Sure, it's only been 24 hours . . .
The Obama campaign is trying to make great "hay" over McCain's comments yesterday that "the economy's fundamentals are strong" or something like that.
But, as usual, the Obama himself went TOO FAR
Today, in Golden, Obama declared the financial turmoil "the most serious financial situation in generations."
McCain should immediately follow up today's speech calling Obama an "opportunist" with something like this:
Yesterday, Senator Obama described America's economic situation "the most serious financal situation in generations;" he even went so far as to say that it's the worst its been since the Great Depression.
That was exactly what the doctor ordered: panic.
Markets are sometimes brutal, and they have their own way of taking care of the bad players. When lending companies give money to people who don't deserve it, who are bad risks, then they open themselves up to the sort of problems that we've seen lately.
But the answer is never panic.
Let's be clear--Monday was a bad day: the stock market lost almost 5% of its value. But this was far from the worst day we've seen, even within this generation. In 1987, on Black Tuesday, the stock market sold off 22% of its value.
But it recovered.
When Senator Obama talks about generational problems, he's obviously mindful of difficulties we've had many years ago. For instance, there was a period of history when the unemployment rate was over 10%, when the inflation rate was over 10%, when we had energy shortages and lines at the gas station. And this was during a period of heavy industry regulation, a period of very high taxes, and a period of stifling restrictions on American ingenuity.
What the Senator won't tell you is that his economic plan is for high regulation, high taxes, and stifling restrictions.
And panic. Don't forget the panic.
The Senator has responded to this crisis with a statement that is bound to rile the markets even more, and by calling for a return to the policies of the 1970s. This is not leadership.
But it IS change . . . bad change, but still change.
The problems in the financial markets are deep and difficult--but they are not impossible. The market will take care of the companies that have failed, the judicial system will take care of the executives who failed in their fiduciary responsibilities.
This is NOT the time to panic and keep hoping that bad financial news will keep your opponent's rnning mate off of the news.
This is the time for calm leadership, a steady hand. And a McCain administration would proceed based on simple principles:
:first, do what can be done to make sure that the American people don't see their retirements and their portolios run down to nothing.
:second, hold responsible those who, through policy or through practice, drove these institutions into the ground--make certain that there are no $40 million severance packages for people who reduced the American housing market to rubble
:and third, add only so much new regulation as is necessary to see that this exact scenario does not happen again. We are, generally, not wise enough to know what the next big crisis is going to be--it makes no sense at all to kill the American economy by adding reams worth of new regulations that won't address the last crisis, much less the next one, and which will do irreparable harm.
Now is not the time to Panic, my friends; now is the time for a calm, steady hand--one with the experience to know better than to multiply the problem with complications.
And it is certainly NOT the time to take America back to the 1970s | |
