When John McCain suspended his presidential campaign yesterday, he explained that he was doing so in order to help facilitate a deal on the financial industry bailout. “I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem,” he said. But in an interview today, Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) revealed McCain’s true impact:
I do think that John McCain was very helpful in what he did. I saw him this morning, we’ve been talking with his staff. Clearly, yesterday, his position in that discussion yesterday was one that stopped a deal from, uh, finalizing that no House Republican, in my view, would’ve been for. Which means it probably wouldn’t have passed the House.
Watch it:
Indeed, Democrats fault McCain for derailing a potential bipartisan agreement. Yesterday, Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT) and Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) said a deal was close, but the House GOP — backed by McCain — disrupted the negotiations by proposing a plan that would not receive Democratic support.
Update
Pat Garofalo has more details on the Republican plans for the bailout.
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