Destroying the economy to win votes; Nancy Pelosi’s speech and Barack Obama’s rhetoric

So the bailout failed to pass. As the Dow falls, ask yourself, who is to blame? Now the Democrats come out and blame Republicans, Republicans blames Democrats, so who really did mess this up? Well if I was a their father, I would cuff the Republicans (slap the back of their heads), but I would ground the Democrats. To Michelle Malkin and the rest of the right, WAKE UP! I think she has her head in the right place, she doesn’t want to see the tax payer suffer, but I believe she has come to the wrong conclusion.

As I stated in my previous post, sometimes we have to take a hit, and while this is not the Republicans’ fault, they have to step up and do what is right for the country. We saw this during the Great Depression, spending by the government to fix an economic disaster, and while it does put the country further into debt, which is their biggest argument against it, you can’t allow the economy to fall apart before taking action. Simply put, you can’t fix it after it has completely collapsed. Once again, for anyone who has studied economics in university like I have, the “hand of government” is needed at times. We see outside influence when the central bank plays with interest rates to control inflation, we also see it with government set minimum wages, so this kind of intervention isn’t new. I think Newt Gingrich put it best, that he would “reluctantly and sadly” support a bill which needed to be passed to prevent a “horrendous” blow to Wall Street. The problem is that the Democrats wouldn’t let that happen…

I will lay the blame of today squarely on Nancy Pelosi and her partisan assault on Republicans. Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank came out after and gave a little song and dance about he is upset that Republicans would vote against it because their feelings were hurt, knowing full well what Pelosi’s speech was meant to do. Republicans have been trying to prevent this crisis since 2003 when President Bush asked Congress for the supervision of Fannie-Mae and Freddie-Mac, something the Democrats came out against. A year later, Republicans tried again, warning about a collapse which would have a serious affect on the economy, and Democrats once again prevent action, even bringing in now-disgraced Former Fannie-Mae CEO Franklin Raines to prove their case. They tried one last time in 2005 with McCain now spearheading the cause to prevent the tragedy we are seeing now, and once again, the Democrats tried to deny what we know now. I know people will continue to blame the Republicans, even with this evidence to the contrary, so I will also remind them that it was the “do-nothing” Democrats who failed to act since they were elected in 2006 to do something. I say we give some credit to the Republicans for not saying “I told you so”, but I think at this point they should, at the very least to get CNN and the rest of the MSM to at least investigate their claims.

So after warning Congress for five years, they were ready to swallow their pride today and do what was right for the country, ready to pass a bill which was stripped of the Democratic earmarks, like the Frank-Dodd plan which would have redirected a lot of funding to special interest groups, and Nancy Pelosi knew exactly what to do to prevent it. Right before the vote, this awful woman, this horrible political creature, decided to sink the economy by viciously attacking the Republicans to push her party’s political agenda. Many House Republicans were willing to put their careers and credibility on the line for this vote, knowing full well what it meant for the economy, but very few were willing to also take the blame and give Democrats a false victory, especially when they have tried so hard for the last few years to prevent this situation from happening. They slipped into a trap Pelosi and her colleagues set, so that is their blame, but I think voters should remember who not only allowed this disaster to occur, but who perpetrated this farce today to win votes. That is simply it, Democrats sacrificed economic footing to gain political points. Another piece of evidence to show that the worst of them don’t really care about the American people, they only care about themselves.

Barack Obama also shares the blame for the economic situation we find ourselves in. Karl Rove made the point today that he didn’t show the leadership necessary to pull in votes for the bailout plan. As he put it, while Pelosi was “taking a two-by-four to House Republicans”, Obama didn’t step up and throw his weight around with members of Congress he has pull with. Where was Obama today? In Denver, flip-flopping on his view of the strength of the fundamentals of the American economy. When the economy is on the edge of collapse, why isn’t he trying to help? The reason is simple, that this is McCain’s show and if he fails, Obama picks up political points. Since John is there, since he is putting his credibility on the line to see a bailout plan passed, any failure will be attributed to him, Barack knows this and is playing this game hoping that the MSM directs the blame towards his opponent and the Republicans.

Once again, I am amazed that Democrats have any credibility left after their constant failure to act, especially in the last two years when they have had control of both houses. It isn’t just this display of partisanship at the cost of 1.2 trillion dollars, it is the constant references to perceived economic weakness. You have Nancy Pelosi today, but Barack Obama for most of his campaign discussing the state of the economy. I said this before Mr. Obama, but you don’t seem to listen, IT IS A SELF FULFILLING PROPHECY! If I went on TV as an economic adviser and said that the Canadian markets are going to fail due to strong competition from the foreign markets (for argument’s sake, let’s say raw materials like lumber), many investors would pull their money out of the Bay Street (Canada’s Wall Street). We saw this with the speculators predicting “doom and gloom” for the mortgage market (making a bad situation worse), and we are seeing this at each and every campaign stop for “The One”. For example, when he comes out and takes a shot at ANWR drilling and how proposed plans will not help the prices Americans are paying for gas, and sure enough the cost of filling up rises. People actually believe he is an expert, THAT is what is dangerous about his pessimistic claims, they have consequences. In the word of John McCain, “Senator Obama… he doesn’t get it”.

Speaking of the “Maverick”, he released a statement today after the failure of the bailout. Much like with Rove’s statement, McCain pointed the blame squarely at Democratic partisanship. Every time I see the MSM take swipes at him I get upset. It isn’t enough that he fought for his country in an unpopular war, but also spent five years being beaten and bloodied by the North Vietnamese. And how do they thank him now? Well Conan O’Brien insinuated on his show that McCain was extremely old and sexual perverted, Jon Stewart likes to call him senile among other things, and I won’t repeat what Daily Kos bloggers are posting about him. John McCain suspended his campaign last week to come back to Washington at the request of Treasury Secretary Paulson to help pass the now failed bailout plan, while it took presidential action to drag Barack Obama in to fulfill his political duties. After today’s performance, it should be clear to voters who is actually looking out for their economic interests, and its definitely not “The One” and his group of supporters.

UPDATE: Megan McArdle at The Atlantic put out a nice article about the bailout failure. I suggest you give it a read, especially since this is the most balanced post we will find coming out of their ranks for a long time to come.

UPDATE: CNN’s coverage last night was downright disgusting. The segment of Larry King with Ben Stein and Mr. Kruger (correct me if I am wrong on his name) was anything but fair and balanced, laying the blame squarely at George Bush and the House Republicans. Kruger even suggested that the Democrats come up with their own bill to fit their own agenda and force it through to solve this mess, ignoring full well that they had tried to fill the last bailout plan with so many earmarks it was dressed up like a Christmas tree. You don’t help the mortgage lending market by directing funding to groups like ACORN. What does student and car loans have to do with the mortgage crisis Chris Dodd? How about you answer that one Barney Frank?

Another trend I found was that everyone was downplaying the Pelosi comments. Hot Air, NewsBusters.org (with transcript), and Michelle Malkin’s own page are airing the video of this speech, watch it, actually sit through this over five minute speech and try to put yourself in the shoes of Republicans who are going against their supporters to push this bill through. Philippe Naughton at the London Times put out this story placing the majority of the blame on Pelosi herself. The point is this, in a time where many Republicans were reluctant to vote, a time when John McCain had to suspend his campaign to bring in support for this plan, a time when bipartisanship is on edge, for this woman to give a speech attacking the GOP was not simply a blunder, but a well executed move to gain political points. That is my opinion, especially seeing how this woman has acted when she should have been reaching across the floor.

Just a few days ago, Pelosi comes out with this speech, attacking Republicans for not supporting the bill, calling them “unpatriotic” if they don’t vote for it. Now this was the set up, pushing partisan rhetoric to villainize the GOP. At this time, John McCain comes back to Washington to rally support for the bailout from his base, calling up various House Republicans to put aside their feelings toward the plan and now Pelosi’s attack against them. There is nothing wrong with standing against this bailout on principle, it isn’t unpatriotic, especially when their supporters are calling them up and telling to the “kill the bill” (no surprise, after years of warning Congress about this, Republicans are angry, just look at Michelle Malkin’s page to see how the right feels about this), but many know they will have to take the hit and do what is needed for the country.

Now, returning to yesterday’s disaster, I am not giving Republicans a pass on this. I applaud the efforts of Gingrich, Boehner and McCain to do what they can to muster support, putting their credibility on the line to support an unpopular plan from an unpopular Treasury Secretary and an equally, if not more so, unpopular President, but it wasn’t enough. Following Pelosi’s speech, Republicans were painted into a corner. They were damned if they voted for it, being attacked for caving to pressure and only voting because they were pushed into it, and damned if they voted against it, being blamed by Democrats for putting “their feelings”, as Franks pointed out (he is like an overweight and uneducated teenager, saying what is popular, not true, to win points with the “cool” people), above the needs of the American people. They did what they believed was in their best interest after that, save their own credibility, follow through with the wishes of their supporters and crush this bailout plan.

Do I think it was wrong? Yes, but remember that ninety-five Democrats, including twelve (the magic number needed to pass this bill) from Frank’s own committee, a slew close to Pelosi, and just as many under the thumb of Obama voted no on this bailout plan. What is their excuse? They have none, and if Pelosi really wanted this passed, she would have brought them in, instead of letting them vote against it to gain political points with their anti-Bush, anti-McCain, anti-Republican supporters. That is the point I am making here, and call me biased or whatever, but I believe that the Democrats are playing politics at the expense of the economy.

UPDATE: The McCain campaign put out a new advertisement following the failure of the bill. I like the Bill Clinton reference and how the former President points the blame squarely at Democrats for blocking several attempts to reign in Fannie-Mae and Freddie-Mac. This is one of the few times I have agreed with Bill lately and I commend him for putting politics aside and “calling a spade a spade”. Let’s hope he continues down this path to bring common sense and the hard fasts to the American voters before they make a mistake this November.

UPDATE: Seems this post is drawing in many readers who haven’t been to my blog before. If you enjoy what you have read and want to read more, take a look at some of my past articles. It’s the economy STUPID tackles the popular fiction that President George Bush is to blame for all the economic trouble in America, McCain vs Obama ROUND ONE takes a fair more serious and balanced look at the first presidential debate then many in the MSM would allow, while Barack’s back-stabbing looks at the more popular case of those who have been turned on by Obama during his run for the White House.

UPDATE: Seems Barney Frank is getting what a little of what he deserves. Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly just tore him a new one on The Factor.