The last refuge of desperate politicos: “I was misled”

The headline pretty much says it all:

Sen. John McCain: I was misled on bailout

Under growing pressure from conservatives and “tea party” activists, Sen. John McCain of Arizona is having to defend his record of supporting the government’s massive bailout of the financial system.

In response to criticism from opponents seeking to defeat him in the Aug. 24 Republican primary, the four-term senator says he was misled by then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. McCain said the pair assured him that the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program would focus on what was seen as the cause of the financial crisis, the housing meltdown.

“Obviously, that didn’t happen,” McCain said in a meeting Thursday with The Republic’s Editorial Board, recounting his decision-making during the critical initial days of the fiscal crisis. “They decided to stabilize the Wall Street institutions, bail out (insurance giant) AIG, bail out Chrysler, bail out General Motors. . . . What they figured was that if they stabilized Wall Street – I guess it was trickle-down economics – that therefore Main Street would be fine.”

Unh unh, Senator. The “I was misled!” argument didn’t work for Democrats who supported the Iraq war before they opposed it, and it’s not going to work for you.

Reason Magazine’s Matt Welch pretty much destroys McCain’s attempt at backtracking and excuse-making here. Jeff Perren, on the other hand, is short, sweet, and to the point (via Quin Hillyer):

Even taken at face value this still shows he’s undeserving of a Senate seat.

How can you justify being in the Senate for decades and still know so little about economics and the facts of the situation that you could be misled by the likes of Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke?

‘Nuff said.

12 Responses to "The last refuge of desperate politicos: “I was misled”"

Carlos says:

February 22, 2010 at 11:20 pm

One of the supposed reasons for electing any of the arrogancia to represent us is their supposed superior intelligence and ethics.

McCain, while portraying himself as “one of us”, is now (because of his too-long tenure in the Senate) not “one of us” but “one of them”, now a member in good standing of the arrogancia.

While he may have been, in the beginning, an honorable and upright man, he has sunk to the low level of the D.C. swamp and has no business representing his own street, let alone an entire state.

Like the man said, “Throw the bums out!”
DaveinPhoenix says:

February 23, 2010 at 12:26 am

He was “mistaken”…okay, sure John.

So why are you still running radio ads in the Phoenix area which says that if re-elected, you’ll stop this outrageous government spending ?

You voted for it. We paid for it. Time to go, John.
tailgunner says:

February 23, 2010 at 3:30 am

As Michelle Malkin says, “We are so screwed”.
Luke Taylor says:

February 23, 2010 at 5:12 am

John McCain’s farewell address in August 2010 after his defeat to JD Hayworth.
“My friends, its time I go back to Arizona for good. This is my wish since I did not know what I was doing when I was on this porklus tour of duty.”
So long John your time is up.
Terrye says:

February 23, 2010 at 7:00 am

I do not know about people being misled, but I do think there was real panic out there about the meltdown. Krauthammer is one of my favorite pundits, I think he is an intelligent and principled man. He said that Paulson probably saved the economy. Meanwhile other people act as if the whole thing would have just worked itself out.

I don’t know, I am not an expert on financial meltdowns, and I always wondered about how it all happened, who pulled all that money out and started the collapse.

But, I do think that if someone like Bush or McCain had been around, it is more likely that the original agreement would have been maintained, that is the money paid back by the banks would have gone to the Treasury and the unused TARP money, about half of the total would have been returned to the Treasury. If that had happened and there had been no big stimulus, or other huge government programs…the deficit would be a fraction of what it is today.
ShyAsrai says:

February 23, 2010 at 8:01 am

no way should a man of McCain’s age and years of experience have been ‘misled’.

either way, McCain has no excuse – he’s either awfully stupid or terribly stupid.

i still believe, however, that his lackluster campaign, along with his dodgy ‘conservative’ record and insistence on ‘reaching across the aisle’ – which only gave credibility to the socialists/communists who style themselves as Democrats – was a blessing in disguise for America.

i wouldn’t have been quite so disturbed at Obama’s election had i believed how like starving pigs at a trough Democrats would behave, providing the example that horrified America and gave rise to a wave of strong, uncompromising conservativism.
Live Free Or Die says:

February 23, 2010 at 8:46 am

Senility?….Anyone?….McCain?
Not that he’s anywhere near Goldwater’s status, but AuH2O went off the deep end toward the end. Please, Arizona, put Mr. McCain out to pasture.
Helen says:

February 23, 2010 at 9:22 am

Oh cut him some slack. That’s what Margaret Thatcher said about the Single European Act that she signed, which has been a complete disaster for Britain and has led to all the other disastrous treaties.
L.N. Smithee says:

February 23, 2010 at 9:39 am

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m still waiting for the first sincere attempt to get to the bottom of the ~~seemingly~~ obviously coordinated massive half-trillion greenback draw-down in September 2008 that caused the U.S. money market free fall and the resulting panic that put the fate of the United States economy (and arguably, the world’s economy as well) solely into the hands of Bernanke and Paulson.

Is McCain willing to get into that history? (Rhetorical question, put your hand down)? Is anybody? Or is that The Question That Forever Shall Not Be Asked, Much Less Answered?
Neo says:

February 23, 2010 at 9:41 am

Trust Me, I’m A Journalist: Trust In The Media Promotes Health

ScienceDaily (Jan. 26, 2009) — Trust in the media promotes health. A study of people from 29 Asian countries has shown that individuals with high levels of trust in the mass media tend to be healthier.

Misled, but healthy
L.N. Smithee says:

February 23, 2010 at 9:53 am

Neo – I believe that study. God knows I got more sleep and was less stressed when I was young, ignorant, and thought the newspapers and the nightly newscasts told me everything I needed to know.
Carlos says:

February 23, 2010 at 7:45 pm

L.N., they haven’t changed all that much. They still tell you everything they figure you should know, from their point of view.

Gosh, journalism has changed. A reporter used to report the facts of what had or was happening. Now it’s all coloured by their own point of view, also known as spin.

It’s just that now we, the ones who can actually process this information and compare it to other known facts, have caught on and consequently the lamestream media is whining because no one is blinded by their brilliance anymore.

Comments are closed.