The Michigan Daily - michiganclaily.com
Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - 7
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - 7
. After bailout plan failure,
McCain, Obama play blame
game on the campaign trail
Both candidates
supported failed
bailout proposal
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR
and DAN BALZ
The Washington Post
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa -
Reacting to the House's defeat of
a $700 billion bailout proposal
Monday, Sens. Barack Obama and
John McCain called on Congress
to pass a new bill and then sought
to blame each other for the dead-
lock on Capitol Hill.
McCain found himself in a par-
ticularly awkward position after
bragging about his role in building
a coalition behind the economic
rescue package Monday morning
- hours before it was defeated.
In a curt statement after the
measure was rejected and stocks
plummeted, McCain said he
had "worked hard to play a con-
structive role" in its passage and
declared that "now is not the time
to fix the blame."
But McCain and his top aides
then accused Obama and the
Democratic leadership in Con-
gress of orchestrating the bill's
failure to embarrass McCain,
even though many more House
Republicans voted "no" than did
Democrats.
"Sen. Obama and his allies in
Congress infused unnecessary
partisanship into the process,"
McCain said in a statement to the
media during a stop in Iowa. He
took no questions.
PROVOST
From Page 1
LSA senior Sabrina Shin-
gwani, the president of MSA,
said she meets with Sullivan
several times each month. She
said the provost's openness to
students will let the assembly
represent students by helping
BAILOUT
From Page 1
a "huge number" of constituents
registered their opposition to the
plan, which he felt was hastily
produced.
"Wecandobetterandweshould
do better so the people across
America aren't overwhelmed
with trying to bail out Wall Street
or I should say, the CEOs of Wall
Street," Knollenberg said. "That's
really what irks most people in my
district."
Walberg, who is also targeted
by Democrats, said the bill was
"nothing more than an expensive,
taxpayer-funded band aid that
will not solve our long-term eco-
nomic problems."
Walberg, who faces Democrat
Mark Schauer in November, said
he was "extremely disappointed"
in President Bush for refusing to
consider other options and blasted
Treasury Secretary Henry Paul-
son's role in the legislation.
Paulson "failed the American
people by refusing alternative
plans, demanding unprecedented
power for the Treasury Depart-
LSAT
From Page 1
than 150 applications," she said.
To encourage participation
among those who are qualified,
the Law School will waive the nor-
mal $60 application fee.
Similar admissions programs
are already in place at Georgetown
University and George Washing-
ton University.
Zearfoss said the 3.8 GPA
requirement was determined by
previous admissions data from the
Law School.
"We analyzed the data and we
concluded that people who matric-
ulate here whose GPAs are 3'S and
above always do well, not .merely
graduate, but they always turn in
a solid performance regardless
of what their LSAT was when
they entered," Zearfoss said. "So
we concluded that for this group,
what we really need to know is
their GPA and what their curricu-
lum is like."
In place of an LSAT score, Zear-
foss said the Law School is looking
for more than just a competitive
GPA. Ideal Wolverine Scholars,
she continued, are students who
have taken full course loads and
had challenging curriculums dur-
ing all their undergraduate years
A
His top domestic policy adviser,
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, later said
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was
to blame for giving an overly par-
tisan speech just before the vote.
"Today, when it became clear that
he was coming close to having
a victory, they killed it," Holtz-
Eakin said.
Obama spokesman Bill Burton
said, "Today's inaction in Congress
as well as the angry and hyper-
partisan statement released by the
McCain campaign are exactly why
the American people are disgusted
with Washington."
Yet, at a rally in Colorado, Obama
highlighted his efforts to improve
the plan and sought to link McCain
to the economic crisis.
"I read the other day that Sen.
McCain likes to gamble. He likes
to roll those dice. And that's
okay. I enjoy a little friendly
game of poker myself every now
and then," Obama said. "But one
thing I know is this - we can't
afford to gamble on four more
years of the same disastrous eco-
nomic policies we've had for the
last eight."
Obama also urged lawmakers to
quickly return to the table to sta-
bilize the nation's economy. Like
McCain, Obama had offered cau-
tious support for the measure over
the weekend.
"DemocratsandRepublicansin
Washington have a responsibility
to make sure an emergency res-
cue package is put forward that
can at least stop the immediate
problems that we have," Obama
said. "One of the messages I have
to Congress is - get this done,
craft important University poli-
cies.
"What Provost Sullivan is
doing with the Budget Com-
mittee is exactly in line with
what our goals are," she said.
"We want to increase student
participation in administrative
decisions."
Shingwani said Sullivan first*
approached-her last spring about
Democrats. Republicans, step up
to the plate."
The repercussions for the
presidential campaign are
uncertain and potentially dra-
matic as both candidates search
for the right way to navigate the
most severe economic crisis in
decades just five weeks before
Election Day.
Aides in both camps said the
candidates immediately called
Treasury Secretary Henry M..
Paulson Jr. and others, but neither
McCain or Obama announced
plans to return to Washington.
The House adjourned for the Jew-
ish holidays and is not scheduled
to return to session until Thurs-
day.
Obama and McCain had
maneuvered to be able to claim
some credit for passage of a finan-
cial rescue plan. But Ross Baker, a
political scientist at Rutgers Uni-
versity, said McCain would feel
the fallout over the House's rejec-
tion of the measure far more than
Obama.
"There's nothing worse than
prematurely claiming victory and
then finding you've been handed a
defeat," Baker said. "It's a sign of
the impulsiveness that he's often
been accused of."
McCain's political situation
is complicated by disarray in
the Republican Party. The split
between Senate Republicans and
President Bush, both of whom
supported the plan, and House
Republicans, who largely opposed
it, make McCain's effort at trying
to show leadership over his party
all the more difficult.
the committee when she asked if
there was a way to get more stu-
dent input for budgetary matters.
The committee is expected to
have its first meeting toward the
end of October.
When asked if she had any
other student-oriented commit-
tees in mind, Sullivan laughed.
"Right now, I think that's going
to be enough," she said.
VOTING
From Page 1
with the University.
In the e-mail to Egler and Lie-
berman, Housingstaff member Lee
Evilsizer said she wanted to meet
with the two chairs "to reiterate
the expectations around register-
ing students to vote and to discuss
whether the program will contin-
ue."
While VoiceYour Vote is the only
group University Housing allows
to register students in residence
halls, several groups are working
to register voters on campus. Those
include the University's chapter of
the College Democrats, the Obama
campaign, the nonprofit group
Progressive Future, the political
Action Committee MoveOn.org.
The College Democrats have
not coordinated registration drives
in the dorms, but it encourages its
members to talk with their friends
and neighbors about Obama and
help them register to vote.
In the e-mail, Evilsizer said she
received a complaint from a resi-
dent who said someone who offered
to help him or her register to vote.
The student wrote that after say-
ing he or she wouldn't be 18 before
Election Day, "she asked if I would
have voted for Obama. When I told
her that I would have, she handed
me a registration form and told me
that 1991 could easily be mistaken
for 1990 depending on my hand-
writing."
The e-mail sent by Evilsizer did
not indicate where or when the
incident occurred, or which group
the person who allegedly encour-
aged a student to falsify the form
was affiliated with.
"Clearly this is not the registra-
tion efforts Housing had in mind
when we agreed to allow VYV
in the residence halls," Evilsizer
wrote in the e-mail.
Egler, who is also member of the
College Democrats, said she was
certain a Voice Your Vote volunteer
wouldn't express support for any
candidate or encourage a student
to violate federal law.
"Before sending volunteers out,
we debrief them on Michigan vot-
ing laws," Egler said. "We trust in
the integrity of students who are
willing to go out there and register
voters with a non-partisan organi-
zation."
The College Democrats execu-
tive board member said the group
trains anyone registering voters in
election law.
"Any College Democrat explicit-
ly knows not to do that," the mem-
ber said. "We don't teach that. We
don't endorse that."
Lieberman, Egler and MSA
President Sabrina Shingwani were
the only Voice Your Vote represen-
tatives allowed to knock on doors
during last night's scheduled drive
in Couzens Hall. In the e-mail,
Evilsizer said Housing Security
officers would escort from the
building anyone not authorized to
register voters in the dorms.
The three Voice Your Vote rep-
resentatives were able to register
seven students at Couzens, but
most people they encountered were
already registered, Egler said.
The group has registered about
750 people so far, Egler said. Voice
Your Vote works with a coalition of
student groups that run the gamut
from advocacy organizations like
the College Democrats and Repub-
licans to multicultural groups
like the Indian American Student
Organization. The coalition has
registered a total of about 4,500
voters - with the College Demo-
crats accounting for 3,800 of those.
On Oct. 9, 2000, Voice Your Vote
had registered about 5,000 vot-
ers, according to an article in The
Michigan Daily.
Egler said she was frustrated
when she got the e-mail from Evil-
sizer Friday, given that little more
than a week remained before the
voter registration deadline at the
time.
"This is the last straw of bureau-
cratic roadblocks," Egler said.
The College Democrats execu-
tive board member, who has worked
for Voice Your Vote, said University
Housing was hesitant to allow rep-
resentatives from Voice Your Vote
to register in the dorms. The mem-
ber said Housing resisted efforts to
put to put drop boxes for registra-
tion forms in University buildings.
"This is a crucial time and
they've already delayed and stalled
enough," the member said. "The
VYV dorm storms should have hap-
pened weeks ago. Then they put it
right before the registration dead-
line. It's a huge missed opportu-
nity."
A1998 amendment to the Higher
Education Act requires universities
receiving federal funding to make a
"good-faith" effort to make sure all
students have access to voter regis-
tration forms. Allowing Voice Your
Vote to register students in resi-
dence halls would have helped the
University stay in compliance with
the mandate. But the University
also encourages students to reg-
ister to vote in other ways. Senior
administrators have sent students
a number of e-mails this fall with
links to voter registration forms.
Citi to buy Wachovia's banking arm
Citigroup agreed Monday to buy
Wachovia's banking operations
for $2.1 billion in a deal arranged
by federal regulators, making the
Charlotte, N.C.-based bank the lat-
est casualty of the widening global
financial crisis.
The deal greatly expands Citi-
group's retail franchise - giving
it a total of more than 4,300 U.S.
branches and $600billion in depos-
its - and secures its place among
the U.S. banking industry's Big
Three, along with Bank of America
Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
%it it cn- e aast - it ivmrn
Inc. said it will slash its quarterly
dividend in half to 16 cents. It also
will dilute existing shares by sell-
ing $10 billion in common stock to
shore up its capital position.
In addition to assuming $53 bil-
lion worth of debt, Citigroup will
absorb up to $42 billion of losses
from Wachovia's $312 billion loan
portfolio, with the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corp. agreeing to cover
remaining losses, if any. Citigroup
also will issue $12 billion in pre-
ferred stock and warrants to the
FDIC.
The reainder ofWa bsa will
include its asset management,retail
brokerage and certain select parts
ofitswealthmanagement business-
es, including the Evergreen and
Wachovia Securities franchises. It
will continue tobe a public compa-
ny under the Wachovia name.
The agreement comes after
a fevered weekend courtship in
which Citigroup and Wells Fargo
& Co. both were reportedly study-
ing the books of Wachovia Corp.,
which was weighed down by losses
linked to its ill-timed 2006 acqui-
sition of mortgage lender Golden
Wret Finan cl Corn.
ment and asking the American
people for a blank check to cover
speculative investments and mis-
takes made by investment bank-
ers," Walberg said.
Kilpatrick, whose Detroit dis-
trict has struggled with high
unemployment, said the proposal
failed to help struggling hom-
eowners and "does not help the
little person who needs it."
Several lawmakers said they
hoped the administration would
help shape a revamped proposal,
which they said was needed to
calm financial markets and pro-
tect taxpayers' money.
"It's very frustrating to know
that there are very doable solu-
tions," Rogers said.
Supporting the plan were Dem-
ocrats John Dingell of Dearborn,
Dale Kildee of Flint and Sander
Levin of Royal Oak. Republicans
Dave Camp of Midland, Fred
Upton of St. Joseph and Vernon
Ehlers backed the plan.
Dingell noted that the Trea-
sury Department would have the
authority to pu'chase traditional
car loans as part of the bailout, a
key concern for the domestic auto
industry. Lawmakers have said
auto loans could dry up if Con-
gress fails to act on the bailout.
Dingell said they "took a bad
piece of legislation and they have
significantly improved it to make
it much better."
Upton said the bill was not per-
fect, but it "protected Michigan's
working families on Main Street
rather than the fat cats on Wall
Street."
Ehlers said the "consequences
of inaction could rival the Great
Depression of the 1930s: Credit
cards not working, employers
going out of business because
they are unable to borrow money,
and-employees not receiving pay-
checks."
"Congress must work in a bipar-
tisan manner in renewed efforts
to find a solution. Partisanship has
no place in this debate. The stakes
are far too high," Ehlers said.
Peters, who is challenging
Knollenberg, said in a statement
he also would have opposed the
bill because it would have bailed
out foreign banks, lacked suf-
ficient reforms and had "weak
protections against using tax-
payer money to fund golden para-
chutes."
Every week, 8 a.m.-noon
at the University.
Transfer students and students
who have already taken the LSAT
are not eligible for the program.
And for undergrads who don't
make the cut as Wolverine Schol-
ars, the academic profile of this
year's entering class - with an
average undergraduate OPA of
3.7 and an average LSAT score of
169, which translates to the 97th
percentile among LSAT test tak-
ers across the country - provides
a few indications of what it takes
to get accepted to the University's
Law School.
Though most application dead-
lines normally arrive during sec-
ond semester of a student's senior
year, this year's Wolverine Schol-
ars have an application deadline of
May 15, 2009. These students will
receive word of their admission
decision by July 21, which Zear-
foss said leaves plenty of time to
consider other schools and options
if they aren't accepted to the Law
School.
"We came up with this schedule
particularly taking into account
the needs of the applicants,"
Zearfoss said. "And we will make
the decision in time so that they
can still register for the October
LSAT."
The July decision date puts
Wolverine Scholars about seven
months ahead of most regular
law school application deadlines
and almost four months ahead of
most early-decision deadlines that
begin around November.
Students who aren't accepted as
Wolverine Scholars may also reap-
ply to the Law School during the
regular admissions cycle.
LSA senior Charles Ogunro,
co-president of the Michigan Pre-
Law Society, said he thought the
program would encourage young-
er students to take tougher classes
and get better grades.
"(Students) will be studying a
lot harder if they know they have
a chance to get into the Univer-
sity of Michigan Law School with
a very good GPA and not have
to take the LSAT," Ogunro said.
"That's definitely an incentive to
study."
Despite the potential payoff
of taking difficult classes and
maintaining a high GPA, Zear-
foss said she doesn't expect the
program to change the way most
students approach their aca-
demics.
"We didn't make up the idea
that the GPA is an important ele-
ment in the application process,"
Zearfoss said. "So I find it hard
to believe that this will have any
major effect on the way people run
their lives."
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