The New York Post, which is “in the tank” for McCain, yesterday published an op ed by Charles Gasparino titled “AN OBAMA PANIC? MARKETS FEAR HIS POLICIES.”
Naturally, on the same day, the the Dow Jones industrial average rose by 936 points. News this morning is that Asian and European markets are rising again today.
The rally has less to do with either Obama’s or McCain’s campaign promises than with the Bush Administration’s decision to follow Europe’s lead and invest up to $250 billion in U.S. banks. But my point is that we seem to have entered a period in which the wingnuts cannot catch a break.
Oh, and did I mention Paul Krugman won the Nobel Prize in economics? Sweet.
Anyway — this morning the McCain campaign released Senator McCain’s plan for creating new JOBS. We know this because the title of the proposal (PDF) is JOBS FOR AMERICA: The McCain Economic Plan. So how does McCain plan to create new JOBS? I skimmed through the report looking for any statement related to jobs, and here is the plan:
- He’s going to balance the budget by 2013. Sure he is.
- He will lower the rate of corporate taxes from 35 percent to 25 percent. And balance the budget.
- He will invest in technology.
- He wants to build 45 new nuclear power plants by 2030, which will create 700,000 jobs.
- He will boost exports with lots of new free trade agreements.
- Investing in clean coal technology will revitalize coal mining — another 30,000 jobs, at least.
- “As Americans retro-fit to improve energy efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint, jobs will flow to the U.S. providers of insulation, windows, appliances, and other sources of energy efficiency.”
- He wants to overhaul unemployment insurance to make it a program for retraining and relocating people who have lost jobs. Uh, John? What if they don’t want to be relocated?
And that’s it. It took him 15 pages to explain that.
I want to point out that he makes no provision for corporations doing anything to get the 25 percent rate. In other words, they can cheerfully export jobs — excuse me, JOBS — overseas, and still get the 25 percent rate. Why cutting their tax rates would change that is beyond me. And of course free trade agreements have worked so well for us in the past.
If you want to see something truly pathetic, check out McCain’s “JOBS for America” video. It says nothing, but it says nothing with great decisiveness. Hysterical.