SHOW ME THE MONEY!

This week Barack Obama will go on the offensive to exploit the news regarding the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc over the weekend, and news of other Wall Street instability such as Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch and AIG's public search for financing. Yesterday, Obama quickly seized on the issue, saying it represented "more evidence ... that too many folks in Washington and on Wall Street weren't minding the store."

Predictably, Obama also tried to link the market trouble to Republican policies: "For eight years, we've had policies that have shredded consumer protections, that have loosened oversight and regulation, and encouraged outsized bonuses to CEOs while ignoring middle-class Americans."

This is what Obama didn't tell you: According to the Center for Responsive Politics reports, a non-partisan research organization, employees of security and investment firms have donated nearly $10 million to Barack Obama this year. More specifically, Lehman employees contributed $370,000 to Obama's campaign coffers this year. Maybe this is what the Illinois senator had in mind when he said that Lehman's failing represented "more evidence ... that too many folks in Washington and on Wall Street weren't minding the store!" Perhaps, instead of taking $10 million from Wall Street bankers, Mr. Obama should have cautioned his fat cat donors to mind the store, rather than just taking their money. Apparently, Mr. Obama was too busy lining his campaign coffers, triumphantly announcing he had raised $66 million (including $10 million from Wall Street) on the eve of the announcement that Lehman would be filing for bankruptcy protection (after its employees contributed more than a quarter million to the Obama campaign).

The take-away, which Obama shamelessly does not talk about, is this: while the Obama campaign rolls in the dough, partially finaned by Wall Street donors, thousands of Merrill Lynch and Lehman workaday employees face gloomy prospects. To add insult to injury, Obama has the nerve to lecture us about "evidence that folks on Wall Street weren't minding the store," as he walks away with $10M of their money!

But, wait, there's more. Exactly as these corporate giants are on the ropes, with their thousands of employees and millions of others who depend on the finance sector, Barack Obama is proposing to raise corporate taxes! As Obama goes "on the offensive" trying to up his rhetoric around the country, repeating his mantra that John McCain is "out of touch," and that Republican policies have created this crisis, is anyone going to ask how raising corporate taxes will help these companies pay their bills, meet their bottom lines, and make payroll, and thus avoid further agony to the cash-strapped American worker? Will Obama's taking millions in campaign contributions and billions in higher corporate taxes offer any solution for American working in the finance sector, or for the rest of us whose jobs depend on the finance sector, in getting loans, having solvent mortgage companies and banks and employers?

Obama will say McCain is out of touch. But, McCain has two proposals on the table that do not involve bleeding employers and corporations at a time when we need financial institutions to remain strong. McCain's proposal to institute a 9/11 style commission to look at the problem will be dismissed as insubstantial. However, it is a serious proposal to study the situation thoroughly, with experts, not just campaign consultants and donors; with bipartisan cooperation, not cheap ideological rhetoric; and with the seriousness that demands workable solutions and critical analysis deserving of a serious national problem that threatens our economic security. This is a complicated problem that will require in depth analysis of the mortgage crisis, the health of the capital markets, and the runaway fuel prices. We know there are no easy answers -- only hard questions, and McCain's proposed method of seeking answers is much better than the hypocritical one-liners from Obama. Finally, McCain-Palin have already indicated ways they will address the energy component, saying they will seek an "all of the above" solution to our oil dependence, something Obama has stubbornly resisted.

Obama may try to turn up the heat on the economy. But, Americans must insist that he go beyond hypocritical criticisms, shallow nitpicking, and facile but hollow promises of "change." In matters of economic concerns, which are the most important issue in this election, we must insist that Obama show us the money.