Once again, the proposed bailout deal of Wall Street that goes up to $700 billion has been shot down. It was last week that United States President George W. Bush made a late night televised address from the White House to the United States Congress. Bush had urged Congress to pass the proposal deal.
GOP Presidential nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Democratic Presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois had flown out to Washington DC to meet with Bush to discuss the bailout proposal. However, the bailout proposal was defeated. It is revealed that House Republicans were not warm to the prospect of bailing out Wall Street.
McCain also wanted the first US presidential debate to be postponed in order to address the financial crisis. On Monday, there were negotiations in regards to passing the hefty bailout deal. But, the bailout deal was shot down for the second time.
So far, the one that looks to be hurting the most politically is McCain.
CNN Political Analyst Bill Schneider explains that before the House had voted on the proposal, Republicans were blamed more than Democrats in the matter. Schneider summed it up as McCain being blamed by both supporters and opponents for failure.
McCain fired some sharp words at Congress saying that all Americans and the entire US economy are in extreme danger as a result. He also attacked Obama for not being “present” in the negotiations for the bailout. McCain accused Obama and his supporters of bringing partisanship into the negotiations. However, most House Republicans voted against the bill.
Days before Bush’s address, Texas Representative and former GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul had given a commentary. Paul explained that the bailout will do nothing but make problems worse. According to Paul, this bailout is an example of the government butting into the country’s economy.
Possibly, McCain may not get far in blaming Obama and his supporters for the failure to pass the bill.
So far, Obama was not really active in the negotiations and had stayed out. After the deal was shot down last Thursday, Obama spoke out about it. Obama had expressed that he was concerned about mixing presidential politics with the negotiations. Therefore, he said that the attendance of him and McCain would cause problems at the negotiations.
According to Republican strategist Ed Rollins, Obama did the smart thing and stayed out of the negotiations.
Overall, this has blown up in McCain’s face. But the question is: How much damage did McCain take at the failure to pass the bill?