Obama widens attack on economy's woes, blames McCain

[babylonsister]

Obama widens attack on economy's woes, blames McCain
By David Lightman and William Douglas | McClatchy Newspapers


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — John McCain blamed Wall Street's "casino culture" and Barack Obama blamed Republicans — including McCain — on Wednesday for the financial turmoil that led to the government's takeover of the nation's largest insurer.

"The government was forced to commit $85 billion," McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, said in a statement about the Federal Reserve's loan Tuesday night to American International Group. "These actions stem from failed regulation, reckless management and a casino culture on Wall Street that has crippled one of the most important companies in America."

Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, pounced, calling McCain's views "an eleventh-hour conversion to the language of reform" after decades of support for Republican policies deferring to markets and cutting government regulation of them.

The Fed's takeover of AIG "is the final verdict on the failed economic philosophy of the last eight years," Obama charged in a statement. "This crisis serves as a stark reminder of the failures of crony capitalism and an economic philosophy that sees any regulation at all as unwise and unnecessary. . . .

"Despite his eleventh-hour conversion to the language of reform, Senator McCain has subscribed to this philosophy for 26 years in Washington."

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McCain was one of the "Keating Five" senators, whom the Senate Ethics Committee investigated for their relationships with Charles Keating, the chairman of the failed Lincoln Savings and Loan Association. Keating gave McCain's campaigns about $112,000 in contributions, and they were friends; McCain and his family took lavish trips with Keating.

Keating served five years in jail after being convicted of corruption charges in connection with his management of Lincoln. The committee cleared McCain, who met with federal regulators to discuss Keating, of acting improperly but said he'd exercised poor judgment.

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