John McCain says he wants to leave the door open to discuss and consider any viable proposals to address the troubling situation in home financing.McCain stated, “I will not play election-year politics with the housing crisis …. I will evaluate everything in terms of whether it might be harmful or helpful to our effort to deal with the crisis we face now.”
With that statement, Senator McCain suggested that he would also be open to potential solutions that did not originate on the Republican side of the isle. McCain went on to say that he would, “consider any and all proposals based on their cost and benefits” and that he “will not allow dogma to override common sense.”
That being said, Senator McCain also stated there were limits on how far he was willing to go.
“I have always been committed to the principle that it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers,”
Thank you John McCain … couldn’t have said it better myself!
McCain also stated that, “Government assistance to the banking system should be based solely on preventing systemic risk that would endanger the entire financial system and the economy.”
John McCain is seeking to show his grasp of the country’s economic troubles — and counter the notion that he’s not up to the task of leading a nation on the brink of recession.
Senator McCain has acknowledged, perhaps honestly, in the past that he knows less about economics than he does about national security and foreign policy … and of course, Democrats have gleefully seized on such remarks to argue that McCain is inexperienced with the domestic issues that voters care about most.
Frankly, I must admit that I fail to see how Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton’s stated plans to spend billions upon billions of dollars to provide more social welfare services and bailouts shows any real keen understanding of the nations economy either, but perhaps I am just slow on the uptake. I do not need a crystal ball, though, to see drastic tax increases needed to fund this “nanny state” nonsense should either of them get elected. Hillary Clinton stated herself, that America could not afford her many projects.
While Senator John McCain is quietly seeking to prove his economic credentials and to continues to generate a healthy buzz in the media about his candidacy …
… Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton continue to ratchet up the racism, hate, and mud-slinging, while fighting tooth and nail … by hook or by crook … for their party’s nomination.
Senator McCain opened a recent meeting with a nuts-and-bolts explanation of the conditions that caused the housing crisis and financial market problems.
“A lot of Americans read the headlines about credit crunches and liquidity crises and ask: ‘How did we get here?”, Senator McCain said.
He answered that question in simple yet accurate terms that show a real common sense understanding of American economics and domestic issues.
McCain stated that lenders became complacent as housing prices continued to rise and lowered their standards. They began lending money to people who couldn’t afford to pay it back. Some buyers, McCain said, bought homes they couldn’t afford, hoping they would reap the benefits later of higher home prices. Meanwhile, he said, the housing market lacked accountability and transparency, and “the initial losses spawned a crisis of confidence in the markets.”
Looking toward the future, McCain stated that any government assistance to alleviate the housing crisis must be temporary and must be accompanied by reforms designed to make the system more transparent and accountable.
We do need to prevent a repeat of this crisis. This is simply a replay of the Savings & Loan crisis of the 1970s. Unethical Americans make bad choices out of greed, when the inevitable happens they blame the president, and then seek a bailout from the government … we cannot, as a nation, afford to have this happen again and again!
McCain also stated, and I agree, that no assistance of any kind should be given to speculators, or people who bought houses to rent or as second homes.
In the short term, he called for the country’s top accounting experts to meet to discuss current the accounting systems and stated that the country’s top mortgage lenders should pledge to do everything possible to help their cash-strapped but credit-worthy customers.
“They’ve been asking the government to help them out,” McCain said of lenders. “I’m now calling upon them to help their customers, and their nation, out.”
Its about time we got some plain truth and common sense from one of our candidates!
D.C. Gilbert 
Somebody drank the kool-aid.
Your entire premise is to take McCain’s words and speculate as to their meaning. Look at his voting record. He sided with the principal operators of the largest savings & loan failure in U.S. history with the Keating scandal.
McCain doesn’t say he will take any specific action against any lender or put sanctions in place to do anything. He says “they shouldn’t” or “let’s encourage them” “pledge to do everything possible”. Classic Repugnican bullshit! Let big business drive the agenda and who gives a shit about the common man.
The system is already transparent and accountable. There are laws in place to prevent what is happening. No corporate accountability is going to take place with a Reep in the White House.
And stop taking statements out of context. Hillary said we couldn’t afford all her ideas. She then went on to say that many of them could be done. That just means she has a lot of ideas. Obama offered a specific plan to deal with this in March of 2007. McCain has no ideas. OJT shouldn’t be a part of being President.
Either he understands it or he doesn’t. At 72, it is too late. He wants to appoint a commission. That is just what we need. Another bureaucracy that will spend months or years and millions of dollars to make recommendations that will sit on someone’s desk.
This is pap! McCain is just as washed up as his party. Old ideas that have failed again and again.
a very nice piece..I hope all Americans will understand that their own future should be in their own hands. Don’t rely on too much on others or government. John McCain is a honest man who knows his own weakness but figures out things with common sense and wisdom.
careless deregulation has been the fundamental problem here. Phil Graham was the mastermind behind many of the deregulation policies, which included the mortgage industry, financial markets, and the oil markets. This is synonymous to how Enron made tons of money manipulating the energy market (which was also carelessly deregulated, and solidified into law by Graham as the “Enron Loophole”).
So the solution: you have to close that loophole and restore some of the regulations that were eliminated during the Bush administration. That at least stops the bleeding. The next step is to stimulate the economy by infusing money, which is achieved by investing in domestic infrastructure projects, investing in research and development, and so on. Money in the hands of people enables them to save more money with banks, banks get the capital they need and thanks to new regulations, are forced to be more careful with how that money in managed. This is simple economics.
Btw… guess who Mccain’s financial policy advisor is… Phil Graham.
I should also add the point that, I’m an independent that, until Palin was picked as VP, was leaning towards Mccain. When looking at the current financial situation, and the steps that need to be taken to solve it, this falls into the Democratic parties line of thinking – stimulate the economy from the bottom up – versus the Republican line of thinking – stimulate the economy from the top down.
The Republican line of thinking in this situation is *bad*. A major reason why is because the wealthy and the corporations that would receive the tax breaks, are not compelled to invest that new-found money in the US. It is good business sense to invest that money in places that will bring higher returns, and that is *not* the US. You’ll see the money invested in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), and other emerging economies and foreign markets.
By stimulating the economy from the bottom-up, by giving more money to the middle and lower classes, the government is essentially guaranteeing that the money will be spent within the US.
I want to know how we can afford to keep bailing these people out? I want to know why they are rewarded with several million in severance. Why isn’t Obama giving that money back to fannymac?
In 2005, Senator John McCain warned the Congress that this Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac collapes was going to occur. He helped to sponsored legislation (Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005) to address the situation and create oversight and regulatulation of these government sponsored “private” organizations.
These two organizations were havens for democratic machine cronies and good ole boys. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the Democrats blocked his proposed legistaltion at that time.
It is also no wonder that Barack Obama is the 2nd largest receiver of “financial gifts” from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac … second only to Christopher Dodd.
That is the democratic answer to financial issues … and we are reaping the benefits of their actions now.