McCain Calls for End to Big Business Bailouts

And now, this latest dispatch from the U.S. Department of Unintentional Irony: Sen. John McCain spoke out against the Federal Reserve’s recent bids to give life support (read: gigantic amounts of money) to failing financial institutions. Isn’t he the same guy who has looked to Phil Gramm for economic advice?

Apparently, McCain is at least willing to entertain the possibility that the nation is facing an actual recession, not just the “mental” variety Gramm described in his now-famous “nation of whiners” remark.

AP via Huffington Post:

McCain made little mention of the massive proposal being crafted by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that could amount to a $1 trillion taxpayer bailout of the mortgage industry. McCain said simply that leaders should put aside partisan differences and “any action should be designed to keep people in their homes and safeguard the life savings of all Americans.”

[...] “A strong dollar will reduce energy and food prices,” McCain said to applause from the Green Bay Chamber of Commerce. “It will stimulate sustainable economic growth and get this economy moving again.”

The Arizona senator again criticized Democratic rival Barack Obama for ties to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and for advocating tax increases McCain said would “turn a recession into a depression.”

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The way they were: Gramm, left, quit McCain’s campaign in July after his “mental recession” remark caused a ruckus.