There is an issue bubbling, at least in my threads, with people claiming to be Democrats telling me how great McCain is on the economy.

No true Democrat believes that. If you are a Republican, well, of course McCain's crazy economic policies will appeal to you. But not if you are a Democrat and claim to have been a Clinton supporter.

Now I have no patience for stupidity, so I suggest those people who want to claim to be Democrats and Hillary Clinton supporters but also claim that McCain is better on the economy not comment in my threads. Such a claim is simply untenable. You can't be a Dem and Hillary Clinton supporter on the economy and claim McCain is better on the economy than Obama. It makes no sense. I have no patience period, but absolutely no patience for that type of nonsense. Maybe J and Chris will accept it in their threads, I will not. Do not bring it there.

This is an Open Thread.

This is great news . . . for Obama:

President Bush might make a televised speech to pressure Congress to approve a $700 billion plan to bail out Wall Street, a White House spokeswoman said. President Bush may address the nation about the $700 billion bailout package as early as Wednesday night.

The president is trying to decide "whether, how or when" to address the nation, spokeswoman Dana Perino said Wednesday. "The American people have questions and a lot of concerns and the president has been trying to answer them."

(Emphasis supplied.) Please, please, please, let it be true. I want to hear Bush "answer the concerns" of the American People about anything. Let's fire up the pictures of McCain with Bush. Bush could bury the Paulson plan and the McCain campaign all in one fell swoop.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

I posted on the WaPo poll that has Obama up 52-43. The trackers also have Obama ahead. Ras has Obama up 2, 49-47. Hotline has Obama up 6. Dkos/R2000 has Obama up 4. Ipsos/McClatchey has Obama up 1. CNN/Opinion Research has Obama up 4. Gallup has Obama by 3. Only Battleground has McCain up 2.

It seems safe to say that Obama has a solid lead and it is because of the economy.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

I think there is absolutely no doubt that Congress will act in some way to address the credit/mortgage crisis Wall Street now faces. The question is HOW do they act. Matt Yglesias writes about the false presentation of the options that proponents of the Paulson proposal are trying to force upon the country:

1. [D]o absolutely nothing in response to the current situation . . . 2. [W]e do exactly what Hank Paulson proposed over the weekend. . . . [P]roponents of the Paulson Plan have an obligation to either make the case for (2), or else to canvass some alternative ways of doing (1) and explain in clear terms why the Paulson Plan is superior to other alternatives. Merely citing the urgent need for action is a transparent effort to foreclose debate.

That transparent effort failed. The Paulson plan is dead imo. In the NYTimes, David Leonhardt writes:

The latest WaPo poll leaves no doubt - "it's the economy, stupid:"

Turmoil in the financial industry and growing pessimism about the economy have altered the shape of the presidential race, giving Democratic nominee Barack Obama the first clear lead of the general-election campaign over Republican John McCain, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News national poll.

. . . More voters trust Obama to deal with the economy, and he currently has a big edge as the candidate who is more in tune with the economic problems Americans now face. He also has a double-digit advantage on handling the current problems on Wall Street, and as a result, there has been a rise in his overall support. The poll found that, among likely voters, Obama now leads McCain by 52 percent to 43 percent. . . .

More...

Third party candidate Ralph Nader released this ad today showing similarities between McCain and Obama and then laying out his different positions. One big one: Nader is for "Across the board amnesty for all non-violent drug offenders."

Nader's time has passed, and I hope everyone will realize the choice between McCain and Obama is a choice between the failed Republican policies of the last 8 years and a chance to do things differently. I don't care to see either Bob Barr or Ralph Nader in the presidential debates.

That said...[More...]

42 FBI task forces around the country are investigating some of the top mortgage firms, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for fraud. AIG and Lehman Bros. are also subjects of the investigation.

The FBI says it has opened 36 investigations so far. As to what's under investigation:

Sources tell ABC News the investigations are looking into whether company officials systematically misled investors about the financial strength of their institutions.

FBI Director Robert Mueller testified about the investigations on Sept. 16 at a House Judiciary Committee meeting. One of the areas under investigation: whether the companies misstated their assets. From the transcript (available at Lexis.com)

Gov. Sarah Palin met with her first foreign leader today. Only one press member was allowed to attend -- and only for 29 seconds. Tomorrow she will meet with rock star Bono.

Joe Biden? [More...]

Troy Davis, who many believe is innocent and wrongly convicted, is hours away from execution in Georgia.

CNBC's Jim Cramer was on Tweety's show telling us how great a deal the Wall Street Bailout is. He went as far to say as he hopes he can get in on the action. I have two reactions. The first is why doesn't Cramer raise money and buy some of the Sh*tpile if he loves it so much? Why don't other Wall Street types buy some of the Sht*tpile?

My second reaction is to remind you of Cramer's "prescience" on the value of the Big Sh*tpile, via Atrios:

Jim Cramer told you to buy at $44. Countrywide will cease to exist... at $7.16.

Jim Cramer is the last person to listen to on the housing crisis and this Wall Street Bailout.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

The Public Policy Project poll of Colorado voters I wrote about last night is out. Obama leads McCain, 51% to 44%. Gov. Sarah Palin is tanking his ticket.

Sarah Palin's popularity with Colorado voters over the last couple weeks has plummeted, and as it has Barack Obama has opened up his biggest lead yet in a PPP survey of the state.

Immediately after the Republican convention 41% of Coloradoans said John McCain's choice of Palin to join him on the ticket made them more likely to vote for him while 38% said it made them less likely to do so. Now the number of people saying Palin's selection makes them less likely to vote for McCain has climbed to 47% with the number of people viewing it favorably dropping to 38%.

Full poll results here (pdf). And good news for Rep. Mark Udall in the Senate race: He's leading Bob Shaffer 48 to 40. [More...]

I'll be out for several hours, TChris is in trial and I'm not sure about BTD, who wrote a lot of good posts this morning on the economy, just scroll down.

Here's an open thread for those of you with other topics to discuss.