QUOTE
Obama: News 'major threat' to economy
Mike Allen 2 hours, 49 minutes ago
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was the first of the presidential nominees to issue a statement on the weekend's banking meltdown, declaring Monday morning that the turmoil "is a major threat to our economy and its ability to create good-paying jobs."
"I certainly don’t fault Senator McCain for these problems, but I do fault the economic philosophy he subscribes to," Obama said. "It’s a philosophy we’ve had for the last eight years – one that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. It’s a philosophy that says even common-sense regulations are unnecessary and unwise, and one that says we should just stick our heads in the sand and ignore economic problems until they spiral into crises."
The statement includes a line you can expect to hear from him on the stump: “Instead of prosperity trickling down, the pain has trickled up – from the struggles of hardworking Americans on Main Street to the largest firms of Wall Street."
Obama aides say he will hammer the message that the market upheaval shows that the country can’t afford four more years of policies aligned with those of the current administration.
Aides to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) say he plans to use the news to underscore the reform message that he began hammering at the Republican National Convention.
“This is bad news for the country and yet another sign that we need to reform Wall Street,” a senior McCain official said. “The only way we can do that is by reforming Washington first. We will show McCain and Palin as the ticket who will take action on the economy and make sure the taxpayers aren't stuck with the bill.”
Here is Obama's statement "on the Situation in Financial Markets":
“This morning we woke up to some very serious and troubling news from Wall Street. The situation with Lehman Brothers and other financial institutions is the latest in a wave of crises that are generating enormous uncertainty about the future of our financial markets. This turmoil is a major threat to our economy and its ability to create good-paying jobs and help working Americans pay their bills, save for their future, and make their mortgage payments.
“The challenges facing our financial system today are more evidence that too many folks in Washington and on Wall Street weren’t minding the store. Eight years of policies that have shredded consumer protections, loosened oversight and regulation, and encouraged outsized bonuses to CEOs while ignoring middle-class Americans have brought us to the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression.
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Mike Allen 2 hours, 49 minutes ago
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was the first of the presidential nominees to issue a statement on the weekend's banking meltdown, declaring Monday morning that the turmoil "is a major threat to our economy and its ability to create good-paying jobs."
"I certainly don’t fault Senator McCain for these problems, but I do fault the economic philosophy he subscribes to," Obama said. "It’s a philosophy we’ve had for the last eight years – one that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. It’s a philosophy that says even common-sense regulations are unnecessary and unwise, and one that says we should just stick our heads in the sand and ignore economic problems until they spiral into crises."
The statement includes a line you can expect to hear from him on the stump: “Instead of prosperity trickling down, the pain has trickled up – from the struggles of hardworking Americans on Main Street to the largest firms of Wall Street."
Obama aides say he will hammer the message that the market upheaval shows that the country can’t afford four more years of policies aligned with those of the current administration.
Aides to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) say he plans to use the news to underscore the reform message that he began hammering at the Republican National Convention.
“This is bad news for the country and yet another sign that we need to reform Wall Street,” a senior McCain official said. “The only way we can do that is by reforming Washington first. We will show McCain and Palin as the ticket who will take action on the economy and make sure the taxpayers aren't stuck with the bill.”
Here is Obama's statement "on the Situation in Financial Markets":
“This morning we woke up to some very serious and troubling news from Wall Street. The situation with Lehman Brothers and other financial institutions is the latest in a wave of crises that are generating enormous uncertainty about the future of our financial markets. This turmoil is a major threat to our economy and its ability to create good-paying jobs and help working Americans pay their bills, save for their future, and make their mortgage payments.
“The challenges facing our financial system today are more evidence that too many folks in Washington and on Wall Street weren’t minding the store. Eight years of policies that have shredded consumer protections, loosened oversight and regulation, and encouraged outsized bonuses to CEOs while ignoring middle-class Americans have brought us to the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression.
