Failed Economic Philosopy

Obama:

What we’ve seen the last few days is nothing less than the final verdict on an economic philosophy that has completely failed.

In contrast McCain yesterday morning repeated his quip that "the fundamentals of the economy are strong"
oops! McCain later yesterday: "We are in a total crisis."

And the Republicans, including John McCain, want to privatize Social Security. At least the Democrats (and a few Republicans who got an earful from their constituents) stopped that disaster. Can you imagine if Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, and AIG were taking care of some huge chunk of that public trust?

Obama has it right - and he's been consistent. It's "I still need to be educated [on the economy]" McCain whose message bounces around to suit the latest story. Looking at his record, however, he has a consistently deregulatory approach.

After years of relaxing the rules for financial institutions, and failing to properly enforce those which remain, the party which decries any liberal inclination to tighten regulations as "socialist" is essentially nationalizing troubled corporations, allowing taxpayers to take on the risk, while bailing out the speculators. Sure Democrats collaborated on this disaster, but Republicans, free market fundamentalists, and the greed-heads on Wall Street have led the charge. I expect we will see a few sacrificial lambs among the worst of the speculators, but plenty of folks will flee the scene with millions while tens of thousands of victims will face foreclosure or worse as a result of this fiasco.

And yet McCain claims Obama will "raise your taxes", in spite of independent analysis of the two campaigns' promises which shows Obama's plan lowers taxes MORE than McCain's for over 80% of Americans.

courtesy Washington Post; Alchemy Today; and a study by the Tax Policy Center

McCain's charge is only true if he is talking to the wealthiest 1% of Americans, and even then the raise in taxes is only based on allowing Bush's tax cuts to expire. Calculate your estimated tax cut under the two plans to discover whether McCain is talking to you.

America wake up! McCain only has your economic interests at heart if you earn over $300,000 annually, and even then what good is tax relief if the economy is falling apart around you. I don't think he wants to screw up, but he doesn't even have a clue who he should surround himself with for economic advice. His pal Phil Gramm was his chief economic advisor up until a week after Gramm opined America had become "a nation of whiners", inflicted with only a "mental recession".

Obama in contrast picks his people based on their intellect, and includes many who don't always agree with him. Now there's a refreshing change.

The AIG rescue is only the latest shoe to drop. America we can't afford much more of this. It's time for real leadership. It's time for new inspiration. Obama is clearly our best hope. As he says

The dream of the American people must not be endangered anymore!