More than two million Americans are losing their homes to foreclosure and millions more owe more in mortgages than their homes are worth. This is a full blown, real estate catastrophe. Three of the five largest investment banks of the country have disappeared. Nearly nine million workers are jobless and the unemployment rate is at a five-year high.

The government has gambled hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars – a staggering sum – to stave off financial collapse without discernable results so far.

And yet, earlier this week, Senator John McCain pronounced the fundamentals of the economy as “strong.”

The political mockery heap on this statement has forced Senator McCain to backtrack. He proposed a commission to study the meltdown (how much time does he think we have?). Senator McCain also had a hard time making up his mind on the government’s $85 billion bailout of AIG. He at first strongly opposed and then, the following day supported it. Finally, he settled on blaming Wall Street villains for the mess.

The irony is that for most of his 26 years in the Senate, McCain has opposed government regulation of the economy. He has championed the de-regulation that gave a free hand to the very same villains he now decries. McCain has a history of treating government intervention and regulations as annoying red tape instead of as safeguards for the public. He has been part of the problem.

Earlier in the primary season, Senator McCain admitted that he did not understand the economy. That was a refreshing piece of candor and, it seems, an understatement.

McCain has yet to show us that he is ready to be manager-in-chief of the economy, without a steep learning curve, on day one.