Job One

by digby

It ain’t done yet:

A spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, cautions that House Republicans have not signed on to anything.

Spokesman Kevin Smith said this includes Rep. Spencer Bachus, the ranking Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, who spoke to the press after this morning’s negotiation over the Wall Street bailout bill.

[…]

Bachus was the only House Republican at the meeting. Three Senate Republicans were in attendance. Asked if his boss had signed on to the plan, Bachus’s spokesman said “this is above my pay grade” and referred a reporter to the House Financial Service Committee staff.

Boehner issued a statement this afternoon saying, “I am encouraged by the bipartisan progress being made toward an economic package that protects the interests of families, seniors, small businesses, and all taxpayers. However, House Republicans have not agreed to any plan at this point. We owe it to all those with a stake in this process to continue our discussions until we arrive at an agreement that is acceptable on both sides of the aisle – and more importantly, one that serves the interests of American taxpayers. With that in mind, I look forward to joining my colleagues, President Bush, Sen. McCain, and Sen. Obama at the White House later today to take the next critical steps on a rescue package.”

Two possibilities here. First, that House Republicans are going to let McCain “convince them” that they must sign on to the bailout, thus showing the country that he’s toppermost of the bipartisanmost, who will work with the Democrats and knock his own troops in line for the good of the country. Say jalapeno!

Or, they are giving cover to McCain to vote no on the basis of fiscal conservatism and anti-Big Gummint principles.

There is some basis for them thinking they can get away with it. This is from the WSJ/ NBC poll:

While McCain trails Obama on the issue of the economy, he appears to have tapped into the anger voters feel on this topic.

Asked to pick between two these two statements below, a whopping 67 percent said they preferred the latter:

* End President Bush’s policies and have more oversight over government institutions
* Clean up Washington and take on waste and fraud

That second statement, in fact, is very similar to what McCain routinely says now on the campaign trail. “I’ll tell you whose fault it is — corruption in Washington and corruption on Wall Street,” he said in Michigan last week. “And as president, I am going to clean it up, and I am going to fix it and return you back to the strength of our economy which you have earned and deserve.”

In another article, Peter Hart calls McCain the “Howard Beale of this election.” Geez..

Certainly, voters still think the Democrats and Obama are better able to deal with the economy, but the protests we are seeing sprout up around the country may actually end up aiding McCain’s cause.

At this point, I just have to cling to the idea that Democrats understand that the single worst thing they can do for the health of the economy is to allow John McCain to become the next president (and then very likely shortly thereafter, Sarah Palin!) If you want to see a worldwide economic catastrophe handled like Katrina, wait until Phil Graham gets a hold of it.

Winning the election is job number one.

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