The McCain campaign has a 'new housing plan' to save our economy

The campaign of Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) says they have an answer to the current housing crisis. This answer comes in the form of the "American Homeownership Resurgence Plan". Doug Holtz-Eakin, McCain-Palin 2008 senior policy adviser, held a teleconference to outline this new plan. Holtz-Eakin said the plan would provide direct help to home owners, allowing them to stay in their homes and avoid foreclosures that would damage he property values in their neighborhoods. The plan would also provide to the housing market lower interest rates, around five percent.

Holtz-Eakin said, "Starting with the home owner and moving up, you accomplish some of the objectives of the financial stabilization plan that we've seen come out of congress and proposed by the administration in recent weeks. Senator McCain believes this is exactly the right kind of policy, providing direct help to homeowners, at the same time supporting the financial markets and keeping them from further damaging the availability of credit to mainstream America, one of the real threats to the economy at this time." Funding for the initiative would come from authorities, including the $300 billion worth of refinance capacity provided by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the $700 billion provided by the Treasury Department to Congress.

Even though the FHA and the Treasury Department already have the authority pursue this plan, the McCain campaign believes stabilizing the housing markets haven't really been publicly targeted, and were originally only geared to help four-hundred or five-hundred thousand homeowners. The new plan proposes to aid homeowners on a larger-scale than the FHA and Treasury Department have planned, and therefore be a more effective supplement to the housing crisis response.

Team McCain fires back on Obama's remarks

Presumptive Republican Presidential Nominee Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign held a press conference call to discuss Presumptive Democratic Presidential Nominee Senator Barack Obama’s remarks in Flint, Michigan. Senior economic policy adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin and Republican National Committee (RNC) Victory 2008 Chair Carly Fiorina answered questions from callers on issues ranging from free trade to the Iraq war to education policies.

With regards to free trade, Fiorina highlighted McCain’s view that ‘competitiveness requires competing’ and ‘competing involves free trade.’ She pointed out that Obama thinks the free trade agreement should be voted against. Fiorina feels Obama is implying that America cannot compete with the rest of the world. She said that McCain, on the other hand, believe Americans can compete and he has been calling for training camps as well as a world class infrastructure. In the event that trade agreements are violated, Fiorina said McCain will prosecute agreements and ensure that they adhere to World Trade Organization guidelines. Fiorina said that Obama feels there is a problem with the U.S. Global Resources (USGR) bureaucracy and that his decision to vote against free trade with Colombia has caused problems.

McCain was also quoted on being critical of oil company profits. He proposed to treat oil companies like other businesses. When questioned on the rationale behind drilling along America’s coast, Holtz-Eakin pointed out that this equates to more oil for American consumers. Fiorina also said it would be good for Obama to see the ground situation in Iraq and Afghanistan as he might acknowledge its success and change his position. Fiorina pointed out that McCain was gratified that the surge was working.

According to Fiorina, McCain feels that the ‘no child left behind’ policy is imperfect. McCain felt that teachers must be motivated with incentives to improve levels of teaching. As a supporter of the G. I. bill which provides college or vocational education for returning veterans, McCain also proposed that those benefits should be transferable from veterans to their families. Fiorina also said that McCain feels parents should have the power of choice whether to enroll their children in public, private or charter schools as it invokes ‘discipline of competition.’ McCain was impressed by charter schools and their ‘culture of success.’

More secure with McCain

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Doug Holtz-Eakin from Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) campaign team held a conference call to rebuttal some issues brought up in Sen. Barrack Obama’s (D-Ill.) campaign speech on economic policy held in Raleigh, North Carolina. Burr began by saying that if the American people focus on the campaign rhetoric they will find big differences between what candidates propose and what they have done.

Burr said that about fifty percent of Obama’s speech focused on discrediting McCain rather than on Obama’s actual policy and proposals. While Obama said he wanted to lower tax rates for lower and middle class Americans, in the past he has voted 94 times to raise taxes. Burr explained that McCain has “been bold” in his pledge to keep taxes low and wants to give middle class Americans a tax break.

Burr also said that when looking at all the proposals and histories of both presidential candidates, there is more security with McCain. McCain has the better track record when it comes to committing to his promises. Burr went as far as to say that the speech Obama gave today is one that the American people are “sick and tired of.”

Holtz-Eakin explained that McCain actually voted against the 2005 Energy Policy Act while Obama favored it. This shows that McCain does not support a tax cut for Exxon, one of many false claims made by Obama. McCain does in fact believe that keeping taxes low is important for families, for the economy, and for corporations across America.