Despite being barraged by partisan attacks from Barack Obama and his willing accomplices in the media, John McCain re-engaged early yesterday. McCain spoke with President Bush about measures that could assist in stabilizing market volatility while Congress is out of session for the Rosh Hashanah holiday. In a statement on Fox & Friends early yesterday morning, McCain said, “I have talked to the President this morning and recommended an increase from $100,000 to $250,000 FDIC insurance on deposits.”
Obama released a statement in favor of the measure: “That is why today, I am proposing that we also raise the FDIC limit to $250,000 as part of the economic rescue package - a step that would boost small businesses, make our banking system more secure, and help restore public confidence in our financial system."
House Republican leader John Boehner thanked both McCain and Obama for backing the Republican proposal to increase the FDIC cap. “The presidential candidates’ support for increasing the FDIC cap is welcome news. Increasing the FDIC cap is a proposal put on the table by Roy Blunt and House Republicans but ruled out by Democrats during the negotiations that led to yesterday’s unsuccessful vote,” Boehner said in a written statement.
Later in the day, as the SEC announced it was relaxing rules on mark-to-market accounting (which forces lenders to place a market value on even hard to value assets), the McCain-Palin campaign released this statement: “John McCain is pleased to see that the SEC has finally decided to permit alternative accounting methods to mark-to-market accounting for securities where no active market exists. There is serious concern that these accounting rules are worsening the credit crunch, making it difficult for small businesses to stay afloat and squeezing family budgets.”
Palin Still Prepping
Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin is spending time preparing for her first debate of this election Thursday night against her opponent Joe Biden. This will likely be the most-watched vice-presidential debate in history. Pop the popcorn and set your DVRs. Given Biden’s propensity for huge gaffes under pressure, you may want to keep this one for posterity.
Camp Obambi
Obama campaign advisors Jim Johnson and Franklin Raines, the personal recipients of tens of millions of dollars over their short tenures as CEOs of Fannie Mae, have much more to worry about now than the outcome of the presidential election. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York subpoenaed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Monday for documents related to their accounting practices.
In more news of Obama campaign advisor Raines, shocking C-SPAN footage has surfaced on YouTube.com from a 2004 Congressional hearing investigating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac accounting practices. House Democrats on camera and in their own words badger, berate and even smear as racists those questioning the accounting practices of then Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines. The stunning video of footage from this hearing is eight minutes thirty-seven seconds in length.
A new McCain-Palin television ad was released today titled “Rein” which highlights John McCain’s attempts to rein in Fannie and Freddie.
Happy Energy Freedom Day
On a final note, Happy Energy Freedom Day! The decades-long bans on offshore and oil shale drilling expired at midnight last night, a huge victory for House Republicans who spent the summer battling for more drilling in the darkened House chamber. Congratulations!
