McCAIN'S ECONOMIC POLICIES ARE BANKRUPT

A buddy of mine called because he's thinking of jumping in to the Kevin Powell race to unseat machine Democrat, Edolphus Towns in Brooklyn. He wanted to know what were the worst (i.e.- most Republican) things Towns had done lately as a congressman from one of the most heavily Democratic districts in America. I had written about the Towns-Powell primary last week and I recall be especially outraged that he had voted in favor of to bills that are obviously special interests legislation that are harmful for the overwhelming majority of his constituents: the heinous credit-card-written bankruptcy bill and the estate bill to abolish the estate tax. Corrupt Democrats like Towns (and Al Wynn) were paid handsomely to cross the aisle and vote with the Republicans on these two travesties against economic justice.

It looks like some of McCain's personal servants must have spoken with him last night about the economy because this morning he said he imagines we're in a recession. I wonder if he will ever be able to stretch that imagination of his and figure out that the policies he's been pushing for the past 7 years are what caused it. "I would imagine that technically there’s some question amongst economists about that," croaked. "The fact is Americans are hurting, they’re hurting badly.” Yes, they are-- and one of the policies he backed, taking bribes from the same crooked credit card companies that paid off Edolphus Towns in Brooklyn, was the bankruptcy bill they both voted for. "When it comes to strengthening the safety net for hardworking families, [McCain's] been part of the problem, not part of the solution," Obama told a crowd of admirers in Georgia today.

Although most reporters covering the campaign preferred to yammer about the he said/she said infotainment aspects of the political "news," today's Wall Street Journal covered the substance of his proposal to reform the detrimental Republican/Blue Dog bankruptcy bill. Basically, Obama wants to "make it easier for homeowners devastated by illness or other such hardships to keep their houses during periods of insolvency."

In 2005 Obama-- unlike Towns and McCain-- voted against the credit card companies bankruptcy bill that has devastated so many American families. Obama pointed out it was just a sop to "special interests," a polite way of saying that Towns and McCain are crooked political hacks who took money from the banking interests and gave them the bill they wanted in return, regardless of what harm it caused to so many families, especially considering that most bankruptcies are the results of massive medical catastrophes. The bankruptcy bill McCain and Towns were so happy to vote for has also had a devastating effect on military families, who have lost their homes while their breadwinners were fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"While I was opposing the credit card industry's bankruptcy bill that made it harder for working families to climb out of debt, [Sen. McCain] was supporting it-- and he even opposed helping families who were only in bankruptcy because of medical bills they couldn't pay,'' Sen. Obama told a crowd at a townhall event outside of Atlanta. "He sided with the big banks again when it came to protecting the most valuable possession that older Americans have-- their home.''

Sen. Obama's proposal would establish a minimum national "homestead" level for homeowners, pegged to the region's median home value, which would prevent creditors from attaching assets for non-payment.

The policy would also impose a 120-day moratorium on bad-credit reporting and waive requirements, such as mandatory credit counseling for people who filed for a bankruptcy as a result of a catastrophic illness, and means testing for many others. The Obama campaign claims that roughly half of the 500,000 personal bankruptcies filed last year were the result of an uninsured, catastrophic illness.

Obama's proposal would fast-track the process for military families, help seniors keep their homes, and protect people recovering from natural disasters. McCain's lobbyist-driven campaign is filled with crooks who made millions of dollars getting the bill passed originally. And McCain just doesn't understand economics and doesn't care to-- he doesn't even know how Social Security works.