Brendan Calling

An Open Letter to the Democratic Party

Talks Implode During a Day of Chaos; Fate of Bailout Plan Remains Unresolved:

The day began with an agreement that Washington hoped would end the financial crisis that has gripped the nation. It dissolved into a verbal brawl in the Cabinet Room of the White House, urgent warnings from the president and pleas from a Treasury secretary who knelt before the House speaker and appealed for her support…

“We’re in a serious economic crisis,” Mr. Bush told reporters as the meeting began shortly before 4 p.m. in the Cabinet Room, adding, “My hope is we can reach an agreement very shortly.”

But once the doors closed, the smooth-talking House Republican leader, John A. Boehner of Ohio, surprised many in the room by declaring that his caucus could not support the plan to allow the government to buy distressed mortgage assets from ailing financial companies.

Mr. Boehner pressed an alternative that involved a smaller role for the government, and Mr. McCain, whose support of the deal is critical if fellow Republicans are to sign on, declined to take a stand.

The talks broke up in angry recriminations, according to accounts provided by a participant and others who were briefed on the session, and were followed by dueling news conferences and interviews rife with partisan finger-pointing.

Friday morning, on CBS’s “The Early Show,” Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the lead Democratic negotiator, said the bailout had been derailed by internal Republican politics.

“I didn’t know I was going to be the referee for an internal G.O.P. ideological civil war,” Mr. Frank said, according to The A.P.Thursday, in the Roosevelt Room after the session, the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., literally bent down on one knee as he pleaded with Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, not to “blow it up” by withdrawing her party’s support for the package over what Ms. Pelosi derided as a Republican betrayal.

“I didn’t know you were Catholic,” Ms. Pelosi said, a wry reference to Mr. Paulson’s kneeling, according to someone who observed the exchange. She went on: “It’s not me blowing this up, it’s the Republicans.”

Mr. Paulson sighed. “I know. I know.”

Dear Democrats:

I know some people are telling you what great strategists you are, how you set up a counter-ambush for McCain at the White House over this bailout, but I don’t believe it and don’t think you do either. The fact is, you guy are about as cunning as a jackrabbit: I could point to the way the GOP rolled you on MoveOn, on the blank checks for Iraq, on making Pete Stark apologize for something, but for me, the best example is how the GOP made you look like clowns with that whole “Impeach Dick Cheney” stunt:

1) Dennis Kucinich introduces a motion to impeach Lord Vader Vice President Cheney.

2) Steny Hoyer introduces a motion to table the bill, essentially killing it. Hoyer is a gelding Blue Dog, and is afraid of impeaching Cheney. The Democrats begin to vote to table the resolution.

3) At the last minute, the Republicans switch their votes en masse, voting NOT to kill the bill. “You want a debate? Let’s debate!”

4) House leadership promptly freaks out. Hoyer is totally punked. The bill ends up getting sent to the Judiciary, where John Conyers will presumably ignore it.

So let’s get that out of the way: you’re not strategists. You can barely play “Stratego”.

What you got yesterday was a gift. You got lucky: McCain’s old, doddering, desperate, and emfeebled, and his campaign is led by drama queens and hysterics. Meanwhile, the Republicans are fractured: they’re running from Mr. Bush, and for once don’t know what to do to ratfuck you. In fact, if it wasn’t for missteps on McCain’s part, that deal would have gone through and you would have been blamed for the meltdown. Want proof?

This is YOU. Sitting there at a photo-op with President 26%, the most hated President in history. And what are you doing in that picture? You’re working on a deal with him and his untrustworthy henchmen, a deal that everyone from left to right hates, and which will hamstring the next President, almost surely a Democrat.

So no, you’re not great strategists or even particularly smart. You were supporting a bad bill:

I’m glad to see that John McCain’s intervention helped so much in bringing together a deal.

No, really, I am. At this point I can’t see how we get a good deal when the entire Congressional leadership, and the president plus both presidential candidates are onside for a bad bill (just, as it happens, different bad bills.)

That said, I want to let you know how lucky you are. With Henry Paulson doing his Jake Blues impression, the growing public awareness that things really ARE totally fucked, and that John McKKKain is increasingly erratic and possibly to blame for scuttling the talks, you have more leverage over the process than you ever imagined.

You got lucky Democrats. Don’t blow it: Like Ian Welsh at FDL says,

At this point efforts should continue to make sure that backbenchers in both the House and Senate continue to refuse to sign off on this mess. No good bill is going to come out of this Congress with the help of this administration. Kill the bill, give Paulson a hundred billion or so on strict strings just so that he and Bernanke can’t blame Congress for the continued economic and financial deterioration which will occur no matter what is done, and go on holiday. January 20th a new Congress can start over with a new President and try and do it right.

“Doing it right” means reinstating Glass Steagal, making sure the US has equity in any company that’s bailed out, and direct help for homeowners.

You got a mulligan. Don’t fuck it up this time.

Sincerely,

Brendan Skwire

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