From this morning's speech in Daytona Beach, FL:

There's only one candidate who's called himself "fundamentally a deregulator" when deregulation is part of the problem. My opponent actually wrote in the current issue of a health care magazine - the current issue - quote - "Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation."

So let me get this straight - he wants to run health care like they've been running Wall Street. Well, Senator, I know some folks on Main Street who aren't going to think that's a good idea.

Excellent speech, hard-hitting, tough and still clearly focused on policy and what Obama will do for the country. Let's hope the MSM pick up on it.

More here.

From earlier today (emphasis added):

"One of the books that Mark Salter and I wrote, available on Amazon by the way, I talked about what to me was the most impressive things about one of our great presidents..."

Wonder if he has an affiliate link?

McCain's recent conversion to a born-again regulator flies in the face of a long history as a deregulator -- a history that puts him squarely in the camp that's to blame for the current financial crisis. His "maverick" credentials have also long been questioned by those who know his record. Here are some excerpts from a New York Times article from the last time McCain ran for president:

"Mr. McCain's 17-year record in Congress, though, markedly undercuts the message from the camp of Gov. George W. Bush that the senator is insufficiently right-leaning.

"Mr. McCain supports school vouchers, missile defense, the death penalty and a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning. He has opposed affirmative action and most gun control legislation.

"Unlike the governor, he does not support federal financing of the arts. And he voted to convict President Clinton, is strongly pro-military, defended Ronald Reagan during the Iran-contra inquiry and has a long history as a deregulator."

...

"Still, a number of these conservatives say they see no appreciable ideological difference between Mr. McCain and Mr. Bush.

''They're both good conservatives, and this is simply politics as usual,'' said R. Emmett Tyrell Jr., editor of The American Spectator."

NYT, Feb. 19, 2000

With financial crises in the news again, and John McCain now trying to transform himself into a born-again regulator, it's a good time to reflect on what happened the last time something like this happened, back in the late 1980s. Here's an excerpt from a New York Times article that came out in March 1990, summarizing the effects of the S&L debacle:

"BEFORE the decade is out, the Federal bailout of the savings and loan industry is expected to cost the Government more than $200 billion. That is much more than the Government will spend on such critical social problems as preschool education, drug control and aid to the homeless. It is more than will be spent on highways, air traffic control and pollution abatement. It amounts to more than $1,300 for every American taxpayer, and it will not enhance national security, promote economic growth or improve public welfare one bit."
...
"Five Senators ... came under investigation because of their relationship with Charles H. Keating Jr., perhaps the highest roller of all. The failure of his Lincoln Savings and Loan Association in Irvine, Calif., will cost taxpayers more than $2 billion."
...
"None of the five senators ... Republican John McCain of Arizona - are up for re-election this year. But public opinion polls show their standing has slipped, and the issue would probably complicate their campaigns in 1992 or 1994."

Hmm. John McCain? You don't say!

Here's an excerpt from another Times piece, discussing McCain's efforts to rehabilitate his image, post-Keating.

"Robert Robb, a Republican political consultant, said: 'I think John was right to go public, but I think he should disappear for a while and take some political hibernation; right now, whenever anybody hears the name John McCain, all they think of is Keating,'"

Hmmmm.

There's a lot more in the public record, and the public deserves to be reminded of McCain's history, before he became a "maverick."

Wondering why the wingnuts aren't gloating over bagging a major Clintonite like Lady Rothschild? Perhaps it's because her Ladyship's endorsement is so ridiculous that even straight news organizations can't resist covering it in a way that sounds more like the Onion covering Billionaires for Bush. Today's LAT is but one example:

"... She and her husband, Sir Evelyn Robert Adrian de Rothschild of the prominent Rothschild banking family of England, split their time between New York and a British country estate. ...

Sen. Barack Obama? He's an elitist, she says."

Frankly, this endorsement may just put the "elitist" meme to bed at last. After all, when the charge comes from a mega-rich noble who spends more time in her UK estate than in the US, it sort of changes the context. From now on, whenever someone even tries to level the "elitist" charge, let's just remind them who else is making it. Oh, and she hit Larry King as well: "You're the elite, not me."

The whole Spain thing keeps getting more and more ridiculous. It's pretty clear that McCain was just clueless, but rather than admit that, the campaign insists that he was expressing a right-wing uber-hawk sentiment about Zapatero. We'll see how much MSM play this gets  -- and how it plays in the U.S. Spanish-language media. Right now, I don't see anything on the El Nuevo Herald or Univision sites.