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McCain: 'Wall Street Is The Villain'
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ShareJuly 27, 2008 1:28 PM
ABC News' Mary Bruce reports: Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., blamed Wall Street this weekend for the failing economy. "I think that Wall Street is the villain in the things that happened in the subprime lending crisis and other areas where investigations and possible prosecution is going on," McCain said in an exclusive "This Week" interview with George Stephanopoulos.
McCain also placed responsibility on a "gridlocked" Congress. "I also think that Congress is at fault. We didn’t restrain spending. Spending got completely out of control," he said.
When asked about Congress' progress in passing the housing bill, McCain said he would have voted for the legislation, but noted, "I also see, again, the influence of special interests." When pressed about why he would support it, McCain explained, "it’s better than nothing."
"I think there was a better way to do it. And I think the special interests probably played a role in the shaping of that legislation," he said.
McCain reluctantly offered support for the controversial provision that would enable federal aid for faltering private institutions, such as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. "We reached such a situation that, if these institutions failed, the impact on millions of innocent Americans could be very severe," he said. He noted, however, that "in the case of Fannie and Freddie, we should stop their lobbying activities. We should eliminate the pay and bonuses that these people rake in."
McCain agreed with Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., supporter Robert Reich who, along with Republican columnist George Will, has proposed that executives at institutions receiving government guarantees should receive government salaries. "That's exactly right," McCain said. As Reich explained to Newsweek, "Surely there will be more failures or near failures of financial institutions in the coming months, and American taxpayers will once again be called on to insure their solvency. The important question is what conditions should be applied?"
"We could go out and ask people -- the smartest people in America, maybe somebody like Jack Welch or John Chambers or Meg Whitman, people like that -- and say, 'come and take over and do it for $1 a year.' They’d be willing to do that," McCain said.
McCain also agreed with Reich that the government should "absolutely" get stock of the private organizations in such instances so that taxpayers can benefit.
On controlling energy costs, McCain highlighted his continued belief that consumers would benefit from a gas tax holiday, despite opposition from economists. When asked about concerns that oil and gas companies would reap the benefit, he said, "We wouldn’t let it happen ... Americans wouldn’t let them absorb that." When pressed further about how he would prevent it, McCain explained, "We would make them shamed into it. We, of course, know how to -- American public opinion. And we would penalize them, if necessary."
July 27, 2008 in Hunter, Duncan | Permalink | User Comments (35)
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S its clear you agree with me you have no arguement only your petty senseless comments its ok i know secretly you agree!!!
Posted by: angie | Jul 27, 2008 3:12:53 PM
S its clear you agree with me you have no arguement only your petty senseless comments its ok i know secretly you agree!!!
Posted by: angie | Jul 27, 2008 3:13:10 PM
the more i hear this guy the more i wonder how the hell he has been in government for 25 yrs...
he knows nothing about the economy
doesnt own or use a computer
gets caught lieing constantly
has not one not 1 idea about what is going on in the world.. none.....
i could go on forever...
obama is no better...but it makes you wonder when obama gets 200 000 people to hear him speak and mccain CANT get 200 people to see him......
WHO THE HELL IS VOTING FOR THIS LUNATIC...???
ANY ANSWERS.......BECAUSE IT IS ALL FIXED...IT HAS TO BE....HAS ANYONE TAKIN THE TIME TO LISTENT TO RON PAUL..HE HAS TO BE THE SMARTEST MOST HONEST GUY IN GOVERNMENT ON ALL THE ISSUES...PERIOD
Posted by: dean | Jul 27, 2008 3:55:55 PM
Obama: Choice of the DNC - not the people!
Posted by: Soetoro No! | Jul 27, 2008 4:07:23 PM
IF NINE POINT FIVE TRILLION DEFICIT IS "OUT OF CONTROL" -- WHAT IS TEN TRILLION?
Posted by: NINE POINT FIVE TRILLION DOLLAR DEFICIT | Jul 27, 2008 4:20:33 PM
A lot of the critics styling Obama as 'inexperienced' are obviously victims of America's low standard of education.
1. A Lawyer of the top University is going to be a QUICK STUDY.
2. Lawyer of the top University (who spent quality time modeling the world with his above average intellect) should not need 20 years in Washington to figure it out.
3. All McCain't years of Washington experience did not prevent him from blundering into the UNPROVOKED and costly Iraq bush war, which mass murdered hundreds of thousands of INNOCENT Iraqis and Americans.
4. A lot of Washington experience coupled with lack of VISION, lack of good JUDGMENT and lack of good DECISION MAKING have converge in McCain substandard intellect to cause:
a) Being asleep in the months prior to 911, even with adequate warnings.
b) Taking the eye off on the maniac muslims in Afghanistan and Pakistan
c) Starting an UNPROVOKED and costly Iraq bush war, which HAS NOT benefited Americans.
d) Run up the national debt -- like Reaganomics
e) Tanking the US economy.
f) Creating a debacle in the interest rates and housing market --- like Reaganomics
5. McCainomics = Bushonomics = Reaganoics = Debt to American economy!
Posted by: Patriot | Jul 27, 2008 4:23:01 PM
You can shame oil companies? Get serious.
Is "Wall Street" in this case, the proverbial "They" which no one, including McCain, can identify?
He has some theoretically good ideas, but then he falls into line supporting failing businesses like all the other politicos.
Hopefully he or Obama will follow through on some of their better proposals. But it is doubtful once the lobbyists get to them.
Posted by: Dennis | Jul 27, 2008 4:23:34 PM
McCain is correct that Congress is responsible for runaway spending. But that is because Congressy (R's and D's) has been unwilling to stand up to Bush's spending urges.
We all know about the bleeding of the treasury in Iraq and Afghanistan. But non-9/11, non-military spending has escalated under Bush as well.
Posted by: Dennis | Jul 27, 2008 4:30:16 PM
McWhine is a two faced liar. Lookup Keating Five and you will see what McWhine is really all about.
Posted by: eddiewilson | Jul 27, 2008 5:08:46 PM
John McCain is certain schizophrenic when it comes to conservative principles. The current mess is due to a meddling congress and executive branch bullying financial institutions into making loans to people who would not otherwise be eligible for loans for homes that were financially out of their reach.
Shame on you, John McCain. I can't stand you, but I can't stand Obama even more. I'm sorry you might be our next president.
Posted by: William | Jul 27, 2008 9:56:14 PM
First Wall Street was called drunkards this week, now they are the culprits for Americas woes.
This sort of blame is reminiscent of the old literary and cinematic theme "the butler did it."
Posted by: clarity | Jul 28, 2008 2:55:38 AM
When will the government get out of our lives? I feel sorry for those who bought a house they could not afford but - really - whatever happened to personal responsibility? I had to wait years to get enough money for a down payment to buy my house. And I was a teacher in 1980 and did not make enough to get a sizable mortgage. Anyone who went into a loan they couldn't afford needs a reality check. In the 80's, my friend paid $200,00 for her house which then dropped to $100,000 when the housing market tanked. She still had to pay a mortgage based on the higher amount. It happens. It will happen again if no checks are made. If no common sense is used. To allow those to buy a house and have me - the taxpayer - pay for it disgusts me. Why should I have struggled with 2 jobs to earn enough to swing the mortgage costs if the gov't will now bail out those who made bad decisions? Where is personal responsibility?
Posted by: Linda Mae | Jul 29, 2008 1:59:35 AM
Reality check time:
According to Parade Magazine, (July 27, 2008, pg. 6) the average profit margin for oil companies is 7.6% compared to 9.2% for most manufacturers. To blame is Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid for refusing to allow legislation to okay off shore drilling. The oil companies have used 2/3rds of the 30,000 leases they have. They have not asked for permits to drill on the remaining 10,000. Since they are the ones who pay for the testing, one can conclude there will not be oil found in these sites. If so, and the oil companies are really as money grubby as some say, then they should be happily drilling whereever they could to find more oil. I wish I had stock in an oil company. I could use the dividends. Good for Bush for forcing Congress to act. Shame on Congress - the Democrats - for refusal to act. Shame on Nancy for her foolish demand to Bush to take some oil out of our emergency fund. They are for national emergencies. Doesn't she know how to identify a national emergency? War, perhaps? Natural disaster? Certainly not this situation which could be immediately solved today by allowing drilling and tomorrow by supporting nuclear energy. Look what happened the day after Bush lifted the Presidential ban on drilling? The costs dropped. Nancy should be ashamed of herself. So should those who support her. Take a course on economics, the market system and the tenets of democracy. We are not a socialistic government. Hopefully, we will never be in spite of Nancy and the boys' attempt to move in that direction.
Posted by: Basil | Jul 29, 2008 2:17:07 AM
Reality check time:
According to Parade Magazine-[where I Always do my Hard Research] -the average profit margin for oil companies is 7.6% compared to 9.2% for most manufacturers.
I want to CRY for the all the POOR OIL companys -ALL THEY GET IS A COUPLE PENNYS A GALLON!as they keep saying...
could you be so cold as to take away from that tiny profit margin? Shame on all you money grubbing WORKERS get a 3rd job and stop your whining -This is a "Mental Reccession" after all...
Posted by: jipper | Jul 29, 2008 3:44:39 PM
The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 removed the last incentive for borrowers to remain in “their” homes. This law must be rewritten and retitled the Patriotic Mortgage Repayment Act of 2008.
The Patriotic Mortgage Repayment Act of 2008 - If a borrower defaults on a mortgage and the market value of the collateral is insufficient to repay the money borrowed, the Treasury will recover 105% of the residual borrowed but unpaid amount using IRS collection methods and interest schedules. Such a law would prevent the general population from bailing out the speculators that purchased more house than they could reasonably afford. These wannabee flippers took grandma’s life savings out of the bank, now the bank has collapsed and the FDIC is having to pay off grandmas. The least these deadbeats should do is repay 100% of grandmas’ money to the treasury plus 5% as a handling fee.
It should be trivial for the borrower to meet his obligation. After the foreclosure sale recovers 60% of the original loan, the payments on the remaining 40% loss should be well within the budget of even the biggest speculative wannabe flipper real estate genius that bought at the top of the market using grandma’s money.
Posted by: solution | Oct 8, 2008 6:38:40 AM
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