Frankly, anyone could have seen something like this coming – at least to some degree. The housing bubble, just like the internet bubble before it, had to come crashing down at some point. Either people couldn’t afford to continue buying houses at increasingly escalating prices, or some form of shenanigans in the form of interest-only loans or sub prime loans (just like junk bonds before them) or something that involved (1) an enormous amount of risk taken by financial institutions for short term profit, (2) deceptive lending practices aimed to confuse the average American home buyer and (3) a “don’t worry about paying now” mentality that only served to make more people pay much more later would be undertaken – only to fall like a house of cards when it came time to pay the piper.
This, while part of it, was the grand design all along. It was part of the “Bush ownership society” that promised everyone their own American dream. It was not meant to serve most of Americans, however – as all too many are finding out in horrific ways. None other than Alan Greenspan has called it “the worst economy he has ever seen”.
And, as I said above, this is exactly what Bush, McCain and the republican party wanted all along. As noted by the AFL-CIO’s web site, McCain still wants to privatize social security, all while raising the retirement age, cutting cost of living adjustments and voted against protecting social security.
McCain himself admitted to not understanding economics, and his top economic advisor (don’t think that Gramm isn’t still connected to McCain, or that he won’t be if McCain wins) called this a mental recession and the nation a bunch of whiners.
McCain’s tax plan is even worse in this economy. Greenspan said that this country couldn’t afford McCain’s tax cuts, and his current tax plan will continue shifting the wealth to the upper echelon of the uber wealthy, while 95% of households get a tax cut under Obama’s plan.
To strike a contrast, households making under $112,000 will get a bigger tax cut under the Obama plan than the McCain plan, with households making under $160,000 are pretty much a wash between the 2 plans. And oh, by the way, the stock markets do better under Democrats than under republicans.
In addressing the housing crisis, McCain’s comments included the following:
“Of those 80 million homeowners, only 55 million have a mortgage at all, and 51 million are doing what is necessary – working a second job, skipping a vacation, and managing their budgets – to make their payments on time. That leaves us with a puzzling situation: how could 4 million mortgages cause this much trouble for us all?
[…]
“I have always been committed to the principle that it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers.”
McCain also skipped the vote on the economic stimulus package which would have been the deciding vote as the bill got 59 votes. While McCain’s campaign said he would have voted against the package, he showed a lack of honor, because:
By missing the vote, however, he didn’t have to go on record denying benefits to 20 million seniors and 250,000 disabled vets — both key blocs of support for his campaign.
The Bush tax cuts that went to the most wealthy – the ones that could have helped tens of millions of families and that McCain once was against, are now a cornerstone of his tax policy – further denying hardworking American families any small bit of relief that would be not just welcomed, but necessary.
And just as a little nugget – the McCain’s would have close to a $400,000 tax cut under his own plan.
When you look at how we got to this point – a stacked deck in favor of big business, tax cuts for the ultra wealthy, lower real wages, trade policies that do not favor the American worker or consumer, bailouts of major financial institutions instead of help for the working family trying to put food on their table, cuts to any government programs that helped the working class, unnecessary tax breaks to the oil companies and an ill-planned (not to mention illegal) invasion where wealthy and connected companies received millions of dollars in no-bid deals – this is the blueprint of the republican economic plan. This is “trickle down economics” on steroids. The only thing connecting this to the “ownership society” is that the American taxpayer is on his or her own..
These plans were reckless. They were designed to benefit the few – not the many. Even the tax rebates were a total farce that was designed as little more than a boon to the oil, credit card and retail industries. Even the freepers noted that the rebates didn’t boost the economy.
The worst part of this all is that the people who brought you the “worst economy in Alan Greenspan’s lifetime are ALL connected to the McCain campaign. Lobbyist after lobbyist after lobbyist (close to 200 in all) who worked on behalf of Big Oil, mortgage lenders (many lobbyists representing many mortgage lenders), insurance companies, telecom companies and energy companies that benefited tremendously from the Bush/Cheney energy policies.
Make no mistake – this is precisely the economy that Bush, Cheney, McCain and their republican party cohorts wanted, envisioned and willfully brought to the American people. And this is precisely the economy that McCain will continue bringing to America.
As none other than Pat Buchanan and Joe Scarborough said, it is an economy of “less jobs and more wars”.
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As I promised DKos member LNK, here are some takeaways and talking points:
- This economy is a direct result of the implementation of republican policies that McCain favored, and continues to favor;
- Even Greenspan said it was the worst economy he has ever seen, and that we can’t afford McCain’s tax cuts;
- McCain’s tax cuts overwhelmingly favor the wealthy, while families earning under $112,000 will fare better under Obama’s tax plan;
- The stock market historically does better under Democrats than it does under republicans;
- McCain still wants to privatize social security and reduce benefits;
- McCain’s closest and top economic advisors have consistently put big business before the American people – working for the very financial institutions, oil companies and energy companies that benefited at the expense of American families; and
- Under his own tax plan McCain would receive a tax cut that is over 7 times the average household’s entire income.
