John McCain Was Misled About TARP?

In his very own "I was for it before I was against it" moment, John McCain came out over the weekend and claimed that he was "misled" about the true intent behind the 2008 TARP legislation that was passed under former President George W. Bush with an agreement to set aside funds for incoming President Barack Hussein Obama.

In an interview with The Arizona Republic over the weekend, McCain said that then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke assured him that the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program would focus on what was seen as the cause of the financial crisis, the housing meltdown.

However, as pointed out by Asia Times Online;

Republican candidate John McCain's campaign for president reflected this tug of war between what was the right policy initiative and what was right politically; sometimes he supported the TARP while announcing he opposed it, sometimes vice versa. Sometimes in a speech, he seemed to both simultaneously publicly oppose and support the TARP, while privately having his spokesmen tell the press that the candidate's actual position was the opposite to what was just said.

McCain is clearly feeling growing pressure from true Conservatives. Within the last month McCain has received a challenge from a much more Conservative opponent in J. D. Hayworth for the Senate seat he has held for four terms, and over the weekend he received a mention by Glenn Beck in the keynote speech at CPAC.

Beck didn't name McCain directly, but in the process of discussing what is wrong with Washington Beck made mention of a Progressive-Republican who says his favorite president is Teddy Roosevelt.

This mention of McCain by Beck has caused quite a firestorm, most notably drawing criticism from respected author and talk-show host William J. Bennett. Writing for The National Review, Bennett said in response to Beck's calling out Republicans in his speech, "Even John McCain has said again and again that 'the Republican party lost its way,'" to which Michelle Malkin today replied, "Attention, GOP: John McCain is the problem."

Via: Memeorandum
Via: Left Coast Rebel