MyDD :: McCain Parrots Bush On The Economy

McCain Parrots Bush On The Economy

by Todd Beeton, Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 01:52:19 PM EST

McCain took the opportunity today, as the stock market plunged on the news of a serious shake up on Wall St., to reiterate his favorite phrase about the economy:

The fundamentals of our economy are strong.

McCain's been saying this all year, in April, June and August to name just three instances.

What makes this truly a bizarre statement for him to make today is not only that the real world events would seem to strongly contradict the claim, but also, as Joe Biden calls McCain "Bush 44", McCain trots out a line that has been one of George W. Bush's stock bromides regarding the state of the economy.

Does this sound familiar?

Bush in August, 2007:

"I'm not an economist'' but maintaining that he sees strong basic indicators in the state of the economy. "The fundamentals of our economy are strong.

In September, 2007:

"I say that the fundamentals of our nation's economy are strong," Bush told a White House news conference.

In February, 2008:

"The fundamentals are strong, we're just in a rough patch, as witnessed by the employment figures today."

Bush's top guy at the Fed, Henry Paulson in July, 2008:

"...But our economy has very strong long-term fundamentals."

And I'm sure avid googlers can find still more.

I'm not the first to make this connection, of course. Saying "the fundamentals of the economy are strong" is one of the DNC's 100 ways McCain is just more of the same. But perhaps the Obama campaign could make the connection as they forcefully respond to McCain's out of touch remarks today.

This is their statement so far:

"Today of all days, John McCain's stubborn insistence that the `fundamentals of the economy are strong' shows that he is disturbingly out of touch with what's going in the lives of ordinary Americans, " said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. "Even as his own ads try to convince him that the economy is in crisis, apparently his 26 years in Washington have left him incapable of understanding that the policies he supports have created an historic economic crisis."

It's fine. I especially like the reminder that um, McCain is in the congress that he professes to want to reform and has been for 26 years. But I hope out on the stump today, Barack references the fact that McCain's statement is simply a rehash of Bush's own out of touch comments on what is actually a fundamentally weak economy.

Tags: john mccain, economy, george w bush (all tags)

Permalink :: 22 Comments :: Post a Comment

'Fundamentals' = American people (2.00 / 1)

McCain's Response

McCain, in Florida, suggests he was referring to American workers as the "fundamentals" of the economy, a rather unorthodox use of the term:

"My opponents may disagree, but those fundamentals of America are strong.... Our workers have always been the strength of our economy, and they remain the strength of our economy today."

Which dosen't make any sense!
American workers are losing their jobs!!!!

Unemployment Data.

Currently, unemployment is at 6.1 percent, or about 9.4 million Americans, and has been increasing. A measurement that reflects people who cannot find full employment or who have been unable to find employment after 15 weeks would put the rate at 10.7 percent. These are high rates -- the highest since 2003.

by cobsjo on Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 02:05:25 PM EST

McCain sounds like Chauncey (the) Gardener (2.00 / 1)

In "Being There." Sellers' brain-dead character uses almost the same phrases ("the roots are strong"), which are mistakenly interpreted by his listeners as economic analysis.

by Hudson on Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 03:34:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: McCain Parrots Bush On The Economy (none / 0)

3 Things

1) GOP have very good message control

2) These are no more random than the Team Obama: "Hillary should drop out" were random.

3) Facing a recession saying the economy is strong is important for avoiding the worst it could be as markets are very psychological.

by dtaylor2 on Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 02:07:14 PM EST

Psychological? (2.00 / 1)

You've got to be kidding me.

We've just signed a 5 trillion dollar IOU.

Hell, the free market zombies are applauding the fed's decision not to bail out Lehman... as if it was an option. We're already all in - the fed is tapped. The Chinese piggy bank isn't interested in covering any more of this bursting bubble.

This crisis doesn't END in the financial sector... It starts there.

The rock has been tossed into the water - we've had a 6 month splash.

Now, we have to brace for the waves.

We have to brace for the already troubled PBGC seeing its pension coverage accelerating, as many portfolios take a mortal hit.

We have to brace for the obvious tightening of capital as companies find it much more difficult to borrow and expand.

We have to brace for the implications of a federal budget that can't afford any more bailouts. There's just nothing left.

Even the core inflation number - which excludes the very things that hitting consumers the hardest - is jumping expectations.

Happy talk is not what's needed -- sober assessments are what is needed.

by zonk on Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 02:23:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: McCain Parrots Bush On The Economy (2.00 / 1)

Look, you can fool voters about the economy, you can fool politicians about the economy, but market people don't get fooled. They know. They investigate. They test. And they put their entire livelihoods on the line.

So don't pretend that this is psychological. If it was psychological, people wouldn't be foreclosing on their homes. Debts wouldn't be going unpaid. Just like John McCain, it's clear you have good days and you have bad days.

"Hey, check it out. You just had yourself a glue OD. So you're learning another lesson. Don't do too much glue, or your night sucks."

by vcalzone on Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 02:29:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: McCain Parrots Bush On The Economy (2.00 / 1)

Your apologies are insufferable.

by rfahey22 on Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 02:54:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The difference couldn't be more stark (none / 0)

Do you think it was overzealous oversight and too much regulation that led us to this disaster?

Or - do you think a generation of deregulation chickens are coming home to roost?

Enough of this one-way street free market - where we let Wall Street regulate itself as they build bubbles (and hell, actually encourage them via fed policy) - then this magic guarantee that the free market knows is implicit kicks in when the bubble bursts.

It should be obvious to everyone that the federal government, as proxy for the American taxpayer - isn't going to let the market "correct itself"... and hey, I understand that we can't just let the entire financial sector meltdown entirely. Had we not backed the shitpile Fannie and Freddie accumulated - the housing market would plumb depths we haven't seen in anyone's lifetime.

But the fact is - we're all now owners of this mess. We deserve to have watchdogs taking a closer look and applying a stricter collar to that which we're backing.

by zonk on Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 02:09:47 PM EST

Re: The difference couldn't be more stark (none / 0)

Where did the money go? I think we all know the answer to that question, it isn't hard. While the wealthy get richer at an exponential rate, they've ALL been investing overseas. And that's not even mentioning the way that advanced computing methods have made it incredibly easy to manipulate stock trading. They have it down to a science, literally. So the stock market kept rising when it really shouldn't have.

"Hey, check it out. You just had yourself a glue OD. So you're learning another lesson. Don't do too much glue, or your night sucks."

by vcalzone on Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 02:32:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The difference couldn't be more stark (none / 0)

That's the problem.

The money never really existed.

Lax regulation led to a situation where inflated balance sheets became a game of hot potato.

...and we - the American taxpayer - who never even knew we were in the game got stuck with it when the music stopped.

by zonk on Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 02:44:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Democrats ALWAYS better for the economy than GOP (none / 0)

Since the 30s.. Its a very clear fact..

So, if the economy is basically strong (which I don't believe is true, its disintegrating after eight years of Bush) it will be STRONGER under a Democratic administration than under a GOP one...

Why? The studies don't say. But I think that its because lets face it, people are terrified to spend money under an administration that is basically WAGING WAR on them.

public option=not affordable for middle. It cant cover all affordably, google adverse selection for why

by architek on Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 02:19:24 PM EST

Re: Democrats ALWAYS better for the economy than G (none / 0)

Here's an article on the study,

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archive s/individual/2005_05/006282.php

Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.

by jsfox on Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 02:38:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: McCain Parrots Bush On The Economy (none / 0)

The fundamentals of the Titanic were strong, even after it hit the iceberg. For a while, that is.

by Heraldblog on Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 02:20:02 PM EST

Re: McCain Parrots Bush On The Economy (none / 0)

We need an ad that's just 30 seconds of both Bush and McCain saying "The fundamentals of our economy are strong" with newspaper headlines of this mess in the background.

by Skaje on Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 02:45:54 PM EST

There are only 3 possibilities (none / 0)

Either John McCain is senile, ignorant, or a liar.

And all three make him unfit to be President of the United States. This man is a threat to the country and we must defeat him in November.

by activatedbybush on Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 02:48:10 PM EST

Wouldn't "apes Bush" be more appropriate (none / 0)

for Chimpy?

by activatedbybush on Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 02:51:00 PM EST

Catch-22 for McCain (2.00 / 1)

After his attempt to co-opt Obama's message of change at the RNC, the question for him now is:

Why would you change something that is fundamentally strong?

by lowdog on Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 03:01:59 PM EST

Re: McCain Parrots Bush On The Economy (none / 0)

Parrots Bush? Try Herbert Hoover

"Once in a while you get shown the light In the strangest of places if you look at it right"

by molly bloom on Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 03:38:04 PM EST

Dow Down 504 points (none / 0)

What a massacre today. The good news is that the crisis may force the Fed to reduce interest rates and oil prices are plunging. Also, the 4.4% drop was not nearly as bad as the 1987 stock market crash. Thank God it's not October.

Dizzy Zzyzzy

by Zzyzzy on Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 04:12:45 PM EST

Re: Dow Down 504 points (none / 0)

I wouldn't count on it.

With the core inflation rate in the midst of its biggest jump since 1991, and the non-core rate jumping by its largest rate since 1981 -- there's not room left.

The fed is playing with inflationary fire if they think they can rate wall street's way out of this mess.

by zonk on Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 04:19:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Dow Down 504 points (none / 0)

...and now that oil prices are down, Obama should call out the oil companies and airlines to reduce their prices and fees that they put in place when oil was $140+. Radical populism at its finest...

Conservatism is nothing but a bad laissez-fairey tale

by neko608 on Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 04:27:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: McCain Parrots Bush On The Economy (none / 0)

Wow, Big John got beat down today. Is anyone watching Blitzer? It really looks pathetic. Ha!!

Conservatism is nothing but a bad laissez-fairey tale

by neko608 on Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 04:15:16 PM EST

Henry Paulson (none / 0)

Unless there's an unusual coincidence in names, Henry Paulson is not "Bush's top guy at the fed". Henry Paulson is the Secretary of the Treasury.

by Ron Thompson on Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 04:36:15 PM EST

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