Obama, McCain Duel Over The Economy
McCain Blames Wall Street Woes On Corporate Greed; Obama Tells Katie Couric Economy Could Be Back On Track By Next Year
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McCain Shuns Corporate Greed
Clarifying earlier remarks, Sen. John McCain called American workers strong, but betrayed by corporate greed and lack of oversight. He talked to Harry Smith.
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Joe Biden Reacts To Economy
Democratic VP candidate Joe Biden criticizes the policies of President Bush and Sen. John McCain and offers his ideas to improve the U.S. economy. He talked to Maggie Rodriguez.
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The Candidates And The Economy
With Lehman Brother's recent filing for bankruptcy, attention turns to the 2008 presidential candidates and their solutions for the nation's slumping economy. Vaughn Ververs, Sr. Political Editor of CBSNews.com, weighs in.
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Barack Obama and John McCain argued on Tuesday over who would be best able to deal with the kinds of financial meltdowns that roiled the markets Monday and to prevent a similar crisis in the future. (AP)
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Languishing Lehman
Key events at Lehman Brothers since the beginning of the credit crisis.
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Credit Crunch
Feeling the squeeze? Here's a look at actions and statements from key players in Washington.
The presidential campaigns argued over who would be best able to deal with the kinds of financial meltdowns that roiled the markets Monday and to prevent a similar crisis in the future.
In an interview with CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric, Obama said "we have to overhaul our regulatory systems."
Obama told Couric that "if we can just stabilize things and ride out some tough few months and then overhaul the regulatory system, our tax code and start investing in things like clean energy, then I'm confident that we can get the economy back on track by next year."
McCain proposed a review on the order of the one led by the Sept. 11 commission, the bipartisan panel that studied the events leading to the 2001 terrorist attacks. Appearing on the three network morning shows, McCain also defended a remark he made on Monday that the "the fundamentals of our economy are strong."
"The economy is in crisis," McCain said on CBS News' The Early Show. "The fundamentals of our economy are the American worker. The American worker still the most productive and the hardest working, most industrious worker in the world and I am proud of them."
"They have been betrayed by Wall Street -- by greed, by excess and by corruption and they have been done a great disservice, but someone disagrees that American workers aren't the best in the world, we just have a disagreement," he added in the interview with Harry Smith. "We need to set up a 9/11 Commission in order to get to the bottom of this and get it fixed, and act to clean up this corruption… They've violated the social contract that capitalism and the citizen have, and we can't ever let this happen again. I'll make sure it never happens again." (Watch the whole interview)
Obama, campaigning in Golden, Colo., accused McCain of failing to offer concrete plans for dealing with economic issues.
"Sen. McCain offered up the oldest Washington stunt in the book. You pass the buck to a commission to study the problem," Obama said. "This isn't 9/11. We know how we got into this mess. What we need now is leadership that gets us out. I'll provide it. John McCain won't. And that's the choice for Americans in this election."
Obama also continued to criticize McCain's remark Monday that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong." In a television ad released Tuesday, Obama's campaign asks: "How can John McCain fix our economy if he doesn't understand it's broken?"
On Monday, a few hours after the remark about strong economic fundamentals, McCain backtracked and declared the economy to be in crisis. He also said that American workers and products - the "fundamentals" he claimed he was referring to earlier - were indeed sound but faced danger from greed and corruption.
"Those fundamentals are threatened, they are threatened and at risk, because some on Wall Street have treated Wall Street like a casino," McCain said Monday at a town-hall meeting in Orlando, Fla.
On the morning shows, McCain said he agreed with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that the government should not bail out American International Group Inc., the world's largest insurer.
Saying that the American taxpayer should not be "on the hook" for AIG, McCain said on "Good Morning America" on ABC: "We cannot have the taxpayers bail out AIG or anybody else. This is something that we're going to have to work through."
"I warned two years ago that this situation was deteriorating and unacceptable," McCain said. "And the old-boy network and the corruption in Washington is directly involved and one of the causes of this financial crisis that we're in today. And I know how to fix it and I know how to get things done."
Later, a McCain economics and policy adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, said any plan should include regulation of all sorts of financial institutions, consumer protections, improved corporate governance and "systems stability" programs.
"There's no magic solution, and I don't think it's at this moment imperitive to write down exactly what the plan has to be," said Holtz-Eakin. "But there should be an understanding that when you walk out of the Congress with a piece of legislation in the next administration, those boxes are checked and those things are effectively accomplished."
Both candidates are likely to continue to focus on the economy as the crisis continues on Wall Street. But how they handle it presents risks for both of them, reports CBSNews.com's Brian Montopoli.
"The issue is fraught with peril for both of them," CBS News consultant and political strategist Joe Trippi told Montopoli. "Particularly with financial markets, you don't score points by creating panic. That's not what a presidential candidate does."
"You can make an alarmist statement and trigger an even bigger fall than is occurring," he continued. "Or you can go the way McCain did, which is try to help calm the markets, and be accused of not understanding how perilous the times are."
Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden also got into the fray on several morning shows. He countered by saying that the economic policies of McCain and the Bush administration had led to any betrayal of American workers. He argued that the Republican campaign's message was at odds with itself with McCain saying the economy's fundamentals were sound but that urgent repairs were needed.
"It seems like John's had an epiphany. Nine o'clock yesterday morning, John thought the economy was going great guns and the Bush administration was doing well, and today he thinks it's in crisis," Biden said on The Early Show.
Responding to McCain's comments on workers, Biden said the American worker has been betrayed.
"They've been betrayed by a tax policy that absolutely screws them and, in fact, gives the money to the wealthiest among us. They've been betrayed by a policy of laissez-faire. They've been betrayed by the policies john has supported," Biden told Maggie Rodriguez.
Biden said the Democratic presidential campaign's solutions for the economic crisis include giving middle-class taxpayers a substantial tax break, putting an end to Bush administration tax cuts that favor the wealthy, investing in infrastructure, and changing bankruptcy laws to help people facing foreclosure.
"My lord, take a look at what - who got us in this hole, whose policies," Biden added. "This has been a Republican philosophy of letting Wall Street do what they want and the middle class be damned. It's about time we change it. If I sound like I'm angry, I am fighting mad for middle-class people who have been the scapegoat of this economy because of the policies of the McCains and the Bushes." (Watch the whole interview)
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See all 1226 CommentsWhy don''t you nominate Phil Graham to head it up!
Yes McCain should call for a commission to investigate the reckless deregulation that his lobbyist campaign advisers bribed Congress for.
It''s amazing to me that McCain and his top advisers had roles in creating high oil prices and the banking crisis, yet there are still some Americans who actually trust him to fix these problems.
Palin won''t cooperate with ''tainted'' probe!!
LOOK on C-N-N top story!!
Just like GW Bush and Hillary!! This is what you idiots want? You''ve got this stinkin communist b-ho!!
Palin won''t cooperate with ''tainted'' probe!!
LOOK on C-N-N top story!!
Just like GW Bush and Hillary!! This is what you idiots want? You''ve got this stinkin communist b-ho!!
And he has the right to suggest cures?
God they are getting dumber and dumber by the minute.
That''s EXACTLY the same argument they used for de-regulation in the first place.
McCain is loopy!!
There are several ways in which the Bush family plays into the Savings and Loan scandal, which involves not only many members of the Bush family but also many other politicians that are still in office and still part of the Bush Jr. administration today. Jeb Bush, George Bush Sr., and his son Neil Bush have all been implicated in the Savings and Loan Scandal, which cost American tax payers over $1.4 TRILLION dollars (note that this is about one quarter of our national debt).
What is important to note about the S&L scandal is that it was the largest theft in the history of the world and US tax payers are who was robbed.
The problems occurred in the Savings and Loan industry as they relate to theft because the industry was deregulated under the Reagan/Bush administration and restrictions were eased on the industry so much that abuse and misuse of funds became easy, rampant, and went unchecked.
McCain and Keating had become personal friends following their initial contacts in 1981.
Between 1982 and 1987, McCain had received $112,000 in political contributions from Keating . McCain''s wife Cindy and her father Jim Hensley had invested $359,100 in a Keating shopping center in 1986, a year before McCain met with the regulators. McCain, his family, and baby-sitter had made NINE TRIPS AT KEATINGS EXPENSE,. Three of the trips were made during vacations to Keating''s opulent Bahamas retreat at Cat Cay. McCain did not pay Keating (in the amount of $13,433) for some of the trips until years after they were taken, when he learned that Keating was in trouble over Lincoln.
McCain would write in 2002 that attending the two April 1987 meetings was "the worst mistake of my life"
One of the San Francisco bank regulators felt that McCain had gotten off too lightly, saying that Keating''s business involvement with Cindy McCain was an obvious conflict of interest.
McCain survived the political scandal by, in part, becoming friendly with the political press.
Show some respect, you hollow-cranium, knuckle-dragging human reject! In 49 days, John McCain will be President-Elect. IF you havent learned to say his name correctly by then, Im gonna rip your fingers off, and poke your eyes out with them!
is like OJ calling for a hunt for the real killer. (I got that elsewhere).
He is now saying he will make sure the taxpayers will never suffer again from corporate greed.
This is the exact same thing he said 17 years ago when he was involved in the Savings and Loan Scandal that ripped the American taxpayer off for over 150 BILLION DOLLARS.
What is important to note about the S&L scandal is that it was the largest theft in the history of the world and US tax payers are who was robbed.
The problems occurred in the Savings and Loan industry as they relate to theft because the industry was deregulated under the Reagan/Bush administration and restrictions were eased on the industry so much that abuse and misuse of funds became easy, rampant, and went unchecked.
Get back on your meds and go to sleep. Your shrill whining is becoming tiresome.
Republicans did not listen or follow the recommendations of the first 911 commission...
The only thing tiring around here is the boring predictability of the lame, repetative playground comments that come from the fringe lefties!
Whats a matter, has your McLame, McSame, McPain silly name calling strategy of winning an election fallen of deaf ears? Perhaps if the majority of the voters were still in Kindergarten, name calling would be a more effective campaign strategy.
In 20-or-so years, if you guys manage to near puberty, perhaps you can resurface ABOVE ground, and see how nice it is to live in the real world.
Till then, shuddup and pay attention to grownups is the best advice I can give you.
what would he do? NOTHING!! NO EXPERIENCE!!
Posted by funzie50 at 11:49 AM : Sep 16, 2008
And Bush/McCain are spending money like crazy too...outside this country!
Iraq, McCain''s 100 year "Earmark"
Posted by bubba027
************************************************************* The Democrats have the best of the best. He has more grit than any Republican you can dig up. He has true pro-American values. (he cares about the country and the people) Unlike what we have seen for the past 8 years.
He has in depth knowlege and the ability to deal with people from all stripes. We have a chance to do what is right for the American people.
I understand that some of you have a very different agenda.
The bit** of it is.......Stupid has worked before in this country (we elected the idiot-son, twice!), it could work again.
Here are a few quotes by McCain!
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."
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."
DemoWhat? Lets see your Republicans are responsible for more money problems. You people want to spend 700 BILLION dollars for a war that we need not to be a part of. Two that country can certainly pay for the war, and three you party went after the Wrong GUY. So we may be democraps, but thats a better position than your rejecticans who can''t even worry about what there cause to the economy is. Look over history and tell me that when democrats are in office we are not better off. You lame wit
Just what we need more buck passing by a man with no platform.
Posted by mrmazerati at 11:57 AM : Sep 16, 2008
McCain doesn''t have a clue and HE voted FOR the Bill that created the mess to begin with. Now add to that the FACT that the person who developed his Economic Policy was the SPONSOR of that bill and you have to believe you are right on this one.
The debt is NOT responsible for the collapse of the financial markets....YOUR BAND SPENDING HABITS DID!
Go get another credit card, max it out...then take out a stupid equity loan to pay it off and add to your debt which you cannot pay anyway....see how that works!
Give me a break!
Posted by StormeyOne at 12:11 PM : Sep 16, 2008
And your so naive to think that. Saddam is dead, we took him out well over three years ago. We are fighting a civil war you idiot. and yes I know that war takes money, but this war is well OVER BUDGET. and I am sick of you assuming that people are what broke the economy. NEWSFLASH: It is not only the dems fault I know republicans who are just a careless and greedy. So instead of pointing fingers at one party or another, lets agree that both republicans and democrats have caused the problems, and both parties need to work together to solve this issue.
Posted by StormeyOne at 12:11 PM : Sep 16, 2008
Hey! Leave my band out of this! Sure, we need practice and our drummer stinks - but blaming the collapse of the financial markets on us is going too far.
Posted by StormeyOne at 12:13 PM : Sep 16, 2008
What grade did you get to in school? Most INTELLIGENT people know that the average person is NOT an accountant and knows very little about the rates they were sold. THAT''S why, after the Great Depression, our fathers put in place regulations that prevented those "Preditor''s" from taking advantage of the working stiff. When we bought our house those Regs were still on the books. We had to bring in OUR W-2''s plus all our outstanding debts and savings. That was reviewed by a Loan Examiner who determined if we could meet the payments or not. ALL those Regs were eliminated by the Republican''s and Phil Grhamn in 2001. Please try to educate yourself somewhat before posting?
Same old verbage that goes with bridge to nowhere.
Will the "commission on crisis" replace the 911 commission that McCain was associating with the economy this morning--or will we have 911 commission to investigate all that went wrong with 911 and ADD the "commission on crisis" to "fix" the economy--or will the Ecomony on crisis be a "branch" of the 911 commission?
I know how to fix it and I know how to get things done."
Yeah--right!
Rewriting history a bit aren''t we? Reagan/Bush Sr. helped boost the economy to a point where Clinton enjoyed their success for much of his presidency until the last portion. The economy was actually in a recession (a real one by the numbers) when Bush Jr took over. The Democratic congress has done abosolutely nothing and proposed nothing to correct the economy but the Bush stimulus checks. I don''t guess you sent the money back because it came from Bush.
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