McCain hasn't "had a chance" to read bailout

by Dollars and Sense

Hat-tip to Doug Henwood of the Left Business Observer for this gem:

SENATOR MCCAIN SAID TUESDAY THAT HE HADN'T READ THE BAILOUT PROPOSAL, according to Cleveland NBC station WKYC: 'In an exclusive interview he told Tom Beres, 'I have not had a chance to see it in writing. I have to examine it.'

But note: The bailout proposal is only three pages long!

Naomi Klein pointed out on Democracy Now! yesterday that the brevity of the bailout proposal might have been a blunder:

NAOMI KLEIN: ... You know, and a lot of people have even described this Paulson plan as an economic PATRIOT Act. You know, one of the mistakes that I think they made, honestly, Amy, is how short it is. It’s just three pages, which means—you know, usually these pieces of legislation are much longer, so people don’t even bother reading them in that moment of extortion—you know, “Pass it now, or else…or else the sky falls in.” So, you know, in this case, I think they made a miscalculation. You know, there was an interesting article in Time that just came out, where they actually say that they have been working—you know, this is a quote—it says, “[Paulson] and his team [have] been working on [this] proposal for more than six months.” So, it’s quite surprising that it is as pared down as it is. It’s three pages. And the craziest thing has happened: people have read it. Regular people have read it. It doesn’t take that much time. And, you know, you read Section 8, which is just so stunning, just so bold in its demand for total and complete impunity. And that’s really what’s getting in their way, is people are reading this text, and they’re frankly shocked by it.

Hear, or read the transcript of, the full interview.

Labels: bailout, Democracy Now, Doug Henwood, john mccain, Naomi Klein

 

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9/25/2008 11:16:00 AM