Obama Attacks McCain's Elitist Millionaire Mindset
There's an old saying in American politics -- elections are not decided by the producer price index. The Obama campaign is jumping on the recent jump in the index, though, with a statement slamming the Bush-McCain economic agenda and, more importantly, hitting McCain's millionaire mindset:
The unexpected jump in the Producer Price Index announced today is just further confirmation of that our economy is failing hard-working American families. This economy may be working for the multimillionaires that John McCain considers part of the middle class, but with prices rising and wages stagnating, tens of millions of typical American families are falling behind.
The key political part is Obama hitting McCain's insta-gaffe, from the Saddleback forum, when the GOP nominee estimated that it takes a whopping $5 million annual income to be rich in America. Then, Obama personally hammered this point in a New Mexico town hall this week; the campaign is now circulating a 40-second clip of Obama ridiculing McCain's elitism. Obama ties McCain's millionaire mindset to a tax policy that only "looks out" for the super wealthy:
This attack comes as the DNC pushes a new ad showing how the wealthy McCain family would fare under his own regressive tax plan. Beyond the campaign, independent liberal groups are branding McCain as an "elitist," out-of-touch "multimillionaire who owns 10 luxurious homes" (video below). McCain's tax plan is regressive and his middle-class agenda is meager -- he has not even proposed a stimulus. Linking those policies to his vast personal fortune should resonate with voters, and the Democrats are right to make his personal wealth and anti-middle class policies an issue in the fall campaign.
This post is adapted from Ari Melber's pieces for The Washington Independent.
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The Repugs tried to mock Obama over his energy plan by handing out tire gauges. Obama needs to keep talking up McCane's 5 million dollar answer to the what is rich question.
Keep it up, DNC and Obama. One body blow after another. McCain's continual stumbles and BS statements need to be pointed out. One would think the country could notice them on their own, but apparently one would be mistaken in that assumption. It takes the presidential nominee pointing them out, repeatedly, to make it clear.
It's time for Obama to go on the offensive, and not just with the occasional jab, but just keep swinging until November. McCain's failures are numerous, and ready to be taken advantage of.
In a perfect world it wouldn't matter to me how many homes John or Cindy McCain had, or how much his shoes cost, or for that matter, how many bottles of wine Obama could have in his cellar. After all, FDR was for the most part an excellent and heroic president who did more for the working class than perhaps any other president. And who could be more patrician (aka elitist) than he?
But go Obama go, make it clear who the elitist is, because otherwise the Republicans will do it do us again, make us the ones who don't care for the downtrodden, and when they've won, they'll go on destroying the economy and any real chance (except for the Lottery and American Idol) those in the working class have for becoming richer.
Audio from this speech is up here: http://www.entertonement.com/collections/2281/Millionaire-Comment Whether this will get the traction it should to undermine McCain's accusations of OBAMA as the elitist...who can say.
Obama harping on what McCain said was rich $5,000,000 is as stupid as Obama defending his tire pressure energy plan. McCain was clearly jesting in that fact that we all have a chance at the American Dream which is more than most people in the world have. Being foreclosed on is not that bad, it means you got rid of a property that you owe a lot more than what it is worth and can get a fresh start. People have to use their brains, there are many ways to postpone a foreclosure and they can use the legal system to their advantage, hiring a good attorney is the first step. You cant blame Bush or Republicans for this mess, several bills on mortgage reform were shot down by a democratic congress, the mortgage, real estate, and wall street caused this mess so stop pointing fingers and start doing what you can to help. How many of these people being foreclosed on took some money to hire a lawyer? Everyone had to miss several months of payments did they take any of this money to use an attorney to sue for mortgage fraud, it seems like the women in the video has a good case with her loan rate going so high. You can be a sheep and follow the heard or you can fight for your rights, thank God we have them, in Russia the government is taking what ever they want from people.
I am amazed on a continual basis how stupid most americans are. The mortgage crisis had willing paritcipants on all sides. All were greedy and now they are paying the price for that greed. How dumb is it to take on a loan that you cannot afford for a house that you cannot afford. People were getting huge loans when they couldn't even qualify for a g**damn credit card. I am no brain surgeon but I certainly read the fine print and know what I can afford. People are gullible and the mortgage industry is full of predators and that combined with unbridled greed was a predictable recipe for disaster.
I completely agree that many people are to be faulted for going out and buying houses that they could not afford. I get that. But the important thing to understand also is that it is the job of the lender originating the loan to determine if the borrower will be able to pay it back and deny the loan if they can't. In the days before the massive deregualtion of the securitie markets, a bank would not make a home loan that the borrower could not afford. They acted as defacto financial advisors to help a home buyer undertand what was a reasonable house payment and what wasn't. If the homeowner grossly mismanaged their money or suffered some financial disaster, that was what led to foreclosure.
Then all that went out the window and the people originating these loans were convincing people that they -could- afford them. The lenders knew full well what they were doing when they led the borrowers down that primrose path. Yes, those people need to leave their huge homes they cannot afford and live in resaonable sized homes that they can. Meanwhile the people who created this mess made billions doing it and the American taxpayer will be picking up the tab. Also look for: the rise of the suburban ghetto.
Are you kidding me? The depth of your ignorance is staggering...
To quote what I see as a bigger gaffe than the $5 million thing by John McCain from Saturday: "I want everyone to be rich."
The point being, if everyone is rich, no one is rich. The ever-increasing gap between the wealthy and middle class, let alone poor, will be everyone's problem including you insensitive Republicans.
When you have lobbyists utilizing millions of dollars from the mortgage industry to loosen lending restrictions, enabling corporations to grant mortgages to people who in the past would never and should not have been approved, there's clearly a sign of intent. To think the lending institutions did not have their long-term solutions to an epidemic of foreclosures in mind when they pursued this line of revenue generation is ludicrous.
Oil companies, lending institutions and the military industrial complex... Three sectors through which Mr. Bush and his clan RAPED the American tax payer to funnel money into their collective pockets.
I don't have a ton of sympathy for those being foreclosed on, but I know it's only because I was lucky. More to your point, the president and his party has been in power. Just like I don't think it's a rational arguments for democrats to whine about republicans when they are in power, the opposite is also true. The republicans were steering the ship when all this happened, they failed to anticipate it or allowed it to happen. That makes it their fault. It's not enough to say "I didn't cause it" when your the president of the country.
Maybe it's because I have a military background, but I believe the commander has a responsibility for all those under his command. Period. No excuses.
Therein lies the problem! McCain's approach is to be the court jester unless, of course, he is in full combat mode. It's one or the other with him. The narrow margin the Dems have had in the Congress (only since 2006) is no wide enough to get anything accomplished especially with Dubya threatening to veto anything that would aid the middle class. The working poor don't even merit a mention in most cases. You have obviously drank the Kool-Aid. If one can pay an attorney, they could make their house payment. You're dreaming if you believe proving mortgage fraud is as simple as you make it aound. Those crooks are well-insulated, by legislation, courtesy of the powerful elite few. And don't think for a minute it is limited to just the neocons. Many of them lie in the same bed!
OMG!!! I live in Arizona and I don't HAVE A PLANE!!!!!!!!!! HELP!!!
Right? Talk about out of touch! You mean McCain has been a Senator from Arizona for how many years and can't get the federal government to build roads? Anyway, a plane may be the only way but a helicopter is obviously superior.
McCain has consistently attacked Obama as being ambitious.
Read this quote from McCain's 2002 book titled "Worth the Fighting For"...page 723 and on audio tape:
"I didn't decide to run for President to start a national crusade for political reforms I believed in or to run a campaign as if it were some grand act of patriotism.
In truth, I wanted to be President because it had become my ambition to be President. I was sixty-two years old when I made the decision and thought it was my one shot at the prize."
Hmmm...
McCain states that he wants everyone to be rich. What a charitable thought. However, if each of 120 million workers earned 5 million per year, then there would be a total of 600 trillion in income. Wow! All this in a 15 trillion economy. That John, he's a dreamer, eh?
Well, if I could vote for it and it would happen, then I'd be all for it! And we'd all have to pay almost no income tax. His next economic plan will probably be titled the "15 trillion dollar economy".
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