Regulators simultaneously brokered an emergency sale of virtually all of Washington Mutual, the nation’s largest savings and loan, to JPMorgan Chase for $1.9 billion, averting another potentially huge taxpayer bill for the rescue of a failing institution.
The move came as lawmakers reached a stalemate over the passage of a $700 billion bailout fund designed to help ailing banks, and removed one of America’s most troubled banks from the financial landscape.
Customers of WaMu, based in Seattle, are unlikely to be affected, although shareholders and some bondholders will be wiped out. WaMu account holders are guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation up to $100,000, and additional deposits will be backed by JPMorgan Chase…
Moments after Senator McCain ended several of days of suspense and announced that he would participate in the debate after all, the doors of his campaign plane were opened and the steps were down, as Mr. Obama’s 757 idled nearby on the runway at Ronald Reagan National Airport outside Washington, according to a pool report. Both planes were set to arrive in Memphis on Friday afternoon.
Senator Obama finished a round of telephone calls with Congressional leaders and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. before leaving Washington to fly to Memphis and drive to Mississippi to prepare for the first presidential debate of the general election.
“My strong sense is that the best thing that I can do, rather than to inject presidential politics into some delicate negotiations, is to go down to Mississippi and explain to the American people what is going on and my vision for leading the country over the next four years,” Mr. Obama told reporters aboard his plane. “I’m looking forward to the debate and look forward after the debate to coming back to Washington and hopefully getting a package done”…
Bush’s Leadership Deficit
By Dan FroomkinThe emergency White House summit that President Bush called as a special favor to Republican presidential candidate John McCain backfired spectacularly yesterday afternoon, leaving what had appeared to be an emerging bipartisan deal in shatters. So this morning, it was time for the president to come out and show some real leadership. Instead, Bush briefly popped out of the Oval Office to deliver what, all things considered, may be his lamest remarks ever. Here they are, in their entirety:
"Good morning. My administration continues to work with the Congress on a rescue plan. And we need a rescue plan. This is – it’s hard work. Our proposal is a big proposal. And the reason it’s big and substantial is because we got a big problem"
"We also need to move quickly. Now, anytime you have a plan this big, that is moving this quickly, that requires legislative approval, it creates challenges. Members want to be heard. They want to be able to express their opinions, and they should be allowed to express their opinions."
"There are disagreements over aspects of the rescue plan, but there is no disagreement that something substantial must be done. The legislative process is sometimes not very pretty, but we are going to get a package passed. We will rise to the occasion. Republicans and Democrats will come together and pass a substantial rescue plan."
"Thank you very much."
Let us remember that the Mortgage Crisis, while building on Legislation passed under Ronald Reagan and the Republican Congress in the end of the Clinton Administration, has occurred during the Bush Administration. I think most of us were vaguely aware that something was going on with Mortgages – because our home mortgages kept changing hands. And we knew that our Banks were being bought and sold right and left. But we had no clue about the credit default swap market, at least I didn’t. That’s the kind of thing we counted on the government to keep up with, to regulate. So, for us to be breathless about what has happened here is understandable. But Paulson? Bernanke? Bush? Cheney? That’s their job.
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