Every so often I get emails from John McCain. This time I decided to respond:

 My Friends,

I don’t think we are friends.

We are in the greatest financial crisis of our lifetimes. Congressional inaction has put every American and the entire economy at the gravest risk. Yesterday the country and the world looked to Washington for leadership, and Congress once again came up empty-handed.

Empty-handed because you flew into town and busted up the deal Thursday.

I am disappointed at the lack of resolve and bipartisan good will among members of both parties to fix this problem. Bipartisanship is a tough thing; never more so when you’re trying to take necessary but publicly unpopular action. But inaction is not an option.

Democrats worked with Republicans – but once again Republicans screwed over Democrats. Bipartisanship does not mean I get what I want. Also on the inaction is not an option thing – Wall Street didn’t seem to mind yesterday.

If we do nothing, many businesses may fail. Sonic Corporation, a drive-in restaurant chain based in Oklahoma, learned on Thursday that one of its lenders, GE Capital, had stopped extending new loans to the chain’s franchisees. That will block plans to rebuild restaurants, add equipment and open new locations.

Really, it’s Democrats fault we will be with less crappy fast food restaurants and $5 an hour jobs without health care.

When financing dries up, students can’t get loans. In Wisconsin, more than 100 Milwaukee Area Technical College students couldn’t access private loans to fund their education. Fortunately the school was able to come up with emergency loans, but this temporary arrangement cannot continue. Markets need to work so that people can get financial help and students can be educated.

John, I think on this one you may need to look in the mirror. Since 2000, you voted against student aid [HR 2660, Vote #339, 9/10/03]; against Pell Grant funding [HR 2660, Vote #331, 9/9/03]; against making tuition tax deductible [HR 1836, Vote #152, 5/22/01]; against a $12,000 annual college tuition tax credit [HR 8, Vote #182, 7/13/00] and that’s just a very cursory look at your record.

Again, inaction is not an option. In light of the House’s failure to act, this morning, I spoke to the President about two things that the administration has not done, but should do following the inaction of Congress. First, the Treasury has already used its Exchange Stabilization Fund to back money market accounts. I encourage it to use it this fund as creatively as possible to provide backstop for accounts across our financial system to maintain confidence on the part of savers and investors. And second, the recent housing bill gave the government nearly $1 trillion in authority to purchase mortgages. Housing and mortgages are at the root of this crisis.

The House failed to act because of your party.

The Administration can take these actions with the stroke of the pen to help alleviate the crisis gripping our economy. I urge them to do so.

The FDIC should quickly be granted the authority to increase the deposit insurance cap from $100,000 to $250,000 so that families do not have to worry about their money. We cannot allow a crisis in our financial system to become a crisis in confidence.

On that FDIC idea, it’s nice to see you agreeing with Barack Obama.

I call on everyone in Washington to come together in a bipartisan way to address this crisis. I know that many of the solutions to this problem may be unpopular, but the dire consequences of inaction will be far more damaging to the economic security of American families and the fault will be all ours.

And to my supporters, I assure you I will continue to do whatever I can to aid in a constructive answer to the challenge before us.

Sincerely,

John McCain