McCain Record, Statements Prove He Doesn’t Get It on Economic Woes of Working Families

MILWAUKEE — Sen. John McCain’s continuing refusal to accept responsibility for the current economic crisis brought on by the George W. Bush policies he supported in the U.S. Senate and wants to continue is another example of how on the economic woes facing Wisconsin families, McCain still doesn’t get it.

“Sen. John McCain’s stubborn insistence that ‘the fundamentals of our economy are strong’ shows just how out of touch he is on the damage the Bush-McCain agenda has inflicted on Wisconsin,” said Scot Ross, One Wisconsin Now Executive Director. “He’s doesn’t get it and he never will.”

McCain’s record in the Senate has been one of pro-deregulation, anti-workers’ rights and coddling moneyed special interests in finance and banking. McCain’s top advisors are all lobbyists whose clients have donated over $11 million to McCain’s campaign. McCain’s top economic advisor Phil Gramm, who helped engineer McCain’s pro-deregulation agenda, called Americans in economic peril part of a “nation of whiners.”

McCain, who was unable to name how many houses he owns (nine), has admitted he doesn’t understand the economy. His unflinching support for the Bush agenda has shown he doesn’t care how it affects Wisconsin’s middle class families. In the past, McCain has said:

“The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should. I’ve got Greenspan’s book.” — John McCain, 12/07

“I’m going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated.” – John McCain, 11/05

“I’ve never been involved in Wall Street, I’ve never been involved in the financial stuff, the financial workings of the country, so I’d like to have somebody intimately familiar with it.” – John McCain, 12/07

McCain has reinforced his unending support for the failed economic policies of the Bush Administration again and again, repeatedly claiming “the fundamentals of our economy are strong” more than 20 times while gas prices soar, housing prices plummet, and Wall Street fails.

“John McCain’s record in the U.S. Senate has been marked by favors, deals and sticking it to American workers,” said Ross. “We can’t afford the Bush-McCain agenda for one minute more.”