Remind me of the West Wing!
\nNeed to get this thing down, I believe looking back the heroes , villains and heroes of this crisis must be remembered, villified and villified.<\/p>\n
Wild White House meeting sets back deal
\nBy DAVID ROGERS | 9\/25\/08 9:58 PM EDT Updated: 9\/25\/08 9:58 PM EDT
\nAfter White House meeting, Dems complain of being \u201cblindsided\u201d by a new conservative alternative.
\nA high-profile White House meeting on Treasury\u2019s $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan ended on a sour, contentious note Thursday after animated exchanges among lawmakers laced with presidential politics just weeks before the November elections.
\n\u201cI can\u2019t invent votes,\u201d House Republican Leader John Boehner warned the administration about the lack of support in his conference for the massive government intervention. And House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) angrily accused House Republicans \u2014 with the tacit support of Republican presidential candidate John McCain \u2014 of crafting an alternative to undercut Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
\nBoth McCain and his Democrat rival, Sen. Barack Obama, left without any joint endorsement. A beleaguered President Bush had to struggle to maintain order and reassert himself. And when Democrats left after the meeting to caucus in the Roosevelt Room, Paulson pursued them, begging that they not \u201cblow up\u201d the legislation.
\nThe former Goldman Sachs CEO even went down on one knee as if genuflecting, to which Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal.) is said to have joked, \u201cI didn\u2019t know you were Catholic.\u201d
\nThe White House meeting had been called at the urging of McCain, but Democrats made sure Obama had a prominent part. And much as they complained later of being blindsided, the whole meeting turned out to be something of an ambush on their part\u2014aimed at McCain and House Republicans.
\n\u201cSpeaking professionally,\u201d said one Republican aide, \u201cThey did a very good job.\u201d
\nWhen Bush yielded early to Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D- Nev.) to speak, they yielded to Obama to speak for the assembled Democrats. And it was Obama who raised the subject of the conservative alternative and pressed Paulson on what he thought of the idea.
\nWild White House meeting sets back deal – David Rogers – Politico.com<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Remind me of the West Wing! Need to get this thing down, I believe looking back the heroes , villains and heroes of this crisis must be remembered, villified and villified. Wild White House meeting sets back deal By DAVID ROGERS | 9\/25\/08 9:58 PM EDT Updated: 9\/25\/08 9:58 PM EDT After White House meeting, … <\/p>\n