Scarecrow

McCain surrogate Tom Ridge told Hardball's Matthews that Barack Obama’s willingness to “spread the wealth” meant that he would impose a ceiling on the ability of wealthier Americans to achieve the American dream. Ridge knew he was spouting gibberish, but that's what supporting McCain has come to mean.

At the debate, John McCain accused Obama of engaging in "class warfare" and wanting to "redistribute" income/wealth. But McCain's argument that this would steal from Joe the Plumber and give to the undeserving was breathtaking in it cynicism, mendacity and cruelty.

Barack Obama added four new proposals to his economic package today, but then did something you don’t usually hear in the final days of a campaign. He told his supporters the nation had lived beyond its means and we had to change that. It marked the end of an era.

The only reasons Henry Paulsen still has a job is that no one except George Bush has any confidence in George Bush's judgment in naming a successor and there is no precedent for creating a conservatorship for the US Treasury. Congress needs to demand that taxpayer protection, oversight and executive accountability be reestablished immediately, because critical decisions vital to our economy are still being made by corrupt and incompetent men. But whom do we trust?

We are at a dangerous point in this election when our media seems unable to grasp that the most basic rules that hold democracy together are under daily assault from a determined and increasingly violence-prone minority. It is only a matter of time before McCain/Palin's falsely linking Obama to terrorism and unAmerican sympathies will erupt in violence against anyone opposing the McCain/Palin ticket.

Indeed, on CNN this morning, Barney Frank complained that Republicans successfully opposed a Democratic proposal to impose a fee on Wall Street transactions to recover program losses if they persist after five years. While arguing for Wall Street insurance for all transactions -- exposing Treasury to enormous risks later -- Republicans refused to hold Wall Street accountable for losses in the meantime.

About 10:00 p.m. Thursday night, Barney Frank emerged from a Congressional meeting to announce that House Republicans had scuttled the negotiations over the financial bailout plan. A meeting of Congressional negotiators met earlier, but were interrupted when Republican Rep. Bachus handed the attendees a one page description of an alternative proposal -- presumbably the same one John Boehner and Senator McCain discussed at the White House meeting -- and then walked out.

Here it is:My fellow Americans: I'm really sorry I wrecked the country, trampled the Constitution, spied on all of you, screwed the economy, and got all those people killed. I'd have resigned earlier, except I can't get Dick Cheney to resign first. Sorry about that. Do whatever the grownups tell you.

Headlines are reporting that John McCain wants to cancel Friday night's debate and return to Washington to deal with the financial crisis. From Reuters:"Breaking News McCain says will suspend campaign to return to Washington Thursday to help with bailout negotiations, asks that Friday debate with Obama be postponed so bailout negotiations can continue 2:51pm EDT"My guess is that McCain will rent a helicopter and fly over Wall Street to survey the

Today Barack Obama made clear exactly what is at stake if Congress approves the Administration's proposed bailout of Wall Street without asking that those responsible for the financial mess pay for it: Every one of the proposals for universal health care, transforming our energy system, helping people pay for college and so on are down the tubes, compliments of Republican fiscal and financial mismanagement.