Posted by
Andrew Roman on Sunday, October 12, 2008 12:01:00 AM
In September, 2003, "the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis" was proposed by the Bush administration - this according to the New York Times. As Stephen Labaton wrote:
Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry ... The plan is an acknowledgment by the administration that oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- which together have issued more than $1.5 trillion in outstanding debt -- is broken.
The fact that Senator John McCain - both on the campaign trail and in the first two presidential debates - continues to distance himself from the unpopular Bush administration is proving to be a hindrance in his ability to effectively counteract Barack Obama on critical issues - like the war and the economy. While it is understandably a sound idea strategically (for many reasons) to detach his campaign from the lame-duck administration, it is precisely now - three weeks from Election Day - that McCain needs to decisively and categorically respond to Obama's attacks by allowing himself to champion the accomplishments of his party.
That’s the key. His party.
For instance, almost two-and-a-half years ago, Senator John McCain, along with nineteen other Republican senators, demanded that the federal government do something about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Note the absence of any Democrats among the signatories). In a letter to Bill Frist (Senate Majority Leader) and Richard Shelby (Chairman of the Bank, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee), McCain and company wrote:
We are concerned that if effective regulatory reform legislation for the housing-finance government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) is not enacted this year, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.
Read the story and see the original letter with signatures here.
McCain may want to avoid the use of the words “President" and "Bush” in the same sentence during debates and campaign stops, but he can certainly use the words “Republican” or “my party” to drive points home.
For instance, instead of saying that it was the Bush administration that proposed needed regulations to help reel in Fannie and Freddie, he can say Republicans were responsible for trying to get these oversights in place … or that Republicans were the only ones who signed the McCain letter in 2006, while Democrats did not.
Yet, despite its ineffectiveness as a debate tactic, McCain keeps hammering away at bipartisanship and continues to think that singing the praises of “reaching across the aisle” is the magic bullet to land him wide-spread, across-the-board appeal.
The effect is actually the opposite.
Democrats don’t care (and don’t believe it), and Republicans feel betrayed.
It’s time for McCain to focus on what does not unite the two parties - otherwise the wrong party will control both congress and the white house.
Andrew Roman, Brooklyn, NY