McCain Proposes Commission to Study Economy
By Michael D. Shear
Sen. John McCain on Tuesday proposed a commission to study the economic crisis along the lines of the one that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks.
In a series of rapid-fire appearances on morning news shows, McCain provided few specifics about what the commission should do. But he talked about new regulations for a financial industry that he said has betrayed consumers.
"Everybody's at fault here. The regulatory agencies, who were clearly asleep at the stick," he said on CNBC Tuesday morning.
McCain said repeatedly that his record in the Senate makes him uniquely capable of bringing together a bipartisan group to examine the financial crisis and propose solutions.
A spokesman for Sen. Barack Obama, Tommy Vietor, disagreed, saying that "after nearly three decades in Washington, John McCain's economic record is clear -- he thinks the fundamentals of the economy are strong, he said he is fundamentally a deregulator, and that makes him fundamentally out of touch with the struggles facing everyone from Main Street to Wall Street."From: John McCain 2008 - Press Office [press@mccainpress.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2007 2:41 PM
To: Memmott, Mark
Subject: SENATOR MCCAIN ANNOUNCES ECONOMIC ADVISORS
SENATOR MCCAIN ANNOUNCES ECONOMIC ADVISORS
Policy Team Is A Collection Of Leading Conservatives
| For Immediate Release | Contact: Danny Diaz |
| Thursday, July 12, 2007 | 703-650-5550 |
ARLINGTON, VA - U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign today announced an impressive collection of economists, professors, and prominent conservative policy leaders who will advise the Arizona Senator as he seeks the White House.
Members of the economic policy team will use their combined years of experience and expertise with domestic and international economic issues to help guide and promote his call for greater economic freedom and more robust growth.
Gerry Parsky, who serves as a senior economic advisor to John McCain's presidential campaign, is a partner with California-based Aurora Capital Group. In the 1970's, Parsky was an official at the Federal Energy Office and served as the Assistant Secretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
"There is no greater advocate for reducing government spending and promoting free enterprise in our economy than Senator McCain," said Parsky. "John McCain's respect for the American economy and the ingenuity that drives its progress makes him an extraordinary candidate."
Kevin Hassett, who will also advise the campaign on economic policy, is a resident scholar and the director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Hassett is a former senior economist to the Board of Governors at the Federal Reserve System, economics and finance professor at the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University, and economic policy advisor to President George W. Bush's reelection campaign in 2004.
"John McCain has a clear record of supporting tax cuts and promoting trade," Hassett said. "Whether it's his undying initiative to beat back federal spending or his refusal to raise taxes, conservatives must appreciate that John McCain is the best man for the job."
Dr. John Taylor is professor of economics at Stanford University and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. Taylor is also a former Under Secretary for International Affairs for the U.S. Department of the Treasury in the George W. Bush Administration.
"John McCain knows that economic freedom is among the American people's most cherished assets," said Dr. Taylor. "His experience with these issues and understanding of our government make Senator McCain the most prepared candidate to lead our economy on day one."
Senator John McCain stated that he was proud of the support and counsel he would receive from these advisors. "The American economy must maintain its integrity by keeping with the free market principles and competition that have made it the envy of the world," said Senator McCain. "This is a very respected group of advisors and I look forward to working with them to ensure that we do not take that charge lightly and deliver for the American people."
McCain Campaign Economic Policy Advisors
Grant Aldonas
Managing Director For Split Rock International & Former Under Secretary For International Trade At The U.S. Department Of Commerce
Carlos Bonilla
Senior Vice President For The Washington Group & Former Special Assistant To President George W. Bush
Jeff Brown
Associate Professor Of Finance At The College Of Business, University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign
Juan Buttari
Independent Consultant And Researcher In Development Economics
Kathleen Cooper
Dean, College Of Business, University Of North Texas
Steve Davis
CRA International And University Of Chicago Graduate School Of Business
Richard Dekaser
Senior Vice President And Chief Economist, National City Corporation
John Diamond
Edward A. and Hermena Hancock Kelly Fellow in Tax Policy, Baker Institute Of Public Policy, Rice University
Emil Frankel
Transportation Consultant And Former Assistant Secretary For Transportation Policy, Department Of Transportation
Luke Froeb
Professor, Vanderbilt University
Senator Phil Gramm
Former U.S. Senator From Texas
Kevin Hassett
Resident Scholar And Director Of Economic Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute (AEI)
Greg Jenner
Former Executive Vice President, American Council Of Life Insurers & Acting Assistant Secretary (Tax Policy), U.S. Treasury Department
David John
Senior Research Fellow, Heritage Foundation
Tim Kane
Director, Center for International Trade and Economics, Heritage Foundation
Melissa Kearney
Assistant Professor Of Economics, University Of Maryland
Anne Krueger
Professor At The Johns Hopkins School Of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) & Former First Deputy Managing Director, IMF
Adam Lerrick
Visiting Scholar For The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) And Friends Of Allan H. Meltzer Professor Of Economics For Carnegie Mellon
Phil Levy
Resident Scholar for the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and Former Senior Economist for Trade on the President's Council of Economic Advisers
Will Melick
Gensemer Associate Professor of Economics, Kenyon College
Michael Moore
Professor Of Economics And International Affairs, George Washington University
Tom Miller
Resident Fellow for American Enterprise Institute (AEI)
Tim Muris
Foundation Professor, George Mason University School Of Law
Gerry Parsky
Senior Economic Advisor
Nancy Pfotenhauer
Former President, Independent Women's Forum
James Rill
Partner, Howrey LLP and Former Assistant Attorney General (Antitrust), U.S. Department of Justice
Kenneth Rogoff
Professor Of Public Policy, Harvard University
Harvey Rosen
Professor Of Economics And Business Policy, Princeton University
John Silvia
Managing Director, Chief Economist, Wachovia Bank
Acquiles Suarez
Vice President For Government Affairs For National Association Of Industrial And Office Properties & Former Special Assistant To The President For Domestic Policy
Dr. John Taylor
Professor Of Economics At Stanford, Senior Fellow At The Hoover Institution & Former Under Secretary Of Treasury
Anthony Villamil
Chief Executive Officer, The Washington Economics Group, Inc. & Former Under Secretary Of Commerce For Economic Affairs
Joseph Wright
Chairman Of The Board For Intelsat
Mark Zandi
Chief Economist For Moody's Economy.Com
James Rill
Antitrust Attorney at Howrey LLP; Former Assistant Attorney General in charge of the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division
Sean O'Keefe
Former Secretary Of The Navy, NASA Administrator, & Deputy Director Of Office of Management & Budget, The White House
* Affiliations are shown for identification purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement.
Take your pick for members people--javaObama calls McCain proposal for a commission to study economic crisis 'passing the buck'
GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) _ Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Tuesday blamed Wall Street's financial turmoil on unchecked corporate greed. His Democratic opponent, Barack Obama, dismissed McCain's call for a high-level commission to study the economic crisis as "passing the buck."
The presidential campaigns argued over who would be best able to deal with the kinds of financial meltdowns that roiled the markets Monday and to prevent a similar crisis in the future. McCain proposed a review on the order of the one led by the Sept. 11 commission, the bipartisan panel that studied the events leading to the 2001 terrorist attacks.
"We need a 9/11 commission," McCain said Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show. "We need a commission to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it and I know we can do that and I'll do it."
Obama, campaigning in Golden, Colo., accused McCain of failing to offer concrete plans for dealing with economic issues.
"Sen. McCain offered up the oldest Washington stunt in the book. You pass the buck to a commission to study the problem," Obama said. "This isn't 9/11. We know how we got into this mess. What we need now is leadership that gets us out. I'll provide it. John McCain won't. And that's the choice for Americans in this election."
Obama continued to criticize McCain's remark Monday that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong." In a television ad released Tuesday, Obama's campaign asks: "How can John McCain fix our economy if he doesn't understand it's broken?"
On Monday, a few hours after the remark about strong economic fundamentals, McCain backtracked and declared the economy to be in crisis. He also said that American workers and products — the "fundamentals" he claimed he was referring to earlier — were indeed sound but faced danger from greed and corruption.
"Those fundamentals are threatened, they are threatened and at risk, because some on Wall Street have treated Wall Street like a casino," McCain said Monday at a town-hall meeting in Orlando, Fla.
In spite of a speedy rhetorical reversal, the Arizona senator was widely criticized for offering a seemingly upbeat outlook while the stock market was on its way to a loss of 500-plus points and new troubles arose for investment banks. Appearing on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday, McCain said he had warned two years ago of a deteriorating and unacceptable situation and blamed "the old-boy network and the corruption in Washington."
McCain offered no specific remedies during his appearances on the three network morning shows, though he said he agreed with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that the government should not bail out American International Group Inc., the world's largest insurer. AIG stock fell 61 percent on Monday and credit-rating agencies dropped its ratings amid worries that the deteriorating housing market was further undermining its finances.
Saying that the American taxpayer should not be "on the hook" for AIG, McCain said: "We cannot have the taxpayers bail out AIG or anybody else. This is something that we're going to have to work through."
Later, a McCain economics and policy adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, said any plan should include regulation of all sorts of financial institutions, consumer protections, improved corporate governance and "systems stability" programs.
"There's no magic solution, and I don't think it's at this moment imperative to write down exactly what the plan has to be," said Holtz-Eakin. "But there should be an understanding that when you walk out of the Congress with a piece of legislation in the next administration, those boxes are checked and those things are effectively accomplished."
Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden countered that the Republican campaign's message was at odds with itself with McCain saying the economy's fundamentals were sound but that urgent repairs were needed.
"It seems like John's had an epiphany. Nine o'clock yesterday morning, John thought the economy was going great guns and the Bush administration was doing well, and today he thinks it's in crisis," Biden said on CBS' "The Early Show."
Biden said the Democratic presidential campaign's solutions for the economic crisis include giving middle-class taxpayers a substantial tax break, putting an end to Bush administration tax cuts that favor the wealthy, investing in infrastructure, and changing bankruptcy laws to help people facing foreclosure.
"My lord, take a look at what — who got us in this hole, whose policies," Biden said. "This has been a Republican philosophy of letting Wall Street do what they want and the middle class be damned. It's about time we change it. If I sound like I'm angry, I am fighting mad for middle-class people who have been the scapegoat of this economy because of the policies of the McCains and the Bushes."
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On the Net:
McCain campaign: http://www.johnmccain.com/
Obama campaign: http://www.barackobama.com/index.php
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