The "No Deal" - McCain Responds

The Treasury Plan has not garnered wide support among House Republicans. The left is doing their best to paint the entire subprime crisis as a Republican folly (I heard Paul Begala say that on CNN this eve with no one, including the token Republican, throttling him for that). And they are also doing their best to discredit McCain's participation in the negotiations, describing him as a spoiler. Indeed, if Barney Frank is to be believed - and he should not - a deal was in place until McCain arrived. Interestingly, what you do not hear is the role Obama played in the negotiations. Apparently, he ran the entire meeting for the Democrats - and it ended poorly indeed.

McCain addresses all of these issues in a memo he puts out at the Washinton Post today.
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This memo from the McCain camp, reprinted at WaPo:

To Interested Parties:

To address our current financial crisis, John McCain suspended his campaign and returned to Washington, D.C., today to help build a bipartisan consensus for a proposal that would protect the American taxpayer.

Despite today's news reports, there never existed a "deal," but merely a proposal offered by a small, select group of Members of Congress. As of right now, there exists only a series of principles, including greater oversight and measures to address CEO pay. However, these principles do not enjoy a consensus in Congress.

At today's cabinet meeting, John McCain did not attack any proposal or endorse any plan. John McCain simply urged that for any proposal to enjoy the confidence of the American people, stressing that all sides would have to cooperate and build a bipartisan consensus for a solution that protects taxpayers.

However, the Democrats allowed Senator Obama to run their side of the meeting. That did not work as the meeting quickly devolved into a contentious shouting match that did not seek to craft a bipartisan solution.

At this moment, the plan that has been put forth by the Administration does not enjoy the confidence of the American people as it will not protect that taxpayers and will sacrifice Main Street in favor of Wall Street.

The bottom line is that as of tonight, there are not enough Republican or Democrat votes for the current plan. However, we are still optimistic that a bipartisan solution will be found. Republicans and Democrats want a deal that will protect the taxpayers.

Tomorrow, John McCain will return to Capitol Hill where he will work with all sides to build a bipartisan solution that protects taxpayers and keeps Americans in their homes.