The Case Against John McCain

From his lucrative perch atop Wall Street, Gramm may not be able to see the suffering of most Americans. And McCain's own life of luxury may have clouded his understanding. So here's a reminder of 10 real examples of how Americans are hurting in the current economy:

HOUSING FORECLOSURES INCREASING: As a result of the subprime lending crisis, "housing foreclosures nationwide were up 50% in June compared with the same month in 2007." In California alone, foreclosures have reached an average of 500 per day.

HOMELESSNESS INCREASING: The number of homeless over the age of 50 are "steadily increasing."

HEALTHCARE COSTS RISING: According to a report by the Government Accountability Office, "health-care costs are growing much faster than the economy." Costs are rising so significantly, some Americans are delaying retirement.

GAS PRICES RISING: The national average gas price is $4.09, up 33% from this time last year. Gas prices are now expected to hit "$4.25 by the fall and then stay at more than $4 a gallon until the end of 2009."

JOB LOSSES INCREASING: In the first six months of this year, a total of 438,000 jobs have been lost, bringing unemployment to 5.5%. The CEO of Bank of America commented, if unemployment continues to rise, "all bets are off."

FOOD COSTS RISING: "U.S. food prices rose 4 percent in 2007″ making it the fastest rise in 17 years and, as a result, food stamps have considerably less buying power.

HEATING AND ELECTRICITY COSTS RISING: Heating oil costs across the north are expected to be "up 60 percent from last year" and utilities across the country are "raising power prices up to 29%."

REAL WAGES DECLINING: "Slower wage growth and faster inflation has led to falling real hourly and weekly earnings for most workers."

LEISURE SPENDING DECLINING: As a result of the rising cost of living, Americans are "tightening their belts and thinking twice about spending extra bucks on entertainment and leisure products."

VALUE OF DOLLAR DECLINING: The dollar "has been declining steadily for six years against other major currencies, undercutting its role as the leading international banking currency."

Our stock market reflects the sad economy; the year-to-date performance of the DOW is down 16%, Nasdaq is down 31%, and the S&P is down 16%.

And it's gonna get much worse before we see any improvement - say in a few years.

cicerone imposter wrote:

Our stock market reflects the sad economy; the year-to-date performance of the DOW is down 16%, Nasdaq is down 31%, and the S&P is down 16%.

And it's gonna get much worse before we see any improvement - say in a few years.

So if Obama gets elected and the economy continues to go downhill, will that be his fault?
After all, he would be the President.

on economics?
McCain's Economics Education
James Joyner | Friday, January 25, 2008

During last night's Republican debate, Tim Russert quoted John McCain back to himself: "I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated." McCain responded: "I don't know where you got that quote from, I'm very well versed in economics."

One of Josh Marshall's readers dug up the quote, from an old Wall Street Journal article with the subtitle "John McCain explains his eclectic-and troubling-economic philosophy."

McCain's Economics Education "I'm going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated." OK, so who does he turn to for advice? His answer is reassuring. His foremost economic guru is former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm (who would almost certainly be Treasury secretary in a McCain administration). He's also friendly with the godfather of supply-side economics, Arthur Laffer.


**************
And we all now know about Phil Gramm's "whiny" American statement.

Why did you avoid the question I asked?
Are you uncomfortable having to say it would be Obama's fault?

mm wrote: Why did you avoid the question I asked?
Are you uncomfortable having to say it would be Obama's fault?


I did answer your question, but it's evidently too spacial for you to understand it. Easy answer: McCain is worse; he admitted it.

Our stock market reflects the sad economy; the year-to-date performance of the DOW is down 16%, Nasdaq is down 31%, and the S&P is down 16%.

And it's gonna get much worse before we see any improvement - say in a few years.

McCain, his personal life, and statements ?'that conflict with the public record'

By: Steve Benen

Since the start of the campaign, John McCain's personal controversies have been off limits in the media, but there have been a few cracks in the ice. There was, for example, this report in the UK's Daily Mail last month about John McCain's first wife. It was quite a painful story, involving physical difficulties, infidelity, and divorce. "My marriage ended because John McCain didn't want to be 40, he wanted to be 25," Carol McCain said.

The first substantive report about this in the U.S. media appeared this morning, in the LA Times.

McCain, who is about to become the GOP nominee, has made several statements about how he divorced Carol and married Hensley that conflict with the public record.

In his 2002 memoir, "Worth the Fighting For," McCain wrote that he had separated from Carol before he began dating Hensley. "I spent as much time with Cindy in Washington and Arizona as our jobs would allow," McCain wrote. "I was separated from Carol, but our divorce would not become final until February of 1980."

An examination of court documents tells a different story.

Yes, McCain committed adultery ?- and then was far from truthful about it.

McCain did not sue his wife for divorce until Feb. 19, 1980, and he wrote in his court petition that he and his wife had "cohabited" until Jan. 7 of that year ?- or for the first nine months of his relationship with Hensley.

Although McCain suggested in his autobiography that months passed between his divorce and remarriage, the divorce was granted April 2, 1980, and he wed Hensley in a private ceremony five weeks later. McCain obtained an Arizona marriage license on March 6, 1980, while still legally married to his first wife.

McCain, not surprisingly, doesn't want to talk about the subject. Asked for comment, his campaign spokesperson said, "Of course we will not comment on the breakup of the senator's first marriage, other than to note that the senator has always taken responsibility for it."

To reiterate a point I've raised before, as far as I'm concerned, McCain's marital difficulties and adultery aren't particularly significant in this campaign, especially years later. I'm inclined to see a distinction made between public and private worlds. I defended Bill Clinton, and said his personal controversies had no bearing on his ability to be a good candidate and a good president, so I can't very well turn around and say the opposite about McCain, no matter how badly he treated his first wife.

But that nevertheless leads to two relevant angles here. First, is the partisan double standard. If Clinton's personal history was a matter of tremendous national significance as a presidential candidate (and as a president), then it's not unreasonable to wonder why McCain isn't subjected to the same scrutiny. I'd prefer both issues are off the table, but I'm hard pressed to imagine why only Democratic presidential candidates' personal lives are of interest in the context of a national campaign.

In 1992, long before the election, then-Gov. Clinton's personal life dominated the political discourse, and journalists weren't the least bit embarrassed about making this a critical campaign issue. And yet, today's LAT piece is, as far as I can tell, the first U.S. newspaper to highlight McCain's background as an adulterer.

Second, even for those who are willing to say that McCain's personal/family difficulties are a private matter, there's also the fact that McCain apparently lied about his infidelity. Now, I understand why he lied; he's no doubt embarrassed. But, again, if Clinton's lies about adultery were evidence of a poor character, McCain's obvious untruths warrant similar scrutiny, don't they?

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/07/12/mccain-his-personal-life-and-statements-that-conflict-with-the-public-record/#more-30888

Sunday Roundup

Ariana Huffington

Phil Gramm obviously had the quote of the week. Voters dealing with skyrocketing gas prices and collapsing home values just love being called "whiners" by a millionaire. This kind of out-of-touch condescension comes as no surprise to anyone who has followed Gramm's career. He's left his fingerprints on some of the worst economic debacles in U.S. history.

He was a champion of energy deregulation, which gave us Enron and blackouts and price gouging. He was a champion of deregulating the savings-and-loan industry, the bailout of which cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. And his leadership on banking deregulation helped create the current sub-prime mortgage crisis. Republicans love to talk about Obama's lack of experience. I'll take fresh blood over Gramm's kind of track record any day of the week.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/sunday-roundup_b_112337.html

Even many conservative a2k members continue to tell us how well our economy is doing; it seems they themselves are doing well - including their family and friends.