Obama says he told Wall Street, “We’ve got to re-regulate.”
But how, specifically? Re-enact the old division between investment banks and commercial banks? That would mean breaking up several of the biggest companies in America, starting with Citigroup. You want to see a financial meltdown, make that announcement. Increase capital requirements? Okay, McCain has indicated he’s in favor of higher capital requirements, too. Reform valuation rules and accounting practices? McCain has backed that, too. McCain has said that while he is an instinctive deregulator, he recognizes the need for intelligent oversight. McCain isn’t exactly a raving libertarian.
There are times when conservatives must perversely wish that McCain would be louder about his points of disagreement with us. Obama likes to preach about the evil lobbyists and the influence of money in Washington. Why doesn’t McCain say, “Hey, you know what? The big campaign-finance reform law is called McCain-Feingold, not McCain-Feingold-Obama.” McCain has been a pretty mild deregulator, but he allows himself to be painted as Senator Gekko.
So, assignments editors: Is there a regulatory proposal that Obama has actually introduced during his legislative career that was opposed by McCain and that would have prevented the current crisis?