If you don't think this election is about change, you're simply not paying attention. Our economy is tanking, we have a deepening housing crisis and many of the largest financial institutions have failed, and more are in serious crisis, the news coming out of Wall Street is grim. That has to change, or we may well be headed for a depression.

Yesterday,The Associated Press published a story about tent cites popping up all across America just like the Republican Herbert Hoover caused with his Great Depression. The story reports in part, "From Seattle to Athens, Georgia, homeless advocacy groups and city agencies are reporting the most visible rise in homeless encampments in a generation. Nearly 61% of local and state homeless coalitions say they've experienced a rise in homelessness since the foreclosure crisis began in 2007, according to a report by the National Coalition for the Homeless. The group says the problem has worsened since the report's release in April, with foreclosures mounting, gas and food prices rising and the job market tightening. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h...I5ZGgD9398LEG0

It's also fair and accurate to state that one of the individuals that have been the most influential in creating this crisis is Phil Gramm, former Republican Senator from Texas. During the years Republicans controlled the Senate and Congress he was a tireless advocate of de-regulating the banking and mortgage industry. From his powerful position as Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee he pushed through legislation titled the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, making changes in the banking, insurance and securities laws which Congress had kept at bay for sixty years. He also helped push through legislation that assisted Enron during their troubles, while his wife, Wendy, served as member of the Enron Board of Directors.

A year after the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act repealed the old regulations, Swiss Bank UBS gobbled up brokerage house Paine Weber. Two years later, Gramm left the Senate and settled in as a vice chairman of UBS's new investment banking arm. Later, he became a major player in its government affairs operation. According to federal lobbying disclosure records, Gramm lobbied Congress, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department about banking and mortgage issues in 2005 and 2006. During those years, the mortgage industry pressed Congress to roll back strong state rules that sought to stem the rise of predatory tactics used by lenders and brokers to place homeowners in high-cost mortgages.

For his work, Gramm and two other lobbyists collected $750,000 in fees from UBS's American subsidiary. In the past year, UBS has written down more than $18 billion in exposure to sub prime loans and other risky securities and is considering cutting as many as 8,000 jobs. Phil Gramm remains tied to UBS, and he's also the general co-chairman of John McCain's presidential campaign, and his principal economic advisor. He's the individual that denied we're in a recession, claiming it's only a "mental recession", and adding that we're all "just a nation of whiners".

That's the kind of economic advice he would serve up to John McCain, advice from the single most influential person in Washington that's caused the worst economic problems since The Great Depression.

At the core of the current economic and financial problems has been the Republican-led systematic stripping away of decades old regulations governing the housing, financial, and investment industries. Regulations designed to protect Americans from the exact calamities that are now happening. There is no debate on the fact it's the de-regulations that have allowed this crisis to surface. They may attempt to deny it, but the public record of votes by Republicans in Congress and the Senate, including John McCain, has brought us to this point.

John McCain is now suggesting we need regulations to fix the problem. So where was McCain while the Republicans were removing the safety net of existing regulations? He was in total lockstep with the Republicans voting for those measures. For decades he's publicly claimed he's a staunch supporter of de-regulation, and his voting record supports and proves that contention.

Now we're in a presidential election year, and candidate McCain wants regulations to help replace the regulations he fought against and voted to strip away causing this crisis. He's admitted he knows very little about economics, so he has an economic advisor, Phil Gramm, the architect that was the single most influential person in creating the disasters.

It's inconceivable that anyone, even a Republican, would consider that a display of good judgment.

It's such a dangerous topic for John McCain, his own campaign manager has said this election won't be about the issues. Instead the McCain campaign is running attack ads about "lipstick", even claiming Obama wants to teach sex to kindergarten students. Those claims, and others, have been properly labeled by all the mainstream media as blatant lies. Even on Fox News, which is little more than a Republican talking point entity, Karl Rove appeared and said McCain's lies were too over the top. But no topic is too absurd to his campaign if he can just deflect attention away from his direct role in creating these massive problems.

It's a tough spot for McCain. His voting record and stated views, combined with the Republican Party have created this disaster. His economic advisor is the individual that led the charge to de-regulate the industries now in peril. Somehow John McCain wants you to think after being an active party in creating the crisis, it's only him that can fix the problems he helped create.

This election, contrary to what McCain's campaign manager claims, is about the issues. One of the biggest issues is the lousy, harmful judgment of John McCain. When it counted the most, he was wrong. When we needed sound judgment to thwart de-regulation attempts, McCain failed, actually agressively working to help pass the measures. When we need sound judgment to fix the disasters, McCain brings in the individual that led the charge to create the mess. McCain's judgment is an issue. He's flunked the test. But he wants to continue the Bush policies for four more years.

John McCain has already brought us change. His public record of votes to de-regulate and de-stabilize industries has helped create tent cities popping up all across America. Tent cities in America, in 2008... that's a change I couldn't even have imagined. John McCain wants to bring us more change. He's quite capable of continuing and expanding the Bush policies and helping change America from bad to Gawd-awful.

John McCain's judgment and his public record proves that.

I agree with the post, but that's a lot of words....


Just a note: I knock republicans when the only platform they have is to attack the other candidate.

I think it's better to promote the side you like than to attack the side you dislike....Just a thought

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"For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."
"Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth"
"Too often we... enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."
-JFK

Knight Errant of the Simian Order
Truth - Justice - Comedy

Great post,I echo your sentiments,Some of our gop forum members,think it is the stupid people signing mortgage papers that they couldn't afford is the problem of our economic meltdown.Now I for one think everyone should read the fine print,but I also believe that the realtor has a responsibility to lead their clients to the best lender,And because of shifty sly phil gramm,slipping the bills through congress,opened up the opportunity for those predatory lenders to make millions,and once the bills were understood by other gops instead of stopping it to protect the American people,looked the other way with their pockets open for a share of the money,mccain included.Trying to get these people to understand these points are mind numbing.Hopefully they will read your post to get a better understanding of what voting for mccain will bring,lord knows I have tried in other posts.

Watch this.

http://www.dailypaul.com/node/62638

You Democrats are just as bad.

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If it was that easy, everyone would do it.

Bingo - If you want change you had better not be looking at either Republicans or the Democrats 'cause there isn't any change being promised by either.

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Soldiers swear to protect and defend the Constitution with their lives.

Politicians swear to protect and defend the Constitution with someone else's life.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, a vote for anyone other than the two major candidates is a throw-away vote. It accomplishes nothing, not even a protest worth noting. Maybe that isn't how it should be, but it's absolutely how it is.

Yes, and two wrongs make a right!

__________________
"For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."
"Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth"
"Too often we... enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."
-JFK

Knight Errant of the Simian Order
Truth - Justice - Comedy

And that is exactly how they want you to think.

No, change comes in small packages, and then it is a snowball effect.

If both parties had to worry about a third party, it would change the whole system.

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If it was that easy, everyone would do it.