A Test for Leadership - The Economy, Stupid!!

For over a week now, there has been a very enthusiatic debate going on between the campaigns - Obama/Biden and McCain/Palin(Palin/McCain as Gov. Palin has put it on the campaign trail). First, Senator McCain said the fundamentals of the economy are strong after a record drop in the Dow Jones Average on Wall Street. President Bush has used this phrase for months - "the fundamentals of the economy are strong". What does that mean? Later, McCain was questioned by the press to explain what he meant. He stated that he was talking about the workers. The American worker is very productive so that means the basics of the economy are strong? Well, I am a retired American worker and yes I agree that we are very productive, but what does that mean to the economy overall? By the way, I think that was a tacky ploy of the McCain campaign to go to the Lake Orion Assembly Plant and pander to the production workers in the middle of an assembly line, a day after making that gaff about a strong economy. They saw right though it and chanted Obama's name as McCain was walking away. I'm very proud of my fellow auto workers for taking a stand. Some think that we are overpaid. Ok, we have lost jobs because we can't compete with the lower wages of economic depressed workers of Mexico and China. Mexican workers make about a $1 per hour with no benefits. I made about $30 per hour with medical and retirement benefits. If there are no laws or economic penalities for moving companies to Mexico, could you blame them? There also are no environmental laws in Mexico and the US govenment will give you a tax break if you leave the country. Now, you have to move!! So companies did make a smart business move and left the US. Everything was fine until another even larger economic depressed work force became available, the Chinese. They make about 25 cents per hour with absolutely no benefits. They also have no environmental or worker laws. Industrial businesses flew out of this country. Remember that "big sucking noise" argument that Ross Perot made against NAFTA during the 1992 Presidential campaign. That noise is from all the jobs leaving the US! And he was right. Many people did make and save a lot of money from these economic moves. Also with these moves came this: Depressed wages, falling union membership, less good paying jobs, rising unemployment, record defaulted home and auto loans, stagnant housing market, obscene fuel prices, high tuition costs, skyrocketing medical costs, and Americans putting big ticket purchases on hold. Well, ladies and gentlemen, our chickens have come home to roost. The housing loan market which is in crisis today, had no oversight. They had regulations, but they weren't enforced and that is a policy that many Republicans have including President Bush and Senator McCain, until now. I listed what I thought was the fundamentals of the economy and where they are at, and McCain's position on the economy. Senator Obama had warned of problems with the banking industry many months ago. So when this latest crisis hit, he was very concerned and decided to look at it very seriously instead of rushing something out there and he agreed to work in a bipartisan way and extended that to Senator McCain. McCain on the other hand, first; didn't recognize the seriousness of this downturn, second; decided to access blame to the dire economic situation, and third; decided to suspend his presidential campaign to work on the solving the problem in Washington and also canceling the Presidential debate this Friday. I call his actions, panic-stricken. Barack on the other hand after careful consideration, laid out a basis for an economic plan that he could agree on. President Bush extended an invitation to Senator Obama and McCain to meet with him tomorrow. Obama accepted. He also said that the Presidential debate should go on as planned because this really is a good time for the country to see both candidates in a midst of a crisis like now. As President, you can't call time out when things are not going positively your way, you have to work on many things at the same time. We don't know of a response from McCain yet, but it is assumed he will meet with Bush and reluctantly debate Obama, Friday. Senator Obama has been moving up in the polls since this economic crisis hit. I think this timeout by Senator McCain is another surprise tactic, a Hail Mary pass, to stop his falling poll numbers. He successfully completed the last Hail Mary pass when he nominated Governor Palin as VP. When you throw the Hail Mary pass, sometimes it is intercepted and returned for a touchdown against you. I think the ball is in the air and Obama is in perfect position to intercept. Let's see if he can score a touchdown, Friday! Go! Obama! Go!