1 Boring Old Man

McCain Embraces Regulation After Many Years of Opposition

^{A decade ago, Sen. John McCain embraced legislation to broadly deregulate the banking and insurance industries, helping to sweep aside a thicket of rules established over decades in favor of a less restricted financial marketplace that proponents said would result in greater economic growth.}

^{Now, as the Bush administration scrambles to prevent the collapse of the American International Group (AIG), the nation’s largest insurance company, and stabilize a tumultuous Wall Street, the Republican presidential nominee is scrambling to recast himself as a champion of regulation to end "reckless conduct, corruption and unbridled greed" on Wall Street.}

^{"Government has a clear responsibility to act in defense of the public interest, and that’s exactly what I intend to do," a fiery McCain said at a rally in Tampa yesterday. "In my administration, we’re going to hold people on Wall Street responsible. And we’re going to enact and enforce reforms to make sure that these outrages never happen in the first place"…}

Stocks Sink After Government Bailout of AIG

^{U.S. stocks swooned more than 400 points today as nervous investors turned their attention from the government’s seizure of American International Group to what firms are still in danger — in particular major banks that seemed secure just days earlier.}

^{The Dow Jones industrial average closed down more than 449 points, about 4 percent, at 10,610. The technology-heavy Nasdaq lost 109 points, nearly 5 percent of its value, to end the day at 2,099. And the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index fell 57 points, 4.7 percent, to 1,156.}

^{Investor jitters persisted despite a government deal to loan AIG, the country’s largest insurer, $85 billion and keep it from bankruptcy, and they grew on concerns about banks’ growing unwillingness to lend to one another.}

In 1980, President Ronald Reagan undid as much of that insurance against financial ruin as he could get away with. He deregulated the economy, cut taxes on the rich, and used massive deficit spending primarily on a huge military buildup. Bush I and Bush II followed his lead – more tax cuts for the rich, more deregulation, more spending. Now, their heir [John McCain] is running for President by saying "our economy is fine," "our economy is out of control," and "I don’t know much about economy."

The last quote is the truth. What we’ve learned is the answer to the question, "How long does it take to see that Reagan’s economic policy was doomed?" The answer, "28 years." We didn’t learn it with the Savings and Loans Collapse. We didn’t learn it from WorldCom and Enron. But the Mortgage Crisis is so big and so far reaching that this time we learn it or perish. John McCain is incapable of solutions. His tenure on the Commerce Committee proves that he couldn’t see what was coming when it was right in front of him. Now he’s asking us to elect him to the Presidency.  No thanks! I think a better idea is to bump him off of the Commerce Committee.