Bad Timing for an Op Ed by a Financial Advisor of McCain Campaign

[EV_Ares]

Quit Doling Out That Bad-Economy Line

It was the worst of times, and it was the worst of times."

I imagine that's what Charles Dickens would conclude about the current condition of the U.S. economy, based on the relentless drumbeat of pessimism in the media and on the campaign trail. In the past two months, this newspaper alone has written no fewer than nine times, in news stories, columns and op-eds, that key elements of the economy are the worst they've been "since the Great Depression." That diagnosis has been applied twice to the housing "slump" and once to the housing "crisis," to the "severe" decline in home prices, to the "spike" in mortgage foreclosures, to the "change" in the mortgage market and the "turmoil" in debt markets, and to the "crisis" or "meltdown" in financial markets.

It's a virus -- and it's spreading. Do a Google News search for "since the Great Depression," and you come up with more than 4,500 examples of the phrase's use in just the past month.

But that doesn't make any of it true. Things today just aren't that bad. Sure, there are trouble spots in the economy, as the government takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and jitters about Wall Street firm Lehman Brothers, amply demonstrate. And unemployment figures are up a bit, too. None of this, however, is cause for depression -- or exaggerated Depression comparisons.
------------------
Full disclosure: I'm an adviser to John McCain's campaign, though as far as I know, the senator has never taken one word of my advice. He's been sounding a little pessimistic on the economy of late, too. And to be fair, he isn't immune to the Depression-exaggeration virus, either. At a campaign news conference in July, my fellow adviser Steve Forbes warned that Obama was seeking "the biggest tax increase since Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression." Factual? Almost certainly not.
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Link to his entire Op Ed in Wash Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/12/AR2008091202415.html

[tallahasseedem]

1. OMG!

We have to hit this hard and immediately!

[blondeatlast]

2. LTTE, anyone? He may not take his advice, but he's paid by the McSame campagin.

Gear up those Olivettis and kick some ass, DU.

[eShirl]

3. D'OH!

[AndyA]

4. Perfect example of their "let them eat cake" philosophy.

Not only is McSame out of touch with today's world, his advisors are as well. Of course, they'd have to be to support him!

If it weren't so pathetic, it would be funny.

[Hope And Change]

5. K & R!

[yellowcanine]

6. Yepper that was some bad timing. It feeds into the "clueless on the economy" image bigtime.

Of course he is technically correct that we are not anywhere near Great Depression territory. But in political terms it is foolish to be quibbling about semantics when people are feeling the sting of foreclosures, high gas prices and good jobs disappearing.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

7. The unemployed and homeless should eat cake and STFU. n/t

[high density]

8. He does have a point of the overuse of "since the Great Depression"

The economy of course is not as rosy as this guy makes it sound, but we've still got a long way to go before we're at Great Depression levels. We're pessimistic because we see this bad economy with our own eyes, and this guy's blind optimism is not going to change that.

[central scrutinizer]

11. However, if Bushco had gotten their way and privatized Social Security -

then we would all be fighting over cardboard boxes and prime spots under bridges to live out our golden years.

[clixtox]

20. "We've still got a long way to go"...

I hope so but I am doubtful.

Any estimate off the top of your head...

I think a "long way" just got a lot shorter with our feckless fascist government creating shortcuts to financial Armageddon.

[Waiting For Everyman]

28. Quibble "over use" vs. massive lies by Repubs?

WTF? :shrug:

So let's take a microscrope to how some describe it, and then let the giant obvious lie of the situation itself go unnoticed.

That's how we got here.

[WinkyDink]

9. Is that opening paragraph supposed to HELP McCain?! LOL!!!

[lurky]

10. This needs to be world famous!

It sums up everything about the McCain operation in one incident: Arrogant, out-of-touch, stupid, and dishonest.

[fasttense]

12. I want some of what Donald Luskin

is smoking.

The economy I see has a dozen bank failures, increased unemployment, increased inflation (even with the fake numbers the bushes publish), socialism for corporations, increased energy, food, oil and health-care costs, dwindling manufacturing and transportation infrastructure, a 90% increase in government debt and an out of control giveaway of our national wealth to war profiteers.

I want to live in Donald Luskin make believe world, if only for a moment, so I can imagine what America could have been.

Instead of facts he gives us spin and happy talk as if simply thinking you are wealthy makes you wealthy. Maybe he can sell that book on e-bay.

[liberal N proud]

13. It's a virus?

No it's the economy stupid!

[Bubbha Jo]

14. This is good proof McCain & camp has no clue about the economy....

If you don't understand it, you cannot fix it.

[habitual]

15. BIG HUGE K+R

they are trying desperately to hide how bad the economic situation really is. But they can keep the plug on it, it is erupting out of their control.

Edit to add:

check out this bit from the article:
"Full disclosure: I'm an adviser to John McCain's campaign, though as far as I know, the senator has never taken one word of my advice."

so, either JM is an idiot who doesn't listen to his advisers, or he knows you are an idiot and doesn't listen to you (why has he hired you again?) -- we all know he said that to give JM the escape in case the markets totally collapse the very next day. hahahahahaha

[progressoid]

16. Steve Forbes

I heard that douche talking on NPR a week ago. According to Steve, the economy is just fine...unless Obama gets elected, then it's a disaster.

[vaberella]

17. At this point I have to be a bit like...Wow, What a surprise, for real...

The economy did not take a plunge early on like I thought. I figured by 7pm it would be down by 400 points, it barely made it past 150 and it's now going lower. I knew Merril Lynch would solidify confidence not to mention the 70 Billion dollar deal by the bigger bankers...but this is ridiculous. The market has balanced better today than it did 3 months ago AND managed to decrease Gold, Silver, and Oil once again....

Don't get me wrong this is bad. But no where as bad as it could have been for W.S.

[ShortnFiery]

19. Yep, but considering most of our stock portfolios are slim to non-existent ... BFD?

There needs to be as much focus on MAIN STREET as there is "gnashing of teeth" about the ruling power's beloved WALL STREET. If we don't have jobs we can't buy your cheap sh*t imported from overseas. :(

[ShortnFiery]

18. McCain's Financial Advisor: Hoisted by his own petard!

Touché greedy MFs! :yoiks:

[dtotire]

21. Read what another Economist says about Luskin

Yes, Donald Luskin Is Still the Stupidest Man Alive: I Think He Endorses Obama in This One

Is this what you paid a fortune for, Mr. Murdoch? To see this appear in your media empire?
Donald Luskin: Democratic claims are true: Since 1948, the Standard & Poor's 500 total return (capital gains plus dividends) has averaged 15.6% when a Democrat was in the White House and only 11.1% when a Republican was in the White House. You get a similar result if you look at growth in real gross domestic product. Under Democratic presidents, the average since 1948 has been 4.2%. Under Republican presidents it has been only 2.8%.

But it's not so simple when you study that "study." First, not all Democrats act like Democrats, and not all Republicans act like Republicans. John F. Kennedy, for example, was an enthusiastic supply-side tax cutter, and George H.W. Bush raised taxes. Bill Clinton promoted free trade, and Richard Nixon imposed wage and price controls. If you assign those four presidents to the opposite party based on that -- make the two Democrats into Republicans and the two Republicans into Democrats -- the numbers completely reverse...

If I understand this, I think it is an endorsement of Obama: it's advice that you should vote for the Democrat because he is more likely to act like a growth-promoting Republican than the Republican is. With Obama's chief economic advisor being University of Chicago Professor Austan Goolsbee, and McCain's being bureaucratic oligopolistic corporate establishment figure ex-HP CEO Carly Fiorina, the proper path is clear.

http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2008/09/yes-donald-lusk.html

[FrenchieCat]

29. Sounds like Herbert Hoover Economics to me!

Out of touch....."he just doesn't know"!

[tandot]

22. Another proof off how out of touch these idiots are. N/T

[hootinholler]

23. ROFLMAO! The Photo they're running with it!

Nice touch, eh?

-Hoot

[rucky]

24. Dewey Beats Truman!

what a tool.

[rucky]

25. Check out the comments...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/12/AR2008091202415_Comments.html

This is hilarious.

[myrna minx]

26. That's some brilliant timing. LOL! n/t

[BumRushDaShow]

27. It's just a "rough patch".

Nothing to worry about. Prosperity is just around the corner!

:sarcasm: <--- Do I really need this?