Legal Commentary

Obama Says McCain Deserves No Credit for Bailout Proposal

By Jeralyn

On Face the Nation this morning, Sen. Barack Obama said John McCain deserves no credit for the bailout proposal. He also said he's likely to support it.

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said Sunday his Republican rival deserves no credit for helping to forge a tentative agreement on the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street.

On why Obama deserves credit: [More...]

Instead, Obama said he deserves credit for making sure the proposal includes safeguards for taxpayers. Obama said he is inclined to support the bailout because it includes increased oversight, relief for homeowners facing foreclosure and limits on executive compensation for chief executives of firms that receive government help.

"None of those were in the president's provisions. They are identical to the things I called for the day that (Treasury) Secretary (Henry) Paulson released his package," Obama said. "That I think is an indication of the degree to which when it comes to protecting taxpayers, I was pushing very hard and involved in shaping those provisions."

Congressional leaders signaled today they will approve the bill, which is now being referred to as an "intervention" rather than a "bailout."

Update: McCain said he hopes to support it but wants to see the details first.

Interviewed Sunday by ABC's "This Week," McCain said, "This is something that all of us will swallow hard and go forward with."

McCain also said he probably would have voted for legislation to keep the government running even though it contains thousands of the type of pork barrel projects he strongly opposes.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on September 28, 2008 (boomark / email).