McCain Myth Buster: John McCain and Fiscal Discipline

April 21, 2008 -- John McCain says that if he became president he would be "changing the way we do business in Washington" and put us "on a path to a balanced budget." But in reality, a McCain presidency would give us four more years of the same fiscal recklessness we got with the Bush Administration.

John McCain: Photo by Why Tuesday (CC)

In fact, just this week McCain said that the economy is going pretty well, despite the massive job losses, soaring inflation, and skyrocketing gas prices we've experienced since President Bush took over. But instead of offering a break with President Bush's disastrous economic policies that have hurt America, as the New York Times editorialized McCain "would dig a much deeper hole than even President Bush, exactly what the country does not need." [ABC's This Week, 4/20/08; Time.com's The Page, 4/21/08; New York Times, Editorial, 4/20/08]

As the DNC asks in its new ad against John McCain, at this critical time Americans should ask themselves "Do you feel better off?"

McCain Says Economy Has Improved. During an interview in April, McCain declared that, "you could make an argument that there's been great progress economically". [Bloomberg Money & Politics, April 17, 2008]

Key Economic Indicators Show Sharp Declines Since 2000. Since President Bush took over, household income has dropped $1,000 from $49,192 in 2000 to $48,023 in 2006. Unemployment has risen--from 4.2 percent in January 2001 to 5.1 percent in March 2008. Inflation is at its highest rate in 17 years, gas prices have gone up 200 percent, from 141.6 in January 2001 to 339.7 in April 2008, and 1.8 million jobs have been lost. [Joint Economic Committee Fact Sheet , 8/29/2007; Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Employment Situation, March 2008; http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm ; Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U Historical Data, http://www.bls.gov/cpi/home.htm ; Weekly U.S. Retail Gasoline Prices , Energy Information Administration; Bureau of Labor Statistics The Employment Situation, March 2008; http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm ]

After casting himself as a "Maverick" in 2000, the new John McCain is walking in lockstep with President Bush, pandering to the right wing of the Republican Party, and embracing the ideology he once denounced. On the campaign trail McCain has callously abandoned many of his previously held positions, even contradicted himself, in a blatant attempt to remake himself into a candidate Republicans can accept in 2008. So just who is the real John McCain? The Democratic National Committee will present a daily fact aimed at exposing the man behind the myth.

Source: DNC

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