The U.S. Economic Meltdown While McCain Campaigns For Free Trade Abroad

Yesterday's bad news of the huge decline in automobile sales was yet another heartbreaking reminder of how impotent and out of step the Bush White Administration has become with management of the American economy, yet John McCain only seems to want to continue this mismanagement and boasts that "no one is a bigger free trader" than himself. The domestic American economy is in a real tailspin right now with many serious problems only snowballing downhill. This snowball effect of slower sales for business will only translate into increased unemployment for working people. When Wall Street suffers big losses, problems on Main Street always follow.

The huge decline in automobile sales, with Chrysler exceeding a 30% decline could even spell a final economic disaster for this company if this slump is protracted. And even worse would be if the slump would continue for long enough that no American automobile manufacturer would survive. That would be a real disaster for the working people of Detroit and other U.S. states involved in automobile assembly. Yet just like a "Wrongway Feldman", John McCain was incomprehensibly campaigning in Colombia, South America, yesterday to business leaders there for "free trade" legislation. Last week, McCain campaigned in Canada before some Canadian business leaders who stand to profit from "free trade" with the U.S. It is simply unbelievable that as American job losses mount during the Bush recession that John McCain campaigns outside of this nation to foreign business interests who seek to take more American jobs. McCain lacks the backbone to offer American unemployed workers some good explanation for this or some hope for boosting employment in this country.

Last week, Boeing stock lost 10% of it's value in just one day. Yet what would a John McCain do, go to Europe and encourage Airbus to take American jobs? John McCain is supposed to be running for President of this country. Yet with all of his absurd pandering to foreign business interests when American business and American workers are equally suffering, you have to really question his basic economic patriotism and nationalistic spirit.

With so many Americans hurting, and the economic news only growing much worse by the day, especially due to high oil prices, John McCain's foreign "free trade" campaigning only leaves some longtime political observers such as David Gergen puzzled. Gergen has volunteered his services to both Republican as well as Democratic administrations in a bipartisan manner, and certainly has no axe to grind about McCain. But Gergen doesn't understand McCain's foreign exploits. Oil is trading at over $142.00 a barrel today, and some economists expect it to reach $170 or higher within two years and for a gallon of gas to increase to an average of $7 a gallon by then, you only have to wonder why anyone in their right mind would vote for a John McCain who claims to be no expert on the economy and supports every piece of antiAmerican unfair "free trade" legislation. Where's any silver lining of hope in that?

Barack Obama has at least proven himself very good at both delegating responsibility to the right persons and being able to get the job done with his successful campaign to capture the Democratic nomination. And Barack Obama has voiced real concerns at the unfairness of many pieces of "free trade" legislation. Fair trade, not "free trade" would be his priority. And Barack Obama has promised to help American workers and to get the economy back on track with a $1,000 middle class tax cut that the public could spend to boost local business and get Americans back to work. In every economic area, this is so much more in step with what is in the best interests for this country. Meanwhile, you only have to wonder in which foreign country John McCain will be campaigning next, and what he'll promise a handful of special interests there while American business and workers are suffering. It makes no sense at all.