More on the McCain Stumbles

This earlier post documented McCain's difficulties as he responds to the current economic crisis. Well, it's a gift that keeps giving.

From Political Wire:

"Two years ago, I warned that the oversight of Fannie and Freddie was terrible, that we were facing a crisis because of it, or certainly a serious problem."

-- Sen. John McCain, in an interview earlier today, via ABC News.

"So, I'd like to tell you that I did anticipate it, but I have to give you straight talk, I did not."

-- McCain, in an interview with Keene Sentinel on the mortgage crisis in December 2007.

From Think Progress:

— “I don’t think anyone who wants to increase the burden of government regulation…has any real understanding of economics and the economy and what is needed in order to ensure the future of this country.” [McCain Town Hall in Inez, KY, 4/23/08]

– “We need to return to the Reagan years. We need to have fiscal conservatism. We need less government. We need less regulation.” [PBS, 1/25/08]

– “I am a deregulator. I believe in deregulation.” [CNN, 7/13/03]

– “I have a long voting record in support of deregulation.” [St. Petersburg Times, 6/5/03]

And all this without even mentioning the S-I-P-C gaffe, or Blackberry, or the strong fundamentals of our economy.

For a more substantial and less catty description of McCain's philosophy on deregulation, see David Sirota's version here.

McCain, as the S&L scandal first suggested, is no run-of-the-mill free-market fundamentalist. Yes, he voted for the ill-advised repeal of the key Depression-era law that might have prevented the rampant consolidation and speculation that brought on today's emergency. But, then again, Bill Clinton and his DLC Democrats supported it too. Yes, McCain's top economic adviser is Phil Gramm, the UBS investment banker who pushed through so much deregulatory legislation as a senator. But then again, Barack Obama's top economic adviser is Robert Wolf, Gramm's UBS boss.

Where McCain really leaps to the fringe and differentiates his extremism from others is in his use of the deregulatory label to publicly define himself. That's how you can really tell what a politician believes in. This is not a guy who just votes for the corrupt legislation his Wall Street friends tell him to vote for - this is a guy who has staked his name on being "fundamentally a deregulator," as he recently described himself.