McCain says government 'forced' to bail out AIG

Source: Associated Press

ORION TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate John McCain, a day after flatly rejecting the idea of a taxpayer bailout for American International Group Inc., said Wednesday that the government had been "forced" into proposing an $85 billion loan to the nation's largest insurer.

McCain appeared to soften his opposition to the bailout proposed by the Federal Reserve, treating the plan as a necessary evil to protect ordinary Americans with finanical ties to AIG — and asserting that such a financial collapse should not be allowed to happen again. He also called for an investigation to uncover any wrongdoing.

"The government was forced to commit $85 billion," McCain said in a statement. "These actions stem from failed regulation, reckless management and a casino culture on Wall Street that has crippled one of the most important companies in America."

"The focus of any such action should be to protect the millions of Americans who hold insurance policies, retirement plans and other accounts with AIG," he added. "We must not bail out the management and speculators who created this mess."

Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iE2JCSH5p9r2GBkQWS9TWAMzmuvQD938MBQ81

...be due to uncontrolled short selling...in other words gambling

We can start fresh, y'know...

Hawkeye-X

I listened to PBS Leherer Report tonight. Gwen had to guests on, one from the AM. Enterprise Inst, and one a professor of political economics from Carnegie Mellon Univ.

The Professor said they should have let all the businesses fail! There were buyers out there that would have purchased them on the cheap! There were offers on the floor for AIG, but they dicided to hold out because they thought they'd get a better deal from the Feds! He believes that all the Gov't did was tell other institutions that THEY TOO can be saved by the taxpayers! He believes the people who took the risks and foolishly played the system should have to pay the price, and NOT the taxpayers! I AGREE WITH HIM!

Here's a link to the video of that discussion.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/video/stnmodule.html?mod=0&pkg=17092008&seg=2

Sounds pretty damn voluntary to me.

The government was "forced"? :rofl:

"These actions stem from failed regulation, reckless management and a casino culture on Wall Street that has crippled one of the most important companies in America."

Trouble is that he and his new and richer wife- not to mention his running mate, can't cry wolf.

My husband used to work at Orion when he was alive. We live about 5 miles away. I knew McCain visited an auto plant in Michigan yesterday, I just didn't know which one.