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John McCain just doesn’t get it when it comes to the economy, stating the “fundamentals” of the U.S. economy are strong.

(ORLANDO, FLA.) – John McCain tried once again to assure voters that the “fundamentals” of the American economy are strong, despite the ongoing financial meltdown.

“The economic crisis is not the fault of the American people. Our workers are the most innovative, the hardest working, the best skilled, most productive, most competitive in the world, that’s the American worker,” McCain said at a town hall meeting here.

“My opponents may disagree, but those fundamentals, the American worker and their innovation, their entrepreneurship, the small business, those are the fundamentals of America and I think they’re strong.”

During the primary campaign, John McCain’s views on the economy came under attack by Democratic Presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday sharply criticized presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s views on the housing crisis, illustrating a wide gap between the two parties on how to fix the ailing economy. Sen. McCain and the Democrats long have sparred over U.S. policy toward Iraq, but the collapse of the subprime lending market and subsequent softening in other sectors of the economy have opened a second front in the competition among the presidential rivals.

In an economic speech on Tuesday, McCain (Ariz.) said he supports government assistance for Americans facing home foreclosure because of the turmoil in financial markets. But he declined to embrace the kind of government intervention for individuals and institutions favored by Clinton and Obama, arguing that “it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers.”

John McCain has admitted on several occasions that he knows little about the economy.

At a recent meeting with the Wall Street Journal editorial board, Republican presidential candidate John McCain admitted he “doesn’t really understand economics” and then pointed to his adviser and former Senate colleague, Phil Gramm - whom he had brought with him to the meeting - as the expert he turns to on the subject, The Huffington Post has learned.

The incident was confirmed by a source familiar with the proceedings of the meeting.

On the campaign trail, McCain has often made light of his lack of economic policy understanding. But his concern over such a shortcoming may be even greater then he has suggested.

One of the most effective economic tools a President can use is an abstract concept: “inspiring confidence.” When John McCain admits he knows little about the economy and this admission hardly inspires confidence. I find John McCain the candidate for President uninspiring, but equally troubling for me is that he teeters on incompetency. Couple with John McCain’s hard-nosed position on the Iraq War (fifty, a hundred years in Iraq “would be fine with me” crack), inspiring confidence becomes challenging.

John McCain’s election would be an automatic four year extension of George W. Bush’s Administration.

A hundred more years in Iraq.

A demoralized military.

Even higher gas prices.

All the negative effects of higher gas prices such as inflation.

A loss of confidence in economic policies.

In other words, a stalemate. And that can’t be good for anyone.

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