HOPEFULS – Presidential hopeful Barack Obama appeared in Grand Junction at the Cross Orchards Historic Site on Monday morning, Sept. 15 to speak to a swing-state crowd about the economy and other issues. Over 45 Ouray County Democrats attended the event. More coverage of the rally will appear in Friday's edition of The Telluride Watch. (Photo by Christopher Pike)
GRAND JUNCTION – Amidst a backdrop of Wall-Street jitters over the bankruptcy of 158-year-old Lehman Brothers, presidential candidate Barack Obama spoke to over 6,700 citizens gathered at the Cross Orchards Historic Site in Grand Junction at noon on Monday, Sept. 15.
Obama said that this latest development in the financial world is “as bad as anything we’ve ever seen…This is a serious, serious situation. We’ll have a lot of rebuilding to do. This turmoil is a major threat to our economy. There are too many folks in the U.S. and Washington D.C. who weren’t mending the store. This is the most serious financial condition since the Great Depression.”
Obama said that problems with U.S. financial institutions would not be addressed by Sen. McCain. “A few hours ago he said the fundamentals of the economy are still sound. I ask McCain what economy are you talking about? What’s more fundamental than knowing whether you’ll have a roof over your head at the end of the day?”
The Obama campaign was the first visit to Grand Junction in 60 years by a Democratic presidential candidate, the last time being when President Harry S. Truman campaigned there in 1948. Republican candidate Bob Dole spoke in Grand Junction in 1996.
Over 45 Ouray County Democrats made the journey to Grand Junction for the speech; those present also heard Colo. Governor Bill Ritter and U.S. Senator Ken Salazar make introductory remarks before Obama appeared.
In a presentation that lasted for over a half an hour, Obama pledged to end what he called the country’s “oil addiction” within 10 years, with a White House policy that would aggressively promote renewable energy including solar, wind and new biofuels, while also tapping natural gas reserves. He lauded Colorado for being at the “forefront of clean energy.”
Obama also promised to cut taxes for 95 percent of working families, and said that families earning $250,000 or less will not have their taxes changed.
Obama challenged Sen. McCain to define what he means by “change.” “Change isn’t about slogans; it’s about substance.” He said that if Sen. McCain “now wants to talk about who can bring change to Washington, then that’s a debate I’m happy to have.”
Obama stressed that he would never challenge McCain’s motives or patriotism, but did address McCain’s recent statement of putting corporate lobbyists “in their place.” “But he hasn’t explained why he put seven of them in charge of his campaign: lobbyists for the insurance industry and for the oil industry, and for Freddie Mac and foreign governments. And if you think those lobbyists are working day and night for John McCain just to put themselves out of business, then I’ve got a bridge to sell you in Alaska.”
Obama also stated that the policies of a McCain administration would parallel those of the current Bush administration, saying: “We know what the consequences are: a meltdown on Wall Street; millions without jobs or health care; pain at the pump. Enough.” After that statement, the audience erupted into cheers and applause, followed by chants of “Obama, Obama, Obama.”
This time the stakes are much higher then most people could imagine
I would like to point out some things You may already know with a new perspective.
I follow a economist named bob proctor who has called the top and bottom of every market crash since the 70s correctly.
He perfectly predicted the current real estate market meltdown ,and the picture he paints about what will happen in the next couple years
Is terrifying. He thinks it could get worse then the great depression.
Banks in the US are going under one after the other. Country wide the largest morgage bank in the world
Bear Stearns and Lehman brothers , and Merrill Lynch which are 3 out of the top 5 wall street firms.
And now Fanny and Freddy which hold 50 percent of the home loans in the United States.
The goverment took them over because they are essentially bankrupt.
If they didn't the entire financially system would virtually shut down, the stock market would crash
And we would suffer beyond what any of us have seen before
The future of these companies will fall into the hands of our next president
And all of our economic future depends on them reorganizing these companies right.
Lehman, Merill Lynch, and Bear Sterns have survived for over 150 years and survived even the great depression
They are important because the are the biggest engines of growth in america and
they are connected to almost everything.
The last time the real estate market numbers looked this bad was during
The great depression and real estate often leads the way into major economic recessions.
One out of 10 Americans is somewhere in the foreclosure process.
During the last 8 years the average person saw there salary drop instead
Of increase. These are all facts no one will argue with.
The truth is we are only in the start of the worst economy we have seen in our generation
and a very real possibility of another depression.
Bush just like Mcain doesn't understand the economy.
That not just my opinion its his own words. Not only does he not understand how to fix it
He does not understand exactly what is broken. Its no surprise that he doesnt. The people that make up these
securities use complex math models very few people understand.
They are basically bundles of thousand of loans some good and some bad that are then given rules based on quantitiative
math. It will take the best and brightest minds in the world to get us out of this, and the same things bush and mcain have done for the last 8 years
Have not worked so far and wont work in the future.
If you do what you have always done then you will do get what you have always __________
90 percent of the time they have voted the same.
Please don't just take my word for it Start to read up on some of this yourself. MSN money, elliot wave and, bloomberg
Have tons of articles That prove we are in the heading into one of the worst economies any one has ever seen.
So why are the polls even close then ?
The chairman of mcains campaign recently said that people don't vote on issues
they vote on a personality composite which means. He is trying to sell personality instead
of results.
He believes people will vote against there own self interests.
Lets teach him we are smarter then that and elect the ticket that can
bring us back from the brink of a economic abyss.
If you think i am kidding do your own home work you will find
We are at the start of this mess not the end.
Mcain admits in the year 2008 he cannot use a computer even to send email
Its almost impossible then he will understand the complex securities such as cdos that are destroying wall street
and the home values on your street.
We are not bulletproof america it time to wake up and hold these people accountable.
How many people that you go out and have drinks with would you really want running the country?
Lets stand up and fight for our country now while it will still make a difference
Lets elect Obama Biden 08
In 2002, Bush declared that he would remove "barriers to home ownership" by reducing the down payment requirement and by paying poor people to buy a house. Well, it doesn't take a PhD in economics to see what this led to: soaring prices through soaring demand, followed by foreclosures, falling prices, and massive bailouts. In the meantime, no consideration was given to whether this goal was sustainable or even desirable.
Obama the hypocrite blames Bush for the housing fiasco, yet they share the same goal of a high rate of minority home ownership. McCain is no better on this issue, but at least he isn't as self-righteous as Obama, for what it's worth.
Whoever gets elected, I expect our economy to continue to go down in flames as the government transfers more and more wealth to more and more minority home owners with bailouts, subsidies, and tax credits.
If only the U.S economy were the size of Luxembourg's! Then these politically correct idiots couldn't drag down the rest of the world with them, and there would be investment opportunities abroad.