McCain, Obama lay out plans for economy

United on issue, divided on fixes

July 08, 2008|Charles Babington and Liz Sidoti, Associated Press

DENVER - Barack Obama and John McCain agree on this much: The economy is staggering under the Bush administration, and Americans are hurting. But who is to blame and how best to fix it?

They part ways on that, as they made clear in dueling economic speeches yesterday on the issue that has taken center stage in their presidential contest.

Obama said that McCain offers a third term of President Bush's policies.

"John McCain's policies are essentially a repeat, a regurgitation of what we've been hearing from the Republican Party over the last two decades, maybe three," Obama said in St. Louis, where his plane made an unscheduled stop because of mechanical problems that forced him to cancel an appearance in Charlotte, N.C. "It's part of the reason that we're in the situation that we find ourselves in right now."

McCain has been forced into a more defensive crouch because his party has held the White House while jobs, home values, stock prices, and consumer confidence have tumbled.

While calling Obama's plans expensive and unwise, he tried to distance himself from President Bush where he could.

"This Congress and this administration have failed to meet their responsibilities to manage the government," McCain said in Denver. "Government has grown by 60 percent in the last eight years. That is simply inexcusable."

He promised to veto "every single bill with wasteful spending."

McCain has said the economy is not his strong suit, and yesterday he seemed eager to show a deeper understanding of the topic, even as he dismissed specialists.

"Some economists don't think much of my gas-tax holiday," he said of his plan to temporarily suspend the federal levy on motor fuels. "But the American people like it, and so do small-business owners."

Obama calls that plan a gimmick that will not lower gasoline prices. The Democratic senator favors tax cuts for middle-class workers and tax increases for top earners. He calls for substantial government subsidies for healthcare, college, retirement, and alternative energies.

McCain pledges to cut taxes for all and raise them on none. Government should shrink, not grow, he told his audience in Denver.

Obama renewed his call yesterday for a $50 billion "second stimulus package" that would provide energy rebate checks for many families, a fund to help families avoid foreclosure, and increased assistance for states hit especially hard by economic setbacks.