Obama's Economics Memo

McCain is probably still resting on this long holiday weekend. Meanwhile, Obama puts out a memo calling out McCain for his lack of vision and wisdom on economics, while highlighting Obama's plan.

MEMORANDUM
To: Interested Parties
Fr: Jason Furman, Economic Policy Director, Obama Campaign
Re: The McCain Economic Plan: Four More Years?
Earlier this year, Senator John McCain said that the nation had made “great progress economically” under the leadership of George W. Bush. On the eve of John McCain’s “Jobs First” economic tour this week, one thing is clear: the McCain economic plan represents a continuation of the same economic policies we have seen for the past eight years.
As currently constructed the McCain plan does not address the immediate challenges facing our economy, like the 438,000 jobs that have been lost in the past six months, the 400 percent increase in the cost of gas at the pump, and a massive contraction in the housing market. The McCain plan offers no hope of relieving burdens for middle-class families struggling with wages that have been stagnant for a generation and household incomes that have fallen $962 in this economic “expansion.”
Instead, the McCain plan would continue the economic policies of the last eight years that have added $4.0 trillion to the deficit, primarily with tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans who did not need and did not ask for them. Indeed, McCain’s plan proposes to double down on these policies, with tax cuts that are more expensive and stacked against average Americans than anything President Bush has ever proposed.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the McCain campaign plans to spend the week “repackag[ing] proposals he has already outlined” rather than improving on their economic plan. But no amount of repackaging can alter three basic facts about the McCain plan:

....

Families are struggling in the economy: We have just gone through the first economic “expansion” on record where typical household income actually fell, by $962 from 2000 to 2006 (the most recent year for which data are available, incomes have likely dropped further since 2006). During this period, the cost of healthcare has increase by 67 percent in inflation adjusted terms, college costs are up 23 percent and the price of gas at the pump has increased by 400 percent. As middle class families have watched the value of their largest financial asset – their homes – plummet by record amounts, they have been left with little margin for error.
read all of the memo.