Monday, Senator McCain said the fundamentals of our economy our strong. He later went on to say that by “fundamentals,” he meant the American workers that have seen their wages reduced and their jobs outsourced.
Tuesday, he said that bailing out AIG was a bad idea, despite the fact that letting it fail would have been economically devastating. The free market would sort it all out.
Wednesday, he said bailing out AIG was necessary. It was, but anyone with any understanding of the economy knew that long before.
Thursday, the Senator said he would fire the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Never mind that the President doesn’t have that authority, our current crisis can hardly be pinned on Christopher Cox. He is part of the problem, to be sure; but replacing him isn’t going to magically fix anything.
Friday, he said that we are definitely in a recession, and the fault is Barack Obama’s, because the Illinois senator has been part of the Washington system for the past two years.
My friends, this has been more than just a tumultuous week. This is a glimpse into the future of a McCain/Palin administration. Like the Bush administration, McCain’s policies will be driven by fake populism, incompetence and greed; and when it all goes to pot, he will blame a Democrat.
Over the past 26 years – the same 26 years that John McCain has been in congress – the public protections put into place by FDR to prevent a recurrence of the Great Depression have been systematically dismantled by the GOP. It wasn’t that these protections were preventing growth and prosperity, but there was just so much more money to be made if greater risks could be taken.
Over the past 26 years – the same 26 years that John McCain has been in congress – we have been told of the wonders of the free market and the wisdom of trickle-down economics. Those policies didn’t result in new jobs and higher wages during the 80’s, and they still don’t today. During both of those decades, wages went down, unemployment went up and the economy went in the tank.
Now, to prevent the Great Depression II, we the people must take on a trillion dollars in bad debt, while corporate and financial industry executives – including friends and relatives of President Bush and Senator McCain – walk away with billions.
We’ve seen where President McCain will take us. We’ve seen it because we’ve been there before. It’s time for us to stop reliving the past and embrace a new future – the future of President Barack Obama.
