Sep 20th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
McCain and Regulation
Atrios writes that “Aside from his brief flirtation with campaign finance reform, McCain has never shown any interest in regulation of any kind.”
That doesn’t seem quite right to me. For a period of time, for example, McCain wanted to ban mixed martial arts competitions. Similarly, his flirtation with campaign finance reform wasn’t so much brief as it was focused on an extremely narrow issue — a desire to ban a particular form of campaign contribution, rather than advance any coherent goals. McCain’s recent turn against a particular form of short selling strikes me as in keeping with that record; he likes to identify a “bad guy,” and then ban it rather than looking at systemic issues.
24 Responses to “McCain and Regulation”
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September 20th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
And McCain is now doing everything he can to find loop holes in is own reforms.
Now, as Mr. McCain makes his final sprint for the White House, Mr. Potter is again helping Mr. McCain, but this time by maneuvering to wring the maximum out of campaign finance laws in ways that some contend are at odds with the spirit of the reforms they championed.
September 20th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
“Systemic issues”? Are you suggesting that policy decisions should be driven by some kind of utilitarian calculus, where we look at overall costs and benefits to society, instead of identifying heroes and scapegoats?
Matt, Matt, Matt. Don’t be naive. There’s a plank in the Republican platform explicitly forbidding that kind of nonsense.
September 20th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
In November 2005, McCain and former pitcher Jim Bunning introduced a bill called “The Integrity in Professional Sports Act” that would have imposed an Olympic-like antidoping program on professional athletes.
September 20th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
McCain isn’t intelligent enough to do anything more. It’s a fighter pilot’s mentality: acquire target, shoot, kill. He isn’t capable of more.
September 20th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Why We Cannot Trust McCain, Says One Thing and Votes The Opposite! When you hear McCain talk, think Wizard of Oz.
http://www.salon.com/env/feature/2008/09/20/john_mccain_environment/?source=newsletter
September 20th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
The big issue is WHO is going to pay the price for George Bush and John McCain’s past irresponsibility. Over on Kos, I posted an argument that the Superrich should be assessed $2 Trillion by an income Surtax:
—————-
1) As he heads out the door, George Bush is tossing a $2 Trillion gift to superrich Republican donors –the bailout of the financial sector.
2) Democrats should therefore impose a $2 Trillion “George W Bush Income Surtax” on the Superrich to pay for the Bailout.
3) The grassroots Democrats should let our Members of Congress and the Democratic Leadership know that we will vote en masse for Ralph Nader if the Democratic Congress does not impose the surtax – i.e, if it lets George W Bush dump the $2 Trillion cost of the bailout onto us.
4) Looking back over the past 8 years, it is amazing how Democratic members of Congress have allowed themselves to be rolled –even though they have had a near majority in the Senate for much of the time.
5) A $2 Trillion tax cut for the superrich – much of which went to create jobs in China, not in the USA. $1 Trillion for an unnecessary war in Iraq to grab oil deposits for Houston –and the eventual costs will be higher.
6) Hundreds of $Billions per year for military spending –more than the rest of the world combined. Over 8 years, $Trillions for “defense” even though most of the other major military powers are our NATO allies. Military spending needed to support a global empire in which the profits flow to the superrich few while the staggering costs –in blood and money –are dumped off onto the common citizen.
7) Obviously, the $5 Trillion federal Surplus George W Bush promised us in the 2000 campaign has disappeared – instead we have a debt that is $4 Trillion more than what
he projected in his 2001 budget statement. George has avoided popular outrage by slowly stealing roughly $3 Trillion from our Social Security /Medicare accounts. We paid the money in – he took it and spent it. He left $3 Trillion in Treasury bonds –which are NOT “assets”. They are debts that We are on the hook to pay. A total of $10 Trillion in debt –not counting the financial Bailout.
almost certain.
9) Given the above, why let George W bail out his Superrich buddies from their casino game on Wall Street? If a $2 Trillion bailout is necessary , then make the irresponsible people who caused this mess pay for it. Make them pay for the incompetence of the puppet They put in the White House.
10) The Democratic Congress should refuse to allow the Bailout until it is paid for by imposing an income surtax on the 3 percent richest part of the population. A surtax which will raise $2 Trillion over the next 4 years.
11) We, the grassroots Democrats, should let our Members of Congress and the Democratic Leadership know that we will vote en masse for Ralph Nader if the Democratic Congress does not impose the surtax – because it will thereby be dumping
the $2 Trillion cost of the Bush bailout onto us.
September 20th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
That doesn’t seem quite right to me. For a period of time, for example, McCain wanted to ban mixed martial arts competitions.
Maybe because the boxing community perceived it as a threat(He is a huge boxing fan after all).
September 20th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
WHat amused me is some posters on DailyKos started arguing that the Superrich didn’t have enough money to pay — a Republican talking point. Whereupon I gave them the response below –pointing out to them that if you don’t know who the sucker is in a poker game, then it most likely is you:
————
“Some comments here puzzle me. They say the Superrich can’t afford a surfax to pay for the Bailout. If not, then why let Bush spend?
We already have $10 Trillion in debt — $8 Trillion imposed on us by the personal signatures of the last three Republican Presidents.
Who do you think is on the hook to pay off that debt?
How many hundreds of $Billions of your taxes go just
to pay the interest on that to Superrich bond holders every year?
There are only about 65 million taxpayers who even make enough income to pay more taxes. Divide that $10 Trillion up among them and you get $154,000 per taxpayer. Are you prepared to pay your share?
And now you want to let Bush dump ANOTHER $2 Trillion on top of us — just to bail out some wealthy investors? If the Superrich can’t afford to pay for the Financial Bailout, then why let Bush dump the cost onto us?
This shows the evil of the Republicans — their two-faced DECEIT. They rant about “Tax and Spend Democrats ” — but their massive “Borrow and Spend” is turning us into slaves. But no one will feel the pain until it is too late.”
September 20th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
McCain also wanted to ban Shiiite and Sunni from fighting each other by sitting them down and telling them to stop the bullshit.
September 20th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Don: “it is amazing how Democratic members of Congress have allowed themselves to be rolled –even though they have had a near majority in the Senate for much of the time.”
That’s because they’re owned by the same superrich as the Republican Congress members.
This is no surprise. And it won’t change under Obama, either.
By the way, banning mixed martial arts over boxing is stupid. Far fewer people die or go brain dead in mixed martial arts because they don’t pound each other in the head for fight after fight. And there’s been far more mob activity over boxing than MMA. Once again, obviously McCain is for whoever is bribing him more money which is almost certainly the boxing industry and the Mob.
September 21st, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Matthew,
This seems like a good time to ask your opinion of this Post editorial from September 19, which claims McCain was somewhat prescient on Fannie and Freddie and has supported some financial and corporate regulation for some time.
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