It is important to bring McCain out of the clouds and examine what little he has offered in specifics on specific issues. For example, here are a few prime nuggets from his own mouth related to housing, bailouts and his overall stance on who deserves help, and why. People have heard many of these things anecdotally, but sometimes it is good to have them organized into the actual quotes by subject. Bottom line, McCain talks out of both sides of his mouth regarding the housing crisis, and has absolutely no understanding of the basics of the economy, therefore he cannot fix it. He jumps to defend a corporate bailout, but waffles, wiggles and qualifies to the point of saying nothing on help for individuals. With the examination of his plans he is clearly McSame. Now that he has selected Cheney-in-a-skirt as his running mate, he can clearly campaign as McSame/McSame 2008. He managed to pick the only veep he could find that is SheCheney. On housing....
Q: You gave a speech recently in which you said, "It's not the duty of government to bail out & reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they're big banks or small borrowers." What would you do to help the thousands of Americans who right now are in the process of losing their homes? Or do you feel, as you said in your speech, that's not the duty of government?
A: Look, Americans are hurting right now. They don't know if they have to get another job. The challenges are enormous right now. The key to it is not to bail out people who speculated or people who engaged in unsavory practices. The key to it is get the lender and the borrower together. We know how hard that is because of identifying the lender, but there's ways to do it. Of course there's a role for government, but it's not to reward greedy speculators. It is not to reward people who misbehave. And it certainly isn't a huge expenditure of taxpayers' dollars which, in the long run, could exacerbate the problems that exist
Source: Fox News Sunday: 2008 "Choosing the President" interviews Apr 6, 2008
Now, in his convention speech, he notes the story of a couple that lost their real estate investments.
I fight for Bill and Sue Nebe from Farmington Hills, Michigan, who lost their real estate investments in the bad housing market.
So, McCain says the government shouldn't help individuals who are losing their homes due to speculating or engaging in unsavory practices. And, who exactly gets to decide if the homeowner was speculating or engaging in an unsavory practice (does that mean they practice a religion other than Christianity in their home?)? But, he turns around and talks about the couple that lost their real estate investments. Isn't the very definition of an investment a speculation?
But, when it comes to bailing out Bear Stearns, who was about to fail due to unsavory practices and speculation, McCain said:
Q: You said, "It's not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they're big banks or small borrowers." What about Bear-Stearns?
A: On the issue of Bear Stearns, every financial expert I know says that if it had failed, it would have rippled throughout the entire financial community and would have caused greater problems which eventually would have come down on the average citizen if our economy continues to decline the way that it's been doing.
Source: Fox News Sunday: 2008 "Choosing the President" interviews Apr 6, 2008
To bring it all back together, let voters be reminded of McCain's own words regarding his understanding of the most important issue facing us right now.
McCain cast doubt on moderator Tim Russert's assertion that the candidate had said he was no expert on economics. Russert claimed that McCain had repeatedly said, "I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated." McCain responded, "Actually, I don't know where you got that quote from. I'm very well-versed in economics."
Russert's quote comes from a 2005 interview with the Wall Street Journal on Nov. 26, 2005: "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."
We could not find that McCain has said that quote "repeatedly," but he has made similar comments recently The Chicago Tribune quoted McCain talking to reporters on Dec. 18, 2007: "The issue of economics is something that I've really never understood as well as I should. I understand the basics, the fundamentals, the vision, all that kind of stuff."
Source: FactCheck.org on 2008 GOP debate in Boca Raton Florida Jan 24, 2008
McCain's economic plan - I will fight for all that kind of stuff.