Bushed Economy

Yesterday, September 17, 2008:

Matthews Pushes Cantor On Bush’s Handling Of The Economy: ‘He’s Pulling One Of These Katrinas Again’

Ali, Think Progress:

In a contentious segment on “Hardball” tonight, host Chris Matthews accused Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) and his conservative allies of “taking off your uniforms,” pretending they’re not Republicans, and running against President Bush. “I’m not going to let anyone get away with that kind of foolery,” Matthews said. He asked Cantor at least five times whether he supported the job Bush is doing — and all five times Cantor refused to answer.

Noting that a “normal president” would be more visible during such a crisis, Matthews compared Bush’s response to the current financial turmoil to his handling of Hurricane Katrina:

[ 4:25 ]

Matthews was visibly frustrated, telling Cantor, “You have to take responsibility, sir, for the policies of this Administration that have gotten us into this mess. You can’t walk away and say, Oh we had nothing to do with this, can you? Say it if you want to. It’s your right.”

Matthews noted Cantor’s refusal to even mention the President: “You haven’t used the word Republican tonight, your party didn’t use it in the acceptance speech,” he said. [snip] “You’re trying to take off your uniforms and run from the field of political battle and claim you’re not Republicans.”

Fleischer: Bush is a liability for conservatives

Amanda, Think Progress:

Bloomberg writes, “There is an invisible man in the 2008 election: the president of the United States. Republican candidates have all but shunned him, save those who need him to help raise money.” Even former Bush spokesman, Ari Fleischer, admitted that the President’s presence would “hurt the party and hurt John McCain.”

McCain Flip-Flops On AIG Bailout In 24 Hours

Satyam, Think Progress:

Interviewed on NBC’s Today Show before the decision yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said that “we cannot have the taxpayers bail out AIG or anybody else”:

No, I do not believe that the American taxpayer should be on the hook for AIG and I’m glad that the Secretary Paulson has apparently taken the same line.

Interviewed on ABC this morning, however, McCain suggested that he supported the bail out:

I didn’t want to do that. And I don’t think anybody I know wanted to do that. But there are literally millions of people whose retirement, whose investment, whose insurance were at risk here. They were going to have their lives destroyed because of the greed and excess and corruption.

McCain’s change on AIG comes on the heels of economy-related flip flop. McCain told NBC yesterday, “Of course I don’t like excessive and unnecessary regulation.” But on CBS’s Early Show minutes later, McCain said, “Do I believe in excess government regulation? Yes.”