McCain doesn't have a damned clue about the economy

His comments yesterday were so far off the mark and once again prove how little he understands what is happening. Did excessive spending by Republicans cause problem? Well, duh. Of course they did. Was spending the key issue? Hardly, but don't tell that to the guy who worships Gramm-O-Nomics. Good grief, how far removed from planet earth is this guy? Meanwhile, Obama is talking to some heavy hitters who know a few things about the economy. He's said this before but now more than ever they deserve to be repeated.

"It was not an accident or a normal part of the business cycle that led us to this situation," Obama said. "There were some irresponsible decisions that were made on Wall Street and in Washington."

Obama said the economy needs both short- and long-term fixes, including another round of "stimulus" measures from Congress to revive the economy and a longer-term focus on renewable energy to curb high gas prices and on universal health care to trim costs. He said he would move "rapidly and vigorously" to respond.

"We are also going to have to provide some short-term relief," Obama said. "People are hurting right now. We need to respond rapidly and vigorously to problems, and to anticipate the problems that may be on the horizon."

Present at the meeting were AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, former treasury secretary Paul ONeill, former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley, Google chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt and New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, the former head of Wall street investment firm Goldman Sachs. Billionaire investor Warren Buffett joined via speaker phone.

Republican John McCain said the culprit for the deficit was the administration's wasteful spending.

"There is no more striking reminder of the need to reverse the profligate spending that has characterized this administration's fiscal policy," McCain said in a statement issued Monday.

And? AND? I almost thought McCain was going to continue and talk about the credit crunch that his old pal Phil Gramm orchestrated in Congress, but no, that would make too much sense.