McCain's economic meltdown

Hard-Hitting Union Mail Blitz Directly Blames McCain For Meltdown

By Greg Sargent - October 15, 2008, 2:09PM

A scorching new mailer from AFSCME keeps up labor's economic assault on John McCain, directly blaming McCain and Bush for presiding over "the greatest financial meltdown since the Great Depression."...



The AFSCME official who sent us the mail piece says it'll be dropped today on undecided and swing households in 17 battleground states. Another forthcoming AFSCME mailer hitting McCain on health care is after the jump.

Meanwhile, in other outside-group news, Catholics United has a very interesting new mail piece that pushes a liberal pro-life vision that espouses improved health care and education, among other things. We're told it will go out to targeted Catholic households in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Dow plunges 733 as new data points to recession

By TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK - Despair over the economy has sent Wall Street plunging again, propelling the Dow Jones industrials to their second-largest point loss ever. Stocks fell on a combination of disheartening economic data, including a big drop in retail sales and a Federal Reserve report that said tight credit conditions are hurting businesses across the country.

The downbeat data has convinced investors that the nation, if not already in a recession, is moving toward one. The Fed's Beige Book, which details conditions around the nation, found that the economy continued to slow in the early fall as financial and credit problems took a turn for the worse.

The Dow is down about 733 at the 8,577 level. On Monday, Sept. 29, the Dow had its largest point drop 777.68.