GOP turns on president

President Bush was under fire Thursday for his response to the crisis on Wall Street — and the criticism was from members of his own party.

House Minority Leader John Boehner joined a growing chorus of Republican leaders criticizing the administration for failing to tell Congress about the bailout of American International Group (AIG). And Republican presidential candidate John McCain said that if he were president, he would fire Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Chris Cox.

{mosads}“There has been a lack of communication,” Boehner (Ohio) told reporters on Thursday. He added that a meeting of the Republican conference on the economy and the banking crisis was canceled Thursday morning because the administration refused to send anyone.

The White House did not respond to a request for clarification of the canceled meeting, but it conceded Thursday morning that more communication was needed between the administration and Congress.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said that at the time of the AIG bailout on Monday, “there were fast-moving developments and I believe that the Treasury Department tried as hard as they could to get information up to members of Congress as quickly as possible.”

“But, granted, more and better and earlier communication between us is always a better thing,” Perino said.

And the White House trained its fire on congressional Democrats even as Republicans turned their backs on an increasingly unpopular administration as Election Day draws near.

Perino said it is unfortunate that Democrats have been “finger-pointing” at the White House and accused the Democrats of failing to act on the administration’s warnings that a different regulation structure was needed.

Perino said that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s regulatory blueprint, his suggestions for how Congress should start to modernize what Paulson called an “archaic” system, “fell on deaf ears” on Capitol Hill and Democrats have either dragged their feet or ignored warning signs until the crises were upon them.

“I would ask you to go back and look and ask Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi [D-Calif.] or any of the other Democrats who are pointing fingers, what specific regulation did they want that we blocked?” Perino said.

Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke met with congressional leaders  Thursday night amid reports the government was preparing a plan to help banks reeling from the financial crisis. The Dow Jones gained more than 400 points on Thursday.

{mospagebreak}Bush canceled fundraisers in Alabama and Florida on Thursday, staying in Washington to monitor the markets as his party and his political opponents placed the blame for the ongoing economic distress at his feet. He did offer a brief statement to assure Americans he shares their concerns about the economy and that his administration is keeping an eye on the markets.

Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) said the White House should be playing more offense, providing Capitol Hill Republicans with a wish list and pinning inaction on Democrats.

“Just speaking from a Republican perspective, the administration ought to put together a package … and send it up here and say, ‘Congress, I need this,’ “ Davis said. “They should have done this on energy.

{mosads}They should do this now, let the public know they’re in control and that Congress is controlled by Democrats. Either ask them to be a partner or whatever instead of playing defense, which is what I think they are going to end up doing — which doesn’t help the team.”

On the campaign trail, McCain came out swinging as he called for more regulation, saying that he has warned for years about the coming of the current economic crises. McCain’s statement that he would fire Cox was initially met by some confusion, as the president nominates the SEC chairman but does not have the power to fire him.

McCain senior adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin said on a conference call Thursday that McCain would set “a standard for performance,” and if that was not met, then he would ask “for the resignation of a chairman who had this kind of trouble on his watch.”

Cox was confirmed unanimously by the Senate in 2005, and the White House said in an e-mail to The Hill on Thursday afternoon that the president continues to have full confidence in the SEC chairman.

Polls that showed McCain enjoying a marginal lead over Democratic rival Barack Obama, thanks in part to the traditional convention bump and McCain’s selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, have receded amid the turmoil on Wall Street. Both national and battleground polls show the race falling back into a dead heat.

Obama continued to attack McCain and Bush, lumping the two men and their economic policies together even as McCain sought to put more daylight between himself and the beleaguered commander in chief.

“For eight years, Bush-McCain economic policies have favored reckless deregulation and huge tax loopholes for big corporations,” Obama said in an e-mail to supporters. “Now, as these corporations crumble, American taxpayers are facing costly bailouts. More of the same failed ideas are not going to solve our economic problems.”