Obama: McCain's Economic Crisis Response "Katrina-Like...Just Sorta Stood There"

Barack Obama rolls out a new line during a rally in Michigan on Sunday, saying John McCain's response to the financial meltdown was "Katrina-like":

Senator McCain just doesn't get it. He doesn't understand that the storm hitting Wall Street hit Main Street long ago. That's why his first response to the greatest financial meltdown in generations was a Katrina-like response.

Sort of stood there. Said the fundamentals of the economy are strong. That's why he's been shifting positions these last two weeks, looking for photo ops, trying to figure out what to say and what to do.

Here's video:

Comments

[pepin1]

I am not a fan of Pres. Bush at all but once I calmed down about it all and really listened to the news and looked it up for myself . When Bush took office in 2001 he reported all this Fannie Mae stuff to the DEMOCRATIC congress and they refused to do anything. He brought it back up again a couple years later with the same response from congress. McCain brought it up again in 2006 and still got the same response. Actually Democrat Dodd said "there is no need for change here" as he was #1 in receiving donations from them and Obama was #2 on the list. For the last few weeks Bush has taken all the blame for this when he did try to do something but there is nothing any President can do without the concent of the congress and it's majority Democrat. Bush took ithe blame and didn't even defend himself from everyones accusations. So what is the problen here Bush or the Democratic congress? Probably congress. Do you just not want to know the truth or are you afraid to know. It's all public record and easy to find on the internet but then again we may not have the 1st ammendment much longer to give our thoughts and opinions since the state of MO. has already arrested a women for giving her opinion on Obama in a calm manner. There goes free speach and say hello to Socialism when Obama get elected.

[jdmba]

McCain just shoots from the hip and gambles that his decision will help someone other than himself.

[arthur2008]

John McCain is a leader?

Here is the roll call vote on the bailout from his state and Sarah’s:

ALASKA
Republicans ” Young, N.
ARIZONA
Democrats ” Giffords, N; Grijalva, N; Mitchell, N; Pastor, N.
Republicans ” Flake, N; Franks, N; Renzi, N; Shadegg, N.

[JPB516]

So, the ARRogant Saviour claimed he was dialed in the last 2 weeks making sure HIS ideas were in the bailout...and that John McCain deserved no credit for the compromise bailout...does this mean that Barack gets all the credit for its failure? Somehow BO will point the blame on McCain. Talk about lack of leadership! His party is in the majority and he can not get it passed...

[AntonioGramsci]

Are you familiar at all with John McCain's history in the Senate, and his involvement in the push to deregulate the United States' financial markets? And did you see the vote tally?

The interwebs sure is filled with strange folk.

[kcam44]

arrogant you say? McCain injected politics into this crisis because he thought he would get brownie points, that has backfired on him and now he wants to blame Obama..everytime his campaign fails he blames Obama...McCain is finished.

[alrady]

Are yo KIDDING? noone in the room attributed it to McCAin. the deal fell apart long before he hit washington in fact there was no deal.

This OBAMA video is actually laughable given that MCAIN is one that tried 2 years ago to get dems to deal with it in hearingetc. McCainsuspended campaign and went back while O sia dno.. the only reason O went was BUSH invited to participate on Thurs. I think it was thurs.

[alinsson]

It is sad that all you repugnicans seem to offer in the midst of our economic woes is calling Obama a "messiah and saviour. You truly believe your boss will mumble and stumble his way into the white house through name calling? You need your F**king head examined.

[valleygent]

Republicans killed this Bill and it is a Bill from their own President. The Republican party is imploding...just let it continue. I love it, I love watching them wage war on themselves.

[valleygent]

That's cold Senator Obama give him a break...McCain also choked the chicken while standing there.

[voidware]

"Uh", Obama said to the faithful.

George Bush just tried to give the democrat majority in the house and senate 700 Billion dollars for Barack to spend as president.

What did Obama do to unite the party?

Nothing.

Couldn't even unite the party.

Nice try, Nancy.

[Denni]

Everyone needs a dream, Voidware. The party isn't united? Keep dreaming.

[wendelgee2]

As far as incoherent rambling goes, you're pretty good.
Palin does it better.

[oregonideas]

as is often the case, folks with different motives seek the same action. certainly well-meaning individuals supported "creative" financing as a means for low-income americans to purchase their own home.....and, to coin a phrase, "it worked until it didn't" some folks managed to convert their loans before the ARM ripped them; others sold in the bull market.... however, "all good things must end someday" and things crashed down flattening those buyers who had their ARMs convert and were upsidedown in their homes.

at the same time, others, primarily mortgage brokers were making a killing knowingly selling loans which were risky at best.... those loans were bundled and sold into the secondary market and, more often than not, became part of newly created "derivitive" instruments which weren't really understood even by the traders who dealt them.

now we get to try to unravel a huge and complex problem and, with perhaps the best of intentions, officials are attempting to do so while causing the least pain for those impacted.....unfortunately, those actions, namely the 700 billion dollar bailout, relieve the pain in a very "top-down" fashion leaving the working American with a little (very little) hope for "trickle-down" and with a real (very real) 700 billion dollar bill.

[AngryCenter]

Love it. GOBAMA!

[stubbornbelle]

has anyone but me noticed the little stutter-like pause thing with Obama? It's starting to make me nervous.

[franklin opt]

That's the way he's been speaking for several months. Perhaps it's due to the exhaustive schedule he's keeping on the campaign trail.

[GabrielVH]

i agree with KaluMa, he kind of stutters a bit before speaking before he's thinking and like franklin_opt says, that might be a reflection of the schedule he has to keep everyday with the campaign and also his work in the senate.

[WasteNJ]

Nobody's perfect.

[petrosbasileus]

I don't see this at all... Case in point?

[KaluMa]

It is called thinking before you speak which is something that McCain and Palin may not be familiar with. I would rather a leader pause and reflect before speaking intelligently than to just blurt out a fast response and remove all doubt of your stupidity and lack of depth.

[alrady]

I support Mccain and yes O has a stutter problme when not in front of teleprompters and thrown off track.... which is why he didn't go town hall off the cuff style debate. But so what, many people have suceeded and have stutter problem. I am more annoyed that it take him 10 years to explain something.....but again thats not a disqualificaiton.

Voting should be done by more than charismatic appeal or looks or whatever personal likes and dislikes. I am not overly fond of McCainin some ways but think he will make STRONG president and represent values that I think are important.

[ckt]

I'll take a halting speech pattern that yields a coherent and considered thought over a doe-eyed, vacant stare lasting 10 seconds and ends with "I'll have to get back to ya', Katie" or a grimacing troll that can only say "I'm a maverick, I'm a maverick, I'm a maverick and it's all Obama's fault".

[joebaggadonuts]

If the American people have finally learned to think for themselves instead of being spoonfed by media and pundits and talk show hosts on the radio and Teevee, they will vote for Obama. They will realize that being trickled on by a guy who can reach the toilet was bad and that being peed upon by a guy who may not be able to reach the toilet will be worse. When their economic house is sinking in the toilet, they will come to their senses and vote for a Democrat.

[rock2casbah]

Excellent analogy. All posturing, pretense and prevaricating on McCain's part. Reminescient of someone else we have come to know and hate isn't he.

[MyVoiceHere]

@ bish66
Well....there you go again. Spouting names that have been proven wrong in attacking campaigns. Who's campaign is getting hammered by Fannie Freddie connection?

Obama is well informed on handling the crisis by talking to people like Volker.

McCain is well informed by Gramm.

Please give me a link to your proof that McCain backed a bill for regulation 2 years ago. I really wish to see how much regulation it would have added.

Now bish66 why have you not supported your opposition by hammering on the House Republican's proposals backing more deregulation, tax cuts, and praying for investors to bailout America.

In the House proposal they claim billions of investor dollars waiting on the sidelines to help the market. Is that money coming from the $300 billion in capital gains they are asking for? Can we afford to give away $300 billion and pray that the investors will actually invest it in the market instead of gold?

[waynep]

Semantics count a lot more than what people might think. That is why every campaign staff has people working to control precisely this factor. However, it often ends up being in the hands of the mass media, and I see an unfortunate willingness on the part of the liberal / alternative press and internet commentators to allow inappropriate terminology to stand. The biggest example of this is the whole "war" terminology in regard to terrorism. Particularly, allowing the attack of Iraq, and more so the continuing occupation of Iraq to be called "the war on terror". If we are not going to use attack and occupation, and must use the word terror, how about the action to assist the recruitment of new and young jihadist to expand the available pool of terrorist. That we could document..

The point here is, could we PLEASE stop saying that McCain "suspended" his campaign to go to Washington . The was no suspension of the campaign. If you live in a swing state, the announcements of this suspension where interspersed with McCain attack ads. All that stopped was his public appearances. That was an asset to the campaign!
I know that the media will not, call it what it is...but we could insist on NOT using words that indicate that something is happening that is not true. I would have liked to have read the McCain canceled his planned personal agenda to eventually wind his way back to Washington for better photo ops.

[eagleclaw]

Quit your bellyaching. You people always try and twist whatever comes out your mans mouth. If he can't express himself properly it just proves...ONCE AGAIN... that whatever comments he makes are not sincere.

You always want to spin what the opposition speaks about but when it happens to you, with no prompting at all from the opponent, you cry like the little spoiled babies that we all know and have come to loathe.

Grow up, grow a pair and stop sniveling like a coward. Own up to it, be a man.

[justoverit333]

who is you people?

[vulvina]

i visualize "eagle claw" as a dried up little, angry, deflated man, past his prime, without love, picking the lint out of his pubic hair on a public street.

[chillmonster]

The better speech was Obama in the rain in Virginia. I wish it were televised because it was a powerful moment.

[chillmonster]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ctgw9VyV_0

There's the speech.

[AmHope]

Thank you.

[T Pol]

I just watched it on YouTube. It WAS powerful! Here is the link if anyone hasn't seen it yet:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/28/obama-biden-rally-in-the_n_130092.html

[bish66]

The root of the crisis is that lots of people who could not afford a house bought one nevertheless, thanks to ACORN, Fannie and Freddie. It was clear right from the beginning that the bubble would eventually burst, but what are powerful friends for? Fannie, Freddie, Goldman Sachs and others bought influence to make sure that nobody would spoil their party by regulating them.

These companies invested more than $1m in a little known Senator from Illinois who fought valiantly for ACORN and against companies that refused to give credit to people who don't deserve credit.

These companies gave hardly any money to a Senator from Arizona, who warned about the possible crisis and called for stricter oversight of the financial sector.

Obama is well-informed about the magnitude of the financial meltdown, because the guys responsible are his closest advisors: Johnson, Raines, a VP who is sponsored by credit card companies helps as well.

You can try to tack this crisis on the Bush Administration, but if you do so, you have to pin it on the Democratic House as well, because they refused to do their job. You can tack it on Obama easily, but pinning it on McCain is using "guilt by association".

[BuckeyeGal]

Ownership society.
Up to lending institutions to allow or deny credit. Can't blame people for applying.

[AlohaMark2]

Your search for the "root" of the problem ends rather suspiciously with "lots of people". "People" want a lot of things but ultimately it is the lender who either approves or disapproves the loan. And the financial "geniuses" who bundle these risky mortgages and pawns them off as iron-clad to Chinese investors? I guess they are far from the "root". If the mortgage is risky, don't try to hide it by bundling it and selling it off to gullible foreign investors. At the "root", these financial wizards were happy to lie and cheat; it's how they made their living. In the end, it's not "people" but the lack of oversight this administration has "enforced" that let these thieves run wild.

"People" will say anything to get what they want, as you so wantonly demonstrate.

[T Pol]

Stop with the ACORN b.s. already. People on the edge get told, "Sure, you can afford it! Heeeere's how!" It isn't called "predatory lending" for nothing.

While Republicans pick on the poor $8/hour guy who wanted the American Dream of homeownership (the ACORN types), NONE of the Republicans will talk about all the MCMANSIONS that were foreclosed upon by those who felt their rise in income should be reflected in a home way beyond their means.

This economy wasn't brought down by either group alone. There were the credit swaps, the arbitrage, the hedge funds, the derivatives, the picked-from-air shares (nonexistent) sold in naked short selling, the change in bankruptcy law allowing credit companies and banks to charge 35% interest and put fees on absolutely everything. In short, every corrupt practice, every loophole, every turn-a-blind-eye by regulators factored into this disaster.

So stop blaming Charlie the painter guy already.

[franklin opt]

A relative built several of those McMansions and could see the foreclosures coming 3 or 4 years ago.

[franklin opt]

Your attempt to bring in ACORN is transparent. Sen. Obama defended ACORN in a matter that was internal to that organization.

ACORN is not a "company" and does not originate mortgages.

The sub-prime, adjustable-rate mortgages started before the 2004 election, my friend.

Btw, I've worked in the mortgage industry. Have you?

[alinsson]

Thats strange bish66 because since I was a little child, I have always known that the Republican party is the party of less Government, less regulation. And if you still have your head in the sand then when you remove it, try reading up on John Mac's record in the U.S. senate. HE IS MR. DEREGULATION. By the way did you know that is a big time scrap player = Mr. gambler