Mccain Without A Mcclue On Economic Policy

That was what Stephen Moore has been wondering too. “Just who is John McCain, and what is his economic philosophy?” That’s what he wondered as he headed in for an interview with the senator.

I mean, if you are a Republican in the post-Reagan era there is a presumption that you have internalized the lesson of Reaganomics, the idea that you grow the economy by lowering tax rates and encouraging across-the-board business growth. And there is a presumption that you have turned away from the Democratic recipe of targeted privilege and subsidy.

But John McCain has always seemed to act against the Republican grain. First, he was involved in the S&L scandal, the only Republican in the Keating Five that carred water for Charles Keating, the corrupt S&L official. That raised a huge question mark, not just about McCain’s probity but about his common sense. What Republican would want to carry water for an official in a notoriously government-favored (and Democrat sponsored) industry and that was known to be in trouble since the late 1970s?

Then he’s been a thorn in the side of President Bush and was the co-author of the monstrous McCain Feingold bill to limit campaign speech.

So here is what Moore found out about McCain’s economic philosophy. Said McCain:

"I’m going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated."

In case you were wondering, McCain was for years chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Isn’t it getting a little past time for McCain to complete his economics education?

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Christopher Chantrill blogs at www.roadtothemiddleclass.com. His Road to the Middle Class is forthcoming.