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| Obama slams 'risky' McCain mortgage plan |
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Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 10-Oct-2008 02:07 hrs |
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| US Democratic presidential candidate Illinois Senator Barack Obama looks towards the crowd at a rally on October 8, at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana. Obama slammed John McCain's "risky" plan to buy up 300 billion dollars in bad mortgages Thursday, and warned his White House rival was offering "erratic" leadership at a time of crisis. |
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Barack Obama slammed John McCain's plan to buy up 300 billion dollars in bad mortgages as "risky" on Thursday, and warned his White House rival was offering "erratic" leadership at a time of crisis.. The Democratic nominee laid into McCain at the start of a two-day bus tour through rust-belt Ohio designed to convince any wavering working class voters that he, and not Republican McCain, represents the best hope in tough times.. The trip comes with most polls showing Obama has carved out a small lead in the midwestern state, which has been hammered by the worsening economy and which is home to side-switching 'swing voters' who decide US elections.. "Taxpayers shouldn't be asked to pick up the tab for the very folks who helped create this crisis," Obama said in a populist swipe at Wall Street finance firms, banks and "high rolling real estates speculators.". "That's the problem with Senator McCain's risky idea," Obama told a crowd of around 8,000 people in a minor league baseball stadium in the gritty city of Dayton.. "On Tuesday night, his campaign said that he would ask the banks to absorb some of the cost by selling the bad mortgages to the government at a discount.. "Then, by Wednesday morning, he'd changed his mind and was proposing to bail out banks and lenders with taxpayer money," Obama said, arguing the government would have to assume the full cost of the program.. "Well, I don't think we can afford that kind of erratic and uncertain leadership in these uncertain times.. "We need steady leadership in the White House. We need a president we can trust in times of crisis. And that's why I am running for president of the United States of America.". Obama also released a new advertisement on Thursday, ridiculing McCain's plan. "Who wins?" the ad asked. "The same lenders that caused the crisis in the first place.". McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds disputed Obama's claim that the plan would waste taxpayer funds, saying it redirected money from the just signed Wall Street bailout to ordinary Americans instead of irresponsible lenders.. "Barack Obama should tell voters why he supports the 700 billion legislative rescue plan but now opposes using that money to help homeowners get the relief they need and strengthen our economy," Bounds said.. "John McCain's homeownership resurgence plan represents absolutely no new expense to the taxpayer, but simply refocuses priorities to more directly assist the homeowners who are hurting instead of greed on Wall Street.". Bounds also threw the risk charge back at the Democratic nominee.. "The only thing the American people can trust about Barack Obama is that he's too big a risk in a time of crisis.". The Republican nominee unveiled the idea in his presidential debate clash with Obama Tuesday, in an attempt to change a trajectory of a race that seems to be sliding away four weeks before the election.. At the time, the Obama campaign said the plan was nothing new and argued the Democrat had already suggested something along similar lines.. But as more details emerged, the campaign hardened its stance.. The Democratic nominee said the government must be sure it is not overpaying for mortgages, give taxpayers a share of the benefit when the housing market recovers and should crack down on predatory lenders.. McCain said during the debate he would, as president, order the secretary of the treasury to "immediately buy up the bad home loan mortgages in America and renegotiate at the new value of those homes, at the diminished value of those homes.". The idea would enable struggling homeowners to meet their mortgage payments and stay in their homes, he said.. "Is it expensive? Yes," he said. "But we all know, my friends, that until we stabilize home values in America, we're never going to start turning around and creating jobs and fixing our economy.. The McCain "American Homeownership Resurgence Plan" would buy mortgages directly from homeowners and mortgage servicers, and replace them with fixed-rate loans to allow families to stay in homes that would otherwise be foreclosed. — AFP
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