Obama: McCain 'passing the buck'
Posted: Tuesday, September 16, 2008 3:38 PM by Carrie Dann
Filed Under:
Economy
From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
GOLDEN, Colo. -- As the economic crisis roiling Wall Street kept the economy at center stage Tuesday, Barack Obama sought to spell out for voters why he has a better plan for the economy and for avoiding future economic crises than his rival.
Citing Democrats Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Bill Clinton as examples of presidents who had led during tough times, Obama told an audience at a Colorado rally that he would offer a specific plan rather than a '9/11-style' commission to investigate the financial crisis, as John McCain proposed in a series of morning show interviews.
“This morning, instead of offering up concrete plans to solve these issues, Sen. McCain offered up the oldest Washington stunt in the book – you pass the buck to a commission to study the problem,” he said to laughter from the crowd of about 2,200 people packed into a gym. “But here’s the thing – this isn’t 9/11. We know how we got into this mess. What we need now is leadership that gets us out.”
At a time with skyrocketing foreclosure rates and rising unemployment, the Illinois senator is seeking to convince voters in this battleground state that he will be a better steward of the economy than McCain, whom he has repeatedly sought to portray as out of touch with ordinary Americans and whose party’s economic philosophy he has blamed for the current state of the economy.
His appearance in the Denver suburb of Golden came a day after his opponent's running mate Sarah Palin spoke in the community.
In a roughly 40-minute address, Obama told the audience that if they wanted to understand the difference between how he and McCain would govern, they should start by looking at how both had responded to the crisis that has led to the collapse of three of the country’s five largest investment banks.
Obama said he had introduced legislation in February 2006 to stop mortgage transactions that promoted fraud, risk or abuse, and that he urged Treasury Sec. Henry Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke a year later to find solutions to the sub-prime mortgage meltdown. McCain, Obama said, did nothing and later admitted he did not know how to solve the mortgage crisis. The Illinois senator also noted his support for the economic stimulus plan eventually passed in Congress, arguing that McCain had instead pushed for a plan to give $4 billion to big oil companies without providing immediate help to workers.
The McCain campaign responded by accusing Obama of being less than truthful about his accomplishments.
“Aside from inflating his own resume, Barack Obama offered nothing new except for sharp criticisms of the most fundamental elements of the American economy and pessimism about genuine efforts to restore our country’s prosperity,” spokesman Tucker Bounds wrote in an email. “More important than understanding that raising taxes on small businesses during a struggling economy is a bad idea, is respecting the strength of American workers and ingenuity – sadly Barack Obama demonstrates neither.”
Regulation
Arguing that capital markets cannot succeed without the public’s trust, Obama said today that it is time to “get serious” about regulatory oversight, and repeated a call he made in a speech in New York in March for a revamped regulatory framework for the financial markets. That framework would include giving the Federal Reserve basic supervisory authority over any institution that uses it as a lender of last resort, streamlining regulatory agencies and strengthening of capital requirements, especially for complex financial instruments like mortgage securities.
Obama insisted McCain could not be trusted on the issue of regulation because during his long career in Washington, the Arizona senator had supported financial institutions instead of their customers and had even called himself “fundamentally a deregulator.” He was also quick to note that a top McCain economic adviser, Phil Gramm, had been one of the biggest proponents of deregulation in the financial sector.
“John McCain’s newfound support for regulation bears no resemblance to his scornful attitude towards oversight and enforcement,” he said. “John McCain can’t be trusted to reestablish proper oversight of our financial markets for one simple reason: he has shown time and again that he does not believe in it. “
As part of an ongoing effort to paint his rival as a candidate who would help big business at the expense of the American people, Obama said that the Arizona senator had slammed Wall Street and called for fiscal responsibility while offering tax cuts to big corporations.
He added that mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which the government effectively took over earlier this month, would have to be replaced “with a structure that is focused on helping people buy homes – not engaging in market speculation.”
In a sign of the level of emphasis the candidate and his campaign are placing on the issue of the economy - one that is among voters top concerns -- campaign surrogates former Secretary of Treasury Larry Summers and former Securities and Exchange Chairman William Donaldson hosted a conference call after the speech to argue Obama has been ahead of the curve on economic issues.
Press Secretary Bill Burton also highlighted McCain adviser Carly Fiorina's statement today that the Arizona senator could not run a major corporation and questioned whether he can lead the world's largest economy if his own adviser does not think he can run a company.
