barrooo?
Ok, this is one of the weirdest weeks in politics thus far:
1) Paulson requests a $700 BILLION blank check, with the stipulation that there be absolutely no oversight and it must be signed in a couple of days... even though they wrote up the 3-page document several months ago.
2) EVERYONE is scratching their heads, though it's unclear who will be stupid enough to go along with it (gee. The reigning Democrats?)
3) McCain "suspends" his campaign to go back to Congress to deal with the problem, despite the fact that he hasn't been in Congress since April 8th. Majority Leader Harry Reid says, "you're not needed. You'll just get in the way"
4) Except, as David Letterman noted, McCain was in NY, taping with Katie Couric at the time he made the statement. Aaaaand didn't exactly drop everything either:
The McCain campaign's new urgency about the financial crisis didn't entirely clear his schedule this morning.
My colleague Amie Parnes reports that he made it to his scheduled morning meeting with Lady Lynn de Rothschild, a Clinton backer who recently came out in support of him.
All while Obama was waiting by the phone for a returned call.
5) As part of the suspension, McCain asks to postpone the first of only three Presidential debates.
6) McCain threatens that there will be no debates until there is an agreement on a bailout package.
7) Obama responds with, "I can multitask, why can't you?"
8) McCain camp says, "oh, ok, let's schedule it for October 2nd"... which is the date of the only VP debate. Suggested date of now postponed VP debate is "to be determined"
9) The McCain campaign accidentally leaks the talking points about suspending the campaign: "The memo, titled “TALKING POINTS: SUSPENDING THE CAMPAIGN,” includes a list of points the campaign wants emphasized, and includes this warning from Kise: “Please do not proactively reach out to the media on this.” "
10) President Bush asks Obama to come to the White House to discuss the economic crisis. However, one of the talking points from the leaked memo is, "John McCain is calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership of both houses of Congress, including himself and Senator Obama."
11) and the $700 billion they're requesting? In fact, some of the most basic details, including the $700 billion figure Treasury would use to buy up bad debt, are fuzzy.
"It's not based on any particular data point," a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. "We just wanted to choose a really large number."
Add in all of the usual Sarah Palin shenanigans, including this fascinating interview with Katie Couric, and you have a really, really bad made-for-TV movie (which, i admit, I'm now watching with amusement, since it's clear that this has now turned into tabloid television fairyland).
1) Paulson requests a $700 BILLION blank check, with the stipulation that there be absolutely no oversight and it must be signed in a couple of days... even though they wrote up the 3-page document several months ago.
2) EVERYONE is scratching their heads, though it's unclear who will be stupid enough to go along with it (gee. The reigning Democrats?)
3) McCain "suspends" his campaign to go back to Congress to deal with the problem, despite the fact that he hasn't been in Congress since April 8th. Majority Leader Harry Reid says, "you're not needed. You'll just get in the way"
4) Except, as David Letterman noted, McCain was in NY, taping with Katie Couric at the time he made the statement. Aaaaand didn't exactly drop everything either:
The McCain campaign's new urgency about the financial crisis didn't entirely clear his schedule this morning.
My colleague Amie Parnes reports that he made it to his scheduled morning meeting with Lady Lynn de Rothschild, a Clinton backer who recently came out in support of him.
All while Obama was waiting by the phone for a returned call.
5) As part of the suspension, McCain asks to postpone the first of only three Presidential debates.
6) McCain threatens that there will be no debates until there is an agreement on a bailout package.
7) Obama responds with, "I can multitask, why can't you?"
8) McCain camp says, "oh, ok, let's schedule it for October 2nd"... which is the date of the only VP debate. Suggested date of now postponed VP debate is "to be determined"
9) The McCain campaign accidentally leaks the talking points about suspending the campaign: "The memo, titled “TALKING POINTS: SUSPENDING THE CAMPAIGN,” includes a list of points the campaign wants emphasized, and includes this warning from Kise: “Please do not proactively reach out to the media on this.” "
10) President Bush asks Obama to come to the White House to discuss the economic crisis. However, one of the talking points from the leaked memo is, "John McCain is calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership of both houses of Congress, including himself and Senator Obama."
11) and the $700 billion they're requesting? In fact, some of the most basic details, including the $700 billion figure Treasury would use to buy up bad debt, are fuzzy.
"It's not based on any particular data point," a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. "We just wanted to choose a really large number."
Add in all of the usual Sarah Palin shenanigans, including this fascinating interview with Katie Couric, and you have a really, really bad made-for-TV movie (which, i admit, I'm now watching with amusement, since it's clear that this has now turned into tabloid television fairyland).