What's Up With the Bailout?

Who knows? I've been reading almost every article I've come across and things are still a little fuzzy:

What's going on in Congress? On Monday, there was a tangible fear that a Congress pressured by Bush, Cheney, Treasury Secretary Henry "Hank" Paulson, Fed Chief Ben Bernanke, and SEC Chairman Christopher Cox would hurry up and pass a bill without holding hearings or bothering to think about granting broad new powers to the Treasury Department and expanding next year's deficit to $1 trillion. Newt Gingrich complained that conservative voices were "silent or confused" because this fiscally irresponsible, socialist (We are basically nationalizing the financial industry here.) plan was proposed by Republican leadership.

On Tuesday, Congress woke up. Bernanke, Paulson, and Cox testified before the Senate Banking Committee. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) asked if $150 billion would be enough for now with a promise of more to come later if needed; Paulson said that would be a "grave mistake." However, compromises were made. Paulson agreed to assistance for homeowners facing foreclosure, limits on compensation for participating firms' executives, and congressional oversight of the program. He balked at the idea that the government should receive stock for helping these companies so the taxpayers could recoup their investment, saying that companies would be less likely to participate if this stipulation was made. (Never mind that that was part of the deal with the savings and loan scandal in the '80s.)

The consensus seems to be that Congress will pass a bill, just one significantly different from Paulson's original proposal.

What's happening on Wall Street?

It seems like nobody knows what's happening. On Friday, the Dow rose nearly 369 points on news that a bailout plan was being suggested. On Monday, it fell 372 points supposedly because investors had a weekend to examine the plan and did not like the lack of details. On Tuesday, it fell an additional 161 points supposedly because investors did not like the details Congress was considering. (Today, it remained relatively stable, losing only 29 points.)

How is it affecting the race for president? Hoo boy. A mere yesterday, both Obama and McCain trod softly, reluctant to make the first move. Neither had given any word about how the expensive deal would affect campaign promises. But it was clear that the bailout was becoming increasingly unpopular; by Monday night, 44% opposed the plan compared to 25% supporting. It was less clear, but the economic mess seemed to help Obama in the polls; a WaPo-ABC poll showed Obama with the first statistically significant lead in the general campaign. (Both campaigns found it hard to believe that Obama could gain 11 points on McCain in one week.)

Yesterday night, Obama said the bailout would likely delay implementing his campaign proposals as president.

And if they were reluctant to make the gambit 27 hours ago, the chess pieces are flying tonight. (Perhaps you'd prefer a poker metaphor?) First, McCain said he'd suspend his campaign tomorrow and fly back to Washington. He also asked that Friday's debate be postponed. The two campaigns agreed to issue a "joint statement outlining their shared principles," which turned out not to say much. But Obama said he'd still want to hold the debate:

With respect to the debates, it's my belief that this is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person who in 40 days will be responsible for dealing with this mess. . . . In my mind, actually it's more important than ever that we present ourselves to the American people.

Are these gimmicks? Probably. But the issue could fundamentally alter the presidential race.

Sarah Palin at the RNC

Last night at the Republican National Convention, Alaska governor Sarah Palin gave her acceptance speech for the GOP's Vice Presidential nomination. The full speech is as follows below:



While Sarah Palin's speech appeared well-received at the convention, the GOP seems to have quite the lesson to learn about honesty. They'll have to learn this lesson, especially since bringing in Palin and touting her as better than Washington politics. Below is an article from the Associated Press that fact-checked Palin and others' speeches last night. Enjoy.

Attacks, praise stretch truth at GOP convention

By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer Wed Sep 3, 11:48 PM ET

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth.

Some examples:

PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."

PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate."

THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.

PALIN: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars."

THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama's plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain's plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded.

Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families.

He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.

MCCAIN: "She's been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply ... She's responsible for 20 percent of the nation's energy supply. I'm entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America," he said in an interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson.

THE FACTS: McCain's phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she's no more "responsible" for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state — by population.

MCCAIN: "She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard. ... She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities," he said on ABC.

THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska's national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations.

FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."

THE FACTS: A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.

FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOV. MITT ROMNEY: "We need change, all right — change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington — throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin."

THE FACTS: A Back-to-the-Future moment. George W. Bush, a conservative Republican, has been president for nearly eight years. And until last year, Republicans controlled Congress. Only since January 2007 have Democrats have been in charge of the House and Senate.

Associated Press Writer Jim Drinkard in Washington contributed to this report.

And now once again, Jon Stewart and The Daily Show weigh in on the RNC with incredible insight. Enjoy the following clip.