[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 19192-19193]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




McCAIN'S ASSESSMENT OF ECONOMY SHOWS HE REALLY IS NOT AN EXPERT ON THE 
                                ECONOMY

  (Ms. WATSON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, earlier this year Senator McCain said he 
needed to study up on the economy because it was not his strong suit. 
You can certainly say that again. Yesterday Senator McCain once again 
said, and I am quoting now, ``The fundamentals of our economy are 
strong.'' His comments came on a day when the stock market fell 500 
points, its worst drop in 7 years, and Lehman Brothers filed for 
bankruptcy.
  What fundamentals is Senator McCain referring to? It certainly can't

[[Page 19193]]

be the fundamentals of ensuring more Americans have a job. Every moment 
this year, the Bush-McCain economy has shed tens of thousands of jobs. 
To date, more than 600,000 jobs have been lost.
  Nor can it be the fundamentals of ensuring that middle-class 
Americans are prospering. Over the last 8 years under the Bush-McCain 
economy, real wages have actually fallen by $300, while basic 
necessities like food, gas, health care, and education have 
skyrocketed.
  Mr. Speaker, Senator McCain needs to study up more on the economy and 
reject the failed economic policies of the last 8 years.

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