Nothing to See Here…
“The economy is fundamentally sound.” –Herbert Hoover, 1931
“The fundamentals of our economy are strong.” –John McCain, 2008
“The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should.” –John McCain, 2008
Economic box score:
- Unemployment: 6.1%
- Deficit: $502 billion dollars
- United States rate of borrowing: $2 billion per day.
- National debt: $9.6 trillion
Then there’re the casualties: AIG, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bear Sterns… the list goes on, and that isn’t even to mention the impact on 300+ million Americans. The economy, if it’s not quite down the drain, is clearly circling it.
Or is it? It depends, apparently, on who you ask. An informal poll (that is to say, talking to friends and coworkers; we’re not Zogby over here), or a quick skim of the newspapers, magazines, and television, would seem to indicate to the average person that all isn’t sunshine and roses. But then, John McCain isn’t your average person.
McCain famously admitted that the economy isn’t his strong suit. While one would hope that a president, any president, would have at least a grasp on the fundamentals, reality dictates that no single person can have a comprehensive grasp on every issue faced while in office. This is where advisors come into play. And McCain’s advisors are an interesting lot, from Phil Gramm (you know, the guy who called this a “mental recession,” and called America a nation of whiners) or Carly Fiorina–the ex-HP CEO who said that McCain couldn’t run a large corporation, but is qualified to be president–whose golden parachute (after a failed merger with Compaq and the layoff of 20,000 employees) may be one reason that McCain is now decrying such payouts, or maybe Doug Holt-Eakin, who claimed that McCain invented the BlackBerry (will the Right jump on that the way they did when Al Gore claimed to have laid the groundwork for the Internet? Don’t hold your breath).
Common sense would seem to dictate that the first step to solving a problem is acknowledging it. It’s problematic, then, that the Senator from Arizona doesn’t really think there’s a problem. Granted, this is someone who thinks that the middle class includes anyone who makes less than five million dollars a year, and who can’t be quite sure how many houses he has; but can anyone really be that insensitive, or be quite that politically tone-deaf? Does someone really need their minders to remind them that whether or not he thinks something’s wrong here, enough of us do that perhaps he should, at the very least, remember the last time he saw someone concerned about something, and act like that?
But enough of the rhetorical questions. Here’s hoping that when the debates roll around, McCain’s questioner(s) ask him one simple, fundamental question: if the economy isn’t yet bad enough to be a source of concern, how much worse will it have to get before it will be? And what of the Senator’s (or, God forbid, President’s) plans? Will real solutions be offered, or will he continue with his same lasseiz-faire attitude, encouraging the foxes to guard the henhouse?
Tags: economics, Election 2008, John McCain