Today, he looked more presidential than ever.

Looking forward for Friday night.

I'm so glad he did this. He needs to remind voters that this is par for the course for the Bush administration. They always govern by crisis and threaten Democrats into going along with the Patriot Act and the Iraq War in the spirit of bipartisanship only to screw them with it later on.

Democrats shouldn't be cowed by this lame duck administration a third time. Bush has to make some serious concessions!

Damn straight.

There are some good points made by Obama here. And I agree with much of his overview.

But, apparently time is of the essence and there is some urgency. What should not happen is to have a remedy that gets bogged down in partisanship and bureaucracy.

Bush will not concede, you watch. If Democrats cave here, they are thieves too. In a way they already have, because they've agreed a bail out is needed to begin with. This is serious. They are about to give money to financial corporations that would have gone to public infrastructure. Remember that next time you go to the bank, they got the money that would have went to education or law enforcement. I wish people would realize this was the plan from the beginning. They broke this country on purpose folks. Remember Grover Norquist, "Drown the government in the bath tube" come on folks, they've done it. They stole the treasury with the Iraq war, and now the bank bail out. This is treason. They should all be shot.

can someone tell me what it means when someone replies to your comment with: +1

Many thanks.

he is always a couple steps ahead of the discussion at hand. It is very reasurring.

If Congressional Republicans are going to sit on the sidelines then run against the bailout this fall then Bush is no longer in the position to say "my-way-or-the-highway". That puts Democrats in the position to say it's the American people's-way-or-the-highway. And it sounds like Obama and Dodd understand that they are in position to demand changes that are in our interests.

If Republicans are going to play political chicken with the world economy then it is time once and for all for Democrats to call their bluff. Demand it all; equity stakes, executive pay restrictions, Congressional and Judicial oversight, mortgage re-negotiation, CEO public humiliation and a pound of flesh or two. Take it or leave it.

ah.......tena, we find black widows all over the place........they don't even scare me anymore....can't believe I just said that, but its true.....i just let them run away.....

wow, i just read his comments. this man should be president. period. the leadership we need... "I want to talk to those CEOs (who will be reluctant to agree to terms of bailout if there are exec pay conditions) right now... this cannot be a welfare program for Wall St"

kudos, sir.

During the congressional hearing, Paulson is asked what's the rush to get a deal done? Paulson says, this is an extraordinary situation requiring extraordinary action.

Extraordinary, indeed. The longer this deal is allowed to sit on the counter and thaw, the more it reeks with the stench of past Bush policies. This seems to be one last desperate attempt to drown this government in the tub.

Republican = Jerry Springer watching COUNTRY CLUB SOCIALISTS,
What could possibly more hilarious then that.

Good to see Obama out front, strong and coherent on this. I'd like to see him and more Democrats stating outright that George Bush, Dick Cheney and their allies have no credibility and have proven themselves completely unworthy of the American people's trust.

Is the video of Obama's speech and the press conference that followed available? Hearing Obama speak on the issue was more powerful than any political ad. The word "presidential" comes to mind.

Obama is just do darn...reasonable. What a refreshing quality that would be in a president.

Any CEO who refuses to participate in the government bailout because of CEO pay would have hell to pay from his shareholders and (more importantly) their attorneys. CEOs of these firms are in no position to bargain.

Great stuff from Obama.

McCain is taking his turn at trying to look Presidential. I sounds like he's taking the side of Paulson in saying that we need to pass this bill "as quickly as possible". He's still making noises about oversight and transparency, but it seems clear that he's positioning himself to side with the "OMG, Do it NOW" crowd.

This might turn into a political football despite Obama's best efforts. Pelosi needs to get her Blue Dogs in line now, so that we can put forward a real bill that addresses all our needs.

I also sounds like McCain is attempting to maneuver our of explicitly promising to actually vote on this bill. Reid needs to keep that in mind, and schedule the vote appropriately.

Obama should do daily pressers - to show how ridiculous McCain/Palin are being. Also I think Obama is doing pressers to help him get ready for the debate.

McCain hasn't done a presser in so long, and has only done phony town-halls, I was hoping he'd have been off his game. too bad he decided to do a presser today.

HusseinTenaX -- I had a horrible spider infestation in my condo when I first bought it. I found 17 live spiders in my bedroom alone when I was moving in.

I finally figured out where they were coming from -- someone had made a plumbing repair behind the toilet and left a fist-sized hole in the drywall. After patching that and the too-large holes made for water pipes to washer and dishwasher, the spider problem was much less.

If you haven't already done so, check everywhere for holes in the drywall - even small ones. I caught a spider trying to crawl through a phone outlet once. Crafty devils they are.

not my words, from espn.com's TMQ:

The 1980 Chrysler bailout, which was nationally debated for months before happening, cost $3.2 billion, in present-value dollars, and was financed by revenue rather than by borrowing. Here is the borrowing that's happened in 2008 alone, with precious little public debate:
• $29 billion to bail out Bear Stearns.
• $40 billion in the first mortgage-holder bailout.
• $80 billion for an additional year of Iraq war operations. (Another $150-$200 billion in war costs such as future veterans' disability benefits were incurred but not funded.)
• Up to $85 billion to bail out AIG.
• $153 billion to households for "economic stimulus."
• $200 billion, and possibly more, to bail out Fannie and Freddie.
• $290 billion in farm subsidies, despite agricultural prices and grains profits being at record highs.
• $700 billion general bailout of securities backed by bad debt. (The International Monetary Fund estimates this figure will rise to at least $1 trillion.)
That comes to $1.6 trillion, explaining the debt-ceiling rise, and does not include roughly $300 billion in essentially interest-free cash issued to banks by the Federal Reserve on an emergency basis, which may or may not be repaid, but which in any case make all existing money somewhat less valuable. Why is the debt aspect of the splurge barely being remarked on by the mainstream media and by politicians? Why are the young not furious? And about that $700 billion about to the shoveled to the Wall Street elite -- in 2007, George W. Bush vetoed an increase of $7 billion per year in health care spending for the poor, saying the country couldn't afford it.

Obama has the germ of the solution in his remarks, and may not see it.

If we're talking about 700 billion dollars, which will have to be borrowed anyway, why not do this:

Put up 150 billion now for the bailout, with all the strings attached that Obama and Dodd have discussed. But, contrary to what Obama says above, DO include a stimulus package. Another 250 billion to build roads, bridges, schools, improve networks and electronic grids, etc.

That (the stimulus part) will create jobs and help the economy.

The remaining 300 billion dollars will be withheld until after the election . . . actually, until after the next president takes over . . . Congress will have time to reassess and decide if more stimulus or bailout is needed and where to put it.

IOW, kick up Main Street and Wall Street, as a part of the same package, and hold 300 billion more in reserve.

Make this more populist and Obama will get a twofer:

1. It's the right thing to do
2. It will help him win the election

I agree with Jonze, Obama should now be doing daily pressers (with the flags in the background), and get on all the Sunday talk shows as well. This will wear out mcsenile because he will have to attempt to keep up with Obama, which he cannot possibly do, will lose his temper, misspeak, and make himself even more of a fool (I could use stronger language, but will refrain.)

mcsenile is scheduled to a 15 minute presser sometime today, but Obama's was much longer - I hope there is a link to it. Also, I read on Huffington that palin and Karzai chatted about kids! So what did she talk to Henry about - his great, great grandkids??? And where's the photo of her with Uribe (Pres of Colombia) - Now didn't Mark Penn's visit to Colombia get him into some trouble with Hillary's campaign re the trade proposal. Hmmmmm

I do hope the msm are now getting on mcsenile. It appears we have George Will and Sam Donaldson tilting in our favor. How about if they interview mcsenile.

I just heard Bush cry "WOLF!"

Repugs want to hang this albatross around Obama's neck. What would happen if congress chose to address this after the election and just allow it to stew for 6 weeks or so. GAO should be reviewing the whole shebang before anyone signs on the dotted line. Oh, and Bernanke and Paulsen should be impeached. the 50 billion to AIG was illegal, per the Federal Reserve Act of 1913

Uh-oh: more lobbyist troubles for McShame:

http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2008/09/23/in-the-tank-charlie-blacks-mysterious-russian-lobby-client/#more-31940

Every dollar we drop into this black hole of a bailout will be gone forever. IT WON'T WORK. It's a terrible idea. Here's what happened in Japan in 1998 courtesy of www.economicpopulist.org:

In 1998, Japan decided to "recapitalize" its banks to the tune of 60 trillion yen, or 12% of the GDP of Japan. Just 6 months later another 7.5 trillion yen of taxpayer money was dropped into 15 banks.

These are similar numbers to what is being passed around Washington this week. Which brings up the important question of - how well did the bailout work?

So far, 25 trillion yen in tax money has been spent, or $238 billion at current exchange rates, on a government overhaul of the financial system, out of $666 billion allocated for that purpose in 1998. Even more has been spent to prop up banks and other financial institutions indirectly, through credit-guarantee programs and the like.

"We are standing at the same divide where we were standing two years ago, when we recapitalized the banks," said Yasuhisa Shiozaki, a youngish legislator from the governing Liberal Democratic Party, who has been a rather lonely advocate of painful financial restructuring. "We can either recapitalize the banks again, or we can just let them go bust."
[...]

Ruling-party politicians quickly scrapped the plan, and Sogo failed, blowing away the fig leaf that covered Japan's supposedly resolved bad-debt problems. "What we found out with Sogo and afterward is that the essential and fundamental problems of the Japanese economy were still there or perhaps even worse," Mr. Shiozaki said.

THE PROBLEMS OF THE ECONOMY WERE STILL THERE OR PERHAPS EVEN WORSE.

On hearing McCain offer almost the same points as Obama had, it was apparent that his press team had listened to Obama's speech and crafted McCain's response in response to it. Stealing his lines, ideas, again. OK, in that case, Obama just has to say, "I'm glad to hear McCain agrees with my proposals. This puts us on a firm ground for a bipartisan solution."

Otherwise, the 2 press conferences could not have been more different. McCain avoided questions, clearly didn't want to take many, and spoke to the bailout in only the most general terms. Obama very directly addressed the specifics of the problem, in a way that I'm sure reporters appreciated. I'M WAITING FOR THE PUNDITS (impartial) TO CONTRAST THEIR PERFORMANCES.