"I don’t think the government can rescue the industry,” Carly Fiorina, former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Corp, told Reuters at an event in suburban Detroit.”Whatever the government does, it should not take away the fundamentals of risk-taking. Sometimes it leads to rewards and sometimes consequences, downside,” she said. “In other words, the auto industry cannot be saved from its own bad bets."

"Frankly I just don’t see a scenario where the federal government would come in and bail out any industry in America today."

"Let’s get the $25 billion to them to start with and see how that goes."

Q: "We’re finding out that there may be a possibility of some sort of bail-out or government assistance for the auto industry. Would that be something that you would support?"

MCCAIN: "Well, we’ve already done that to $25 billion, and we’ve delayed getting them the money. I would do whatever I think needs to be done to help our automotive industry. We’ve got to make this transition to flex fuel, battery powered, hydrogen automobiles. And, obviously — and, also, I would provide tax credits for people who buy these new automobiles. We’ve got to keep this industry alive. There’s no doubt about that."

McCain: " Well, that’s spreading the wealth in the respect that we do have a graduated income tax. That’s a far cry from taking from one group of Americans and giving to another. I mean, that’s dramatically different."
(...)

King: "Doesn't [sic] taxes pay for services?"

McCain: "Taxes pay for 'services'... Taxes pay to keep our government secure, to help those who can’t help themselves and other functions of government."

"Joe’s with us today. Joe, where are you? Where is Joe? Is Joe here with us today? Joe, I thought you were here today."

"So the point is, yes, a society and government takes care of citizens who need our help. That’s what America is all about."

"And next to him is a person well known to most Americans, Meg Whitman, the founder of EBay. I often like to repeat, 12 years ago, there was five employees, and now 1.3 million people around the globe making a living off of EBay."

"They [small business owners] feel that what they need is lower taxes and less government regulation of their business"

"You’ll have to tell me what’s changed. I love it when they say, “Oh McCain has changed.” And I say, “What have I changed on?” They can’t name a single issue or they’ll name an issue and its false. I’m the same guy. I’m proud of our campaign. "

"At least in Europe, the Socialist leaders who so admire my opponent are upfront about their objectives," McCain said in a radio address. "They use real numbers and honest language. And we should demand equal candor from Sen. Obama. Raising taxes on some in order to give checks to others is not a tax cut; it's just another government giveaway."

"When it comes to taxes, you have a real choice on Nov. 4th. It's not negative, not mean-spirited... He's (Obama is) hiding his real agenda of redistributing your money."

At an October 2000 town hall on MSNBC’s Hardball, an audience member asked Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) about why the rich pay higher taxes than the middle class. McCain defended progressive taxation, stating, “I think it’s to some degree because we feel, obviously, that wealthy people can afford more”:

[T]he very wealthy, because they can afford tax lawyers and all kinds of loopholes, really don’t pay nearly as much as you think they do when you just look at the percentages. […]

So, look, here’s what I really believe, that when you are — reach a certain level of comfort, there’s nothing wrong with paying somewhat more. … And frankly, I think the first people who deserve a tax cut are working Americans with children that need to educate their children, and they’re the ones that I would support tax cuts for first.

"There is no question that western Pennsylvania is a racist area."

Host Chris Wallace: "Do you think that Senator Obama is a socialist? Do you think that his plans are socialism?"

McCAIN: "I think his plans are redistribution of the wealth. He said it himself, "We need to spread the wealth around." Now, that's one of..."

WALLACE: "Is that socialism?"

McCAIN: "That's one of the tenets of socialism. But it's more the liberal left, which he's always been on. He's always been in the left lane of American politics."

WALLACE: "But, Senator, when we talk..."

McCAIN: "So is one of the tenets of socialism redistribution of the wealth? Not just socialism — a lot of other liberal and left wing philosophies — redistribution of the wealth? I don't believe in it. I believe in wealth creation by Joe the Plumber."

"You need to know that Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, whose organization bombed the U.S. capital, the Pentagon, a judges home, and killed Americans."

“I’m proud of you, I’m proud of your family.” “It’s always a pleasure for me to come on your program, Gordon, and congratulations on your continued success and adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great.”

"The next President won’t have time to get used to the office. He won’t have the luxury of studying up on the issues before he acts."

– “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.” [Wall Street Journal, 11/26/05]

– “The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should…I’ve got Greenspan’s book.” [Boston Globe, 12/18/07]

– “In the interest of full disclosure, I didn’t pay nearly the attention to those issues in the past…I was probably a ’supply-sider’ based on the fact that I really didn’t jump into the issue.” [The New Republic, 1/31/00

In fact, there is no $40 billion dollar pipeline from Alaska bringing natural gas to the lower 48 states. As the New York Times explained last month, “the pipeline exists only on paper” —

“The saddest thing about this is that `My Hero’ was written as a celebration of the common man and his extraordinary potential,” the band said in a statement. “To have it appropriated without our knowledge and used in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric just tarnishes the song.”

- at the conclusion of the GOP convention, Sen. McCain’s campaign blasted the song “Barracuda” by Heart. The tune is meant to be a theme song for Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), whose high school nickname was reportedly “Sarah Barracuda.” Heart’s representative issued the following statement:

"The Republican campaign did not ask for permission to use the song, nor would they have been granted that permission. We have asked the Republican campaign publicly not to use our music. We hope our wishes will be honored."

– In August, singer Jackson Browne sued the McCain campaign and the Ohio Republican Party for copyright infringement because his song “Running on Empty” was used in an ad by the state party. Browne’s lawyers said that “McCain and his campaign were well aware of” this fact

.– In August, the McCain campaign re-cut a web ad after comedian Mike Myers’s publicist complained about the use of footage of Myers and fellow Saturday Night Live alum Dana Carvey’s “Wayne’s World” characters

.– In July, the McCain campaign had to pull and re-cut a web ad after Frankie Valli’s record label, the Warner Music Group, asserted its copyright claims over the use of the song “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You”.

– Earlier this year, the copyright owners for the “Rocky” theme song “telephoned the McCain campaign" to politely complain it was being used without permission.

"Some Americans bought homes they couldn't afford, betting that rising prices would make it easier to refinance later at more affordable rates," he said. Later he added that "any assistance must be temporary and must not reward people who were irresponsible at the expense of those who weren't."

"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."

"The issue of economics is something that I've really never understood as well as I should. I understand the basics, the fundamentals, the vision, all that kind of stuff,'' he said. "But I would like to have someone I'm close to that really is a good strong economist. As long as Alan Greenspan is around I would certainly use him for advice and counsel."

McCAIN: "I do not comment on the media treatment of me or Sarah. Complaining about something we are doing voluntarily that we want to do and get done I think would just not be productive. […] But I do not complain about the media and I will not complain because that’s not appropriate for me to do so and frankly it doesn’t do me any good if I did."

McCAIN: "And by the way, whatever misinterpretation there may have been, I will not and have never supported renegotiating the Colorado River Compact. … Never, Never would I support a renegotiation of the Colorado River Compact. Please. No. Got it?"

McCAIN: "I don’t think there’s any doubt the major, major issue is water and can be as important as oil. So the compact that is in effect, obviously, needs to be renegotiated over time amongst the interested parties."

"If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I’m the dictator."

"I just want to make a comment about the obvious issue and that is the failure of Congress to act yesterday. Its just not acceptable. […] This is just a not acceptable situation. I’m not saying this is the perfect answer. If I were dictator, which I always aspire to be, I would write it a little bit differently."

[A]pproached by a man wearing a Temple University t-shirt, who later identified himself as Michael Rovito, Palin was asked:

“How about the Pakistan situation? What’s your thoughts about that.”

“In Pakistan?” Palin responded.

“What’s going on over there, like Waziristian?”

“It’s working with Zardari to make sure that we’re all working together to stop the guys from coming in over the border,” Palin said. “And we’ll go from there.”

“Waziristan is blowing up,” Rovito replied.

“Yeah, it is,” Palin said. “And the economy there is blowing up, too.”

“So we do cross-border, like from Afghanistan to Pakistan, you think?” Rovito asked.

“If that’s what we have to do stop the terrorists from coming any further in, absolutely, we should,” Palin said.

October 2001, on CNN:

PAULA ZAHN: And as you know, Senator, the U.S. and Great Britain notified the U.N. Security Council yesterday that they reserve the right to strike against other countries in this campaign. What countries are we looking at?

McCAIN: Well, I think very obviously Iraq is the first country, but there are others — Syria, Iran, the Sudan, who have continued to harbor terrorist organizations and actually assist them.

October 2001, on the Late Show with David Letterman:

LETTERMAN: How are things going in Afghanistan now?

McCAIN: I think we’re doing fine …. I think we’ll do fine. The second phase — if I could just make one, very quickly — the second phase is Iraq.

January 2002, on the deck of the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt:

McCAIN: Next up, Baghdad!

"By the way, on Friday night, did you ever hear the word victory from Senator Obama?"

CROWD: No!

McCAIN: My friends, if we continue this surge under this great general, we will come home – and our troops will come home – with victory and honor. And not in defeat.

"Actually, my position is that it will be, it will give people actually more money to go out and purchase tax - health insurance on their own and only those with the Cadillac gold-plated health insurance policies today are the ones who might suffer from it."

The New York Times reports that McCain aides “released a list of people they said Mr. McCain had called from his campaign headquarters on Saturday.” Among them were:

President Bush
Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH)
House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO)

The list included “nine House Republicans.” No Democrats were listed. Senator McCain's only interaction with Democrats was during the bipartisan meeting at the White House on Thursday. During that meeting, McCain “played a shockingly passive role,” sitting silently for 40 minutes, and refusing to discuss his position on the bailout.

"Sen. John McCain said that if he were president, he would fire SEC Chairman Chris Cox for his “betrayal of trust” leading up to this week’s financial market crisis."

"Tuve la sensacion de que McCain no sabia de quien le estaba hablando."

(translation: "I had the feeling that McCain didn't know what he was talking about.")

"No, I do not believe that the American taxpayer should be on the hook for AIG and I’m glad that the Secretary Paulson has apparently taken the same line."

"I didn’t want to do that. And I don’t think anybody I know wanted to do that. But there are literally millions of people whose retirement, whose investment, whose insurance were at risk here. They were going to have their lives destroyed because of the greed and excess and corruption."

During a speech in Tampa today, John McCain demonstrated again that the economy is not something he understands as well as he should. He twice incorrectly referred to the “SPIC,” when intending to refer to the SIPC (the Securities Investor Protection Corporation) — a corporation that “return[s] customers’ cash, stock and other securities” if a brokerage goes bankrupt.

With regard to the current economic crisis, the McCain campaign is now arguing for “strong regulatory oversight of Wall Street.” McCain, however, has long held that he is “fundamentally a deregulator.” As he told the Wall Street Journal in March:

I’m always for less regulation. But I am aware of the view that there is a need for government oversight. … But I am a fundamentally a deregulator. I’d like to see a lot of the unnecessary government regulations eliminated.

"Of course I don’t like excessive and unnecessary regu — uh, government regulation."