‘Always for Less Regulation’?  —  TO LISTEN to Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. John McCain is a Johnny-come-lately to the cause of regulating financial markets.  “He has consistently opposed the sorts of common-sense regulations that might have lessened the current crisis,” Mr. Obama said in New Mexico yesterday.

Obama Is Stoking Racial Antagonism  —  I understand the rough and tumble of politics.  But Barack Obama — the supposedly postpartisan, postracial candidate of hope and change — has gone where few modern candidates have gone before.  —  Mr. Obama's campaign is now trafficking in prejudice of its own making.

McCain's Scapegoat  —  John McCain has made it clear this week he doesn't understand what's happening on Wall Street any better than Barack Obama does.  But on Thursday, he took his populist riffing up a notch and found his scapegoat for financial panic — Christopher Cox, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

McCain on the Economy  —  In Green Bay this morning: … Keep reading this post . . .

WHAT FLAILING LOOKS LIKE.... Is it me, or has John McCain's message become completely incoherent this week?  —  Yesterday, he got things started by insisting he would fire SEC Chairman Christopher Cox if president, which was odd since a) Cox isn't really to blame; and b) the president can't fire the SEC chair.

President Bush Discusses Economy  —  THE PRESIDENT: Good morning.  I thank Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, and SEC Chairman Chris Cox for joining me today.  —  This is a pivotal moment for America's economy.  Problems that originated in the credit markets …

U.S. Drafts Sweeping Plan to Fight Crisis As Turmoil Worsens in Credit Markets  —  Paulson Briefs Congress on Idea to Buy Bad Assets From Banks, Insure Money-Market Funds; Stocks Rebound Sharply  —  WASHINGTON — The federal government is working on a sweeping series of programs …

Crisis Endgame  —  On Sunday, Henry Paulson, the Treasury secretary, tried to draw a line in the sand against further bailouts of failing financial institutions; four days later, faced with a crisis spinning out of control, much of Washington appears to have decided that government isn't the problem, it's the solution.