Gummed up bailout (Yeah!)

So John McCain's ego has (at least temporarily) gummed up the bailout.  He went to Washington to try to take credit for the agreement.  It appears that this threw a wrench into House Republican plans -- they'd planned to keep silent, vote against the bill and run against a "Bush-Pelosi bailout".  The democrats were damned if they would support an unpopular bill, get pilloried for it in close races, and not get credit for doing "the right" thing.

On the other hand, I don't like the bailout.  When Lehman Brothers' assets could be so quickly sold, when Warren Buffet invests in investment banking companies for the first time ever, when Citibank still keeps sending me low-interest rate offers and when JP Morgan can pick up Washington Mutual and keep running the bank without a break in service, I don't think things are as dire as they are made out to be.  The Wall Street banks' assets are mis-priced; they need to take losses.  Things are going to be tough until prices catch up to reality.  But that's what capitalism is about.

If John McCain meant to go to Washington to put the kibosh on the bailout, I have to rethink my position on this election.  Unfortunately, McCain had not even read the Paulson proposal (even I read its full 3 pages and it was just curiosity on my part) and at the meeting in Washington with the president, Obama and congressional leaders, he had nothing to say.  So, I think this was just McCain being hotheaded and tactical.  No great strategy on his part.  I could be convinced otherwise, though.

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