Obama, McCain Trade Barbs on GDP Numbers

John McCain and Barack Obama traded barbs Thursday after the latest round of gross domestic product (GDP) numbers showed a 0.3 percent retraction in the economy during the third quar?er.

“Today’s announcement that third quarter GDP fell at a 0.3 percent rate confirms what Americans already knew: the economy is shrinking,” said McCain economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin. “Barack Obama would accelerate this dangerous course.”

“The decline in our GDP didn’t happen by accident–it is a direct result of the Bush Administration’s trickle down, Wall Street first, Main Street last policies that John McCain has embraced for the last eight years and plans to continue for the next four,” Obama said.

Both candidates lamented the downturn in the economy, which may be the strongest signal to date that the United States is in a recession.

–Michael O’Brien