JOHN MC CAIN DOESN'T KNOW

The Rev. Dana Prom Smith, S.T.D., Ph.D. (6/1/08)

“I don’t know as much about the economy as I should,” John McCain of himself. While it’s refreshing to hear him admit he’s ignorant, it’s dismaying to discover where he turns to cover his ignorance. Just as he used lobbyists for such brutal military dictatorships as Myanmar and oil tyrants as Saudi Arabia to advise him on foreign policy, he’s using Phil Gramm, a lobbyist for UBS AG, for advice on the economy.

Phil Gramm and his wife, Wendy, were intimately related to the infamous Enron corporation, his wife being on the board of directors and chairman of its blind audit committee. Indeed, Gramm, a senator at the time, stealthily slipped in legislation exempting energy commodity trading from government regulation making the Enron debacle possible.

Presently, Gramm is a globe-trotting lobbyist for the UBS AG which is an investment bank for the wealthy. Amongst other things the UBS AG was caught destroying records of its connections with the Nazis. Recently, it has been exposed for its involvement with the sub-prime home loan crisis.

Gramm’s fundamental commitment has been de-regulation which means letting sociopathic speculators do what they want without any government oversight or control. The result has been the saving and loan disasters, the Firestone fiasco, as well Enron and the current home loan crises.

In short, McCain’s ignorance means he plans to continue Bush’s rapacious economic policies of enriching the rich, welfaring corporations, and bringing the country to its economic knees. He means an economy without justice or mercy.