Obama votes 'present' on new economic rescue plan for now

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Sen. Barack Obama today met with some of his many economic advisors and made an announcement that he was not going to make an announcement about any new plan to plan plans.

Obama did suggest a bipartisan effort to deal with the financial crisis wreaking havoc on Wall Street, always a good idea for any candidate after the primaries because it sounds good and costs nothing.

But Obama did not present any detailed proposal of his own for how to resolve the monetary situation that has roiled world markets in recent days.

Obama's inaction prompted Jay Leno in his opening monologue tonight on "The Tonight Show" to point out an essential presidential campaign unfairness, that Obama has criticized McCain's economic plan but the Republican can't respond because "nobody knows" what Obama's is yet.

After meeting with his top economic advisers, the Democratic presidential candidate said this was not the time to present specific details for how to fix the immediate problem, a reversal from what he had said a day earlier. Nor did he explain when a good time would be to explain such a rescue from the current financial crisis.

"Given the gravity of this situation," Obama said with gravity, "based on conversations I've had with both Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke, I will refrain from presenting a ...

... more detailed blueprint about how an immediate plan might be structured until I can fully review details of the plan proposed by the Treasury and Federal Reserve."

Obama added: "I think it's critical at this point that the markets and the public have confidence that their work will be unimpeded by partisan wrangling."

The Illinois senator said the crisis has "not just threatened trading floors and high-rises on Wall Street, but the stability and security of our entire global economy."

Obama said the Treasury and Federal Reserve need "as broad authority as is necessary" to stabilize markets and to maintain credit. But he did not detail how broad or what authority.

"I fully support the efforts of Secretary Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke to work in a bipartisan spirit with Congress to find a solution," the freshman Illinois senator said.

As he prepared to appear at a campaign rally in Florida, Obama called on his Republican rival, John McCain, to join him in trying to find solutions now.

The McCain campaign didn't solve the financial crisis either today, but did suggest that Obama's non-plan announcement was like him voting "present" so many times in the Illinois state Senate.

Our blogging buddy John McCormick has more on this non-announcement over at the Swamp. But McCormick doesn 't have a rescue plan either.

— Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[ob08]

President Obama did the right thing by respecting Paulson and Congress working this out. McSame has nothing to add except lies and deceptions. Jay Leno is a loser that's why they are not renewing his contract.

[steve rodriguez]

I am too patriotic and love my country to put it in Obama's hands of inexperience!

[Eldora]

Obama didn't vote present. He gave a thoughful anlaysis demonstrating an in depth understanding of the economic issues and the many elements of the situation that any solution must encompass. Problem is, he talks as though people are bright enough to comprehend what he has to say and he gets criticized for not putting forth a one or two paragraph masquerading as a simple solutions to very complicated issues.

[Wowser]

Wait, Obama, over the last 24 hours, hasn't come up with a plan to fix the financial ruin that 8 years of Republican rule have brought us? Geez, Obama, just vote present why dontcha?

Your rhetorical exaggerations, btw, Malcolm, (plan to plan plans) belie your desperation. Yes, the people you were a spokesman for brought this on... and Obama hasn't fixed it yet? Wow!

[Alessandro Machi]

Sarah Palin says earmark,
Barack Obama says it's a present,
Lets call the whole thing off,
and select Hillary Clinton.

http://www.HILLARY-WINS.com
http://www.WALLSTREETCHANGE.com

[waynew]

Obama had more than 4,000 votes in the Illinois Senate. He voted present on 129 of them. "Present" votes are common in Illinois, sometimes he did it in concert with fellow Democrats as part of a strategy, sometimes b/c he agreed with parts of a bill and not others and took the time to make arguments for changes, etc etc ... He's a principled guy. He is intelligent. He sees some gray in the neocons black and white (mostly white).

Here's a Boston Globe factcheck on the topic:

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/24/fact_check_obamas_present_votes/

[waynew]

Obama has been steady in all of his positions. On NAFTA, he's for keeping it but fixing it so it doesn't screw over so many of our workers. ... McCain supporters HAVE NO CLUE about where he's coming from. He's panicking. He's all over the map.

"I'm a deregulator!!!" .. "No, wait, I'm a regulator and a reformer!!!"

Oh and here's is latest eureka moment Let's fix health care by ..... yes, you guessed -- deregulating it!!!!! Worse yet, he cites the deregulation of the banking industry as a "great model!!!!!""

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/mccain-on-banking-and-health/

[Californio]

Nuance? OMG - Ob_ma, may his name be praised, is starting to look like Kerry-lite. Same BS, half the calories.

[Pink Pig]

Just out of curiosity (see IndependentForObama above), how do you rescue a homeowner? Or more relevantly, how would Obama rescue a homeowner?

[Pink Pig]

I don't want to hear the next President of the United States say, "This is a problem that can't be fixed overnight." I want to hear him say, "This is a problem that the federal government has no legitimate interest in." Fat chance!

[Pink Pig]

If it were up to me, I would listen to Mr. Two-middle-initial's "experts", then do the exact opposite of what they recommend.

[Pink Pig]

As several commenters have noted, the housing "crisis" has been going on for quite a while, at least 2 years I'd say, since it was one of the issues in the 2006 election. So doesn't this allow enough time for a Presidential candidate to at least form a preliminary opinion? So the question is, why doesn't Obama tell us what his thoughts are? Is it possible that he doesn't want to tell us, because we would all be horrified if we heard them? (As I understand it, McCain has expressed his views, so the above comment does not apply to him.)

[Geo]

Mayor of Hollywood. Sure.
President of the United States?
NOT!

[Toby Petzold]

Once McCain is elected, I intend to seek an apology from every Obama supporter I know for subjecting this society and civilization to the risk of their recklessness.

[kris]

Obama added: "I think it's critical at this point that the markets and the public have confidence that their work will be unimpeded by partisan wrangling."

Dear Mr. Malcom-- Are you not even aware of what you supposedly are writing? Or perhaps you too, are losing your marbles? What does "their work should be unimpeded by partisan wrangling" mean to you? DUH!

[Marie]

Obama can't reach Raines and Johnson on the phone yet - please stand by for leadership. LOL.

[Julia]

Give Obama a couple of days, and then he will deliver a plan that will look remarkablly like McCain's plan. The media will coo and fawn and call him brilliant!

[God Bless U.S.]

Why do you libs always blame President G. W. Bush when it was the dems who blocked his efforts to provide oversight for what are now major financial institutions and the economy in general.

[Paul]

President Bush never hesitated a moment to make a decision and look where we are now. You can't blame the last 2 years of Democratic Congress/Senate for what took 8 years to create. If you say otherwise, then you can blame Bush and the Republican Congress for 9/11, since they were both in power at that time.

McCain will make the same impulsive decisions that Bush made, and we will suffer.

[Sharon]

This crisis is stock market is serious. Obama and McCain must take care. Any strong statements are not in best interests of Americans. Both candidate must be quiet on this. Whole American Financial system is ready to crumble. I have had it with Republican support on deregulation though!!! And John McCain for 30+ years supported deregulation. Wanted national health care and social security to be in same deregulated system as corporations that are failing now!! I will never vote For McCain - Palin(ongoing legislative investigation accused of abuse of power as governor- appears to be total cover-up)!! I look at Palin's investigation and then remember John McCain and his clever way to escape prosecution -testify against the other four senators- McCain is one of Keating Five - one of largest Sav
ings and Loan Scandals in US history. John McCain was very close friends with Keating. These two are not good for America!! Republicans have put America in a disaster!!! As a nation we are falling apart!!

[Christopher Rose]

Before "selected" officials of Florida facilitated BushCo's coup d'etat in 2000, elections appeared less obviously rigged. Now, a politician who actually takes time to think is mischaracterized as "paralyzed" -- because the glib punchlines delivered by the GOP back NeoConNazis like Palin and now McCain pass for thinking these days. What a joke, if the US electorate is so stupid as to vote for Nazis three terms in a row!

[Dan Rains]

How irresponsible of the LA Times to repeat a McCain mantra about this voting "present" thing, and in a headline, no less. But it no longer matters. John McCain went way over the line today with his ad linking Fannie Mae CEO Raines to Obama's campaign. All bets are off. I really did not believe that Republicans would go THIS far with lies right and left about everything. I actually had some bit of hope and respect left for them. NO MORE. Although Obama has far too much class to stoop to such blatant lies, he doesn't have to. KARMA is a bitch. The lies won't sink Obama, but the truth WILL SINK McCain. Like the truth about all those dead Iraqi men women and children - and the truth about our dead American soldiers, and the truth about Katrina, and the truth about Republican corruption, Larry Craid, Tom DeLay, Enron, etc., etc., etc. I sincerely hope that McCain not only gets trounced in the election, but that he and his whole party pack up and move to Hooterville, and stay there with their dead moose, blood money and rapist children. Yuck! Yuck! Yuck!

[Zbagger]

It is misleading to say Obama voted present. This is only true because he could have voted present, but chose to not vote at all.

For a year now he has said he will fix a mess, but not explained how. He said he will raise taxes on the rich, but over 200,000 people he expected to heavily tax lost jobs this month alone. I wonder if he will ever address that flaw. I doubt it.

Leaders make tough decisions. Ivory tower egg-heads ponder issues. Obama is no leader, which is why he has cannot make a decision.

Sadly, McCain doesn't seem like a leader either. These two options both stink. Oh, wait, the two options usually do stink. Do you recall the dud that lost to the imbecile 4 years ago?

[Dan Rains]

RememberTheChildren:

As to your comment:

"The one thing I trust about McCain and that moose-killer is that they will draft your children to support their proxy war murdering blood lust. They're the epitome of everything that the founding fathers fought against when American was born. They are redcoats in moose-clothing and they are will sell out America to the highest bidder and then pay for everything with the severed heads of your children served to you on a platter of Arabian oil. They have no real love of America, no real understanding of the good people that live in the cities that made America great. They are the bastard-children of the oil barons and successionist mindset, determined to destroy America through fear-mongering and war-mongering, and thanks to the Internet they will be exposed and drummed out of civilized society forever."

My response:

Well, maybe a "tad" over the top, but at least you didn't call for their imprisonment, torture and execution, a merciful gesture on your part that the Republicans themselves had no compunction about dismissing when they decided to drop all those 1,000 pound bombs on innocent men, women and children in Iraq.

So, you might want to examine your logic here and stop giving these very disturbed people a pass.

Cheers

[carolyne]

Obama is clueless, but smart enough to NOT get too involved, because he caused it in the first place. So NOW we know, start things, play race cards and ACT innocent, lay low, keep a low profile, and don't get your hands dirty. OH NO, Mr. Obama is so washed on the outside, and so rotten to the core on the inside. He's also a chicken, won't ever own up to anything. You can blame others, studder and stammer your way out of things that way. Saying it's above my pay grade?? What an answer! What a weasel! Vote present? Wow what responsibility??. How pro-active??? Obama is on middle ground don't you know, neither here nor there, except when it comes to getting his money. Then he pops his head right up, and his filthy hands right out.