Obama: Bad policy led to bad economy

SARASOTA, Fla., Oct. 30 (UPI) -- The falling gross domestic product is a "direct result" of policies that drove the U.S. economy "into the ditch," Democratic candidate Barack Obama said.

Besides learning that the GDP fell for the first time this year, "we saw the largest decline in consumer spending in 28 years as wages failed to keep up with the rising cost of living," Obama said Thursday during a campaign appearance in Sarasota, Fla.

"Now, this didn't happen by accident," the Illinois senator said. "Our falling GDP is a direct result of eight years of the trickle-down, Wall Street first-Main Street last policies that have driven our economy into a ditch," he said.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain will would offer more of the same policies promulgated by the administration of President George Bush, Obama said.

"And you've got to ask yourself, after nine straight months of job losses and the largest drop in home values on record, with wages lower than they've been in a decade," he said, "why would we keep on driving down this dead-end street?"