David Corn: McCain on Regulating Wall Street: Then and Now

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/davidcorn/2008/09/mccain-on-regulating-wall-stre.html

McCain on Regulating Wall Street: Then and Now

By David Corn | September 18, 2008 11:19 AM


What's that old saying? To know where someone's going, take a look at where he's been? In recent days, John McCain, responding to economic meltdown under way, has at campaign rallies declared that he will knock heads together and go after the greed-mongers of Wall Street and their enablers in Washington. On Wednesday, he issued this statement:

We should never again allow the United States to be in this position. We need strong and effective regulation, a return to job-creating growth and a restoration of ethics and the social contract between businesses and America.

Note his reference to regulation. Now let's rewind to a speech McCain delivered in April 2007 to the Economic Club of Memphis:

When I came to Congress, Democrats were in the majority and they used government to make our choices for us. They took from us an ever greater share of our freedom and property to do the things American families and communities are better able to do for ourselves. They grew government for the sake of their own power, and used the American economy, the wonder of the world, to serve their ends not ours. They taxed it, regulated it, and injured it for the sake of partisan and parochial interests rather than liberate it, incentivize it and put it to work for all Americans.

So 17 months ago, McCain had this sophisticated position:

Regulation is bad.

Now that McCain needs to show he's not out of touch with the economy, he is calling for strong regulation. Which McCain should voters believe?

everything.

I kid! David Corn was on Tweety yesterday; Tweets was in rare form, in a good way.
If you missed him, this was the bomb:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=192324&mesg_id=192324