Tel-Chai Nation

I was glad to see that John McCain, in his townhall conference in Ceder Rapids, Iowa, addressed the economic issue. Because yes, that too is going to be a vital issue for the elections, seeing how Wall Street has suffered lately. And most importantly, McCain also spoke about Barack Obama's taking money from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Hot Air posted some of the transcript here:

Senator Obama talks a tough game on the financial markets but the facts tell a different story. He took more money from Fannie and Freddie than any Senator but the Democratic chairman of the committee that regulates them. He put Fannie Mae’s CEO who helped create this disaster in charge of finding his Vice President. Fannie’s former General Counsel is a senior advisor to his campaign. Whose side do you think he is on? When I pushed legislation to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Senator Obama was silent. He didn’t lift a hand to avert this crisis. While the leaders of Fannie and Freddie were lining the pockets of his campaign, they were sowing the seeds of the financial crisis we see today and enriching themselves with millions of dollars in payments. That’s not change, that’s what’s broken in Washington.

The answer is simple: Obama's on the side of the rich who provide money.

McCain also addressed Joe Biden's foolish comment about taxing being "patriotic":

Today Senator Obama’s running mate said that raising taxes is patriotic. Raising taxes in a tough economy isn’t patriotic. It’s not a badge of honor. It’s just dumb policy.

Quite right. McCain's scored a bullseye in his discussion. I hope he'll continue to address the economic issues as well in the next few weeks. This too is something very important he needs to work on, and Sarah Palin too.

Update: for anyone who's working on the stock market, here's some good news: Marketwatch reports that stocks are back up again:

Trading in a more than 360-point range featuring triple-digit swings on either side of zero, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) at last check was up 53.82 points at 10,663.48, with 16 of its 30 components trading higher.

If the stock market's recovered, that's good news. It'll still be an important issue to discuss in the elections, to be sure, but for now, if it's gotten better, that's a relief.

Update 2: Hot Air has the video of McCain and Palin's first townhall meeting.

Update 3: also read this entry at Power Line.

Labels: political corruption, United States