Is it possible that the failure of the financial bailout deal occurred late yesterday because a certain "renegade" block of Republicans understood that Senator McCain would not be able to take credit for a deal that had already been mostly worked out before he traveled to D.C.? So they had to make it fall apart and then allow him to serve as the alleged catalyst for a new deal? I don't like thinking of McCain that way, but how else could he plausibly take credit for saving the day given the current circumstances?
A less nefarious interpretation would be that some Republicans are understandably nervous about the bailout because it isn't going down well with Main Streeters, and of course they stand to lose their seats in just under six weeks if they get tagged for the unpopular measure. That fear could account for their resistance to a smooth, quick deal, quite aside from any McCain-inspired shenanigans one might suspect. Or both factors could be at play here. What say you?
Bloggingdino, maybe both scenarios as you presented. On one hand, there is the headline-grabbing maverick posturing for publicity to rescue a flagging campaign. On the other hand, there are conservative Republicans (and their lobbyists in the banking sector) adamantly opposed to any bailout that smacks of government intervention. A confluence of these interests certainly explains the current impasse.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we are also hearing the last squeals of a fatally stuck pig ... the end of Reaganomics and the demise of trickle-down ... both thoroughly discredited by recent events.
Reaganomics is dead, long live the Republic. Meanwhile, citizens are watching their pensions and retirement accounts disappear while the last squeals fill the halls of Congress. Most regrettable.
Sounds about right -- yes, I remember "Reaganomics" well; it's very much an unmediated return to classical economic theory, in spite of all that has happened since Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations. I would agree that we are in a cycle now that entails rejection of its major tenets.
ReplyDelete