The World According to Oatney

No Candy For the Babies

Yesterday, I wrote of the reality that the so-called "bailout" proposal for the economy was a bill for the Democratic Party. Some Democrats in the House and Senate were apparently under the impression that John McCain was going to ride in to Washington and be their Republican knight on a white horse who would convince his colleagues to go along with an economic plan that they positively loathe. In short, the Democrats believed McCain would come kissing their rear ends.

John McCain is nothing if not his own man, and this time that man sided with the House
Republicans. Now the Democrats in Washington are whining like spoiled children with no candy:

“He’s slowed it down,” Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said
of McCain’s impact on the negotiations. “The next thing we know, he’s in a
position frankly where he’s making it harder to get things done, rather than
help us negotiate differences.”

“We had a deal this morning, it looked like, when I say
we -– the leadership of the House, and the Senate, the
Democrats — had an agreement on this so-called bailout package and it
looked like it was all going to be set and there was a call from the president,
would Barack come to the White House with the congressional leadership and sort
of sign on the dotted line?” Biden said at a Rhode Island fundraiser Thursday
night.

The translation of all of that into really plain language: "Whaaaaaaa...John McCain came to Washington and showed the House Republicans that they don't have to take our bull, now we can't blame Republicans for the bad bill we were going to pass! Whaaaaaaaa...we want our Mommy!"

One has to wonder just what these people thought was going to happen. Several Senate Democrats (including Harry Reid) had commented earlier in the week that they thought John McCain could "help" the situation. What the Democrats really believed is that John McCain was going to try and strong-arm the House Republicans into going along with this deal, which is more rotten than year-old cottage cheese.

McCain, however, wasn't there to play nice with the Democrats, he was there to help iron out differences. When Democrats saw that McCain wasn't going to try and force the House Republicans to sign on the dotted line when they clearly believe that this bailout plan, as it has been proposed, is bad for the country, McCain became "unhelpful," and was "slowing things down."

It became bad for John McCain to be at the table, in other words, when the Democrats didn't get their way. If McCain is indeed keeping the Democrats from passing this bill, he is doing his job very effectively and has done more good for the country in the last 24 hours than many of his Congressional colleagues have done in their entire careers. The very reality that no deal can now pass without the seeming consent of the House Republicans is due in a very direct way to the intervention of John McCain, who has once again proven himself to be a hero.

There is another matter, however, where it might behoove McCain to change course. John McCain should attend tonight's presidential debate in Oxford, Mississippi. Since the debate is focusing primarily on foreign policy, John McCain would be missing an excellent opportunity to wipe the floor with Barack Obama, and by not showing up he would yield Obama the floor.

John McCain has been a hero during this process, now he ought not ruin that by failing to show up one of the most important political debates in our country's history

Labels: Congress, Conservatism, Democrats, Presidential Election, Republican Party

posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 10:53 AM