Cuckoo McCain does it again -- every hour on the hour now, like clockwork

[nichomachus]

McCain said he would fire the SEC chairman.

Problem is -- the president can't fire the SEC chairman.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/09/mccain-blasts-o.html

ABC News' David Wright reports: At a joint rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa Thursday, Republican John McCain slammed the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) for being "asleep at the switch" saying that if he were president, he would fire Chris Cox, the chairman of the SEC since 2005 and a former Republican congressman.

McCain said the SEC has allowed trading practices such as short selling to stay in place that turned the "markets into a casino."

"The regulators were asleep, my friends," McCain said. "The chairman of the SEC serves at the appointment of the president. And in my view has betrayed the public trust. If I were president today, I would fire him."

But while the president nominates and the Senate confirms the SEC chair, a commissioner of an independent regulatory commission cannot be removed by the president.

From time to time, presidents have attempted to remove commissioners who have proven "uncooperative." However, the courts have general upheld the independence of commissioners. In 1935, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt fired a member of the Federal Trade Commission and the Supreme Court ruled the president acted unconstitutionally.

[BattyDem]

1. Oops!

:rofl:

[LynneSin]

2. Sarah uses banks, perhaps she can help McIdiot with the SEC

:eyes:

[Barack_America]

3. The Constitution is for wimps.

John McCain is a maverick.

Fuck the Constitution.

:sarcasm:


(Thanks for pointing this out. I hope he gets hit hard for this. He's either senile, ignorant or disrespectful of the Constution--let's make him pick one. And hey, isn't today "Constitution Day"?)

ETA: Constitution Day was yesterday. Guess I'm working too hard (and for not enough money *sigh*)

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

4. you would think he would know that

being and expert at Washington and economics and all

[nichomachus]

5. You would think he would know where Spain was

being a pilot and an international expert

[damntexdem]

6. Sure, he's a pilot, but he never kept the plane in the air long enough to get to Spain.

[nichomachus]

9. Ooooh -- you're mean

I like that in a person

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

11. actually, he did crash in Spain

maybe that is why he blocks it out?

or is he still wanted for destruction of property there?

[Ichingcarpenter]

7. He wants to have diplomatic talks with Spain's Generalissimo Francisco Franco

To talk about Spain's prime minister

[BlueIdaho]

8. Desperate ignorance.

Quick! Blame someone else! No John - this disaster is brought to you by the uber magical "free" marketplace - cut free from all those pesky regulations and regulators. If he had one ounce of integrity he would stand on stage - do an about face and point at his "team" Gramm and the rest of the de regulators and say "These are the bastards that have destroyed your nest egg - thrown you out of your homes - and have left the world teetering on the edge of an economic black hole, what say we string them all up here and now?"

McCain = Herbert Hoover.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

10. McCuckoo is starting to lose control

I'll bet when he called for the firing of Cox, he wasn't following his canned talking points but was doing it completely on his own, hoping to strike a brilliant coup with the press. His handlers probably said "why did you say that?". McCain is clearly starting to lose it. I'll bet he's fuming over the way his campaign is going, about the flack he's received for his terrible ads and about his own spokeswoman saying that he couldn't even run a major company. He's probably angry over the fact that crowds desert him in his big top after the opening act Palin finishes her dog and pony show. He's now said some strange things about Spain that no one quite understands. McCain is probably angry now at his staffers and wants to try to save his campaign single-handedly and that's why these strange unvetted things are coming out of his mouth. I think it's just the first of several goofs we can expect in the near future.