Obama, McCain in rare agreement on $700B bailout
Presidential rivals Barack Obama and John McCain warily addressed the US economic crisis.
By Agencies |
WASHINGTON: Presidential rivals Barack Obama and John McCain warily addressed the US economic crisis, each demanding the Bush administration's unprecedented $700 billion bailout for financial institutions be subject to independent oversight and guarantees that their top executives will not be rewarded.
While sounding tough, both senators have assumed positions on the bailout that appear likely to match the shape of the program when it emerges from Congress. It appeared certain to win approval given the possible consequences, the collapse of the US and global economies.
The financial meltdown is bedeviling both candidates, who know the Nov. 4 election could turn on voters' sense of who can best keep the country from a deep recession. They have acted cautiously so far, avoiding the intense debate in Congress and offering similar calls for greater oversight and taxpayer protections, which rank among the less controversial criticisms of the plan.
A new poll released Tuesday found that Americans approved the bailout by a nearly 2-to-1 margin and saw Obama as best able to deal with the mounting financial crisis.
The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press survey, conducted between Friday and Monday, showed 57 per cent of voters believed the government was doing the right thing, while 30 per cent opposed the bailout. The survey also found 47 per cent believed Obama, a Democrat, would best handle the financial meltdown as opposed to 35 per cent who favored McCain, a Republican, in that role.
Obama interrupted his preparations for Friday's first debate with McCain to tell reporters he could not support the bailout without those assurances as well as two others, a payback to American taxpayers who are financing the bailout and help for US homeowners facing mortgage foreclosure.
He also lashed out at President George W. Bush for what he called the administration's ``my-way-or-the-highway intransigence'' in putting forward a plan that would have given Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson total discretion _ without outside oversight _ to use the huge fund to buy up bad investments of banks and other financial institutions.
McCain also held a news conference, his first in more than a month, to declare that the proposed bailout represented a ``staggering'' figure that amounts to a $10,000 contribution for each US household, money that could otherwise be used to rebuild roads and bridges in every town in the country.
``This can't be cobbled together behind closed doors,'' the four-term Arizona senator said.
To protect taxpayers, he asked for a bipartisan board to provide oversight, a plan to recover the money, a cap on compensation for executives of firms helped by the bailout and a ban on special funding requests from lawmakers on the legislation.
And he insisted, as he had earlier Tuesday, that the program sponsored by Bush, a fellow Republican, would ensure that ``taxpayers' dollars don't line the pockets of executives.''
Neither McCain nor Obama have left the campaign trail to return to Washington to address the crisis.
Earlier Tuesday, Obama warned that the deepening financial crisis and likely bailout meant he could be forced to delay expansive spending programs outlined during his campaign for the White House.
In an interview with NBC television, Obama said he would have to study what happens to the United States' tax revenues before making decisions on budgeting for his promised initiatives on national health care, education, energy and other concerns.
Still, he insisted he would move forward on tax cuts for Americans earning less than $250,000 annually.
Neither campaign has changed its tax or spending proposals even though the country suddenly faces the prospect of much higher deficits, an overhaul of key financial institutions and the essential nationalization of the largest US insurance company. Whether they deal with it now or not, economists and analysts say, the next president may find it extremely difficult to keep all his promises because of the worsening fiscal environment.
McCain campaigned Tuesday in the key battleground states of Ohio and Michigan. His running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, was at the United Nations General Assembly for meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Colombian leader Alvaro Uribe.
The meetings were designed to introduce the once-little-known vice presidential nominee to the world community and to counter claims she has no grounding in foreign affairs.
On Wednesday, McCain and Palin are expected to meet jointly with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko. Palin is then to meet separately with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Palin, 44, has been to neighboring Canada and to Mexico, and made a brief trip to Kuwait and Germany to see Alaska National Guard troops, the first time she has been outside North America.
A brouhaha erupted over coverage of Tuesday's meetings when Palin aides first sought to block reporters from attending them, insisting that only television cameras and still photographers be included. But the Palin camp relented after the media protested and CNN, which was supplying TV footage to other networks, decided to pull its TV crew from Palin's meeting with Karzai.
A second new poll released Tuesday showed Obama holding slight leads in Michigan, Wisconsin, Colorado and Minnesota _ swing states critical to victory for either candidate. The Quinnipiac University poll, if correct and if Obama holds a lead through Nov. 4, would assure him 46 electoral votes. Under the US system, which accords each state an elector for each Representative and Senator it has in the Congress, 270 electoral votes are needed for victory.
While sounding tough, both senators have assumed positions on the bailout that appear likely to match the shape of the program when it emerges from Congress. It appeared certain to win approval given the possible consequences, the collapse of the US and global economies.
The financial meltdown is bedeviling both candidates, who know the Nov. 4 election could turn on voters' sense of who can best keep the country from a deep recession. They have acted cautiously so far, avoiding the intense debate in Congress and offering similar calls for greater oversight and taxpayer protections, which rank among the less controversial criticisms of the plan.
A new poll released Tuesday found that Americans approved the bailout by a nearly 2-to-1 margin and saw Obama as best able to deal with the mounting financial crisis.
The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press survey, conducted between Friday and Monday, showed 57 per cent of voters believed the government was doing the right thing, while 30 per cent opposed the bailout. The survey also found 47 per cent believed Obama, a Democrat, would best handle the financial meltdown as opposed to 35 per cent who favored McCain, a Republican, in that role.
Obama interrupted his preparations for Friday's first debate with McCain to tell reporters he could not support the bailout without those assurances as well as two others, a payback to American taxpayers who are financing the bailout and help for US homeowners facing mortgage foreclosure.
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He also lashed out at President George W. Bush for what he called the administration's ``my-way-or-the-highway intransigence'' in putting forward a plan that would have given Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson total discretion _ without outside oversight _ to use the huge fund to buy up bad investments of banks and other financial institutions.
McCain also held a news conference, his first in more than a month, to declare that the proposed bailout represented a ``staggering'' figure that amounts to a $10,000 contribution for each US household, money that could otherwise be used to rebuild roads and bridges in every town in the country.
``This can't be cobbled together behind closed doors,'' the four-term Arizona senator said.
To protect taxpayers, he asked for a bipartisan board to provide oversight, a plan to recover the money, a cap on compensation for executives of firms helped by the bailout and a ban on special funding requests from lawmakers on the legislation.
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McCain stopped short of saying he would vote ``no'' if his priorities weren't reflected. ``I can't say that at this time because the emphasis should be on the adoption of these principles,'' McCain said. And he insisted, as he had earlier Tuesday, that the program sponsored by Bush, a fellow Republican, would ensure that ``taxpayers' dollars don't line the pockets of executives.''
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McCain and Obama faced reporters after the Senate Banking Committee had grilled Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke about the bailout plan. Bernanke warned the panel that the economy would plunge into recession without quick action. Neither McCain nor Obama have left the campaign trail to return to Washington to address the crisis.
Earlier Tuesday, Obama warned that the deepening financial crisis and likely bailout meant he could be forced to delay expansive spending programs outlined during his campaign for the White House.
In an interview with NBC television, Obama said he would have to study what happens to the United States' tax revenues before making decisions on budgeting for his promised initiatives on national health care, education, energy and other concerns.
Still, he insisted he would move forward on tax cuts for Americans earning less than $250,000 annually.
Neither campaign has changed its tax or spending proposals even though the country suddenly faces the prospect of much higher deficits, an overhaul of key financial institutions and the essential nationalization of the largest US insurance company. Whether they deal with it now or not, economists and analysts say, the next president may find it extremely difficult to keep all his promises because of the worsening fiscal environment.
McCain campaigned Tuesday in the key battleground states of Ohio and Michigan. His running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, was at the United Nations General Assembly for meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Colombian leader Alvaro Uribe.
The meetings were designed to introduce the once-little-known vice presidential nominee to the world community and to counter claims she has no grounding in foreign affairs.
On Wednesday, McCain and Palin are expected to meet jointly with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko. Palin is then to meet separately with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Palin, 44, has been to neighboring Canada and to Mexico, and made a brief trip to Kuwait and Germany to see Alaska National Guard troops, the first time she has been outside North America.
A brouhaha erupted over coverage of Tuesday's meetings when Palin aides first sought to block reporters from attending them, insisting that only television cameras and still photographers be included. But the Palin camp relented after the media protested and CNN, which was supplying TV footage to other networks, decided to pull its TV crew from Palin's meeting with Karzai.
A second new poll released Tuesday showed Obama holding slight leads in Michigan, Wisconsin, Colorado and Minnesota _ swing states critical to victory for either candidate. The Quinnipiac University poll, if correct and if Obama holds a lead through Nov. 4, would assure him 46 electoral votes. Under the US system, which accords each state an elector for each Representative and Senator it has in the Congress, 270 electoral votes are needed for victory.
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