Obama: It's an outrage

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has said it is an "outrage" that Americans are being "called upon to clear up Wall Street's mess."

To hear the Illinois senator's remarks in full, click here.

[Source: news.bbc.co.uk]

McCain: Time to fix problem

Senator John McCain of Arizona reacts to the failed vote today in the House and condemns Sen. Obama for placing blame on people when we should be fixing the problem.

[Source: news.bbc.co.uk]

Asia stocks fall after U.S. failure

It's a slippery slope, ya'll!

Asia is reacting to the shock on Capitol Hill today, and in early trading on Tuesday, the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Nikkei-225 index fell almost 580 points, a loss of 4.94% of its value in a matter of minutes, the BBC News is reporting.

Australia and New Zealand are seeing similar losses, with the S&P/ASX-200 index dropping 5.3% in Sydney and 4.7% fall in Wellington.

I'm bracing myself, are you?

[Source: news.bbc.co.uk]

House rejects bailout package, Stocks plunge!

In a week of economic and political turmoil, the House of Representatives just voted today to reject the $700 billion rescue of the financial industry. The vote came in defiance of President Bush and Congressional leaders of both parties, who said the bailout was needed to prevent a widespread financial collapse.

The vote was 228-205, with 133 of the president's OWN PARTY turning against him to join 95 Democrats in opposition of the bill. 

Supporters of the bill are saying they will try to bring the rescue package up again as soon as Wednesday.

In anticipation of a defeated vote today, stock markets plunged and only further plunged once the news came in. The Dow closed 777 points down, in the worst single-day drop in two decades and oil prices fell on fears of a global recession.

After the chaos, the president said the following:

"We put forth a plan that was big because we got a big problem. And we'll be working with members of Congress, leaders of Congress on the way forward. Our strategy is to continue to address this economic situation head on."

It definitely says something when members of your own party don't back you! 

[Source: nytimes.com]

A deal reaches tentative agreement

And may even have the votes to pass.

After successive negotiations, lawmakers and the Bush administration have reached a tentative agreement early today on a $700 billion financial rescue package.

The House is expected to vote on it tomorrow, with a Senate vote to follow.

Read Obama's response to the agreement here.

[Source: thepage.time.com]

McCain and Obama in first debate: No big moments

Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama appeared in tonight's first presidential debate at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. After a turbulent week of economic and political drama, viewers are left not knowing who really hit it out of the park at the debate.

It would appear that Sen. McCain started out soft and ended strong. It would also suffice it to say that Sen. Obama started out strong and ended intellectually strong, but lacking in actual expertise to draw from. This is natural given that the debate spent about the first 30 minutes parsing the recent economic crises of the nation on Wall Street as well as Main Street and the last hour debating foreign policy and national security, both of which McCain capitalizes on voters' confidence.

The contenders discussed Iraq in depth, but didn't exactly stipulate their plans for the bailout package currently on the table at Capitol Hill. Moderator, Jim Lehrer of PBS, had to repeatedly ask the senators to specify whether or not they are yea or nay for the rescue plan. Sen. Obama though, did enumerate his plans for what needed to be done with the bailout. This is really the area Sen. McCain needed to come out on top of, with his latest proclamations and his failed history of wooing voters with his economic comprehension.

My question is: What do ya'll think of tonight's debate? Who do you think came out on top? For me, it was pretty lackluster.

Coming up next: Vice Presidential Debate: Sen. Joseph Biden vs. Gov. Sarah Palin - Thursday, October 2 - Don't forget to tune in!

[Source: Bethany]

McCain suspends campaign and seeks to delay Friday's debate!

Egads!

Senator John McCain just announced that he plans to suspend campaigning on Thursday, and seek a delay in this week's planned presidential debate Friday, so that he could return to Washington to try to forge a consensus on a financial bailout package.

Shortly after, the Obama camp issued a statement saying the two candidates had spoken on the phone this morning about issuing a statement on the financial difficulties facing the nation, but it did not address canceling the debate.

McCain and Obama have been under pressure to enact some kind of significant change regarding the proposed $700 billion bailout package. 

"I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself," he said in New York this afternoon. "It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem."

It's all very phoenix in the rising, Mr. McCain trying to appear as the one spearheading this call to action, but it was actually Sen. Obama who began the exchange with the Arizona senator.

"At 8:30 this morning, Sen. Obama called Sen. McCain to ask him if he would join in issuing a joint statement outlining their shared principles and conditions for the Treasury proposal and urging Congress and the White House to act in a bipartisan manner to pass such a proposal," said Bill Burton, the spokesman for the Obama campaign.

Democrats reacted skeptically to Mr. McCain's surprise announcement (as they should have), accusing that it seemed like a political ploy to try to gain the confidence of voters concerned about the economy.

"What, does McCain think the Senate will still be working at 9 p.m. Friday?" Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania said, referring to the start time of the debate. "I think this is all political - I wish McCain had shown the same concern when he didn't show up in the Senate to vote on the extension of the renewable energy tax credit."

It all seems to be a game and an attempt to put Mr. Obama between a rock and a hard place. If he shakes his head no to ol' Mac and goes ahead with the debate, some will think Sen. McCain is the one concerned with solving the financial problems on Wall Street this week and if he acquiesces and agrees to postpone the debate, then he's still simply a follower.

So, here we go again, with McCain going to all lengths to appear bipartisan and maverick in the strangest of ways. Use some sense people. I certainly hope you can multitask, and deal with both things.

Not to mention, this kind of puts a hole in the latest article I've written that goes to print today. Thanks Mac!

FTW.

[Source: msnbc.msn.com]

McCain: "That's not country first, that's Obama first"

And the crowd goes wild, chanting "NObama! NObama!"

McCain, at a campaign stop in Blaine, Minnesota, accuses his opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, of "gaming the system" and benefiting from the turmoil on Wall Street the past couple weeks. Check it out below.

[Source: thepage.time.com]

Bush: "This is a big problem"

President Bush makes remarks outside the White House following a meeting with the Colombia President, defending the government's bailout of Wall Street.

"My first instinct wasn't to lay out a huge governmental plan. My first instinct was to let the market work. Until I realized when being briefed by the experts how significant the problem has become. So I decided to act and act boldly."

"The systematic risk was significant and required a significant response...This is a big package because this is a big problem."

[Source: thepage.time.com]