| Page 3 of 5 < > |
House Narrowly Defeats Bailout Legislation
TOOLBOX   Resize
 Save/Share +
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
|
Just hours before the failed vote, McCain blasted Obama for not taking further steps to broker a deal. "I went to Washington last week to make sure that the taxpayers of Ohio and across this great country were not left footing the bill for mistakes made on Wall Street and evil and greed in Washington," McCain said this morning in Columbus.
McCain senior policy adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin later issued a statement blaming Obama and Pelosi for the bill's defeat. "This bill failed because Barack Obama and the Democrats put politics ahead of country," he said.
McCain subsequently went before the cameras during a campaign stop in Iowa and urged lawmakers to "go back to the drawing board" to solve the crisis.
"Senator Obama and his allies in Congress infused unnecessary partisanship in the process," he said. "Now is not the time to fix the blame. It's time to fix the problem."
Obama spokesman Bill Burton responded that "today's action in Congress as well as the angry and hyper-partisan statement released by the McCain campaign are exactly why the American people are disgusted with Washington." He called on Democrats and Republicans to "join together and act in a way that prevents an economic catastrophe."
In remarks in Colorado, Obama urged calm and called on Congress to now "step up to the plate" to get the bailout passed in the days ahead.
"Today, Democrats and Republicans in Washington have a responsibility to make sure an emergency rescue package is put forward that can at least stop the immediate problems," Obama said.
"There are going to be bumps and trials and tribulations and ups and downs before we get this rescue package done," he said. "It's important for the American public and the markets to stay calm, because things are never smooth in Congress, and understand it will get done. We are going to make sure that emergency package is put together because it is required for us to stabilize the markets."
Obama added: "I'm convinced that we are going to get there, but it's going to be a little rocky. It's sort of like flying into Denver; you know you're going to land, but it's not always fun going over those mountains."
Leaders in both parties said negotiations could result in a new vote, but it was unclear whether that would be a new version of the legislation. The House and Senate are both out of session for at least the next two days to observe the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah.
Republicans said they knew that they had little support heading into the vote.
"I wasn't overwhelmingly surprised by the outcome," Blunt said.
