Harold Myerson in the Oct 6, 2008 edition of the Washington Post sets the stage very clearly what kind of reformer John McCain has been and would be if his pal and close adviser, Phil Gramn, is any indication. According to Myerson, Republican Gramn was instrumental as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee in getting a provision attached to an omnibus spending bill on Dec 15, 2000 that really set the stage for the credit market meltdown that is underpinning the current financial crisis. The Commodity Futures Modernization Act (CFMA) prohibited government regulation of credit default swaps. These are the insurance products, most often in the form of derivatives that expanded to $62 trillion when the housing market was hot. Although Myerson does not say so, the lack of regulation has an implicit role in the leverage that brought down Lehman Brothers. Myerson also states that the CFMA prohibited regulation of the energy-trading market. This enabled Enron to so manipulate the energy market that it was able to hold the state of California hostage and outsmart itself into bankruptcy. Unlike Bill Ayers or Rev. Wright, McCain’s relationship with Phil Gramn is a close one. Myerson clearly states, “…that Gramm's relationship to McCain is not comparable to the relationships that Ayers or Wright have with Obama. The idea that either Ayers or Wright would have any impact on the workings of an Obama administration is nonsensical. But Gramm and McCain do have an enduring political and economic alliance [emphasis mine]. McCain chaired Gramm's short-lived presidential campaign in 1996; Gramm is co-chair of McCain's current effort. McCain has not repudiated reports that Gramm is on the shortlist to become Treasury secretary if McCain is elected, even after Gramm labeled America ‘a nation of whiners.’”In relation to the presidential debate on Oct, 7, 2008, when McCain may try to assassinate Obama’s character by inappropriately tying him to Bill Ayers and terrorists, Myerson’s last sentence sums it up neatly, “If pressed, though, he [Obama] can mention that it is McCain's senior economic adviser who has diminished American solvency and power beyond the wildest dreams of anti-American terrorists.
If McCain does try to malign Barack during the debate, my guess is that it will backfire as has already started because of Palin’s disgusting accusation concerning Sen. Obama and terrorists. The electoral avalanche in Obama’s favor that is starting to happen could only accelerate. The Republicans may finally learn that when there are real problems facing the country the politics of mean doesn’t play in Peoria.
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