McCain: ‘Very Likely’ America Is ‘In A Recession’
McCain: ‘Very Likely’ America Is ‘In A Recession’
New Labor Department numbers show that employers slashed jobs by 63,000 in February, “the most in five years, the starkest sign yet the country is heading dangerously toward recession or is in one already.”
Faced with the grim jobs report, yesterday at a townhall in Atlanta, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) admitted that he thinks America is “very likely” in a recession:
The main factor out there is that Americans are hurting right now. And they don’t care too much whether it’s a technically a recession or not. So, I would say that, oh, it’s very likely, and more and more economists are saying that we are probably, quote, ‘in a recession.’
Watch it:
Paul Krugman wrote yesterday, “[I]t’s a very good guess that we will eventually be told that the second recession of the Bush administration began in December 2007 or January 2008.” McCain, with his self-proclaimed lack of economic knowledge, has instead offered happy talk up until now:
– “And by the way, I don’t believe we’re headed into a recession. I believe the fundamentals of this economy are strong, and I believe they will remain strong.” [Fox News Debate, 1/10/08]
– “I still believe our fundamental underpinnings of our economy are strong.” [1/23/08]
– “A lot of this is psychological. A lot of it’s psychological. Because I agree the fundamentals of our economy is still strong.” [1/24/08]
McCain is late to the game. CBO Director Peter Orzag foresaw an “elevated” risk of recession in September 2007. A January USA Today survey of economists found a 50/50 chance of recession. In early February, 60 percent of Americans predicted a recession.
McCain again admitted yesterday, “Am I more versed in national security issues? I would argue yes.”
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“The main factor out there is that Americans are hurting right now.”
That’s for sure ; look whose presidency we’ve had to endure for 7 long years and we have to look at your misshapen head every time we watch the news too , don’t we ?
March 8th, 2008 at 3:03 pmMcStain is the best chance America has to catch up with Bangladesh. We’ve already passed Syria in torture and North Korea in lockstep rightwing stupidity.
March 8th, 2008 at 3:08 pmSo whats McSames cure?
*cicadas*
March 8th, 2008 at 3:08 pmThis just in from Captain McObvious…..
March 8th, 2008 at 3:11 pmMcSame, the best indicator of a recession is the hard working folks of this country. Just ask them, Just ask them.
March 8th, 2008 at 3:11 pmNever fear , McPhony
I’m sure there will still be plenty of lobbyist work to do , and those doing it , no matter the state of the economy……….
March 8th, 2008 at 3:14 pmSeeing an End to the Good Times (Such as They Were)
By DAVID LEONHARDT
Published: March 8, 2008
If history is a reliable guide, the recession of 2008 is now unavoidable.
The dismal jobs report released Friday showed overall employment to be lower than it was three months ago. Every time such a slump has occurred since the early 1970s, a recession has followed — or already been under way.
And if the good times have really ended, they were never that good to begin with. Most American households are still not earning as much annually as they did in 1999, once inflation is taken into account. Since the Census Bureau began keeping records in the 1960s, a prolonged expansion has never ended without household income having set a new record.
[…]
http://www.nytimes.com/ 2008/ 03/ 08/ business/ 08recession.html
…
i wonder if mcSAME would like to change his mind…
naah… he’s only in it as a stand in anyway… the sacrificial lamb…
“whew”, he’s thinking, “sure glad I won’t have to deal with this mess”
March 8th, 2008 at 3:14 pm.
Is he versed in national security issues?
I doubt it because economic security is national security!!!!
March 8th, 2008 at 3:16 pmOn top of the job losses, there is he risk of bankruptcy by lending and financial institutions:
As if the economy wasn’t already fighting enough strong headwinds, the risk of capital shortfalls and outright failure of the nation’s banks is rising.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the federal agency that backs bank deposits, last week reported the biggest jump in “problem institutions” it has seen since the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s. While the extent of the problem is still low by historic standards, it identified 76 banks as in trouble - a 52% increase from a year ago.
New recession worry: Bank failures
But if you listen to the trolls in ThinkProgress, the economy is roaring and there is no economic slowdown at all.
How can anyone be so blind to reality? Maybe that’s why they worship at the Bush altar in the first place….
March 8th, 2008 at 3:17 pmIt’s ‘Very Likely’ that McCain is a moron.
JUST LIKE our current president.
March 8th, 2008 at 3:18 pmoh! and look what’s lined up to distract from the coming election!
Fall Start for Simpson Trial
E! Online - 5 hours ago
By Gina Serpe Like many sequels, OJ Simpson’s follow-up to the Trial of the Century is experiencing some serious production delays.
OJ Won’t Be a Felon Till Sept., Earliest TMZ.com
OJ Simpson’s Trial Delayed Until Sept. The Associated Press
woo hoo!
March 8th, 2008 at 3:21 pmhttp://bankimplode.com/
http://ml-implode.com/
234 mortgage lending insititutions have failed.
March 8th, 2008 at 3:21 pmI wonder if McSame knows what the price of fuel or milk is.
March 8th, 2008 at 3:23 pmI wonder how many people lost their jobs that worked at those 234 M/L’s
March 8th, 2008 at 3:26 pmI wonder if McSame knows what the price of fuel or milk is.
Comment by Xisithrus — March 8, 2008 @ 3:23 pm
Probably not
But I’m almost certain he knows the price of Depends ……..And the high cost of not wearing one.
March 8th, 2008 at 3:27 pmI wonder if McSame knows what the price of fuel or milk is.
Comment by Xisithrus — March 8, 2008 @ 3:23 pm
Fuel for thought? No…
Split milk? Absolutely…
March 8th, 2008 at 3:27 pmSpilt milk, not split… Spilt milk…
March 8th, 2008 at 3:28 pmdid you all see this piece of rich irony at C&L?
The O’Reilly Factor: Karl Rove Points To McCain’s Adopted Daughter As Example Of McCain’s Worthiness
http://www.crooksandliars.com/
March 8th, 2008 at 3:37 pm.
from the article that Katy posted in #7.
This should be spread around……we are not better off in any way than we were before this failed administration was appointed.
March 8th, 2008 at 3:38 pmI assume that McCain thinks he is more knowledgeable than Warren Buffet on this topic? Come on McCain get real …your area of expertise (if you have one) is not economics.
March 8th, 2008 at 3:48 pmKarl Rove Points To McCain’s Adopted Daughter As Example Of McCain’s Worthiness
Karl swift boated McCain back in 2000, besides I dont believe a word Karl says, none should.
March 8th, 2008 at 3:49 pmComment by Fred — March 8, 2008 @ 3:38 pm
Tax cuts also did not stimulate the economy and when one thinks about it the value of the dollar dropped so whatever was saved got decimated by inflation.
March 8th, 2008 at 3:51 pmKewl. Somebody on McShitForBrains staff must have read a paper. It seems to be a fairly current one, too. You go (gar)goyles.
Fitzgerald Hussein Roket
March 8th, 2008 at 3:51 pmComment by MCMetal — March 8, 2008 @ 3:27 pm
Well Vitter certainly wouldnt agree about the value of those depends =)
March 8th, 2008 at 3:52 pmMcObvious catches a clue? We have been Fcuked by Bushco, the end is very near for our nation, get ready for Thunderdome.
Buck Hussein Fush
March 8th, 2008 at 4:00 pmAnd pastor Hagee provided him with some McMiracles to get us out of trouble.
March 8th, 2008 at 4:13 pmDuh!
March 8th, 2008 at 4:25 pmAre you better off now that the Bush gangster regime has been in power for seven plus years? The American people are not in the mood to reward these GOP crooks by voting for four more years of Republicanism…
Off topic, but here is a little ditty to McCane’s running mate, Hillary:
“My con-tree, tis of me, sweet land of Hillary, of me I sing…”
March 8th, 2008 at 4:29 pmIt’s long past time for one of the trolls to show up and claim that the recession is the fault of the “Demcorat Congress” and not the fiscal policies of the Republican administration and the rubberstamp Republicans who controlled all three branches of government for six years.
Are the trolls on a team-building weekend retreat or something?
– Ralph Hussein Wonder Llama
March 8th, 2008 at 4:29 pmthis news comes out after the pink slips are handed out.
tell us something we don’t know, senator mcsame.
~ joe hussein cantwell
March 8th, 2008 at 4:33 pmAre the trolls on a team-building weekend retreat or something?
-=RTWL=-
I think they didnt get paid because the RNC account was ripped off by a RNC guy.
March 8th, 2008 at 4:51 pmAmericans are hurting right now.
Yet McBadTemper says it’s AOK with him if the Iraq War goes on for another 100 years. Just imagine what that’ll do the economy…if there’s even one left at that point!
March 8th, 2008 at 4:59 pmIs there nothing that this McMoron won’t flip flop on?
We’re not heading into a recession, oops yes we are… torture’s bad, oops torture’s ok… What the…
Does he even know what day it is?
March 8th, 2008 at 5:23 pmYOU PEOPLE ARE CLUELESS….SO WORRIED ABOUT WHETHER TO CALL IT A RECESSION
AMERICA IS BANKRUPT AND HEADING FOR A COMPLETE MELTDOWN AND YOUR WORRIED THAT SOMEONE SPILLED SOME WINE ON THE CARPET ON THE TITANIC.
March 8th, 2008 at 5:31 pmMcRich, McDipshit doesn’t have a f-ing clue. Pi$$ off.
March 8th, 2008 at 6:08 pmgee… i thought the ganjah was supposed to make one mellow…
March 8th, 2008 at 6:48 pm…
You gotta hand it to Billy Hill; he links to an article from 2003 and pretends that it has something to do with the 2nd Bush recession.
He’s either audacious as all get-out or else he’s completely oblivious. Any guesses on which it is?
March 8th, 2008 at 7:05 pmi’m going with BOTH, ralph…
it’s a no brainer…
March 8th, 2008 at 7:12 pmDon’t forget he failed home “economics”. Money means nothing to the senator!
March 8th, 2008 at 7:13 pmMcCain’s explanation of our economic woes is that it’s all our fault: We didn’t give sufficient tax breaks to large corporations, forcing those poor babies to take their business around the world.
McCain’s grasp of economics is so poor, that he is susceptible to all the Rasputins sent to him by Bush.
He’s too old to learn economics now — he’ll be out of office before he can grasp the subject.
McCain has always been a government employee - never having to apply for a job, except to be elected to congress as a returning POW. He divorced his first wife and married the wealthy Cindy and continued his political career.
March 8th, 2008 at 7:33 pmSwell. McDepends acknowledges that we’re in a recession. And his ideas to remedy it is… ?
*crickets*
March 8th, 2008 at 7:46 pmJohn Heinz McKerry
March 8th, 2008 at 7:48 pmI do agree that consumerism is part of the problem, yet consumerism is what gave rise to the largest GDP of all nations and the ability to create a vast technical military force, yet outsourcing jobs, disparity and poverty and the deindustrialisation, the inflation, the lack of jobs, harms the empire which we have become.
March 8th, 2008 at 7:57 pmHad become, X. Had become.
We are Rome.
March 8th, 2008 at 8:07 pmComment by Ms_Joanne — March 8, 2008 @ 8:07 pm
I meant have MsJ. and for good reason.
March 8th, 2008 at 10:30 pmFace it, this guy is a genius.
March 8th, 2008 at 11:49 pmFace it, this guy is a genius.
Comment by woodguy — March 8, 2008 @ 11:49 pm
I would disagree a bit, the choice is between an idiot and anyone else!
March 9th, 2008 at 12:08 amIt is just the tip of the ice berg, but the entire ship is doomed.
Banks face “systemic margin call,” $325 billion hit: JPM
Wall Street banks are facing a “systemic margin call” that may deplete banks of $325 billion of capital due to deteriorating subprime U.S. mortgages, JPMorgan Chase & Co, said in a report late on Friday.
JPMorgan, which sent a default notice to Thornburg Mortgage Inc. after the lender missed a $28 million margin call, said more default notices and margin calls were likely. The Carlyle Group’s mortgage fund also failed to meet $37 million in margin calls this week.
“A systemic credit crunch is underway, driven primarily by bank writedowns for subprime mortgages,” according to the report co-authored by analyst Christopher Flanagan. “We would characterize this situation as a systemic margin call.”
The credit crisis that began about a year ago will likely intensify after Friday’s weak February U.S. employment report “that most definitely signals recession,” JPMorgan said.
Indeed, corporate bond spreads widened to a new record on Friday, surpassing levels seen in October 2002 during a boom in bankruptcies following the dot-com crash. U.S. employers cut payrolls in February for a second consecutive month, slashing 63,000 jobs, the biggest monthly job decline in nearly five years, the U.S. Labor Department reported on Friday.
“The weak February employment report points to an economy in recession,” JPMorgan said.
The JPMorgan report included a revised bleaker forecast for subprime-related home prices. The bank now sees prices falling 30 percent, from its prior 25 percent forecast. Those prices have declined 14 percent since mid-2006, JPMorgan said.
The U.S. jobs results also came after the Federal Reserve expanded the amount of its short-term auctions to $100 billion in total in the central bank’s latest effort to ease credit concerns. Ongoing concerns about bond insurers, known as monolines, and their effort to save their top ratings also are weighing on market sentiment.
Wanna bet the CEO’s still get their golden parachutes?
also by this fall McCrazy, will be saying it is JUST a recession ……..
March 9th, 2008 at 5:55 amTo make matters worse, if McCain should happen to succeed in winning the election, the middle class shouldn’t expect to see significant relief — because if McCain continues to follow pattern (that is, continues to follow Bush administration policy), one thing which we can probably expect to see is yet more tax cuts for the wealthy and a blind eye for the rest of us.
Am I the only one who occasionally suspects that the GOP is trying to turn the United States into a feudal state?
March 9th, 2008 at 8:28 amWhat did he really say?
March 9th, 2008 at 11:25 amLovely. A subject that McCain would rather handle with barbeque tongs, at arm’s length. Not a sexy subject like “national defense” and “terrorists” and “war”, eh McCain? Well, you will inherit this stinking corpse around your neck if you win. Better start getting briefed.
March 9th, 2008 at 12:56 pmMcInsane in charge of the economy?? HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA The only thing more amusing is Mr. Bomb Iran in charge of foreign policy.
March 9th, 2008 at 2:08 pmA recession is part of the business cycle, we’ve had them since day 1. Fundamental strength in the economy has to do with infrastructure, capital, talented labor force, favorable business climate, products and services that meet needs, etc.
McCain and most who understand the economy realize that we have a bubble in the housing market, no doubt, and we had a bubble in the dot-com stock boom of the late 1990s. These overheated economic results are not a measure of fundamental economic strength, they are the result of poor decision making, people getting teaser rate adjustable mortgages assuming there would never be a business cycle.
Who is to blame when people borrow more money than they can pay back? Blame the lenders? Okay, they shouldn’t lend money. Blame the borrowers? Okay, they should know there are risks. Blame the education system for not teaching basic economics?
The country is strong, our manufacturing base has been decreased in part because nobody wants factories, or eveyone wants to sell insurance or make a killing in the stock market. Where are the students learning engineering, physics, math, biology, genetics, manufacturing?
We have too many liberal arts types learning politics at left-leaning universities, from professors who have never made a payroll, never produced a product, have no clue about how to create a product or service and compete in the open market. That’s where our economy needs help. We have too many people depending on handouts, too many who think it’s easy to earn a living, too many who think they can simply tax everyone who is successful to distribute to the needy. Rome tried this, they tried to tax their way out of financial trouble, and getting more citizens so they could have a larger tax base, but it didn’t work for the Roman empire, which eventually went bankrupt, financially and morally.
The USA has been through many economic cycles, it’s part of the “herd mentality” that drives investors, news media, etc., to all look in the same direction for answers. When things don’t turn out as expected, it’s all doom and gloom.
This time, however, the USA has squandered it’s inherent strength, common language, common culture, core beliefs, on pipe dreams of being all things to all people. Let anyone come to the USA, let them bring their language, their culture, and don’t expect them to adopt OUR values, let them dictate to us THEIR values. This is what is different this time.
If the youth of the USA continues believing in multiculturalism, and that they can afford free health care, free education, easy high paying jobs, and tax corporations that create all these things, and tax wealth that provides the capital for investments that creates all these things, it should come as no surprise that liberal left-wing “democrat” thinking will be the end of the USA as we know it, and Hillary or Barrack and the collection of left-wing losers who never had a real job will turn the USA into a second rate country with no prospects for greatness ever again.
Vote Democrat and you get socialism. It won’t work, never has, never will. Believe in Michael Moore, or Al Gore, or “change” (which isn’t always for the better) — drink the cool-aid, adopt the liberal religion, it’s your country to screw up, and you’ll do a great job of it. Never question a professor who calls George Bush a name, or hates repukes as you call them. You have what you have because business and our strong economy brought you your standard of living. Toss it out, tax it out of existence, then you can really enjoy your country.
Dr. Rogers
PS: To the idiot who posted in ALL CAPS, the great depression was caused in part by ignorance, laziness, and greed, that is true, people betting their life savings borrowing money they could not afford to lose, but what got us OUT of the depression was not higher taxes, it was a world war that taught Americans that maintaining freedom is not free, it takes work, and living within your means is preferable to speculating on get rich quick schemes. We may very well have a world war if the democrats do what the promise to do, let the radical forces of the world take over the Middle east and Europe.
March 10th, 2008 at 9:59 pm