His campaign has turned into a bad joke.

Gawd.

Also, I think I heard McCain say this morning, I hope someone recorded it, that the “Mariana Hotel” was bombed in Pakistan, instead of Marriott.

Maybe I misheard.

McCain’s campaign consists of:

Here, read this.

Forget the parachutes, McCain’s a navy man.

Man the lifeboats!

(He’s upset by the question because he thought he threw Fiorina overboard last week.)

John McCane knows nothing. He doesn’t know that Fiorina did a lousy job. He doesn’t know what her compensation package was. But that’s only what he didn’t know yesterday. Every day there’s a list of new things he didn’t know.

what the Senator meant was…………..

McAsshole

Today’s oil price jump was classic short squeeze covering on contract that expired today. Nov contract that starts tomorrow somewhere around $109.

“I think she did a good job as CEO in many respects.

“Close enough”! “Pay the lady!”

Well, she DID work for a computer company, right — I mean, McCain can’t be bothered to know anything about computers…

I see. Thanks.

I think she did a good job

Not that job, Johnny! We’re talking about her day job here.

Nope. Not computers. Just Blackberries.

She did so well, they fired her and lost 20,000 employees.

McCain’s campaign consists of:

Here, read this.

heh. Just caught a clip of McGramps giving *reading* a speech a minute ago on my teevee.

My favorite one remains the one he gave one night last week (forget the topic) where his index cards were so terribly incensed.

No index cards at the debates, right?

just a quick drive-by for anyone near boston tomorrow:

ACORN and MAAPL Pickets Federal Reserve:

Bail Out Main Street, Not Just Wall Street; Don’t Foreclose on Victims

In Boston, on Sept. 23, ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) and Mass Alliance Against Predatory Lending will picket Federal Reserve Banks to protest the failure of the Bush administration and Chairman Ben Bernanke to include lifelines for American homeowners facing foreclosures in its big bank bailout bill.

Massachusetts ACORN and MAAPL along with allies will join forces on

Tuesday the 23rd of September
From 12:pm to 1:30pm
Join us for protest in front of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
600 Atlantic Ave Boston, Ma. 02210

His campaign has turned into a bad joke.

hilarity ensues…

in a conference call this morning, Rick Davis says he only led the Lobbying Group, he didn’t do any actual lobbying

and did everyone see this in that NYT article this am

Money . . .

quote from the former Fannie Mae spokesman who notes that Davis “didn’t really do anything” for the money. “The value that he brought to the relationship was the closeness to Senator McCain and the possibility that Senator McCain was going to run for president again.”

whoopsie !

Every day there’s a list of new things he didn’t know.

Not to mention each day’s list of things he knew yesterday, but has forgotten today.

Sorry to go all OT on you, BT, but this is killing me -
is everyone calling their senator to tell him/her to vote no on the bailout?
And tell them about Section 8 in the bailout that says there will be no oversight on this bailout – from congress or the courts?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..28294.html

Thanks, BT, for letting me vent.

The central question of the bailout is, come January, would you want Phil Gramm-arse’s hand in the $7 billion cookie jar with no oversight or accountability?

Bushco is reminding me of Butch and the Sundance Kid.

“I don’t think so,” McCain said on NBC’s Today. “I think she did a good job as CEO in many respects.”

Expect Obama to turn that line into tomorrow’s commercial.

With Pelosi and Reid involved, what could one be worried about?

And things that he knows for sure, but aren’t true, like Czechoslovakia.

Loved that rant against the NYT in the audio clip.

just now caught Noron asking an actual question of John Harwood on this – incredibly straightforward about Gramm’s hand in Glass-Steagall

Harwood dodged it with a “balanced” soft shoe -

HuffPo finally caught that, eh?

They’re sooo on top of things….

McCain’s Senate Chief of Staff was given Mike Rogers’ Roy Cohn award on Friday, for being an actual gay man fighting against the interests of other LGBT folks.

Mark Buse is not just a Chief of Staff for a homophobic United States Senator, but he is helping that Senator get elected to the White House.

Does Mark Buse fit the Barney Frank rule? Without a doubt. While McCain voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment, he supports amending state constitutions defining marriage as between a man and a woman. McCain knows our country needs everyone who wants to serve in the military and he knows that DADT is wrong, yet he swings to the right on repealing it.

Worst of all, and a demonstration of his inability to act rationally and with the country’s best interests at heart, he picked someone who, if she becomes president (very likely), will be the most homophobic in American history.

With that in mind, and after confirming the information with two other sources, I decided it was time to present Buse the Roy Cohn Award for working against the interests of the lesbian and gay community while living as a gay man.

Michael Signorile has more

Here’s a corny one to brighten up your day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25jhBVaiQw0

I called, my Senators are generally on the right side of things, Menedez and Lautenberg. My Congressman, well he’s on the wrong side of everything and since I’m just inside the boundary line from his power base, he couldn’t care what I thought. I still left him a message.

Whuh? Has something happened to Czechoslovakia? *g*

OK, the near crude oil future is now trading at $128.10/bbl up $23.55. The official story is that the dollar is down and money is seeking safe havens. The real story is that financial markets have taken the money Paulson and Bernanke have been pumping into them and using it for what they always use it for: speculation! You would think that these nitwits would learn but then they wouldn’t be nitwits, would they?

Also the Mortgage Roundtable that selise mentioned earlier today is lobbying the Obama and McCain campaings, and politicians in general to suspend rules that require them to use fair market value for their assets. They also want more kinds of their crap holdings included in any bailout. This is like a thief asking you for your wheelbarrow so that he can steal more from you, all the while criticizing you for the not so great quality of what you have to steal.

interesting that Reid’s name is Not showing up in any of the reportage on Dems pushback

one of the more gossipy but apparently true reports from the week end was of a flurry of conference calls initiated by BO – the usual suspects,incl both Clintons, but minus Harry Reid

Oil price stems from classic short covering sqeeze on final day of contract. Nov contract that starts tomorrow is around $109.

The succeeded and joined Spain in Latin America,

Harry who?

I have this strange fantasy that the Dems and the Pukes (who mistook Bushco for Republican conservatives) in Congress have just found out that Bushco ripped them all off…they are the ones that have a lot of money to lose…Oh, to be a fly on the wall.

one of the more gossipy but apparently true reports from the week end was of a flurry of conference calls initiated by BO – the usual suspects,incl both Clintons, but minus Harry Reid

Yes, Democrats don’t call Reid or Hoyer if they want something done. That’s what Republicans do.

Think you mean seceded.

Your right, I did, thanks!

have contacted both my Senators, Congresscritter, Chairman Frank,Chairman Dodd, and Speaker Pelosi – following up each call with a fax

I forgot to mention that I laughed a lot.

I do hope everyone is doing their part by telling Dems in Congress NO to the bailout. It is unacceptable that the only string being CEO compensation. We need FULL reinstatement of Glass-Steagall and even more regulation to boot. We need to ensure that the bailout is the MINIMUM necessary to prevent a total economic collapse without handing windfalls to Wall Streeters. NO Wall Streeter/Banker should make out like a bandit on this.

There must be MANY strings. Short, taught, inflexible strings and there must be pain. Lots of pain for investment bankers and greedy shareholders. Pain for them, not the regular people.

The more I read about a bailout the angrier I get. The nice thing is that my hopelessly Winger sister is as against this deal as I am.

All I see with this bailout is a drooling Bush/Cheney/GOP looking to destroy Social Security, Medicare, kill universal healthcare, student loans, etc, while their best buds get LOTS of cash in the deal.

NO CLEAN BAILOUT GODDAMNIT!

On a serious note, though, I think this is committee work and not where Reid & Pelosi are needed right now.

Later, when it’s time for the Ds to cave, they’ll be needed.

re: Dodd’s Plan -
http://online.wsj.com/article/…..lenews_wsj

I’m glad you did, if nothing else McCan’t and his trophy Vice provide a lot of material to mock them with.

I like that. Is it in print or posted anywhere?

More on the ”Plan”:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/…..493/606674

Oil price stems from classic short covering sqeeze on final day of contract. Nov contract that starts tomorrow is around $109.

This is no classic covering of shorts. Price variation like this does not happen on a regular basis.

Later, when it’s time for the Ds to cave, they’ll be needed.

Glenn Greenwald’s post today notes how conservatives are bailing on the bailout and notes that even if their reasons are typically twisted, this gives us some hope of putting the brakes on the Paulson plan, sort of as happened with Dubai Ports and privatizing Social Security.

Not regularly, just when a contract is ending and there are a lot of shorts outstanding that has to be covered before the contract closes. Last few weeks when oil prices were plummeting, oil was being shorted to an extraordinary degree.

Same kind of volatility can happen to stocks, which was the case for financial stocks last week on the day when they forbid short selling of financials.

have been enjoying the hot Republic on Republic Action on this – you know how much the Texas Delegation has loved lining up behind Chimpigula and now they are trampling one another in their stampede to the exits

Cheerleader Kay, who happens to sit on the very powerful Appropriations Committee refuses to make a statement – teehee

and did y’all see Grover out there screeching against Paulson ?!?!?

they are finally telling one another, “you’re on your own!”

bwaaahaaahaaaaaa!

I read Greenwald and took heart. He may be onto something.

I guess my feeling is that if there is a lot shorting going on, then the smart money will get out early so they benefit from their short position and don’t hit the wall at settlement time. But maybe there is no such thing as smart money anymore.

ABC News

this link mentions Reid, but the one I referred to didn’t – think that was Politico

sad but true

Trophy Vice,
nice.

first I heard that one.

“smart money”

Assuming facts not in evidence.

Yeah, you’da thunk that the shorts would have been covered before today. After all, oil price bottomed about a week or more ago.

I’m just repeating what I hear on CNBC. I tend to think they’re getting it right because the price is so much lower on the contract that starts tomorrow.

In general, I’ve seen a whole bunch of really stupid stuff in my Wall St. days, so I think anything is possible.

Chris Hayes at the Nation:

What I’m hearing right now is that there’s a lot of frustration with Barney Frank. Pelosi is deferring to him on this and he’s being very cagey. Dodd’s plan is out and ready to go. As of yet, nothing from the house. There’s mounting fear that he’ll cave on some of the most crucial provisions. More TK.

Well I have to admit I believe that came from Maureen Dowd, who I believe is known as MoDo, which is surprisingly close to DoDo.

CNBC reported around 2p that at a Frank meeting, Treasury caved to oversight & gov getting an equity interest, but that 2 other issues (exec comp is one) were still in contention.

Per the AP:
Congress, Bush team agree on bailout terms

For the 60-somethings here.
http://www.snjmall.com/chico/

Too big to fail means “too big”. Bust them all up into “too small to matter”. THAT needs to be in the bailout too.

Mikulski is ranting about Financial Potentates on CSPAN2.

Congressman Frank’s Statement

Reuters: Details of Dem Proposals

from Glenn’s column:

while Michelle Malkin posted a lengthy alarmist screed warning that “Hank Paulson must be contained.”

crap.

I think that this means that I now *must* support Paulson’s plan. *g*

CNBC just reported that Treasury announces that NO agreement had been reached with Congress.

What happening with oil proces today is making the arab owners of the Bush family smile.

But you’re not paying attention to Glenn’s rationale for why the Rs are ranting against the plan. He hypothesizes it is only because the Rs don’t want the next treasury secretary, if he happens to be a D, to have that kind of power.

So you can still be against it. We don’t want a D treas sec to have that power either.

but that 2 other issues (exec comp is one) were still in contention.

My gawd, what a perfect place for the D’s to draw a line in the sand….

Dow drops 320 points today, oil jumps $20/barrel….. kind makes ya think that no one likes the bailout…. Since other countries actually have REAL news agencies, they know WHY this is happening and KNOW that this shock & Awe on America …..

DOW at -389

“slumping on speculation (is that like slouching towards Bethelhem ?) the Paulson Plan wont stave off Recession”

Up at the Orange Satan

Breaking: Deal Reached on Bailout with ‘Strong Oversight’, Mortgage Help

CNBC reported that Treasury announced that no deal had been reached. No other details provided.

Dow -373.46 -3.28% 11,014.98
All gains lost from friday the graph shows a steady decline all day. Obama has to hit the rethug economic policies every day all day.
The shitpile they are attempting to rescue is so huge that $700 billion ( the cost of the war) it is a pimple on a dinasaurs rump.

Wont stave off recession?! We are already in a recession. What Paulson MIGHT be able to do, with proper control and tuning from Congress, is stave off a depression.

Just thought of another thing that should be in the bailout bill: tie Paulson’s income to the bailout. The bigger the bailout, the lower his paycheck. Let’s see how crazy he goes buying up his best buddies bad investments then. All Wall Street wealthy boats should sink at the same rate while leaving the rest of us with fully seaworthy boats.

Ah…perhaps that is the signal that the Dems are about to capitulate and give Paulson a “clean bill”.

That would be par. Hopefully there are a few drunken Dems right now that aren’t thinking and acting like normal Dems and will stand firm and force Paulson to blink.

Ds hold all the cards. Will they play them?

That was the only thing he could say, short of admitting that it’s fairly stupid to hire someone with a track record like hers. (OTOH, a successful exec would probably be too busy to work on a political campaign.)

I retired from Lexmark, a former IBM division, in 2004. Back in 1992, HP contracted with us to remanufacture their empty laser printer cartridges. After remanufacturing over 100,000 cartridges, they pulled the plug.

Years before, IBM had made a cross-license agreement with Canon to share laser printer patents. Canon actually made the laser printer cartridges for HP, so Lexmark decided to reverse engineer HP’s most popular printer cartridges, tool up all original parts, and sell them in competition to HP. I was directly involved in reverse-engineering many of these cartridges and working around Canon patents that were beyond the cross-license.

The economic reality of the computer printer business is that the real cash cow is the replacement cartridge market. Lexmark advertised 100% new compatible cartridges for the most popular HP LaserJets, guaranteed to have equal or better print quality and reliability, equal or greater page yield and a 10% lower price.

HP’s response was to lower their price to meet our’s, so we would cut our price again, and down and down the prices spiralled. Now, just as the current financial crisis is in large part due to being over-leveraged, HP never figured out that they were hurting themselves far more than Lexmark by getting into a price war with us.

Lexmark’s compatible cartridges probably never enjoyed more than 10% market share, so for every dollar HP denied Lexmark by lowering prices, they lowered their own profits by $10 — or much more. I don’t think they ever figured it out, and we had a good laugh at their expense. Lexmark made a profit on the HP compatible business while gutting HP’s bottom line at the same time.

And Carly Fiorina — HP CEO and Chairman while much of this was gpoing on — is advising McCain on economic matters?

this game of congress has a deal vs. treasury says no deal reminds me of the ways DCI McConnell (sp?) and Bush played Congress during the July 2007 FISA wars. you just have to change the nouns, the plays are the same.

all of this is deja vu step by step. they are gaming this the way they have gamed every other issue.

oh except for one feature: they are trying to get out in front of the lawsuits this time by preemtively quashing them from the start ~ that fight for telecom immunity was really to long and hard. they won’t make that mistake again.

i am beyond disgusted.

Mikulski is ranting about Financial Potentates on CSPAN2.

Even a blind pig finds an acorn occasionally.

Mikulski is a jerk.

They’ve held all the cards for a couple years yet they fold up the instant they hit resistance.

Bush/Paulson will hold firm and the Dems, if they follow true to form, will collapse by Friday. They will get a token of no account out of the deal. Something like a promise from Paulson to give 3 reports a year rather than just one on the “progress” of the massive redistribution of all the remaining wealth of the country from the bottom to the top.

They will get a token of no account out of the deal.

if they hold true to form, they will do all that you describe – and also tell us that they’ve been able to negotiate real oversight and re-regulation.

it will be up to us to look behind the nice words and see what the deal really says.

…. but there’s always a chance that we can make a difference, and for that reason as well as for the sake of millions, i will hold onto my bit of hope until and unless it is proven to be wrong.

No index cards at the debates, right?

John McCain is sooo old he thinks 3″x5″ cards are high tech.

The central question of the bailout is, come January, would you want Phil Gramm-arse’s hand in the $7 billion cookie jar with no oversight or accountability?

Oh Hell NO.

The succeeded and joined Spain in Latin America,

John McCain might not understand, but would laugh a little anyway.

My friends, John McCain thinks the Iberian peninsula is where teenagers go to party on the coast of Mehico.

But maybe there is no such thing as smart money anymore.

Hasn’t the advice from lib blogs for the past year or two been to get out of cash & stocks and into commodities or out altogether? I think the people still in now are either very confident of their abilities to navigate very difficult waters or they’re just risk-takers by nature.