Democrats’ Idea Of Bipartisanship Is HARD CORE Partisanship

We are in the worse financial crisis since the Great Depression, and Democratic leadership is playing the same hard core ideological political games that got us into this mess to begin with.  You’ve heard the phrase, “fighting like rats on a sinking ship”?  Well, the Democrats are the rats in this story (which really isn’t much of a metaphor).

First you have the fact that House Republicans were largely excluded from the negotiating process.  And then, surprise: they weren’t happy about it.

Then we have Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid calling upon John McCain to become directly involved in the negotiation process – only to viciously attack him when he actually tried to become directly involved.  A whole bunch of Democrats then dove onto the pile, falsely claiming that a bipartisan deal had been struck when none actually had, and that McCain had thrown a monkey wrench into it – even though he had said very little at the explosive and divisive meeting which Democrats had Obama chair.  Democrats – in an obvious act of presidential politics – were out claiming that John McCain was playing “presidential politics.”

Then we get to look at the actual bill that the Democrats have been working on – and expect Republicans to agree to – only to find that it is a clear pork-laden giveaway to traditional Democratic allies such as ACORN, Big Labor, and the trial lawyer lobby.  ACORN has been involved in more cases of documented voter fraud than any organization in history; yet STILL receives federal money thanks to Democrats’ efforts.

And, of course, when Democrats came back this morning for more “bipartisan” negotiations, the two Republicans were shocked to find not two Democrats joining them, but NINE:

Pelosi made her remarks as the negotiators streamed into her office, and that group is much bigger than expected; instead of just the four principals, a number of other prominent Democrats, including Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel (N.Y.), Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (Mont.), Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad (N.D.) and New York Sen. Chuck Schumer also entered the meeting.

This leaves House Minority Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri and New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg severely outnumbered as the only Republicans in the room. Oh yeah, and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. But he’s been at loggerheads with the House GOP for the last week, so he they might not be singing from the same songbook on this one.

The ship is sinking, and Democrats are determined to cynically use every ideological play in their playbook, apparently counting upon a biased media and an ignorant population to set up their next play.

And what is their next play?  When the Republicans refuse to accept the crap the Democrats are trying to feed them, Democrats will flood the airwaves to proclaim that Republicans are refusing to play ball and stave off a meltdown.

Democrat Bailout Package: 20% Would Go To Partisan And Corrupt Fund

As Democrats and their media lackeys create a fictional narrative of an agreed-upon bailout deal gone bad because John McCain came into town, it is important to look at why this package has REALLY failed.  In short, the answer is an acronym: A.C.O.R.N.

Ed Morrissey has the story:

House Republicans refused to support the Henry Paulson/Chris Dodd compromise bailout plan yesterday afternoon, even after the New York Times reported that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson got down on one knee to beg Nancy Pelosi to compromise.  One of the sticking points, as Senator Lindsey Graham explained later, wasn’t a lack of begging but a poison pill that would push 20% of all profits from the bailout into the Housing Trust Fund — a boondoggle that Democrats in Congress has used to fund political-action groups like ACORN and the National Council of La Raza:

Morrissey then provides the relevant portion of the Senate Democrat proposa which Democrats claim that the Republicans ‘agreed to’:

TRANSFER OF A PERCENTAGE OF PROFITS.

1. DEPOSITS.Not less than 20 percent of any profit realized on the sale of each troubled asset purchased under this Act shall be deposited as provided in paragraph (2).
2. USE OF DEPOSITS.Of the amount referred to in paragraph (1)
   1. 65 percent shall be deposited into the Housing Trust Fund established under section 1338 of the Federal Housing Enterprises Regulatory Reform Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4568); and
   2. 35 percent shall be deposited into the Capital Magnet Fund established under section 1339 of that Act (12 U.S.C. 4569).

REMAINDER DEPOSITED IN THE TREASURY.All amounts remaining after payments under paragraph (1) shall be paid into the General Fund of the Treasury for reduction of the public debt.

Of this clearly poison pill, Morrissey goes on to say:

Profits? We’ll be lucky not to take a bath on the purchase of these toxic assets. If we get 70 cents on the dollar, that would be a success.

That being said, this section proves that the Democrats in Congress have learned nothing from this financial collapse.  They still want to game the market to pick winners and losers by funding programs for unqualified and marginally-qualified borrowers to buy houses they may not be able to afford — and that’s the innocent explanation for this clause.

The real purpose of section D is to send more funds to La Raza and ACORN through housing welfare, via the slush fund of the HTF.  They want to float their political efforts on behalf of Democrats with public money, which was always the purpose behind the HTF.  They did the same thing in April in the first bailout bill, setting aside $100 million in “counseling” that went in large part to ACORN and La Raza, and at least in the former case, providing taxpayer funding for a group facing criminal charges in more than a dozen states for fraud.

It’s bad enough that taxpayers have to pay the price for Congress’ decade-long distortions of the lending and investment markets.  If we realize a profit from the bailout, that money should go to pay down the debt or get returned to taxpayers as dividends from their investment — not to organizations committing voter fraud, and not to restarting the entire cycle of government meddling in lending markets.  I’d support a rational bailout package, but anything that funds the HTF needs to get stopped.

The American people need to become aware that the Democratic leadership are liars without shame.  They literally closed the House Republicans out of the loop in participating in the proposal that they then falsely claim the Republicans agreed to.  They make a full fifth of the total bailout package dedicated to a fund that has historically been a naked partisan tool that has participated in outright pro-Democratic voter fraud.  They claim that John McCain has not done enough to bring about an agreement on the bailout package, and then attack him the moment he shoes up to devote himself to helping come to an agreement.  And they engage in naked “Presidential politics” even as they claim that John McCain’s participation was an act of “Presidential politics.”

In chapter 10 of His Mein Kampf, Hitler wrote:

In this they proceeded on the sound principle that the magnitude of a lie always contains a certain factor of credibility, since the great masses of the people in the very bottom of their hearts tend to be corrupted rather than consciously and purposely evil, and that, therefore, in view of the primitive simplicity of their minds, they more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a little one, since they themselves lie in little things, but would be ashamed of lies that were too big. Such a falsehood will never enter their heads, and they will not be able to believe in the possibility of such monstrous effrontery and infamous misrepresentation in others; yes, even when enlightened on the subject, they will long doubt and waver and continue to accept at least one of these causes as true. Therefore, something of even the most insolent lie will always remain and stick — a fact which all the great lie-virtuosi and lying-clubs in the world know only too well and also make the most treacherous use of.

Hitler claimed that it was the Jews that employed the strategy of “the big lie.”  But the clear verdict of history is that it was he who did so.  And it was he who named Joseph Goebbels as his “Minister of Propaganda.”  It was the accuser who was the biggest liar of all.  Just like what the Democrats are doing now in their attacks.

Sadly, this is where the United States of America is today.  We are at a point where a major political party can use the strategy of “the big lie” to advance their political position.  And we are to a point where a liberal-dominated media will do everything it can to publish and perpetuate the big lie to the American people.

Headline: “McCain Has Stunning Comeback In Thursday’s Gallup Poll”

John McCain’s decision to put the country first and his campaign second seems to have resonated with voters:

McCain has stunning comeback in Thursday’s Gallup Poll

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

After John McCain‘s bold decision to suspend his campaign, he has stunningly erased a three-point lead and now is tied with Barack Obama at 46-46 in Thursday’s Gallup Poll.

The poll included interviews taken on Wednesday — when McCain said he would fly to Washington to work on the bailout bill, suspend his presidential quest and possibly not appear at Friday’s scheduled debate.

Those were bold decisions, and maybe Americans appreciated them.

On the other hand, the Gallup pollsters point out that McCain has been gaining on Obama for days. And interviews on Wednesday did not show any dramatic shift to McCain simply because of his campaign-related decisions.

All in all, this has been a great week for McCain in the polls. He has gained on Obama every day, despite the fact that Americans supposedly see Obama as being a better leader when it comes to the nation’s economic problems.

Obama is not appearing presidential to enough Americans in this time of financial crisis.

Democrats have come out today in an almost hysterical frenzy to blame John McCain as the cause for a frankly fictional agreement that both sides had agreed to falling apart.  Harry Reid, Charles Schumer, and other Democrats are making false claim after false claim.  They are cynically inserting “presidential politics” into the finance crisis deal by attacking John McCain in order to try to win a presidential election, even as they hypocritically claim that John McCain is the one who is using “Presidential politics.”

Debate Back On: Democrats Ambush McCain With ‘Presidential Politics’

John McCain suspended his campaign to return to Washington to help achieve a deal to resolve the financial crisis.  Harry Reid immediately objected to McCain’s involvement:

“It would not be helpful at this time to have them come back during these negotiations and risk injecting presidential politics into this process or distract important talks about the future of our nation’s economy. If that changes, we will call upon them. We need leadership; not a campaign photo op.”

But it is amazing how Reid unashamedly contradicts himself merely to place plame and score cheap political points.  As noted by the Politico, Harry Reid had earlier said:

“I should mention how glad my fellow Democrats and I were to have our nominee for president here to vote on these important bills. Senator Obama has come to work and taken tough stands. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Senator McCain,” Reid said. “Perhaps taking tough stands on important issues is not part of Senator McCain’s campaign strategy. Perhaps he’s just too busy on the campaign trail to do his day job.”

And only the day before McCain announced he was suspending his campaign to help attain a deal, Harry Reid had this:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is watching Republicans in both chambers, one after another, criticize the Wall Street bailout, but he says he’s not going to let them off the hook by passing the bill and letting the GOP cast soft “no” votes against the plan.

“This is a Republican proposal, and we need some Republican votes,” to help it pass. “At this stage we [Democrats] are working with ourselves.”

Reid went on to say in the same statement:

“We now need Republicans to stand up,” Reid said. “We need the Republican nominee for president to say what he’s for.”

Now, given Reid’s documented pandering, lying, hypocrisy, and political gamesmanship, it should be little wonder that Harry Reid would come out and say this:

“John McCain did nothing to help. He only hurt the process.”

And:

“Senate Democrats, House Democrats, and Senate Republicans agree those principles laid out by Senator Obama are the ones that must be implanted with regards to the issue, what’s called the ‘principles of fairness.’ … The insertion of presidential politics has not been helpful. It’s been harmful … A few days ago I called on Senator McCain to take a stand, let us know where he stands on this issue … But all he has done is stand in front of the cameras. We still don’t know where he stands on the issue.”

Charles Schumer was among the many Democrats jumping on the hard-core partisan Democratic bandwagon:

Schumer also requested that Bush get the his House Republicans in line. “We need President Bush to take leadership. We need President Bush, first and foremost, to get the Republican House members to support his plan or modify it in some way to bring them on board,” he said.

He added, “When you inject presidential politics into some of the most difficult negotiations under normal circumstances, it is fraught with difficulty. Before McCain made his announcement, we were making great progress. Now after his announcement, we are behind the 8 ball. We have to put things back together again.”

But first of all, can you not see that these tactics themselves are nothing more than naked presidential politics?  Reid and Schumer and all the other Democrats stuffing this “presidential politics” talking point are engaging in presidential politics themselves.   They are cynically and despicably putting presidential politics ahead of the nation’s vital business.

Harry Reid and Charles Schumer deceitfully and disengenuously claimed that a deal was on the table before John McCain arrived, and McCain had ruined it.  As Reid claimed:

“We had [Republican] Senator [Bob] Bennett, a high ranking official, who said these are the principles,” Reid said of the early potential compromise on the $700 billion package. “And then, guess who came to town? And it all fell apart.”

But that isn’t even close to being true; House Republicans had not been allowed to take part in the discussion (which you can even see by way of Reid’s omission of House Republicans above).

House Republicans are balking at horrible elements of this deal, such as giving billions of dollars to the control of voter-fraud organization ACORN.  That was came out in the Senate Republican meeting.

Sen Lindsey Graham: ‘There was never any agreement on a bailout bill – Dems lied’ (Dems want money to go to ACORN – Updated):

Lindsay Graham on Fox Now. Says there was never any agreement on bailout bill between dems and Repubs. Best nugget: Dems have inserted provision into their bill to give several billion (with a “b”) dollars to ACORN. ACORN is probably the most corrupt organized crime organization involved in voting fraud and intimidation.

There is no bill. Rep. Barney Frank was on MSNBC wailing about Repub treachery and bad-mouting all the Repubs who met today with Bush. Chris Dodd said, “I’m going home” and walked out.

My sense is that the Dems tried to bully McCain into supporting the Dem bill. When he refused, they had a tantrum.

House Republicans want to slow this down so that a bailout that is currently opposed by nearly 2/3 of Americans won’t be packed with wasteful and fraudulent spending that lines the pockets of people who don’t deserve the money, while failing to fix the crisis.

There is certainly no reason for John McCain NOT to go ahead with the debates.  When Democrats like Harry Reid repeatedly blast McCain for being THE problem – and for just just wanting to get in front of cameras (which is frankly weird, considering the fact that it’s been Harry Reid and NOT John McCain in front of all the cameras) –  there is little John McCain can do.  When Harry Reid’s are out literally hysterically attacking Republicans in the most politically partisan and demagogic way imaginable, McCain is wise to remove himself.

So go debate, John.  I’m hoping you can clean Obama’s clock tonight, and then return to Washington to help deal with this impending financial meltdown.