Home > Decision 2008 > The Real McCain > McCain Facts
McCain Talking Points
John McCain and the
Economy
MAIN
POINT: When it comes to the
economy, John McCain is out of touch with the
challenges facing
Today, John McCain gave what his
campaign billed as a major economic policy
speech. But all we heard were the same
out-of-touch ideas that got our economy in the
trouble it is today.
And though McCain has talked about
fiscal discipline on the campaign trail, his
budget-busting policies would put us further
into debt. In fact, McCain's top economic
advisor told the New York Times yesterday that
deficits don't matter when McCain himself said
in 2003 that deficits were bad because they
"limit economic expansion."
That may explain why McCain isn't
concerned that his plan to keep our troops in
Iraq for 100 years-a war that is now costing
taxpayers $12 billion a month-and his promise
to make Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy
permanent together would add $6.3 trillion to
the deficit.
Instead, McCain's plan for cutting
government spending includes cutting earmarks,
a plan that would pay for six weeks in
And his proposals to increase the cost
of prescription drugs for Medicare Part D
participants would barely put a dent in the
deficit.
Once again McCain is making it clear
that he'll say anything to win-while he claimed
he's never asked for or received earmarks, the
truth is McCain has sought funding for pet
projects in his home state of
It's no wonder McCain himself says he
doesn't understand economics-his math just
doesn't add up.
McCain's Economic
Speech:
Rehashed
Ideas & Empty
Promises
McCain's "Plan" For Four
More Years Of Bush Just Doesn't Add
Up.
McCain Just Isn't
Qualified To Manage
Economy
MCCAIN TODAY: "Economic policy is not
just some academic exercise, and we in
REALITY: In 2005. McCain Says "I Still
Need To Be Educated" On The Economy. In an
interview with the Wall Street Journal, McCain
admitted to his inexperience on
economics. He said, "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." [Wall Street
Journal, 11/26/2005]
REALITY 2007: McCain Says He
Doesn't Understand the Economy. McCain admitted
to reporters "[t]he issue of economics is not
something I've understood as well as I should."
[
REALITY: In 2008, Former Treasury
Secretary Paul O' Neill Doubted McCain's
Economic Experience. When asked in an interview
with New York Times Magazine how he felt about
John McCain, former treasury secretary Paul
O'Neill replied, "I don't want a straight
talker. I want a leader. And a straight talker
is one dimension of a leader." When asked about
McCain's recent statement that "his grasp of
economics is limited," O'Neill replied, "Yeah.
That's a great place to start from, isn't it?"
[New York Times Magazine,
3/30/2008]
More Bush/Reagan
economics
MCCAIN TODAY: "It will not be enough
to simply dust off the economic policies of
four, eight or twenty-eight years
ago"
REALITY: Four More Years Of Bush. John
McCain wants to make the Bush tax cuts
permanent. [McCain,
4/15/08]
REALITY: A Reagan Foot Soldier.
Referring to himself as "a foot soldier in the
Reagan revolution," he pointed to the Reagan
economic plan as leading "to a long period of
economic growth and prosperity." He fails to
note that in the 80s, "the budget deficit
soared, because the cuts in domestic spending
were not large enough to make up for the Reagan
tax cuts and a military buildup. And
middle-class incomes grew at a much slower rate
than they had in the 1950s or '60s."
[
Hypocrisy On Executive
Compensation
MCCAIN TODAY: "While Mr. Cayne of Bear
Stearns, Mr. Mozilo of Countrywide, and others
are packed off with another forty- or fifty
million for the road."
REALITY: Head Of Bear Stearns Is
McCain Donor. James Cayne and his wife,
Patricia, each contributed $1,000 to McCain's
presidential campaign on November 22, 1999.
Cayne also gave the RNC$2500 on January 15,
2008. [FEC Filings]
REALITY: Top Recipient of Excessive
Executive Compensation Fundraises for McCain's
Campaign and Serves on His National Finance
Committee. John Thain, former New York
Stock Exchange Chairman and current Merrill
Lynch CEO, received $83.79 million in executive
compensation last year and ranks number one on
the New York Times/Equilar list of highest
executive compensation. Thain is a fundraiser
and bundler for McCain's current presidential
campaign and serves on McCain's national
finance committee. He and members of his
immediate family have contributed $35,000 to
McCain's current and previous campaigns. [FEC
Disclosures, McCain 2008, Straight Talk PAC,
McCain 2000, McCain Senate; McCain National
Finance Committee,
(www.johnmccain.com/Supporters/); McCain
Bundlers, Public Citizen,
(whitehouseforsale.org), New York Times,
4/5/08, (www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/04/05/business/20080405_EXECCOMP_GRAPHIC.html)]
Bush Tax Cuts Are The
Problem, Not The
Solution
MCCAIN TODAY: "By allowing many of the
current low tax rates to expire, they would
impose - overnight - the single largest tax
increase since the Second World
War."
REALITY: Bush Tax Cuts Account for 37
Percent of Federal Budget "Descent Into the
Red." An editorial in the New York Times
at the end of 2007 discussed how the Bush tax
cuts account for 37 percent of the federal
budget's "descent into the red" between 2002
and 2001, according to the Congressional Budget
Office. The editorial further noted how
federal borrowing has "mushroomed" to 53
percent, compared to a 2 percent increase
during the Clinton Administration. The
editorial noted, "American taxpayers must repay
the borrowed money with interest, which means
fewer federal dollars to spend on everything
else for decades to come, including health
care, infrastructure repair, emergency
response, chemical plant security and
alternative energy." [Editorial, The
MORE MCCAIN TALKING POINTS!