McCalin: Against the Mortgage Bailout, Before They Were for It?
By Asma Hassan
Colorado, US
In the latest political celebrity couple news, McCalin (my nickname for everyone's favorite couple; although Pain might be more apt) authored a joint Wall Street Journal editorial addressing the federal government's weekend action to bail out mortgage loan companies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. McCalin says they will protect taxpayers from more bailouts in their administration. Sounds good, right? None of us like our tax dollars being wasted to save greedy, poorly managed companies who are basically responsible for a massive, nearly yearlong stock market collapse.
But McCalin also says that the bailout follows McCain's advice of months ago. Huh? I thought they just said that the bailout was bad. Oh wait, I see they say in their opening line that the bailout was "sadly necessary" to keep good Americans from being kicked out of their homes. Okay, so McCalin is all for Democratic-style, big government solutions, right?
Uhhh, well, not really. If you read on, then McCalin says the administration will review every governmental department and eliminate any that are wasteful. Now that's more like it! Republicans are supposed to be for smaller government.
While they're at it, they are also going to force reforms on mortgage lenders and financial institutions. Did I hear that right? Reform of private banking institutions? My Democratic eyes like reading this, but it sounds like a lot of free market interference to my Republican ears. As the eyes and ears argue each other, my brain chimes in over the din, silencing the cacophony and says that this kitchen sink kind of platform just isn't realistic.
Can any of you tell, what exactly they are advocating? Or not advocating? Another Kind of Maverick: Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison on Sarah Palin
Despite the roar of applause you hear every time Sarah Palin's name mentioned from the podium, some conventioneers and pundits have expressed their regret that, if he wanted a woman on the ticket, McCain did not reach out to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas instead. When I met the tall, regal blonde yesterday, I asked her what she has to say about why she isn't on the ticket. She took my question in stride, literally, as we were rushing towards the exit of the Xcel Center — Hutchison was already late for her next appointment.
"I think Senator McCain was looking for someone who was his style of maverick, and he wants a change ticket," Hutchison said of Palin. She believes McCain could relate to Palin, "as someone who goes against the establishment in her state."
When I asked the Senator if she had ever been passed over for an opportunity because she was a woman, she said, "I've always had to fight harder for what I have achieved. I've been underestimated. I have been trivialized. I have had to go the extra mile to prove that I could do a job. So of course, I've had those experiences." But Hutchison heralds a new era in politics, saying, "It's totally different from when I started in politics. I have found it has become a positive to be a woman… I think we have made huge strides."
Hutchison thinks Palin will appeal to working moms in particular because "she clearly knows all of the pulls and pressures of having children and having a career. Working moms are going to relate to that. I do." I believe her, but in her yellow suit, perfect coif, and soft Texas accent, it's hard to imagine this rose of Texas ever feeling any pressure!
Editor's Note: Reprinted from Glamour.com with permission of the author. Please read the original blog posting at: http://www.glamour.com/contributors/asma-hasan
