LA Times reported that McCain "backed" AIG bailout, but not that McCain said he opposed it one day earlier
SUMMARY: The Los Angeles Times reported, "[Sen. Barack] Obama has not taken a position on AIG's rescue, unlike [Sen. John] McCain, who has backed it." But the Times did not point out that the day before the bailout was announced, McCain indicated that he opposed a federal government bailout of AIG, asserting that "we cannot have the taxpayers bail out AIG or anybody else."
A September 19 Los Angeles Times article reported that Sen. Barack Obama "has not taken a position on AIG's [American International Group] rescue, unlike [Sen. John] McCain, who has backed it." But the Times did not point out that McCain opposed a federal government bailout of AIG before he "backed it." Indeed, appearing on the September 16 edition of NBC's Today -- hours before the federal government announced up to $85 billion in loans for AIG -- McCain said that the situation could "harm the average American worker," but that "I do not believe that the American taxpayer should be on the hook for AIG" and that "we cannot have the taxpayers bail out AIG or anybody else." One day later, after the government intervention had been announced, McCain appeared on ABC's Good Morning America and said: "[O]n the bailout itself, I didn't want to do that. And I don't think anybody I know wanted to do that, but there were literally millions of people whose retirement, whose investments, whose insurance were at risk here, and they were gonna have their lives destroyed because of the greed and excess and corruption."
In his Today appearance, co-host Matt Lauer asked McCain of the possibility that the government would intervene on behalf of AIG, "What should the government do? First of all, do we even have that kind of money in the system?" McCain responded, "The government should not -- the government -- of course, this is one of the outstanding and glaring examples of the -- of the terrible problems and corruption and greed and excess that has caused all of this fallout, which is going to harm the average American worker. No, I do not believe that the American taxpayer should be on the hook for AIG, and I'm glad that the [Treasury] Secretary [Henry] Paulson is apparently taking the same line." Lauer then asked, "So if we get to the point, middle of the week, as we heard in that report, where AIG might have to file for bankruptcy, they're on their own?" McCain responded, "Well, quote, 'on their own,' we have to -- we cannot have the taxpayers bail out AIG or anybody else."
During McCain's September 17 interview on Good Morning America, the day after the Federal Reserve Board announced up to $85 billion in loans to AIG, co-host Robin Roberts asked McCain, "You love coming to this part of the country -- hard-working people. They wake up and they hear the news that the federal government is going to bail out an insurance giant, AIG, by the tune of $85 billion. Do you agree with that?" McCain responded:
Well, I agree with you. These are hard-working Americans. Last night, I had dinner with a man who's a teacher, his wife is a teacher. He's a locksmith. Another family, the mother is a nurse. They're the fundamentals of America. They're still strong. But they've been betrayed by the top of our economy, by the greedy Wall Street excesses that sometimes, I think, may even be corruption, and they have had their lives harmed because of the greed and excess. We've got to fix it. We've got to say that it'll never happen again. As president, I will make sure that it never happens again.
Now, on the bailout itself, I didn't want to do that. And I don't think anybody I know wanted to do that, but there were literally millions of people whose retirement, whose investments, whose insurance were at risk here, and they were gonna have their lives destroyed because of the greed and excess and corruption. When I say corruption, many of these executives, these Wall Street CEOs said everything's fine, as you know, up until a short time ago -- everything's fine, not to worry. Meanwhile, Congress, the regulators, paid no attention whatsoever to it.
Roberts did not ask McCain how he reconciled his belief in the necessity of the bailout with his assertion the day before that "we cannot have the taxpayers bail out AIG or anybody else."
In a September 17 statement on the bailout, McCain said the government "was forced" to intervene on behalf of AIG, and also said: "The focus of any such action should be to protect the millions of Americans who hold insurance policies, retirement plans and other accounts with AIG."
From the September 19 Los Angeles Times article:
Obama has not taken a position on AIG's rescue, unlike McCain, who has backed it. But on Thursday, he called on the Treasury and Federal Reserve to "use their emergency authorities to maintain the flow of credit, to support the availability of mortgages and to ensure that our financial system is well capitalized."
Obama also kept up his scornful attacks on McCain for tacking back and forth and for "a week of rants."
McCain returned the criticism: "When I pushed legislation to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Sen. Obama was silent."
From the September 16 edition of NBC's Today:
LAUER: So many people in this room today, Senator, are going to be watching what happens with the American insurance giant AIG.
McCAIN: Mm-hmm.
LAUER: You heard [CNBC host] Maria [Bartiromo] talking about it --
McCAIN: Mm-hmm.
LAUER: -- a second ago. They need something in the neighborhood of $75 billion to become secure again. What should the government do? First of all, do we even have that kind of money in the system?
McCAIN: The government should not -- the government -- of course, this is one of the outstanding and glaring examples of the -- of the terrible problems and corruption and greed and excess that has caused all of this fallout, which is going to harm the average American worker. No, I do not believe that the American taxpayer should be on the hook for AIG, and I'm glad that the Secretary Paulson is apparently taking the same line.
LAUER: So if we get to the point, middle of the week, as we heard in that report, where AIG might have to file for bankruptcy, they're on their own?
McCAIN: Well, quote, "on their own," we have to -- we cannot have the taxpayers bail out AIG or anybody else. This is something that we're going to have to work through. There's too much corruption, there's too much access. We can fix it. I believe in America. We can have a 9-11 Commission such as we had after 9-11 --
LAUER: Right.
McCAIN: -- because this a huge crisis. And we can come up with fixes and we can make sure that every American has a safer future, and that is to make them know that their bank deposits are safe and insured.
From the September 17 edition of ABC's Good Morning America:
ROBERTS: You love coming to this part of the country -- hard-working people. They wake up and they hear the news that the federal government is going to bail out an insurance giant, AIG, by the tune of $85 billion. Do you agree with that?
McCAIN: Well, I agree with you. These are hard-working Americans. Last night, I had dinner with a man who's a teacher, his wife is a teacher. He's a locksmith. Another family, the mother is a nurse. They're the fundamentals of America. They're still strong. But they've been betrayed by the top of our economy, by the greedy Wall Street excesses that sometimes, I think, may even be corruption, and they have had their lives harmed because of the greed and excess. We've got to fix it. We've got to say that it'll never happen again. As president, I will make sure that it never happens again.
Now, on the bailout itself, I didn't want to do that. And I don't think anybody I know wanted to do that, but there were literally millions of people whose retirement, whose investments, whose insurance were at risk here, and they were gonna have their lives destroyed because of the greed and excess and corruption. When I say corruption, many of these executives, these Wall Street CEOs said everything's fine, as you know, up until a short time ago -- everything's fine, not to worry. Meanwhile, Congress, the regulators, paid no attention whatsoever to it.
Maybe McCain had AIG confused with the President of Spain...whom he intends to fire. But I'm sure he'll get all that straightened out once he has the privilege to serve in the Palin/McCain Administration.
So Grampy was for something before he was against it?
He was for not bailing them out yesterday.... and suddenly he is for bailing them today?
So basically..... he cowed himself to the powers that be?
Any chance a Democrat could do this and get away with it and not be damned in the corporate owned media?
Yeah..... I didn't think so either.
Well, technically, he was against it before he was for it.
I'm sure that's totally different from a Republikin pov.
Rick
Oops.... I meant to mention in my first reply about Palin's little slip as well.....
That Sarah seems to think that its a potential Palin/McCain administration.
MM needs to issue a correction!
MM wrote: "[T]he Times did not point out that the day before the bailout was announced, McCain indicated that he opposed a federal government bailout of AIG, asserting that "we cannot have the taxpayers bail out AIG or anybody else."
WRONG! From the LA Times, PAGE ONE, Thu. Sept. 18, 2008:
MM is wrong! They need to acknowledge their glaring error to their readers.
So, are you telling us McCain flip flopped on Tuesday?
Shoes, this item is referencing a Times article from the 19th. You're demanding an apology based on your link to an article from the 18th, you moron.
Does constant failure have absolutely no effect on you? I have to think you're just somebody doing performance art, nobody could posibly be as stupid and inept as you pretend to be.
A typically weak post from you, Shoes. Not cool.
Why does it matter what day it was reported, considering the objection by MM?
MM clearly states, "[T]he Times did not point out that the day before the bailout was announced, McCain indicated that he opposed a federal government bailout of AIG."
Yes, the Times did "point [that] out." In fact, the Times reported that exact thing on the FRONT PAGE of their paper the day before. MM is wrong. Period. MM is clearly stating that the Times did not "point out" something, but they did!
I think Jeter's complaint broke this thread.
I think Jeter's complaint broke this thread.
King, do you really think I have that kind of power? Hey maybe I do, I've been complaining about Olbermann threads forever, & I haven't seen a WPITW thread here in a long time :-)
Fess up Jeter. We've known for years that you have the capability to completely destroy this entire web site with one push of a button, should you wish to do so.
Thanks for showing patience and self restraint.
As of today, McCain is back to not backing bailouts which he backed from Wednesday until this afternoon.
Yeah Worrier...
It's nice to be a Con isn't it? You can get away with anything. Say anything, do anything, it doesn't matter.
This one is gonna cost the average Joe billions.
Maybe Snoopy's list of flipflops would be appropriate here...
Then, again, maybe it would just be gilding the lily. McSame's spinning so fast that he's confusing his own shadow.
Thanks for asking! I'd love to post that list again!
National Security Policy
1. McCain thought Bush’s warrantless-wiretap program circumvented the law; now he believes the opposite.
2. McCain insisted that everyone, even “terrible killers,” “the worst kind of scum of humanity,” and detainees at Guantanamo Bay, “deserve to have some adjudication of their cases,” even if that means “releasing some of them.” McCain now believes the opposite.
3. He opposed indefinite detention of terrorist suspects. When the Supreme Court reached the same conclusion, he called it “one of the worst decisions in the history of this country.”
4. In February 2008, McCain reversed course on prohibiting waterboarding.
5. McCain was for closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay before he was against it.
6. When Barack Obama talked about going after terrorists in Pakistani mountains with predators, McCain criticized him for it. He’s since come to the opposite conclusion.
Foreign Policy
7. McCain was for kicking Russia out of the G8 before he was against it. Now, he’s for it again.
8. McCain supported moving “towards normalization of relations” with Cuba. Now he believes the opposite.
9. McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with Hamas. Now he believes the opposite.
10. McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with Syria. Now he believes the opposite.
11. McCain is both for and against a “rogue state rollback” as a focus of his foreign policy vision.
12. McCain used to champion the Law of the Sea convention, even volunteering to testify on the treaty’s behalf before a Senate committee. Now he opposes it.
13. McCain was against divestment from South Africa before he was for it.
Military Policy
14. McCain recently claimed that he was the “greatest critic” of Rumsfeld’s failed Iraq policy. In December 2003, McCain praised the same strategy as “a mission accomplished.” In March 2004, he said, “I’m confident we’re on the right course.” In December 2005, he said, “Overall, I think a year from now, we will have made a fair amount of progress if we stay the course.”
15. McCain has changed his mind about a long-term U.S. military presence in Iraq on multiple occasions, concluding, on multiple occasions, that a Korea-like presence is both a good and a bad idea.
16. McCain was against additional U.S. forces in Afghanistan before he was for it.
17. McCain said before the war in Iraq, “We will win this conflict. We will win it easily.” Four years later, McCain said he knew all along that the war in Iraq war was “probably going to be long and hard and tough.”
18. McCain has repeatedly said it’s a dangerous mistake to tell the “enemy” when U.S. troops would be out of Iraq. In May, McCain announced that most American troops would be home from Iraq by 2013.
19. McCain was against expanding the GI Bill before he was for it.
20. McCain staunchly opposed Obama’s Iraq withdrawal timetable, and even blasted Mitt Romney for having referenced the word during the GOP primaries. In July, after Iraqi officials endorsed Obama’s policy, McCain said a 16-month calendar sounds like “a pretty good timetable.”
Domestic Policy
21. McCain defended “privatizing” Social Security. Now he says he’s against privatization (though he actually still supports it.)
22. On Social Security, McCain said he would not, under any circumstances, raise taxes. Soon after, asked about a possible increase in the payroll tax, McCain said there’s “nothing that’s off the table.”
23. McCain wanted to change the Republican Party platform to protect abortion rights in cases of rape and incest. Now he doesn’t.
24. McCain supported storing spent nuclear fuel at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Now he believes the opposite.
25. He argued the NRA should not have a role in the Republican Party’s policy making. Now he believes the opposite.
26. In 1998, he championed raising cigarette taxes to fund programs to cut underage smoking, insisting that it would prevent illnesses and provide resources for public health programs. Now, McCain opposes a $0.61-per-pack tax increase, won’t commit to supporting a regulation bill he’s co-sponsoring, and has hired Philip Morris’ former lobbyist as his senior campaign adviser.
27. McCain is both for and against earmarks for Arizona.
28. McCain’s first mortgage plan was premised on the notion that homeowners facing foreclosure shouldn’t be “rewarded” for acting “irresponsibly.” His second mortgage plan took largely the opposite position.
29. McCain went from saying gay marriage should be allowed, to saying gay marriage shouldn’t be allowed.
30. McCain opposed a holiday to honor Martin Luther King, Jr., before he supported it.
31. McCain was anti-ethanol. Now he’s pro-ethanol.
32. McCain was both for and against state promotion of the Confederate flag.
33. In 2005, McCain endorsed intelligent design creationism, a year later he said the opposite, and a few months after that, he was both for and against creationism at the same time.
34. And on gay adoption, McCain initially said he’d rather let orphans go without families, then his campaign reversed course, and soon after, McCain reversed back.
35. In the Senate, McCain opposed a variety of measures on equal pay for women, and endorsed the Supreme Court’s Ledbetter decision. In July, however, McCain said, “I’m committed to making sure that there’s equal pay for equal work. That … is my record and you can count on it.”
36. McCain was against fully funding the No Child Left Behind Act before he was for it.
37. McCain was for affirmative action before he was against it.
38. McCain said the Colorado River compact will “obviously” need to be “renegotiated.” Six days later, McCain said, “Let me be clear that I do not advocate renegotiation of the compact.”
Economic Policy
39. McCain was against Bush’s tax cuts for the very wealthy before he was for them.
40. John McCain initially argued that economics is not an area of expertise for him, saying, “I’m going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues; I still need to be educated,” and “The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should.” He now falsely denies ever having made these remarks and insists that he has a “very strong” understanding of economics.
41. McCain vowed, if elected, to balance the federal budget by the end of his first term. Soon after, he decided he would no longer even try to reach that goal. And soon after that, McCain abandoned his second position and went back to his first.
42. McCain said in 2005 that he opposed the tax cuts because they were “too tilted to the wealthy.” By 2007, he denied ever having said this, and falsely argued that he opposed the cuts because of increased government spending.
43. McCain thought the estate tax was perfectly fair. Now he believes the opposite.
44. McCain pledged in February 2008 that he would not, under any circumstances, raise taxes. Specifically, McCain was asked if he is a “‘read my lips’ candidate, no new taxes, no matter what?” referring to George H.W. Bush’s 1988 pledge. “No new taxes,” McCain responded. Two weeks later, McCain said, “I’m not making a ‘read my lips’ statement, in that I will not raise taxes.”
45. McCain has changed his entire economic worldview on multiple occasions.
46. McCain believes Americans are both better and worse off economically than they were before Bush took office.
47. McCain was against massive government bailouts of “big banks” that “act irresponsibly.” He then announced his support for a massive government bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Energy Policy
48. McCain supported the moratorium on coastal drilling ; now he’s against it.
49. McCain recently announced his strong opposition to a windfall-tax on oil company profits. Three weeks earlier, he was perfectly comfortable with the idea.
50. McCain endorsed a cap-and-trade policy with a mandatory emissions cap. In mid-June, McCain announced he wants the caps to voluntary.
51. McCain explained his belief that a temporary suspension of the federal gas tax would provide an immediate economic stimulus. Shortly thereafter, he argued the exact opposite.
52. McCain supported the Lieberman/Warner legislation to combat global warming. Now he doesn’t.
53. McCain was for national auto emissions standards before he was against them.
Immigration Policy
54. McCain was a co-sponsor of the DREAM Act, which would grant legal status to illegal immigrants’ kids who graduate from high school. In 2007, he announced his opposition to the bill. In 2008, McCain switched back.
55. On immigration policy in general, McCain announced in February 2008 that he would vote against his own bill.
56. In April, McCain promised voters that he would secure the borders “before proceeding to other reform measures.” Two months later, he abandoned his public pledge, pretended that he’d never made the promise in the first place, and vowed that a comprehensive immigration reform policy has always been, and would always be, his “top priority.”
Judicial Policy and the Rule of Law
57. McCain said he would “not impose a litmus test on any nominee.” He used to promise the opposite.
58. McCain’s position was that the telecoms should be forced to explain their role in the administration’s warrantless surveillance program as a condition for retroactive immunity. He used to believe the opposite.
59. McCain went from saying he would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade to saying the exact opposite.
60. In June, McCain rejected the idea of a trial for Osama bin Laden, and thought Obama’s reference to Nuremberg was a misread of history. A month later, McCain argued the exact opposite position.
61. In June, McCain described the Supreme Court’s decision in Boumediene v. Bush was “one of the worst decisions in the history of this country.” In August, he reversed course.
Campaign, Ethics, and Lobbying Reform
62. McCain supported his own lobbying-reform legislation from 1997. Now he doesn’t.
63. In 2006, McCain sponsored legislation to require grassroots lobbying coalitions to reveal their financial donors. In 2007, after receiving “feedback” on the proposal, McCain told far-right activist groups that he opposes his own measure.
64. McCain supported a campaign-finance bill, which bore his name, on strengthening the public-financing system. In June 2007, he abandoned his own legislation.
65. In May 2008, McCain approved a ban on lobbyists working for his campaign. In July 2008, his campaign reversed course and said lobbyists could work for his campaign.
Politics and Associations
66. McCain wanted political support from radical televangelist John Hagee. Now he doesn’t. (He also believes his endorsement from Hagee was both a good and bad idea.)
67. McCain wanted political support from radical televangelist Rod Parsley. Now he doesn’t.
68. McCain says he considered and did not consider joining John Kerry’s Democratic ticket in 2004.
69. McCain is both for and against attacking Barack Obama over his former pastor at his former church.
70. McCain criticized TV preacher Jerry Falwell as “an agent of intolerance” in 2002, but then decided to cozy up to the man who said Americans “deserved” the 9/11 attacks.
71. In 2000, McCain accused Texas businessmen Sam and Charles Wyly of being corrupt, spending “dirty money” to help finance Bush’s presidential campaign. McCain not only filed a complaint against the Wylys for allegedly violating campaign finance law, he also lashed out at them publicly. In April, McCain reached out to the Wylys for support.
72. McCain was against presidential candidates campaigning at Bob Jones University before he was for it.
73. McCain decided in 2000 that he didn’t want anything to do with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, believing he “would taint the image of the ‘Straight Talk Express.’” Kissinger is now the Honorary Co-Chair for his presidential campaign in New York.
74. McCain believed powerful right-wing activist/lobbyist Grover Norquist was “corrupt, a shill for dictators, and (with just a dose of sarcasm) Jack Abramoff’s gay lover.” McCain now considers Norquist a key political ally.
75. McCain was for presidential candidates giving speeches in foreign countries before he was against it.
76. McCain has been both for and against considering a pro-choice running mate for the Republican presidential ticket.
Oh these are tough times for politicians today. What are they to do?
The non-election times are so much easier to naviagate politically. When the public barely pays attention to their ineptitude and prevaricating, where then they are able to straddle all sides of an issue through spokespeople and handlers, when they can sneak out of Washington unnoticed for fund raisers and schmoozing parties, when it's far easier to be for an issue one day, and against it the next - piece of cake, distracted public, tools.
Damn these election cycles. This is way too hard. They actually have to take a stand on an issue that's weighing on the voter's minds, and when they do flip the pancake and change, that damn media notices and all hell breaks loose. How can they be expected to win an election when their inconvenient lack of principles gets in the way?
Poor McCain, he has to "feel the pain", so he's against the bailout, but he also has to "feel the pain" and be for the bailout, even though it's taxpayers on the hook, oh darnit.
My sympathies Mr. McCain. Win or lose it'll all be over soon and then we won't be breathing down your neck looking for a principled stand on anything, just get through the next 6 weeks or so, dodge and weave a little while longer and you'll be either back in the Senate basking in that glory, or running our country for "our own good". Good luck!
Okay, I know I've been away for a while because I've been running my own campaign, but someone please pinch me, or tell me that this is a different Tommy.
Geeeez, I've got a lot of catching up to do.
Nah its the same old Tommy. He and Brabs were doing the old roundy roundy yesterday. He's aways thrown out the occasional worthy post. Maybe his average is up, maybe you got "lucky."
♫ If you wanna bail out you've got to give a shout; McCain.
If your shareholders frown, funds will be found; McCain.
Will he lie, does he lie, yes he'll lie; McCain. ♫ ♪
♫ ♪ If your stock's bad news, can't pay your country club dues; McCain.
When your company's done, take your severence and run; McCain.
Will he lie, does he lie, yes he'll lie; McCain. ♫ ♪
♫ ♪ Take a risk; When it's gone, you can just ring up John; McCain.
Rest assured in this fact: taxpayers got your back; McCain.
Will he lie, does he lie, yes he'll lie; McCain. ♫ ♪
♫ ♪Will he lie, does he lie, yes he'll lie; McCain. ♫ ♪
The institutions who have been, and will be, "bailed out" invested in the Republican party and are the current owners of our government. Deregulation enabled, nay empowered them to realize enormous profit from bad investments, which have now crippled the economy. No worries for them, of course, because their purchase price naturally included absolution at the taxpayers' expense. McCain was against bailouts when speaking to the gullible little people, but became for them after the Robber Barons jerked his chain. Government intended to exclusively benefit the rich and greedy means they become victims rather than perpetrators, and those of us who are less worthy always incur the sacrifice.
Like a tattered flag in a high wind - flap, flap, flap - yet Big Media strokes his every twitch - what's up with that ? Is it possible that a war hereo can also be a jerk ? (think Duke Cunningham) - thanks Snoopy for the detail - can't help thinking about the brainwashed Manchurian Candidate (where's Frank Sinatra when we need him ?)
It is obvious by now that it really doesn't matter WHAT John McCain says to his "base". He can say ANYTHING he wants without fear of ridicule or even cursory examination by the right-wing media especially and his zombie followers will eat it up as "that's our old maverick, Johnny. God bless him." Hey, ya gotta love the guy, right?