Sen. John McCain: I Was Misled On Bailout

[dandi]

by Dan Nowicki

Under growing pressure from conservatives and "tea party" activists, Sen. John McCain of Arizona is having to defend his record of supporting the government's massive bailout of the financial system.

In response to criticism from opponents seeking to defeat him in the Aug. 24 Republican primary, the four-term senator says he was misled by then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. McCain said the pair assured him that the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program would focus on what was seen as the cause of the financial crisis, the housing meltdown.

"Obviously, that didn't happen," McCain said in a meeting Thursday with The Republic's Editorial Board, recounting his decision-making during the critical initial days of the fiscal crisis. "They decided to stabilize the Wall Street institutions, bail out (insurance giant) AIG, bail out Chrysler, bail out General Motors. . . . What they figured was that if they stabilized Wall Street - I guess it was trickle-down economics - that therefore Main Street would be fine."

snip

Republican Senate primary challenger J.D. Hayworth is using the TARP vote as a bludgeon against McCain's reputation as a fiscal hawk. Tea partyers point to it as the start of a new explosion of federal spending that has continued into the Obama administration.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2010/02/22/20100222mccain-tarp0222.html


So Senator McCain is finally realizing what we all knew more than a year ago.  If his support of the TARP travesty was not complicit, then he is incompetent and should be immediately removed from office.

His campaign's polling must be a friggin' nightmare if he's trying this weak assed mea culpa.

Kick his ass, JD!

[thundley4]

McCain has seen the writing on the wall, and knows that his views aren't consistent with conservative views. He will be back pedaling and trying to remake himself before the election. I still wish Sarah Palin would withdraw her support.

[5412]

McCain has seen the writing on the wall, and knows that his views aren't consistent with conservative views. He will be back pedaling and trying to remake himself before the election. I still wish Sarah Palin would withdraw her support.

Hi,

I know Palin promised McCain she would campaign for him, and I think she did.  At the same time, she may be very subtle about it.  The only good thing she could say about McCain when she was on the Glenn Beck show was he is an honorable man......

He could be just as honorable with the prefix ex in front of his senator title....

regards,
5412

[Eupher]

This is actually somewhat reminiscent of Arlen Specter's moves -- without the total collapse into the arms of the Dem party.

These bastards will do anything and everything to hang on to their seat.

As if the rest of us can't see through their bullshit.......

[DumbAss Tanker]

Dammit John, have some grace and retire all-freakin'-ready.  30 years in the Senate is too damned much for anyone including your own hubris-afflicted self, you have become part of the problem instead of part of the solution.  You are not irreplaceable, move over and let some new blood in, and some thinking not rooted in the bygone days of Camelot and the Great Society.

[Tess Anderson]

Yeah - not being a resident of Arizona, I really can't cast a vote in this matter, but I am hoping this JD Hayworth can unset McCain in the primary there - McCain's time has come and gone, he of all people should very hard to "mislead" on anything, but he gets sucker-punched over and over again by the Democrats. He also said he thought there was nothing to fear from an Obama as POTUS, he was wrong there, too.

[Chris_]

Yeah - not being a resident of Arizona, I really can't cast a vote in this matter, but I am hoping this JD Hayworth can unset McCain in the primary there - McCain's time has come and gone, he of all people should very hard to "mislead" on anything, but he gets sucker-punched over and over again by the Democrats. He also said he thought there was nothing to fear from an Obama as POTUS, he was wrong there, too.

Lest we forget his positions on:

Campaign Finance Reform.......

Immigration Reform (amnesty)......

Judicial Appointments.......

TARP.......

Just to name a few.......FOAD John.......

doc

[The Village Idiot]

Senility is a Rosie O'Donnell

[Lacarnut]

he gets sucker-punched over and over again by the Democrats. He also said he thought there was nothing to fear from an Obama as POTUS, he was wrong there, too.

If your judgement is wrong on so many occasions, you need to retire because all your marbles are not in the right place.