McCain blasts Congress for blocking bailout plan

Republican presidential candidate John McCain had sharp words for Congress, in the wake of the defeat of the financial system rescue plan.

"They wiped out $1.2 trillion today," the Arizona Senator told KARE 11, "Congress's failure to act today is not acceptable."

Despite pleas from President Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, lawmakers rejected the bailout bill by a vote of 228-205.

By the time the New York Stock Exchange closed, the Dow Industrial average had plummeted 777 points. Answering questions via satellite from Des Moines, Iowa McCain chided those from both sides of the aisle who opposed the plan.

"This is a time of severe crisis, maybe the greatest crisis of our life time," McCain told KARE, "Our failure to act is going to cause problems not only in America, but globally."

Some opposed the package because it didn't do enough to directly address the hardships faced by those stuck in with mortgage foreclosure troubles and, in some cases, predatory loan rates.

Other resistance came from those who are fundamentally opposed to such a massive influx of government aid, at a time when the United States treasury is already straddled with record debt.

Still others remain unconvinced that buying up lenders' bad debt bring trangible results to average people when it comes to easing the credit crisis.

"We are in a global economy," McCain remarked, "And people are not going to be able to get loans to buy a car, keep their mortgage payment, keep their jobs."

The Minnesota delegation split evenly, but not along party lines. Republican John Kline joined Democrats Keith Ellison, Betty McCollum and James Oberstar in vote for the plan.

Democrats Tim Walz and Colin Peterson joined Republicans Michele Bachmann and Jim Ramstad in opposing the deal hammered out by Congressional leaders over the weekend.

Political angle

 McCain's senior campaign adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin released a statement after the bill failed taking Democrats to task for the legislative breakdown.

He accused McCain's rival, Illinois Democrat Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada of "partisan attacks" for suggesting McCain suspended his campaign last week as a political stunt.

Holtz-Eakin also went after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "Just before the vote when the outcome was still in doubt, Speaker Pelosi gave a strongly worded partisan speech and poisoned the outcome," he wrote.

 When asked whether the players can put aside their hurt feelings for the good of the country, Senator McCain said they must. "First of all a speech should not affect our obligation to help fix this problem," McCain argued, "It was an unnecessary partisan speech obviously, but the point is Congress should've acted and the House of Representatives did not carry out their responsibilities to the American people."

The Obama campaign's spokesman Bill Burton issued his own statement Monday afternoon. "This is a moment of national crisis, and today's inaction in Congress as well as the angry and hyper-partisan statement released by the McCain campaign are exactly why the American people are disgusted with Washington," Burton wrote. "Now is the time for Democrats and Republicans to join together and act in a way that prevents an economic catastrophe. The stability of our entire economy depends on us taking immediate action to ease this crisis."

By John Croman, KARE 11 News

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