Last updated on July 1st, 2012 at 07:18 am
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama released a statement reacting to new Labor Department statistics that revealed that another 62,000 people lost their jobs in June, “As we head into the 4th of July weekend, today’s report that our economy has lost another 62,000 jobs is a stark reminder that far too many Americans will spend this holiday out of work and struggling to provide for their families because of the failed policies of the last eight years.”
He said that America is paying for the failed economic policy of the Bush years, “Our economy has now shed 438,000 jobs over the past six months, while workers’ wages fail to keep pace with the skyrocketing cost of gas, groceries and healthcare. The American people are paying the price for the failed economic policies of the past eight years, and we can’t afford four more years of more of the same. That is the essential issue of this campaign because Senator McCain has fully embraced the Bush economic agenda. I believe it has to change.”
Obama promised to restore bottom up economic growth, “As President, I’ll move us in a new direction with policies to restore broad-based, bottom up growth that benefits all Americans. I will provide working families with a middle-class tax cut; fight for affordable health care and college tuition; work to help raise workers’ wages, and invest in infrastructure, education and a clean energy future to create millions of new jobs. That’s the change the American people need.”
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John McCain reacted to the new numbers in a very Bush like way. He called for tax cuts and more free trade, “The American people cannot afford an economic agenda that will take our country in the wrong direction and cost jobs. At a time when our small businesses need support from Washington, we cannot raise taxes, increase regulation and isolate ourselves from foreign markets. These are the same old siren songs that have failed the American people time and time again.”
It is simple. If the economy is the number one issue in this election, John McCain will not only lose, but lose badly. He wants to label himself a maverick, but a maverick doesn’t put out a statement that is in lockstep with the policies of the past eight years, but I think it is incorrect to solely blame the Bush economic policies for this downturn. The Bush foreign policy of invading Iraq was what led to the spiraling oil prices, which created the inflationary pressure that is squeezing the life out of this economy.
