The American Spectator

/p>

Well, well, well, we now have a preview of a McCain administration. John suspended his campaign, rode to the rescue, and what was the result? He contributed nothing to the final result of the sickening bailout, went back on his promise to work on the problem and miss the debate if no solution was in hand, returned to his Virginia office after the debate, and worked the phones — just like the campaigning Obamamessiah! You can garb the resulting crony capitalism in a Republican fig leaf (all that’s left of the Republican’s flawed—but somewhat better—plan), but Republicans, apparently including Senator McCain, are going to vote for a government bailout of Wall Street that is neither conservative (unprecedented intervention into the financial system) nor libertarian (for all the obvious reasons). Senator McCain looks, well…flighty and unserious. Which, of course, he is! The crucible of financial crisis has exposed a senator of the United States at sea, lacking any real understanding of the economic problem or how to best resolve it.

You would think his “honor” politics would cause him to resist any solution emerging from the likes of a Hank Paulson or Barney Frank or Chuck Schumer, considering that these fine gentlemen were involved up to their eyeballs in the creation of the mortgage mess, but our old Navy pilot is looking for some bread crumbs somewhere marking a path forward from the economic crisis. Combined with his odd debate performance (Americans look one another in the eye, Senator), the American people have now taken the measure of our foremost war hero: a brave man promoted above his competence level when he left the House. The polls are showing this, and Senator McCain will have to overcome his failures of this past weekend if he hopes to convince enough doubters to return this race to some semblance of competitiveness. Maybe some of those nutso conservative “intellectuals” who are so eager to throw Sarah Palin overboard should turn their attention to encouraging Senator McCain to withdraw “for health reasons.” At least Sarah has common sense, a governing temperament, and the ability (and interest) to learn what she does not know. Would that we could say the same for Senator McCain!

Just imagine Senator McCain looking for new “bipartisan” solutions to economic problems as this bailout creates its unintended consequences! Maybe, he’ll make Barney Frank his economic czar and new BFF! That’ll work! The only question in my mind is who will be Herbert Hoover in this little drama: George W. Bush for ceding economic policy to a Wall Street insider and crony capitalist, or (should he actually be elected) John McCain for increasingly peevish know nothing economic interventions? I would imagine that blanking the Presidential line on the ballot is looking a lot better to conservatives and libertarians today than it did as recently as last Thursday. Hey, I know we all shudder at the possibility of an Obama administration, but think about the long run consequences of a McCain administration based on what you saw this weekend! (Not that what we do may make much difference now…)

Moreover, I hope we are all watching the vote on the bailout. A vote for the bailout should disqualify any Republican legislator for any future leadership role in the Republican Party. Boehner and McConnell should be removed from their leadership roles after the election, and replaced by legislators that stood up for America in the face of all the pressures.

The one good thing about the bailout vote is that it will identify all the weak sisters in the stupid party. And we should also note which self-styled leaders of conservative opinion are supporting this bailout, whether reluctantly or not (yes, that would be you Rich Lowry, among others). Unfortunately, too many journals of conservative opinion are off the rails on this one.

p>Let me give some free advice to Senator McCain, not that he would ever take it. The government should suspend “mark to market” for securities in a temporarily illiquid market and replace it with “fair underlying economic valuation.” If there truly is a general liquidity crisis, I would even accept Fed action to inject liquidity into the market (but only to kick start the economy, not to prevent a recession, which is inevitable). Provide a low tax environment that encourages capital formation. And then the government should do nothing. Allow the stock market to fall significantly (better take the hit now and position for recovery than tolerate the slow, long-lasting leakage from ever more counterproductive government interventions). Allow creative destruction. Allow Secretary Paulson’s cronies to go out of business. Understand that better, more efficient capitalists will (thankfully) replace them. Oh, and never, never, never allow a Barney Frank to dabble in our financial markets ever again. The American people are looking for accountability. We should make sure that everyone in this nation understands the central role that such as Barney Frank (and his allies among “community organizers” and Wall Street crony capitalists) played in creating this economic mess. Not that the stupid party could ever conceive this, but there should be sarcastic laughter at any future economic pronouncement made by the proponents of shaky mortgages. Our message to the American people: Never Again! br> — Stephen Zierak br> Kansas City, Missouri /p> p> RIGHT INTO MY TRAP br> Re: Mike Roush’s letter (under “He’s Baa-aack”) in Reader Mail’s Snooty Katie