Blogging Blue

I know the story itself is a few days old, but it’s still worth mentioning.

Despite every indication that our economy isn’t doing as well as many Americans would like, President George W. Bush seems to think there’s a lot of positives about the economy:

“When will the economy turn around? I’m not an economist,” said Bush, responding to a reporter’s question. “But I do believe we’re growing. I’m an optimist, and there are a lot of positive things about our economy.”

That’s a statement I wish I could ask President Bush a few questions about, because I’d like to pick his brain to find out what exactly he thinks are the “a lot of positive things” about the current state of our nation’s economy. Heck, for all we know, maybe President Bush sees gas at four dollars a gallon, rising grocery prices, failing banks, and a rising unemployment rate as positive things.

Now I’m no economist, so I don’t presume to have the answers to all that ails our economy, but I do know one thing - the solution isn’t maintaining a constant state of denial - as we’ve seen from President Bush, nor is the solution a John McCain Presidency.

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I’ve said it time and time again: our economy is in the crapper. I’ve talked about the rising prices for a gallon of gas, a gallon of milk, a pound of hamburger, and a box of cereal, and I’ve talked about how our national unemployment rate is the highest it’s been in nearly 5 years.

As if there wasn’t already ample reason for the economy to be the preeminent issue during the 2008 Presidential campaign, now comes a report that at least 150 banks could fail over the next year. Last week federal regulators seized the assets of IndyMac Bank, one of the nation’s largest savings and loans with over 32 billion dollars in assets. IndyMac becomes the largest American lender to fail in more than twenty years, and what’s more troubling is the fact that IndyMac was not on the FDIC’s troubled bank list this spring, which could be an indication that other troubled banks may be below the radar.

As if that’s not bad enough news, taxpayers will be on the hook for the multi-billion dollar bailout of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac:

Brian Bethune, chief U.S. financial economist at Global Insight, called the troubles at Fannie and Freddie a “potentially dangerous turn of events” for the U.S. economy.

He said they needed to be addressed quickly with an infusion from the government — read “taxpayers” — of as much as $20 billion in new capital for both institutions.

Right now, the Treasury can extend up to $2.25 billion in loans each to Fannie and Freddie. Officials refused to discuss what the new limit might be but dismissed one report of a $300 billion limit as too high.

Now we might only be in a “mental recession” according to Senator John McCain’s economic advisor, but if this is just a “mental recession,” then how bad is the real thing going to be?

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John McCain has had a bad week.

And when I say John McCain has had a bad week, I mean he’s had a really bad week.

The week started with former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, a top McCain surrogate, discussing health care, only to veer sharply from the McCain campaign’s talking points to a discussion of Viagra, while in the process seeming to stake out a new policy stance for Senator McCain:

“Let me give you a real, live example, which I’ve been hearing a lot about from women. There are many health insurance plans that will cover Viagra but won’t cover birth control medication. Those women would like a choice,” she said.

Now that statement strikes me as a blatant attack on health insurance companies for providing coverage for Viagra while denying coverage for birth control - a curious attack given the fact that John McCain has twice voted against measures that would have required insurers to cover birth control.

Now as if Fiorina’s “creative license” wasn’t bad enough, then came comments from John McCain’s top economic advisor, former Texas Senator Phil Gramm, who called the United States “a nation of whiners” while also referring to the current economic slowdown as “a mental recession.” Now maybe I’m crazy, but it seems like more than a “mental recession” when gas stands at $4.00 a gallon, milk’s somewhere near $3.50 a gallon, and our nation is losing 50,000 jobs a month.

Not to be outdone by his surrogates, McCain himself took time to stick his foot in his mouth while he pande…campaigned in Pittsburgh:

When I was first interrogated and really had to give some information because of the physical pressures that were on me, I named the starting lineup — defensive line — of the Pittsburgh Steelers as my squadron-mates.

But wait, what did McCain say about his time as a POW in Vietnam in his book Faith of My Fathers?

Pressed for more useful information, I gave the names of the Green Bay Packers’ offensive line, and said they were members of my squadron.

Now he, I know pandering is a part of politics, but is John McCain stupid enough to think no one’s going to do a little fact-checking? I know he’d like to rewrite a lot of his own personal history, but when will he learn that’s easier said than done in the age of YouTube and the internet?

H/T to Jay over at Folkbum.

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I’ve been doing my best to keep up with all of Senator John McCain’s flip-flops on a whole host of issues throughout the course of his Presidential campaign, and let me tell you, it’s been hard work. McCain’s flip-flopped more during this campaign than John Kerry could have ever hoped to, and there’s still four months left until election day.

During an appearance on the Today Show this morning, McCain was asked about his previous statement that he doesn’t understand economics well. The exact quote is:

“The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should. I’ve got Greenspan’s book.”

The quote itself comes from a Boston Globe article from December 2007. Now despite the fact that McCain has admitted he doesn’t understand economics that well, he’s now attempting to rewrite the past. During his appearance on the Today Show, McCain flatly denied ever having said the economy wasn’t his cup of tea, and he went on to say, “I’m very strong on the economy. I understand it. I have a lot more experience than my opponent.”

Once again the Straight Talk Express has gone off the tracks, and instead we’re left with the Double Talk Express, and I’ve come to the realization that John McCain circa 2008 will say or do anything to win this election, principles be damned.

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As I’ve said time and time again, I’m of the belief that something needs to be done to get our economy back on track, because I don’t think our economy is headed in the right direction. Granted, our economy has not yet met the criteria to be deemed “in a recession,” but I think - and I’m by no means an economist - that our economy certainly isn’t headed in the right direction. While I believe our economy is still headed in the wrong direction (and I know I’m not alone), Cindy Kilkenny over at Fairly Conservative thinks the worst is already behind us. In support of her position, Cindy cites the following passage from this report:

Trouble is, someone forgot to convince consumers they had to stop spending. Despite consumer confidence readings that are downright awful, “core” retail sales are up at a 10.2% annual rate in the past three months. In other words, consumer confidence statistics may express how people feel, but not how they act. And with all the doom and gloom being reported on a daily basis, no wonder they feel so bad. But consumers have refused to capitulate to the emotional turmoil.

While it’s certainly encouraging to hear that “core” retail sales are up, I’ve read conflicting reports on what constitutes “core” retail sales. According to this article, “core” retails sales seem to include sales of gasoline, so the increase in “core” retail sales is most likely artificially inflated due to the rising cost of a gallon of gas.

In her blog entry, Cindy goes on to say:

Of course, a strong economy is a plus for the current party in office. We’ve talked before about the Democrats need to trash American before they can win in November.

Now sure, there’s some truth to Cindy’s statement, in that a strong economy would certainly benefit the incumbent party, but I disagree with Cindy’s assertion that the talk about our economy not being in great shape is a Democratic attempt to “trash America” in order to win the White House. Facts are facts, and putting politics aside there’s a lot of facts that point to a less than rosy picture of our economy right now.

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