

I really feel Pelosi and Dodd made this a Democratic bill when they chastised the House Republicans for voting against it. I would have let it wither on the vine and crafted my own superior bill. The Paulson plan is a POS we will soon come to regret (of course the money will be spent by then). Saying you didn't want to vote for it, but "had to do something" doesn't cut it. Doing something could have also involved coming up with a plan B.

McCain showed up, sat in the corner, didn't say a word, and generally acted like an bad tempered troll.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/not-so-secret-handshake/#more-6483

Leadership!

74-25? The Senate vote on the "Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002" was 77-23. I'm just sayin'. (Can I have that Coke can when you're done with it?)

If the description of the way McCain reacted to Obama when Obama went over to the Republican side of the Senate to shake his hand are true, I think McCain will go off soon into nuclear land. I hope it happens very publicly. I know Obama won't react, but he does have the talent to very slyly set McCain off.

McCain is, and always has been. a fraud. As tempting as it is to decry such a long electoral process, America is fortunate to find out now rather than later.

For so many years, he had a lot of us fooled. But now, with his back against the wall, his true self is emerging -- and it's ugly.

Wow, I don't see much more support for regressive distribution to the wealthy in this post that I have seen in others.

Have progressives wised up?

Here is an article re EL's comment above:

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/beyond/2008/10/obama-makes-mccain-very-uncomf.html
Obama Makes McCain Very Uncomfortable
By David Nather | October 1, 2008 8:40 PM |

Go read it! Obama must realize that he has an affect on McCain. How that goes the rest of the campaign we shall see.

Oh Boy, you have to read an article by Catherine Austin Fritt.

Was listening to Coast to Coast radio host George Noori. Even though this was on hate radio broadcast channel ABC, the Jekyll Island Media Mongol managers must have been asleep to let this sweet slice, good sense to be propagated in our air waves. Catherine gives America a wonderful talk with an uncommon sense and depth of perception of what is going on.

Usually Noori is talking about the different dimensions or solving the conquest of gravity that will likely lead our culture into the next millennium. But today, a discussion of the “BAIL OUT STUFF” was going on with this Catherine Fritt. Very, Very, interesting, if you were angered, get a tall cool cocktail maybe make it a double sit down and figure this is the mess of all mess.

The Media is absolutely complicit in the horrible fraud sham ever perpetrated by any culture. Catherine describes how it is likely necessary for a crash to happen which is the only way a corruption sham of this magnitude can realign it self. Trillions of dollars beyond the small amount of seven hundred billion are likely in evolved in a deliberate fraud sham perpetrated by the Treasury, Federal Reserve Board, IMF, World Bank, with a host military connected corporate entities’ inevitable, that will be found out in the change of the Presidency.

McCain must be elected to the “White House” to prevent George and perhaps himself with a long list of the administration officials from going to the “BIG HOUSE”. This is really going to be an adventure.

I think Obama will be elected just to see how many fat cats jump from their balcony. Then we truly know we are in a depression. LOL.

Here is the link

http://solari.com/archive/housing_bill/

I thought bills that were "festooned" with giveaways to special interests were going to be made famous, that John McCain had a pen and he wasn't afraid to use it, and my friends, we would know their names.

This bill? Not so much.

Feingold, Sanders in the Senate, and Kucinich in the House all voted against the Bush Bailout Call. Tells me all I need to know. Bend over - I'm from the Government and I'm here to help you.

Anyone see that Congress got another pay raise in the middle of their bailout bill calamity?

I'm sure they feel they deserved it.

The House bilkl was a crap sandwich.

The Senate bill is the same sandwich with chocolate frosting made of tax cuts slathered on top.
Enough Republicans will bite the sandwich when they see the frosting.

It'll pass.

It's a WORSE bill than the one that failed, but it'll pass.

McCain doesn't publicly support it?

First smart thing he's done and the liberal support for this bill still evades my understanding.

There's NOTHING in it that fixes the problem. You really think you can now apply the stick now that you gave the horse the carrot? That's NOT how Congress works.

Check out this guys plan for the bailout http://loosekannon.com/?p=502