Obama blasts GOP on economy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Barack Obama laid into the Republican opposition Monday as Americans awoke to fearsome news from Wall Street — the disappearance of two investment banking stalwarts — as the U.S. economy faced what he called "the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression" of the 1930s.

In a statement issued shortly after 6 a.m. on the U.S. east coast, Obama said he did not put blame on McCain, but "I do fault the economic philosophy he subscribes to. It's a philosophy we've had for the last eight years — one that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else.

It's a philosophy that says even commonsense regulations are unnecessary and unwise, and one that says we should just stick our heads in the sand and ignore economic problems until they spiral into crises."