John McCain says he is ready to make sound economic decisions to help avoid further financial crisis. But McCain has long described himself as a supporter of deregulation and reduced oversight of business and banking, a policy many experts have linked to the recent financial collapse on Wall Street.
McCain's economic philosophy of deregulation and weakened consumer protections extends to other areas of society as well. For a recent issue of a health care policy journal, McCain wrote an article praising banking deregulation and promising to to do the same for the health insurance industry, putting millions of middle-class American families at the mercy of insurance companies.
He won't stop there, however. John McCain wants to privatize Social Security. In July, McCain described Social Security as "an absolute disgrace" and pledged to privatize the program. His plan includes forcing younger workers to put their savings into the volatile stock market, and cutting benefits for current retirees and other beneficiaries. In addition, he would raise the retirement age, forcing working Americans to work longer before collecting fewer benefits.
In a statement released Sept. 23rd, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare described Social Security as crucial "safety net" for seniors, adding, "As home equity evaporates, investment income plummets and healthcare costs skyrocket unchecked, programs such as Social Security and Medicare must continue to provide a vital lifeline for millions of American families during this and any other economic crisis."
While the recent Wall Street collapse decimated the retirement accounts and other savings of many thousands of Americans, Social Security remains strong. The Bush administration's proposal of using up to and perhaps even more than $1 trillion in taxpayer funds to bailout corporations that made poor business decisions also threatens the financial security of working Americans.
In highlighting the impact McCain's policy would have on retirees, the Obama campaign released a new issue-based TV ad on the subject. The TV spot shows newspaper headlines from last week: "Crisis on Wall Street" and "Dow Dives 500 Points on Banking Turmoil." The voiceover states the situation plainly: "A broken economy. Failing banks. Unstable markets. Families struggling. To protect us in retirement… Social Security has never been more important."
The ad then turns to John McCain's record on and his plan for Social Security. "The announcer states, "But John McCain’s voted three times in favor of privatizing Social Security," adding that McCain was a strong supporter of bush's own failed privatization plan. The TV spot goes on to describe McCain's plan to cut benefits and risk working families' savings in the stock market. It concludes, "The Bush-McCain privatization plan. Can you really afford more of the same?"
The issue-based TV ad was released this week to be shown in Tampa and West Palm Beach, Florida.
