Hasn't
McCain Done Enough
For The Economy?
By Mary Shaw
25 September,
2008
Countercurrents.org
John McCain is now seeking to postpone Friday's presidential debate in order to focus on the financial crisis.
OK, so he incapable of multitasking. A president needs to be able to juggle multiple high-priority items at a time. But that is not my biggest concern.
My biggest concern is McCain's track record on our economy. I think he's done enough.
He has admitted that he doesn't understand economics as well as he should (although he has since denied that he ever said that, suggesting that he was either lying or extremely forgetful).
And his lack of understanding was quite apparent when he told us last week that the nation's economy was "fundamentally strong" (which he has also tried later to tap-dance around).
But even without a good understanding of economics, McCain has taken it upon himself to play in that sandbox in order to appease the special interests.
He's been a staunch supporter of the kind of deregulation that has contributed to our current financial crisis.
One of McCain's top economic advisors, Phil Gramm, may be more responsible than any other single individual.
This, by the way, is the same Phil Gramm who said that the current recession is "mental" and that America is a "nation of whiners" for complaining about the economy.
And this, by the way, is the same Phil Gramm who has been mentioned as a possible Treasury secretary in a McCain administration.
Another top McCain economic advisor, Donald Luskin, would like us to believe that the economy is booming.
And now for the icing on the cake: The New York Times recently reported that Freddie Mac paid $15,000 per month from the end of 2005 through last month to a firm owned by Rick Davis, who happens to be McCain's campaign manager.
According to the Times, "[sources] said they did not recall Mr. Davis's doing much substantive work for the company in return for the money, other than to speak to a political action committee of high-ranking employees in October 2006 on the approaching midterm Congressional elections. They said Mr. Davis's firm, Davis Manafort, had been kept on the payroll because of his close ties to Mr. McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, who by 2006 was widely expected to run again for the White House."
So there you go.
This is what the McCain team has been doing for our economy.
Thanks,
Senator McCain, but I think I'd rather have you focusing on the debate.
Mary
Shaw is a Philadelphia-based writer and activist, with a
focus on politics, human rights, and social justice. She is a former
Philadelphia Area Coordinator for the Nobel-Prize-winning human rights
group Amnesty International, and her views appear regularly in a variety
of newspapers, magazines, and websites. Note that the ideas expressed
here are the author's own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions
of Amnesty International or any other organization with which she
may be associated. E-mail: [email protected]
