No Financial Expert but...

Sen. McCain recently spoke out against great federal action to solve the recent U.S. home mortgage crisis, saying “it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers.”

For someone who has previously admitted to be no expert in the economy, McCain’s criticism is unsubstantiated at best. To the Arizona senator, the solution seems to be simple. He addressed lenders directly, stating “Don’t lend people money who can’t pay it back.” This simple advice ignores the equally simple reason for why lenders are willing to lend in the first place, great financial rewards as houses in the U.S. surged in value in past years. Additionally, McCain’s advice may prevent people from receiving loans, but it does not address the problem of people who have already participated in the speculation game and can no longer afford their loan payments.

McCain has stated that he “will not play election year politics with the housing crisis”, declaring that he is open to solutions from both sides of the aisle. Far from a unifying force, the solutions he seems to be seeking only accentuate the sharp divide between Republicans and Democrats. Could it be that McCain is attempting to have his cake and eat it too? He appeals to fiscally conservative Republicans against outrageous government bail-outs, while capitalizing on his maverick reputation to the swing voters. At the same time, he has refrained from proposing relief measures that would make him susceptible to widespread criticism.

Not playing into election year politics? Yeah, right.