You know what John McCain should say? "We can't even figure out what's going on with our own books and can't even balance our own budget, so why should we want to get further control of the financial sector's?" That would be a sharp contrast with Obama.

This after I read to the assembled this from the WSJ.

"Under my reforms, the American people will be protected by comprehensive regulations that will apply the rules and enforce them to the full," Sen. McCain said in Florida Tuesday. "There will be constant access to the books and accounts of our banks and other financial institutions. By law, it will reduce the debt and risk that any bank can take on. And above all, I promise reforms to prevent the kind of wild speculation that can put our markets at risk, and has already inflicted such enormous damage across our economy."

The sentiment is a far cry from Sen. McCain's antiregulation record. On the stump, he didn't explain how he would distinguish legitimate investment from "wild speculation" or exactly what steps he would take to eliminate the latter.

Given that Carly Fiorina seems to be as adept a public spokesperson on economics as Phil Gramm -- what with her "greed overcoming common sense" line on Hugh's show and now saying none of the four candidates can be CEO of a large corporation (both statements could be true, but demonstrate that a CEO's bluntness is not fit for politics) -- it's unlikely we'll hear my friend's suggestion soon.

McCain's economic policies might be better than Obama's, but it's not his long suit.

(BTW, here's what Obama has said. Exit question: What's the diff?)

Labels: economics, McCain