Well, it's official folks, the Republican party ticket of John McCain and Sarah Palin had exactly two days to celebrate the end of government intervention. They have been beside themselves with glee that the government finally said 'enough' with the Lehman Brothers crisis.
Well, as of tonight (via Reuters):
The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday, with the full support of the Treasury Department, authorized the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to lend up to $85 billion to the American International Group (AIG).
And, how could they not. Indeed, with the number of tentacles that AIG has in worldwide finances, I'm sure Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson fielded all sorts of calls from finance ministers and central bank heads the last few days. This one had the potential to some serious damage to the entire world-wide monetary system. In other words, as you will hear from the money pundits tomorrow, this was a no-brainer.
Problem #1: You drew your line in the sand and had to call it a mere two days later. Dear lord! How much are we going to be on the hook for?
Problem #2: This problem isn't really all that important as it involves the electoral hopes of our dear friends Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin but it is more relevant subject matter for this blog. The problem involves how the 'government stay out of our business' theme that both of these 'mavericks' (or 'mavricks' if you're at the RNC) will now work out for these two.
Can you really argue that, after Paulsen and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke turned their backs on Lehman Brothers over the weekend, that this is excessive intervention? Maybe.
What McCain can't argue is that a lot of this can be laid squarely in his lap. He and his former cheif economic advisor, and author of what economic plan he does have, Senator Phil Gramm, are largely responsible for the deregulation that helped this crisis come about.
How is 'the deregulator' going to turn this mess around? Well, by calling for a commission, of course! NYT:
“We need a 9/11 commission, and we need a commission to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it,’’ he said. “And I know we can do it and how to do it.”
That's not leadership, that is kicking the can down the road in the middle of a hurricane. You know why, of course! Because he will have to admit his culpability in all of this if he calls BS on what the primary cause was. He can't do that, because he would like to get elected. Another example of his 'honor' and 'country first' mentality.
The press better start to call him on the fact that his deregulation was a key in all of this being able to happen.
Talk about the chickens coming home to roost at an inopportune time!
Let's see them put lipstick on this pig!
It's going to take a lot of lipstick. And it'll still be a pig.
Comments welcome,
Pat McGovern Sphere: Related Content
