Obama Ad: McCain A "Prescription For Disaster"

Barack Obama is out with a new ad Monday morning, eviscerating John McCain for an article he recently wrote calling for the health care industry to have as much regulatory freedom as its banking counterpart.

"We've seen what Bush-McCain policies have done to our economy," goes the script. "Now John McCain wants to do the same to our health care. McCain just published an article praising Wall Street deregulation... Said he'd reduce oversight of the health insurance industry too... Just 'as we have done over the last decade in banking'...Increasing costs and threatening coverage. A prescription for disaster."

The spot, titled "Article" was expected. Ever since McCain's article from the September/October edition of Contingencies Magazine was first re-posted by New York Times columnist Paul Krugman on Friday, Democrats have been chomping at the bits to ram it down McCain's throat. After all, what better way to deflate the idea that the Republican nominee, after years of pursuing deregulatory policies, all the sudden was a champion of government oversight? Or, for that matter, what better way to drive home the notion that McCain would put one's health care - not to mention Social Security - at play in a clearly erratic market.

As such, Obama had been bringing up the Contingencies piece while on the stump. The ad, which will air on cable starting Monday, is the next effort to keep the article in the national conversation.

Comments

[tinatoledo31]

for those of you who like to do research and then come to a conclusion about what is going on in the world, i encourage you to read this:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aSKSoiNbnQY0

[jinxed]

Bloomberg is blaming the Democrats ... how rich is that. If you will remember, in 2005 the Republicans had a filibuster proof majority and the 'my way or the highway" attitude. The Democrats nomore blocked this bill than pigs fly. Get your timeline right and quit trying to blame your screwups on anybody but the ones at fault, yourselves!

[eden4barack08]

Bloomberg is NOT blaming Dems. It's an op-ed written by a neocon, senior economic advisor to McSame. Don't expect facts or objectivity please.

[uncleentropy]

It is a nice try here and the "facts" regarding a warning about Freddie and Fannie are correct.

However, there was no serious intent to govern these orgs put forth by the repubs and no reason why they could not have "reformed" this in 2005 if they wanted to since they controlled the legislature and the WH. They didn't want reform....­they needed Fannie and Freddie as the place to dump what the commercial lenders were pushing.

As far as the campaign contributions are concerned, these are employees.­..many of whom understood that the unregulated quasi-governmental, privately owned status was allowing corporate malfeasance to go unchecked. The finance sector corrupted Fannie and Freddie's original intent to provide mortgages to the working class by adopting unscrupulous lending and underwriting practices and "passing the trash" on.

The repub mantra: call the symptom the cause and blame the victims.

[eden4barack08]

A COMMENTARY by Hassett?? That's your research and conclusion?? Please, go back to your research.

[miles120]

Yes, I like to do research and weigh balanced evidence, but this op-ed is full of specious arguments and unsupported presuppositions. You're actually blaming this entire mess on one committee vote? There is a littered path thirty years long that got us to this point. Spare me the carping...

[lulamaebroadway]

Just read the article and think that 1) to blame the entire situation on the failed passage of a single bill affecting only 1 of the many companies in crises is completely absurd.

And 2) to say that Obama received "mind-boggling" support of $125,000 from Fannie & Freddie is ridiculous. Since when is 125K a "mind-boggling" sum in today's Washington. Compare it to the 2 million McCain's Rick Davis got and it's a drop in the bucket.

[BPCentrisAmerican]

I would respect his position more if he gave up his Social Security, his Senate health care plan coverage and shop around for his own like he wants us to do, as well as any other socialized entitlements were paying for. Do what I do, not what I say, John.

[ex-pat]

You forgot his disability payment as well

[PioneerKing]

Not only does McCain want to turn health care and social security into deregulated enterprises. McCain wants to only give Americans a paltry $5,000. tax credit for a family of four to buy health insurance.
McCain can not get any more out of touch if he thinks that a family of four can buy a decent health/den­ta/vision/­RX insurance policy for $5,000.00 that does not have a deductible of more than $25,000.00 dollars per person per year.

[quindy]

He also wants to tax the health care benefits you will receive from your employer. Because he never had to pay for his own health insurance (we, the tax payers, did it for him) he is gigantically out of touch. $5000 tax credit for the family of four is worse than a bad joke - it is an insult.

[MsYellowDog]

I doubt whether McCainasaurus has ever heard the term,"deductible," as it relates to insurance.­He is the most backward-thinking man I have ever seen on the national stage,and the MSM keeps letting him get away with it.

[Audrey704]

While he gives the middle class a measely tax cut compared to the uppercrust and businesses what they fail to inform you is that the middle class would be taxed on the health benefits they do receive...­So any proposed tax cut combined with this taxation would be at best a wash....an­d most likely a tax increase for the middle class

[provgrays]

McCain gives off a distinct whiff of sulphur.

[Bluejay00234]

Unfit to lead.

[deinefreunde]

I had read about this McCain article in Krugman's blog on the weekend already. I think the ad had been more effective when it would have had a different kind of direction:

"In an article this month, before the meltdown of the deregulated financial market, John McCain had the same idea of deregulation for healthcare. We can't afford judgment that proves wrong over and over again and leaves us in a mess again there as we facing it now."

Shifting away from claiming that he still would want to do that (hard to believe that this flies now) and putting more emphasis on his basic (wrong) Bush/McCain ideology.

[bujeeboo]

Please folks. Everyone should buy one of these for their car and drive with it proudly:

"I have had it with the Republicans"

The brand is damaged and we need to drive a stake through its heart. Drown it in a bathtub.

Buy it here:
http://www.cafepress.com/irregulargoods.24221872
(no, it's not my site)

[bujeeboo]

I'm hoping the ad buy for this is huge, like in EVERY state.

[milo h minderbinder]

Yeah, this is one that they make sure people see.

Although I don't know if it makes sense to run any ads in EVERY state since some are ridiculously uncompetitive. Definitely every *competitive* state.

[Drawmark]

I hope they run it everywhere, but let's also hope that the media will run it incessantly for free, just like they keep running McCain ads. Every damn day the media sez something like this, "This John McCain ad about Barack Obama stretches the truth, CAN WEE SEE IT AGAIN?"

If the media is in really in Obama's pocket like the McCain camp claims I expect to see this ad run for free hundreds of times.

[loria]

Make this article on McCain's radical plan for healthcare go viral. If you support McCain (and even if you don't) don't be too attached to your healthcare (that's if you even have it) because he'd like a major reform that means the people are the ones left holding the bag, while the healthcare industry reaps th e benefits.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/opinion/16herbert.html?

[Audrey704]

That is what McCain is all about...ma­king the rich richer on the backs of the working class. What do you expect from a privately educated son of generals..­..he served our country by wrecking 5 planes? Was responsible for taking out power lines in Spain....h­ow irresponsible! He admits to being brash and immature..­.his pick of Palin speaks of his continue brashness and irresponsible behavior. As anyone will tell you as one gets older...we are basically the same people with sagging skin. McCain got captured and was a POW and that was unfortunate but what he has done in the past 26 years is more important that what he did 50 years ago.

[Diogenis]

We shall have some compassion on McCain..

Vote....Ob­ama/Biden 08

[opinion123]

'The Pirates of Washington Cove', Starring George Bush, John McCain and Henry Paulson...

[Audrey704]

talk about the fox guarding the hen house

[bluzz]

This is the kind of ad that needs to be run over and over and over again. People need to get the message that mcCain has blood on his hands with this current financial meltdown and his foolish ideology caused this and will harm us even worse if elected.

Too often, Obama and Dems from past elections have an ad on for few times and then go on to the next.- nothing sticks. Rethugs develop a mantra of repeating things and it sticks, even when they are totally false. We need to do this with this ad, over and over and over again.....­PLEASE!

[amirtalai]

McCain / Palin '08 - What Could Go Wrong?

[swift goat pet for truth]

Obama: "John McCain can't decide if he's Barry Goldwater or Dennis Kucinich."

[SailFree]

The current whirlwind of lies coming from Obama's campaign and other Democrats concerns John McCain and the current financial crisis. I'm going to skip repeating the lies here, as you are all probably well aware of them. Suffice it to say that Nancy Pelosi's remark, before fleeing town, that the crisis had absolutely nothing to do with Democrats is one of the biggest lies ever perpetrated in Washington, D.C.

The Bush administration and Republicans, including John McCain, as evidenced in a speech he gave in 2005, show clear indication that they foresaw and tried to prevent the investment banking industry and mortgage industry collapse. However, Barney Franks and other Democrats, including one of Obama's advisors, Franklin Raines, former head of Fannie Mae, balked at reform, disparaging the claims that these institutions were headed for serious financial trouble. On a strictly party line vote, the Democrats in the Senate voted down the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, which, if implemented, would have gone far in preventing the current financial industry meltdown.

This is much like the Obama support for comprehensive sex education k-12, in that the lies appear to have far outrun the truth. It must be that these are highly infectious memes, and extremely pathological to rational thought.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&refer=special_report&sid=awekS4PaIZrw

http://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/obama-barney-frank-fannie-mae-freddie-mac-campaign-contributions-democrats-lobbyists-truth-about-obama-more-obama-lies-mccain-reformer/

[lvdragonlady]

Keep hanging on to that 'swift boat' mentality sweetie, it is all good.
We all understand that not everyone can think for themselves.

[Indieguy]

You've got to be f...ing kidding me.

BTW: Countries that have age appropriate sex education starting at an early age have a much lower incidence of teen pregnancies.

[BookDesigner]

SailFree: "these are highly infectious memes, and extremely pathological to rational thought."

Apparently you have been infected by those pathogens to rational thought, e.g., in your claim that Raines is an Obama advisor, a claim that has been thoroughly debunked.

Yes, Democrats believed at one point that FannieMae and FreddieMac were sound, but to claim that they were alone in resisting regulation is an egregious lie. Who but the Republicans, most particularly their current "candidate" for the presidency ("candidate" in quotes because the likely president would be Pailin, God help us all), has been most vocal in pushing de-regulation in all aspects of the economy?

[SailFree]

You are attempting to change the subject. But it is a sign of at least some grasp of reality that you note that Democrats "thought" Fannie Mae sound. Now if you could just grab hold of the rest of it, that Republicans wanted to fix the problem 3 years ago before things collapsed, you'd be OK.

[SailFree]

I do note that Democats WERE ALONE, in that the vote on the bill was strictly party-line, every sponsor and every vote for the bill were Republicans. It was Democrats ALONE who refused to regulate the loan institutions.

[marcelisa]

You can stop being in denial now. Really, it's okay.

[chavo]

How does it feel to know the same old Conservative tactics are just not working in 2008? Do you feel worried? Nervous? Well you should because the Conservative era is ending.

[freedomfighter1]

I'm terrified about this and I'm not a person prone to terror! If John McBush becomes president, he will make the healthcare industry even WORSE than it currently is with DEREGULATION?! I'm clutching my head right now someone PLEASE talk me down!

[SailFree]

It was REGULATION, in the form of the Community Whatever Act and Bill Clinton's fiat regarding the mortgage industry and investment banking, that not only allowed, but virtually forced the banking industry to make shaky loans. Indeed, it was the blackmail of Acorn and other activist groups, of which Obama was a "community organizer," which also prodded lending institutions to make the unwise loans to folks unlikely to be able to pay their loans. You can research it if you like.

I believe there is an article on bloomberg.com today concerning this.

[G8R4Obama]

This is the newest Republican ruse to try to shift responsibility off of their failed policies. The sub-prime mortgage market was created by Wall Street when they got the brilliant idea to securitize mortgages and sell these securities around the globe. Once they started getting large investors to buy them, the hunt was on for more and more mortgages with which to package these securities. Wall Street put out the word that they were buying mortgages and they pushed the entire industry to create more of them, regardless of the quality. Borrowers didn't create the 'no down, no doc' and 'bad credit - we don't care' mortgages - lenders did, and they did so because there was a market for them on Wall Street. When these bad loans started defaulting, it caused the securities that were based on them to become worthless - thus the write-downs by the investment banks, etc., that were exposed to them.

Bank of America is probably the biggest lender under the Community Redevelopment Act - and they aren't going out of business, are they?

[gopSTEALSyourTAXmoney]

There is more to that than what you are putting out as: 'blame Clinton and Obama'.

Real estate was rising so fast, many people were worried about never being able to buy
and own a house.

Some people were willing to do ANYTHING to get into BUYING a house.

Then there are the greedy people with money to buy more than several, thinking
that renting them out could cover the payments to the mortgages.

Adjustable Rate Mortgages were never fully understood by people taking out
those types of loans, or were those types of loans fully EXPLAINED to customers.

Don't try to put the blame on people or Clinton and Obama.

The blame rests on people like McCain who has a history of swindling
the average working people. KEATING 5 is John MCcain's history.

[KHAAANNN]

AHHAHAHAHA­HAHAHAHAHA­HAHAHAHA!!­!!!!!!!
The Banking industry was FORCED to create exotic financial instruments and make shaky loans so they could make their bonus numbers!?!?!?!?!?!
Poor Community Organizers BLACKMAILED the titans of the financial community into doling out BILLIONS in bonuses to themselves!?!?!?!
That is the most idiotic thing I have heard since the Reich-Wingers floated the ridiculous idea that "This is all Jimmy Carter's fault".
Slam down some more of the kool-aid buddy, you're going to need it.

[CoOpEdAmerica]

SailFree, your wanted back at McCain headquarters.

[quindy]

Yeah, right. All those community organizers were holding guns to those poor bankers heads and made them give out bad loans. Yeah, I think that's how it happened.