Just yesterday U.S. Senator John McCain once again proved just how out of touch he is with regular working Americans. Despite all of the struggles that people are having he declared “I have a great belief that the fundamentals of the economy are very strong. Very strong.” Apparently he had to say it twice just to convince himself that the statement was true. Less than 24 hours after he made his proclamation, the Labor Department reported that the jobless rate has jumped to 5.5 percent in May, the biggest rise since 1986. That equates to 49,000 more jobs lost by President Bush and his enablers like McCain in Congress.

For McCain the eighth richest U.S. Senator with nine properties worth more than 13 million dollars, maybe the economy does seem very strong. Unfortunately not everyone is as privileged as the Arizona Senator. While he may be living high on the hog, working Americans are struggling to pay their mortgages, fill their gas tanks and pay the ever growing costs for basics like health care and food. On the economy the Senator promises more of the same, tax cuts for the wealthiest and even more tax loopholes for big corporations. He chooses this approach even though over the last seven years it has produced a disaster for our economy. McCain appears willingly delusional about our economy, even if that means celebrating things like record setting job loss.