Statement by Hillary Clinton on John McCain and the Economy

"It's time for a president who is ready on Day One to be the Commander-in-Chief of our economy. Sometimes the phone rings at 3 a.m. in the White House and it's an economic crisis. And we need a president who is ready and willing and able to answer that call. I read the speech that Senator McCain gave the other day which set forth his plan which does virtually nothing to ease the credit crisis or the housing crisis. It seems like if the phone were ringing, he would just let it ring and ring and ring.

"Senator McCain is a friend of mine and I admire his service to our country greatly. But he recently admitted, "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should." And it turns out he'd rather ignore the credit crisis and mortgage crisis – or blame middle class families instead of offering solutions on their behalf.

"I think we've had enough of a president who didn't know enough about economics, and didn't do enough for the American middle class. I don't think we can afford four more years of that kind of inaction. I believe we need a president who will answer the call and act aggressively to deal with economic crises like the ones we are seeing in our economy today. That's the kind of president we will desperately need after eight years of President Bush."