McCain follows House GOP lead, blames Dems
The McCain campaign is responding to the failure of the bailout vote in the House by pointing fingers at the Dems, both Obama and the congressional leadership.
Like the House Republican leaders who are trying the same, McCain doesn't have a lot of great options here.
No word, though, on what next.
McCain economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin:
“From the minute John McCain suspended his campaign and arrived in Washington to address this crisis, he was attacked by the Democratic leadership: Senators Obama and Reid, Speaker Pelosi and others. Their partisan attacks were an effort to gain political advantage during a national economic crisis. By doing so, they put at risk the homes, livelihoods and savings of millions of American families.
“Barack Obama failed to lead, phoned it in, attacked John McCain, and refused to even say if he supported the final bill.
“Just before the vote, when the outcome was still in doubt, Speaker Pelosi gave a strongly worded partisan speech and poisoned the outcome.
“This bill failed because Barack Obama and the Democrats put politics ahead of country.”
http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/And the real story:
Bailout appears to fail despite passionate plea from BoehnerBy selliott | Monday, September 29, 2008, 02:28 PM
Several media outlets are reporting that the $700 billion bill to bailout Wall Street banks has failed in the U.S. House of Representatives and the markets have followed with huge drops. Big banks, including Ohio-based Fifth Third and National City, have seen giant losses.
Apparently, too many Republican house members could not bring themselves to vote yes for the bill. There were too many no votes from both sides of the aisle, but the Republican leadership believed it could deliver enough of its caucus to pass the bill. In fact, Republicans continued to defect even after an impassioned plea by House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-West Chester). Check out this excerpt from Politico.com:
Minority Leader John Boehner nearly choked up as he begged his Republican colleagues to vote “in the best interest of their country” for the bailout bill.
Admitting that the outcome is in “serious doubt,” an impassioned Boehner implored his colleagues to cast aside politics — and possibly endanger their own political futures — by voting yes.
“Think about what happens to your friends, your neighbors, your constituents … These are the votes that separate the men from the boys and the girls from the women — these are the votes your constituents sent you here to vote for on their behalf — these are the kind of votes where we have to look into our souls.”
more:
http://www.middletownjournal.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2008/09/29/bailout_fails_despite_passiona.html