Sens. McCain and Obama Participate in a Presidential Debate
October 9, 2008
Photo by Belmont University photographer Michael Krouskop
Belmont University, Nashville, Tennessee-
Last night’s debate was a unique debate. The Gallup Organization chose 80 uncommitted voters from the Nashville area to submit questions for the candidates.
Tom Brokaw, the moderator, chose several that focused on domestic and foreign policy.
Since the candidates last debated, our economy has plummeted to levels of utter disaster. So, it would be fitting that the first question concern our economy:
“With the economy on the downturn and retired and older citizens and workers losing their incomes, what’s the fastest, most positive solution to bail these people out of the economic ruin?”
Obama responded, “I think everybody knows now we are in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. And a lot of you I think are worried about your jobs, your pensions, your retirement accounts, your ability to send your child or your grandchild to college.”
Well, I can tell you that I want to be able to have a job when I graduate. I’m also in the process of applying for my private loan to pay off this year’s tuition bill. Will I be approved? I hope so. I AM WORRIED.
Obama attributed this financial crisis to the Bush policy that McCain endorses. “When George Bush came into office, we had surpluses. And now we have half-a-trillion-dollar deficit annually. When George Bush came into office, our debt — national debt was around $5 trillion. It’s now over $10 trillion. We’ve almost doubled it.”
Apparently, removing regulations, consumer protections, and “letting the market run wild,” was not such a good idea.
Getting back to the question, Obama’s solution to fixing our depraved economy would be a strong oversight of the recently passed bail out bill. The second solution would be to “bail out” the middle class. “The middle-class need a rescue package. And that means tax cuts for the middle-class,” said Obama.
McCain got to respond, “I know how the do that [bail people out of economic ruin], my friends. And it’s my proposal, it’s not Senator Obama’s proposal, it’s not President Bush’s proposal. But
I know how to get America working again, restore our economy and take care of working Americans.”
Both candidates can point fingers in any direction they want, but Washington, democrats and republicans, share the blame. Tax cuts or not, it’s going to take money to fix our economy.
America’s future is looking bleak and meanwhile, the candidates for president have raised more than $1 billion for their campaigns.
Contributors to Obama’s Campaign According to www.opensecrets.org:
Goldman Sachs $739,521
University of California $697,506
Harvard University $501,489
Citigroup Inc $492,548
Google Inc $487,355
JPMorgan Chase & Co $475,112
National Amusements Inc $432,169
Microsoft Corp $429,656
UBS AG $419,550
Lehman Brothers $391,774
Wilmerhale Llp $383,024
Time Warner $375,063
Sidley Austin LLP $370,916
Skadden, Arps et al $360,409
Stanford University $341,399
Morgan Stanley $341,380
Latham & Watkins $328,879
Jones Day $309,960
University of Chicago $294,237
General Electric $290,584
Contributors to McCain’s Campaign according to www.opensecrets.org:
Merrill Lynch $349,170
Citigroup Inc $287,801
Morgan Stanley $249,377
Goldman Sachs $220,045
JPMorgan Chase & Co $206,392
AT&T Inc $183,663
Credit Suisse Group $175,503
PricewaterhouseCoopers $163,670
Blank Rome LLP $153,426
US Government $152,118
US Army $150,470
Wachovia Corp $147,456
Greenberg Traurig LLP $145,737
UBS AG $141,365
Bank of America $133,975
FedEx Corp $121,904
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher $120,246
US Dept of Defense $118,125
Lehman Brothers $115,707
Bear Stearns $108,000
Scary? Yes. “How can we trust either of you with our money when both parties got — got us into this global economic crisis?” This question was posed by Theresa Finch at the debate. She poses a good question.
