MikeForsythe 0 #51 September 25, 2008 QuoteTrue. He's used to voting "Yes" to all of Bush's proposals. Clearly those have worked well for us Actually McCain has voted with democrats 53% of the time where Obama has voted 13% of the time with Republicans. Clearly McCain has shown he tries to do what is right vs. what will get you earmarks and elected president. Once again McCain has shown that it is "Country First" and Obama has shown that it is "Obama" first.Time and pressure will always show you who a person really is! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jcd11235 0 #52 September 25, 2008 QuoteI disagree. It is still their job. Especially when every vote is needed to defeat or pass something. Agreed. Now go count how many Senate votes McCain has made since April. Why hasn't he been doing his job? QuoteEveryone is talking about how they should be able to multi-task... so let them do it! Campaign, and do their jobs when it's needed. Agreed. There's no reason to postpone the debate. Whoever is elected in November will have to be able to do more than one thing at a time as President. What if the Southeast gets ravished by hurricanes, the midwest torn up by tornadoes, California has an earthquake all in the same weekend? If McCain can't even prepare for a vote and a debate at the same time, how will he deal with multiple simultaneous crises? QuoteStunt or not, people are still bitching about people doing what they're supposed to do. Silly. That's not what people are bitching about.Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 1,651 #53 September 25, 2008 QuoteQuoteTrue. He's used to voting "Yes" to all of Bush's proposals. Clearly those have worked well for us Actually McCain has voted with democrats 53% of the time where Obama has voted 13% of the time with Republicans. Clearly McCain has shown he tries to do what is right vs. what will get you earmarks and elected president. Once again McCain has shown that it is "Country First" and Obama has shown that it is "Obama" first. Well, looking at where the GOP has taken us (unending war, high unemployment, housing crisis, financial crisis, record bankruptcies, record deficits, record debt) it seems that NOT voting with the GOP is a definite positive for either candidate. And I find it odd that McCain's voted with the Dems 53% of the time and not voted at all 64% of the time. List.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FreeflyChile 0 #54 September 25, 2008 QuoteDid anyone see Letterman last night? Yeah, I did. Letterman was PISSED. So McCain bails and who does Letterman bring in to replace him? Keith Olbermann. It was pretty hilarious. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trent 0 #55 September 25, 2008 QuoteAgreed. Now go count how many Senate votes McCain has made since April. Why hasn't he been doing his job? Because he hates babies maybe? That would be a good debate question. QuoteAgreed. There's no reason to postpone the debate. Whoever is elected in November will have to be able to do more than one thing at a time as President. What if the Southeast gets ravished by hurricanes, the midwest torn up by tornadoes, California has an earthquake all in the same weekend? If McCain can't even prepare for a vote and a debate at the same time, how will he deal with multiple simultaneous crises? This issue is a pretty important one. It's probably easier to reschedule a debate than it is to reschedule the government's business. I'd prefer both of them to be there until the shit is done. Obama's had plenty of chances to join McCain in debates and he declined (town halls). If people are going to call McCain chicken for this, then they'd better do the same for Obama. Who am I kidding though, he can do no wrong. I hardly think a debate ranks up there as AS IMPORTANT as a natural disaster.Oh, hello again! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shotgun 1 #56 September 25, 2008 QuoteAnd here is the real reason why: Update: CNN reports McCain wants the debate moved to Oct. 2 if there’s no bailout deal by Friday. The vice presidential debate scheduled for that date would be rescheduled. Now there's an idea. If McCain really thinks it's necessary to postpone his first debate with Obama, then they could simply move the VP debate to the 9/26 slot. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
klingeme 0 #57 September 25, 2008 QuoteQuoteMcCain is used to actually voting on things coming through congress, while Obama is used to voting "present". Very funny. McCain has missed 64% of the votes in the current Congress. List While he was campaigning...that is understandable, but he would like to come back for an important vote. Let's look historically.....what is the percentage for the total votes McCain has missed in his 150 years in congress to percentage of Obama in his 2 weeks. Pardon the slight exageration, but you get my point and I'd like to know the percentages. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AWL71 0 #58 September 25, 2008 QuoteQuoteAnd here is the real reason why: Update: CNN reports McCain wants the debate moved to Oct. 2 if there’s no bailout deal by Friday. The vice presidential debate scheduled for that date would be rescheduled. Now there's an idea. If McCain really thinks it's necessary to postpone his first debate with Obama, then they could simply move the VP debate to the 9/26 slot. The way debates are structured are so scripted. Here is what should happen. Both Obama and McCain should have be pulled out of bed at 3 AM in the morning with no warning and they should debate questions that they don't know are coming. Then we would see who knows what what.The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChasingBlueSky 0 #59 September 25, 2008 Quote If he were sincere, he'd have headed for DC days ago, not sometime the day before the debate. It's pretty obvious to anyone who actually looks. Indeed, lets look: Quote The debate on Friday was to focus on Mr. McCain’s perceived strength, foreign policy. Mr. McCain had not planned to devote large blocks of time to debate practice as did Mr. Obama, who was holing up with a tight circle of advisers at a hotel in Clearwater, Fla., on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to prepare. Mr. McCain had a preparatory session on Wednesday afternoon at the Morgan Library in Manhattan, but advisers said it had been interrupted by his decision, announced immediately afterward, to suspend his campaign. Quoteit was this past Sunday that McCain hinted on 60 Minutes that he would support the bailout -- "we have to stop the bleeding" -- only to express deep criticisms on Monday and then admit he hadn't even read the three-page proposal on Tuesday. "I have not had a chance to see it in writing," said the Senator. "I have to examine it." The move permeated with political opportunism: an attempt by McCain to grab the leadership mantle he did not own and divert attention from poll numbers that were plummeting. Indeed, on Wednesday morning a Washington Post-ABC poll had McCain trailing Obama 52 percent to 43 percent among likely voters. The internals were even worse: 54 percent of white voters with economic anxiety favored Obama. QuoteIt was, in fact, Obama who first proposed to form a unity front in addressing the issue, calling McCain at 8:30 in the morning to discuss the issuance of a joint statement. The call went unreturned for six hours. McCain's campaign would later claim he was huddling with economic advisers. But during that time he made a scheduled stop with Lady Lynn de Rothschild, a high society New York Democrat who recently endorsed his campaign. Rothschild did not return repeated request for comment. At 2:30 the two candidates finally connected and agreed on the idea of a co-authored declaration of principles. But by the time Obama got back to his hotel room, McCain had already declared his campaign's suspension. If the idea seemed impromptu, it surely wasn't. The website PolitickerCO posted talking points that aides to the Arizona Republican had sent to one another to help manage the candidate's newly stated position. And then, after McCain told late night host David Letterman that he could not make his scheduled appearance on his show because of urgency of the situation, he still managed to swing by CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, much to Letterman's dismay. That interview, a spokesperson for the station told the Huffington Post, had been arranged shortly after McCain had temporary halted his campaign - a curious move for a candidate who was asking his opposition to drop everything and get back to Washington with him. "Clearly there was news today," said a spokesperson for the station. "We asked for an interview and he said yes." In fact, the Senator is still scheduled to appear at Bill Clinton's Global Initiative event in New York on Thursday, before heading to D.C. In essence, at the same time McCain was warning of the danger of inaction, he himself was not moving with haste. And, McCain did speak at the CGI this morning at the same time both sides of Congress announced that they may have the deal complete by lunch, long before McCain's plane lands in DC. But the Republican's are trying to stall it until after the Obama/McCain meeting at 3pm at the White House to make it look like he had some impact on it._________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChasingBlueSky 0 #60 September 25, 2008 QuotePardon the slight exageration, but you get my point and I'd like to know the percentages. http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/ Have at it yourself and let us know the numbers_________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alw 0 #61 September 25, 2008 Quote And, McCain did speak at the CGI this morning at the same time both sides of Congress announced that they may have the deal complete by lunch, long before McCain's plane lands in DC. But the Republican's are trying to stall it until after the Obama/McCain meeting at 3pm at the White House to make it look like he had some impact on it. If you check your statements and timelines, both parties in the house and the senate were stating yesterday just prior to McCains announcement that they were working hard but had reached no concensus. Schumer had stated that it was going to take more time. Several republican congressmen were building steam saying that they did not like what was being discussed. Within 16 hours of McCains announcement Reid had reversed himself, Franks had pontificated, Bush had invited, Obama had refused then conceded to return to Washington, Pelosi had annonced that a bill would be on the floor tomorrow, and everyone was saying that McCain's decision will not effect the outcome. Anyone that suggests he has had no impact may want to restructure their argument. --------------------------------------------- Every day is a bonus - every night is an adventure. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,436 #62 September 25, 2008 >It's a smart move for McCain though, because it will probably fool a lot of >people into thinking, well, exactly what you just said. Overnight poll: SurveyUSA. 9/24. Adults. MoE 3.2% (No trend lines) The first debate between John McCain and Barack Obama is scheduled to take place in two days. Should the debate be held as scheduled? Should the debate be held, but the format changed to focus on the economy? Or, should the debate be postponed? Hold as scheduled 50 Hold with focus on economy 36 Postpone 10 Is the right response to the turmoil on Wall Street to suspend the campaigns for president? To continue the campaigns as though there is no crisis? Or, to re-focus the campaigns with a unique emphasis on the turmoil on Wall Street? Suspend 14 Continue 31 Refocus the campaign 48 If Friday's presidential debate does not take place, would that be good for America? Bad for America? Or would it make no difference? Good for America 14 Bad for America 46 No difference 35 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChasingBlueSky 0 #63 September 25, 2008 QuoteQuote And, McCain did speak at the CGI this morning at the same time both sides of Congress announced that they may have the deal complete by lunch, long before McCain's plane lands in DC. But the Republican's are trying to stall it until after the Obama/McCain meeting at 3pm at the White House to make it look like he had some impact on it. If you check your statements and timelines, both parties in the house and the senate were stating yesterday just prior to McCains announcement that they were working hard but had reached no concensus. Schumer had stated that it was going to take more time. Several republican congressmen were building steam saying that they did not like what was being discussed. Within 16 hours of McCains announcement Reid had reversed himself, Franks had pontificated, Bush had invited, Obama had refused then conceded to return to Washington, Pelosi had annonced that a bill would be on the floor tomorrow, and everyone was saying that McCain's decision will not effect the outcome. Anyone that suggests he has had no impact may want to restructure their argument. If you check your timeline, it was only Drudge and Fox that was reporting any real impasse mostly off of leaks from Paulson and Bernanke. Meanwhile everyone else reported that negotiations were still ongoing and they were not going to just pass it sight-unseen (hint:they learned their lessons from the Patriot Act). One of the biggest stumbling blocks was that Bernanke wanted the arbitrary $700B all upfront, a good portion of congress wanted to give some to stop the flooding then have additional investigation. You see, that $700B number isn't based on any evidence that much is needed. What's really happened is the GOP has given in to this and $150B will be given up front and then the review process will begin again. This is according to the AP/NYT, etc. Also, the Congress worked overnight (The House ordered Pizza and the Senate ordered in Thai) to rewrite the bailout plan. Meanwhile McCain sat in NYC. So ya, his little bit of grandstanding has done nothing. And Bush was already going to speak last night to push for more urgency on it before McCain all of a sudden realized the economy wasn't sound. Bottom line: McCain and the GOP saw their numbers slipping and that they were getting less face time on the media. Plus they knew that McCain had not prepared for the debate and they needed to find a way to stall the VP one as well. It was a very crude and very transparent move to anyone that cares to read the timelines. Oh ya, my timeline is backed up by sources from the AP, NYT, and WSJ._________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,436 #64 September 25, 2008 >Anyone that suggests he has had no impact . . . I hope he has no impact; he hasn't even the proposal as of 6am this morning. ============= ANCHOR: As for the massive Wall Street bailout McCain insists it have... JSM: Oversight that is effective and transparent. We need people like Warren Buffet and Mike Bloomberg and Mitt Romney to have an oversight of this. We can’t put that responsibility in the hands of one person. ANCHOR: The crunch question. Would you vote for it as it’s presently constructed? JSM: I have not had a chance to see it in writing so I have to examine that. ============== He's as entitled as any other Senator to push for a resolution of this - I just hope he reads it before he does that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChasingBlueSky 0 #65 September 25, 2008 This bit of leaked news just in: Quote sources close to Senate Democratic leadership now fear that McCain's true motivation for calling off his campaign and coming back to DC is simply to cast a "no" vote against the bailout, despite his private statements to the contrary. And it's a smart maneuver: nothing says "maverick," like voting against Bush and standing with the American public, who remain very wary of the proposal._________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jcd11235 0 #66 September 25, 2008 QuoteThis issue is a pretty important one. It's probably easier to reschedule a debate than it is to reschedule the government's business. And the debates are pretty important, as well. In fact, the Senate can carry on without McCain or Obama. (After all, why should McCain suddenly feel obligated to represent his state?) The presidential candidate debates, however, require the presence of both Obama and McCain. I think the people deserve to see all three debates, plus the VP candidate debate, as anticipated. QuoteI'd prefer both of them to be there until the shit is done. Obama's had plenty of chances to join McCain in debates and he declined (town halls). And they agreed on three debates, including one tomorrow. Now McCain is trying to offer up a reason to chicken out. If he can't carry out his responsibilities as Senator and presidential candidate, he should quit one of those roles. QuoteIf people are going to call McCain chicken for this, then they'd better do the same for Obama. Why? He's not the one trying to back out of the agreed upon debates. QuoteI hardly think a debate ranks up there as AS IMPORTANT as a natural disaster. Agreed. And if McCain doesn't have the ability to multitask now, why should the American people trust him in the Oval Office, where he'll have to juggle even more critical tasks?Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChasingBlueSky 0 #67 September 25, 2008 Somehow I think this will prompt McCain to show up: QuoteBarack Obama is committed to hosting a public, televised event Friday night in Mississippi even if John McCain does not show up, an official close to the Obama campaign tells the Huffington Post. In McCain's absence, the Senator is willing to make the scheduled debate a townhall meeting, a one-on-one interview with NewsHour's Jim Lehrer, or the combination of the two, the official said. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChasingBlueSky 0 #68 September 25, 2008 Oh look...it was so urgent to cancel yesterday that McCain wasn't in DC last night for the late night session. The deal was approved just as McCain was landing in DC._________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChasingBlueSky 0 #69 September 25, 2008 QuoteWASHINGTON (AP) - John McCain's campaign is welcoming news of an agreement in principle between congressional Republicans and Democrats on a bailout of the financial industry. But the Republican isn't yet ready to say he will attend the presidential candidates' first scheduled debate on Friday. McCain spokesman Brian Rogers says: "There's no deal until there's a deal." He says McCain is optimistic an agreement between Congress and the Bush administration will be completed but that the afternoon developments had not changed his plans not to debate. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy9o8 0 #70 September 25, 2008 QuoteOh look...it was so urgent to cancel yesterday that McCain wasn't in DC last night for the late night session. The deal was approved just as McCain was landing in DC. Don't be so cynical. It was the very approach of The Suspender's plane that gave them the backbone. You should be awed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChasingBlueSky 0 #71 September 25, 2008 Here's a thought-- McCain plans to pull classic Senate Kabuki, and vote against the bill once it's clear it will pass. You get Dem fingerprints and Bush's approval on a bailout bill, and McCain takes a "principled" stand against... something. Whatever. It doesn't really matter. He'll have weeks to talk about the kind of bill he would have passed, and to tear apart the real bill, which is bound to be a little nasty no matter what. He pivots against both Bush and Congress, and gets to grandstand a bit about handing taxpayer money to fat cats or whatever. If things keep going south, he gets to pin the blame somewhere else. "If only they had listened to me, my friends..." The debate stuff still looks silly, but if there is a bill that's going to pass, is there a downside for him to this approach?_________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
klingeme 0 #72 September 25, 2008 If he votes against it, and Obama obstains (as usual) he did absolutly do what he could to vote it down and Obama did nothing (as is par for the course with him in congress). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnnyD 0 #73 September 25, 2008 QuoteOh look...it was so urgent to cancel yesterday that McCain wasn't in DC last night for the late night session. The deal was approved just as McCain was landing in DC. Wasn't even there. How is that a suspension of anything? Now that an agreement has been reached before he even showed up, he still won't commit to the debate and still Palin is nowhere to be found. This really looks bad. In other news, the president didn't suspend anything during this crisis:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080925/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_mideast;_ylt=Audx971e4Hi1lzcBU0uiDHqs0NUE Not looking good. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChasingBlueSky 0 #74 September 25, 2008 QuoteIf he votes against it, and Obama obstains (as usual) he did absolutly do what he could to vote it down and Obama did nothing (as is par for the course with him in congress). what?_________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChasingBlueSky 0 #75 September 25, 2008 QuoteQuoteQuoteMcCain is used to actually voting on things coming through congress, while Obama is used to voting "present". Very funny. McCain has missed 64% of the votes in the current Congress. List While he was campaigning...that is understandable, but he would like to come back for an important vote. Let's look historically.....what is the percentage for the total votes McCain has missed in his 150 years in congress to percentage of Obama in his 2 weeks. Pardon the slight exageration, but you get my point and I'd like to know the percentages. Here ya go, turns out McCain is one of the worst Senators since 1993 on missing votes. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=300071&tab=votes_________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
