Reid v. McCain - Updated

It would seem that the Democrats are playing the ultimate game of “GOTCHA!” with Senator McCain. No doubt, if you have paid ANY attention at all to the discussion around the Bail Out, you will hear Democrats reaming McCain for coming back, saying it was unnecessary since he wasn’t needed, and he isn’t saying anything anyway. Unlike Obama, who took over the meeting at the White House. It was shades of his time in the IL Senate from what I can tell. What do I mean? That it dissolved into shouting and yelling. What a leader. What a uniter. And by the time you read this, Obama will be winging his way to Oxford, MS, for the big debate - the first time he has ever shown ANY interest in debating. Huh. That raises an eyebrow for me…Anywho, he’s on his way, and McCain, who has the audacity to put country before presidential politics, though the Democrats accused him of doing that as well, has not left Washington.

Which leads me to an interesting article by Amanda Carpenter, “Reid Uses Clout To Trip Up McCain.” In it, Carpenter writes:

Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid seems to be doing all he can as the Senate’s most powerful member to cause trouble for GOP presidential candidate John McCain.

Reid indicated Thursday that he will not hold any votes in the Senate on Friday so McCain has “no excuses” to skip the debate scheduled for that day.

Wait a second here - I thought the Senate and House were supposed to be working for US, to get our economy back on track. And Reid is already claiming he won’t hold any votes? Is he playing politics here? Evidently, because:

Reid’s move is curious since several news outlets reported earlier this week that Reid told the White House it was essential McCain take an active role in crafting the bailout—something that would certainly keep McCain off the campaign trail. “We need now the Republicans to start producing some votes for us, we need the Republican nominee for president to let us know where he stands,” Reid publicly told reporters.

Let me make sure I understand this. Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, ASKED Senator McCain to return to DC to help get this bill worked out. Because McCain agreed, Senator Reid, who, IMHO, has been an incredibly ineffectual leader, castigates Senator McCain for coming back?? That sure seems like a “Damned if you do, Damned if you Don’t” scenario in bold relief. Carpenter seems to think so, too:

As soon as McCain announced he was suspending his campaign and possibly postponing a presidential debate in order to get to Washington to work on the bill, Reid began criticizing McCain for doing so.

“It appears to me John McCain is trying to divert attention to his failing campaign,” Reid said during a press conference Wednesday.

Shortly before McCain made his decision to return to Washington and had yet to make any statement on the bill, Reid distorted McCain’s position on the yet-to-be completed bill. “I’ve got some good news,” Reid told the press. “it appears Senator McCain is going to come out for this.”

When told by the Washington Post about Reid’s comment McCain flatly responded “I did not say that.”

Throughout the debate on the bailout package, McCain has refused to reject or endorse the plan. He has only said the final version of it must include stricter oversight standards and limits on CEO pay.

Reid is not the only one - every Democrat I have seen, from Rep. Barney Frank to Gov. Bill Richardson (here’s a newsflash to all of the news organizations - we don’t give a CRAP what Bill Richardson, that sexist, homophobic, back-stabbing creep has to say, so STOP giving him a platform already!!) has HAMMERED Senator McCain, claiming this was just a stunt on McCain’s part.

Wow. You might recall, well, only if you didn’t blink, that Sec. Paulson HIMSELF asked Senator McCain to return (SusanUnPC had it at No Quarter). Yeah, I figured you hadn’t heard that, the way the media has been busily spinning this. So, yes. Secretary Paulson asked McCain to do it, and in the interest of the country, McCain did. What is more, while McCain was being mocked and belittled by House and Senate Republicans, he didn’t say a word about Sec. Paulson having asked him to do this. That takes some character right there, if you ask me, something Harry Reid sure hasn’t demonstrated in all of this. No, rather Harry Reid and others in the Democratic Party have blamed McCain PERSONALLY for a bill not getting struck (
Deal May Be Dead: Democrats Blaming McCain). Yes, that’s right, it is ALL McCain’s fault.

And now is when I remind you of this Roll Call article:
Reid Seeks McCain Pledge. Oh, this is rich:

Fearing a political backlash against Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has told the White House that it must serve up support from Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) if it hopes to ensure bipartisan backing for a massive economic bailout package by week’s end.

Reid made his position clear to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Monday night, as well as to his Democratic caucus, which shares many of the GOP’s concerns that the $700 billion bailout has been drafted too hastily and is a risky remedy for an economy on the brink of crisis. Reid, according to Democratic Senate sources, also wants assurances from Senate Republican leaders that an evenly divided, bipartisan group of Senators will pass any legislative fix so his party isn’t left with the burden of doing an unpopular White House’s bidding — again.

“If the administration wants us, we are going to have to go hand in hand or at the end of the day, it’s not going to happen,” Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said.

Democratic leaders have privately been eyeing a strategy — to be worked out with the White House and GOP Senate leaders — that would call for an equal number of Senators in each party supporting the final bailout plan. Talks have included splits of 30 Democrats and 30 Republicans or higher to ensure neither party is labeled with being responsible for the costly package.

“Harry Reid would like Republican Senate support, whatever remedy we come up with,” Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) said. “Right now, there’s significant opposition on the Republican side. Democrats have serious concerns about Paulson’s proposal, but we are willing to work with the Treasury Department and the Fed to come up with the right solution.”

Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) agreed, saying, “we need help from both parties” if a bill is to be completed in the coming days. Casey, who sits on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, said the administration needs to do more to get Republicans invested in a solution.

“I think if you look at the Republican side, at the McCain campaign and the leadership, I’m not convinced they are working to get their side to the table,” Casey said. “But the week is young.”

McCain holds the key to such a bipartisan vote, according to Reid, because Republicans are likely to defer to his position on a bill that holds political peril. McCain on Tuesday night joined Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) in lending qualified support for the $700 billion package, but it remains unclear whether his backing is strong enough and timely enough to persuade the Congressional rank and file. According to a Democratic aide familiar with the discussions, Reid told Paulson this week that “if McCain didn’t come out for this thing and come out for it quickly, it was going to begin bleeding Republican votes.” Democrats “have a very real concern that opposition [from McCain] is going to drive away potential Republican votes,” this aide said.

Well, as they say, “No good deed goes unpunished.” And for reasons that escape me, the media is allowing Reid to get away with this duplicity. It truly does seem like the ultimate case of “Gotcha” - they ask McCain to come back, then do nothing but criticize him for coming back. Meanwhile, the president has to call Senator Obama to get HIM to come back to do the work he is supposed to do. That just falls by the wayside, the man who after 100 days, threw his hat into the Presidential ring, has done blessed little actual WORK in the Senate. He’s like a petulant teenager, who has to be forced into doing the right thing by his parents. But he didn’t stay long, and seemed to only contribute acrimony.

Tell me again why this man is the Democratic nominee?? Really - how in the WORLD did Obama get this far? I am guessing that the first term senator who has $860 million, that’s MILLION, dollars in earmarks in his first THREE years, is having strings pulled by someone, or several someones. Who else would have that kind of hubris? In their first term?? No one of whom I can (if I am wrong, tell me who has asked for more). So now, he is on his way to Oxford, acting like he has always wanted to do these debates, never mind that he REFUSED, flat out REFUSED to do any more than three, despite the frequent requests from the McCain camp. And this is the guy who has so hoodwinked so many Democrats.

After seeing the remarks of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last night, and the way he mocked and criticized McCain (as he is doing right now on tv - saying the “interjection of presidential politics was harmful” - which he repeated, and said McCain had done nothing but stand in front of the cameras. Um, did he not see OBAMA doing that???) - I remarked that it almost made me embarrassed that I have been a Democrat all these years. My partner responded that this must be what REAL Republicans felt like when their party was taking over by the Right Wing. I have to agree. I see these blatant lies, maneuvers, and traps set by the Democrats for McCain during a time of TRUE crisis for this country, all in an attempt to try and pave the path with gold for their inept selected candidate. This is deplorable. Reid is sacrificing the good of the COUNTRY for the good of the party, and that is simply unacceptable to me. This is not the time. This is NOT the time, Senator Reid. (He just did it again - blamed McCain for everything falling apart.) Here’s the bottom line:

One senior GOP Senate aide said Republican Senate leaders are making the case to their Conference that the ramifications of doing nothing are too great, following through on what was described as Paulson’s sobering assessment of the crisis. This aide said of Paulson’s personal appeal to Senators on Tuesday, “It’s fair to say it convinced a number of Members we needed to act, and we need to act quickly.”

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), the ranking member on the Budget Committee, said afterward that Congress cannot address the economic meltdown in a partisan way. It will not get done, he warned, unless Democrats and Republicans work together to craft a solution, and that includes the support of McCain and Obama.

“It has to be bipartisan. There’s no choice,” Gregg said, adding, “I would hope that wherever we end up agreeing to here it includes both presidential candidates being comfortable with it(emphasis mine).”

Senator Reid, instead of constantly attacking Senator McCain for “injecting presidential politics” into this matter, shut your piehole, and actually get to work already. You are an embarrassment to the position. Stop blaming EVERYONE else but the Democratic leadership over the past two years, as you have Senator DODD, of all people, NUMBER ONE on the list of 354 lawmakers getting Fannie and Freddie money, standing beside you. Reid, you are a friggin’ hypocrite. Just STOP the BS for ONCE, and do your damn job. And maybe ask your buddy, Biden, to not put any earmarks on the Bail Out bill while you are at it. Get away from the cameras, and go hammer this out. Now. Today. GO.

UPDATED: Larry Johnson has a great article about “Acorn: The Poison Pill” which details why the Democrats were in such a hurry to get this bill passed. You will not believe what is (was?) in it: Three non-profit organizations, ACORN, National Urban League, and the National La Raza would share 20% - I said TWENTY PERCENT of the profits from the Bail Out bill. I cannot even go INTO all of the issues with ACORN - do a search at No Quarter on ACORN and you will get a ton of articles on it. Not only is Obama connected with them, but they have been charged with voter registration fraud in a number of states now, as well as some other issues that have come up with them. This is OUR money we’re talking about here that CHRISTOPHER DODD (who is the one who came up with this - with Obama, no doubt) wants to GIVE AWAY. And to give away a TON of it to an unsavory organization currently facing legal difficulties. This has gone WAY beyond the pale. WAY beyond it. Is this the sort of thing toward which we can look forward should Obama end up in the White House? I think the answer is an unequivocal YES, and it scares the crap out of me. And infuriates me. They have hijacked the Democratic Party, and I want it BACK!!!