{"id":14596,"date":"2008-02-15T12:46:04","date_gmt":"2008-02-15T17:46:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com\/archives\/14596.html"},"modified":"2008-02-15T12:46:04","modified_gmt":"2008-02-15T17:46:04","slug":"mccains-extensive-background-and-knowledge-need-a-little-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/mccains-extensive-background-and-knowledge-need-a-little-work\/","title":{"rendered":"McCain’s ‘extensive background and knowledge’ needs a little work"},"content":{"rendered":"

John McCain recently acknowledged<\/a>, “The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should.”<\/p>\n

Ever since reporters started asking about this — and noting that now may not be the best time to elect a president who doesn’t understand economics — McCain’s been feeling a little touchy on the subject. Last night, he told Larry King<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“I’d like to convince people, because of my extensive background on the economy and knowledge, that I can see a path through this difficult time we’re in.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are two main problems with claim. The first, as Think Progress explained<\/a> very well, is that it completely contradicts McCain’s repeated claims about his own admitted ignorance.<\/p>\n

* Seeking to explain his shift to the left on economic issues, McCain claimed: “I didn’t pay nearly the attention to those issues in the past. I was probably a ‘supply-sider’ based on the fact that I really didn’t jump into the issue.” [Jan. 2000]<\/p>\n

* “I’m going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated.” [Nov. 2005] <\/p>\n

* “The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should,” but “I’ve got Greenspan’s book.” [Dec. 2007]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Given the nation’s economic climate, the quotes are fairly devastating.<\/p>\n

But there’s another problem. Not only has McCain admitted he’s clueless on economics, he’s made frequent economic claims that prove<\/i> he’s clueless on economics.
\n
\nIn South Carolina, McCain told an audience a couple of weeks ago, “Every time in history we have raised taxes it has cut revenues.” As a matter of reality, McCain was talking gibberish<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A few days prior, at a Republican debate, McCain said<\/a>, “I don’t believe we’re headed into a recession. I believe the fundamentals of this economy are strong and I believe they will remain strong.” He then reversed course, said the fundamentals of the economy aren’t<\/i> strong, and inexplicably blamed government spending<\/a> for creating an economic decline that he didn’t believe existed<\/p>\n

He also recently told a national television audience that he’s “glad” when interest rates fall, and “wishes interest rates were zero<\/a>.” Does that make any sense?<\/p>\n

McCain also argued that he believes cutting government spending will serve as a government stimulus<\/a>. What?<\/p>\n

Look, I realize economics can be a complex subject, and after a quarter-century as a policy maker in Washington, McCain’s interests have been elsewhere. But if McCain doesn’t want to be made fun of for looking ridiculous, he shouldn’t brag about his “extensive background on the economy and knowledge.” It’s just too easy to prove otherwise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John McCain recently acknowledged, “The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should.” Ever since reporters started asking about this — and noting that now may not be the best time to elect a president who doesn’t understand economics — McCain’s been feeling a little touchy on the subject. Last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[617],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14596\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}