McCain Campaign Press Release - "In Case You Missed It": McCain-Palin Campaign Conference Call On Barack Obama's Economic Plan

"Barack Obama today proposed a 90-day foreclosure moratorium. Obama, himself, when Senator Clinton proposed such a foreclosure moratorium, labeled it a 'disastrous' policy and proceeded to rail against it. Now he's proposing it."

-- Doug Holtz-Eakin

ARLINGTON, VA -- Today, the McCain-Palin campaign held a press conference call with former Congressman Rob Portman and senior policy adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin to discuss Barack Obama's economic plan:

Rob Portman: "I think Americans were hoping today that Senator Obama would tell us that he has now decided the economy is bad enough he is not going to move forward with his tax increases.

"You recall that earlier in the campaign he'd indicated that he might not move forward with his tax increases if the economy were weak. The economy is certainly weak, and it's weakening every day. Instead what we heard today were a lot of new promises for new spending adding to the $860 billion in additional spending that he's already promised during the campaign and that is not the way we are going to get ourselves back on track. More spending in fact is going to make the situation worse. It's one of the reasons we're in the trouble we're in. The deficits mounting every year and the debt has hurt our economy in a very direct way by hurting the value of the dollar and increasing the costs for everything from the price of imported oil to our groceries.

"Instead what Senator McCain is focused on is pro-growth, pro-jobs tax relief while keeping spending under control. And one of the things that I thought was interesting about Senator Obama's proposals today was the talk about changing the way in which people can withdraw funds from their defined contribution plans, their IRA's or their 401K's. And as I read his remarks it sounds like he was saying that people would be able to withdraw funds out up to $10,000 without penalty.

"Some of you know I spent a lot of time working on this legislation when I was in Congress and of course there is currently a hardship withdrawal for 401K's and most plans permit that. There's also withdrawal by the way for first time home buyers and there's also the ability to get a loan up to $50,000. So I'm not sure what impact that would exactly have except that is would be taking out of retirement savings, assets at a time when those assets are likely be at a very low value. So it's not clear that there is the need for any new policy in this area because of the consistent ability to deal with hardships and to take out a loan but second it seems like it would be just the wrong thing to encourage American families today who are already struggling to figure out how they are going to be able to prepare for their retirement.

"The final thing that Senator Obama said that I thought was something that we should all agree with which is that we need a new ethic of responsibility in this country and Senator McCain has been talking about that the entire campaign in terms of personal responsibility with health care for instance and allowing people to keep more of their hard earned money. But if we are talking about a new ethic of responsibility, it seems as though we should start with the federal government and it certainly would not be a new ethic of responsibility to have us not only begin spending over $860 billion in new programs under the existing economic plans Senator Obama has laid out but now additional spending at a time when we are facing big deficits in part because of the economic situation we're in and the lower revenue, and the debt that has built up that is requiring us to borrow more and more money including from foreign governments and banks that's putting pre ssure on the dollar and therefore hurting the economy."

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Doug Holtz-Eakin: "I think what we saw today was the hypocrisy of Barack Obama's economic policy continuing at the very same time he's threatening the weak American economy with tax increases, explosive spending proposals, expensive health mandates, a weak energy policy and protectionist trade inclinations. He pretends to offer a, quote, rescue package to Americans, when in fact the rescue is simply from the threat of his own policies. If you look at what he proposed today, I think it reveals the genuine problem. He already had the Tax Policy Center, a group he likes to tout as the non-partisan arbiter, say that John McCain's policy is better for growth, and we can see why in what he put out today.

"He proposed a New American Jobs tax credit. That would be a $3,000 tax credit per new job in the United States over the next two years. This is going to be a very expensive proposal that's going to cost about $170 billion had it been in place in 2007. But think about what it'd have to do. He's going to offer a $3,000 credit at the same he's proposing an expensive $12,000 per employee mandate for health insurance, and while the credit would last for two years, the mandate would go on forever. Indeed, at the current rates of inflation, that'd be about a $15,000 mandate at the time it expired. You will hardly undo the damage with a $3,000 credit.

"He's, at the moment, dead set on raising the top marginal tax rates, raising dividends and capital gains tax rates. Those top marginal tax rates will affect the small businesses. They create 56% of small business income. Small businesses, those under 50 employees, have created 331,000 jobs in the United States in 2008, despite all the weaknesses out there. They are the only businesses that are creating jobs. They are the only ones doing, on their own, what Barack Obama ostensibly wants to accomplish with this job credit. He wants to raise their taxes. He would be better off dropping the jobs credit and simply stopping the tax increases, letting these folks do the job that they're doing. His plan with the expensive mandates from health, has been estimated to cost more than 225,000 jobs. It would force employers to lower wages by more than $3 an hour. John McCain's tax policy, in contrast, would provide a very flexible, even-handed subsidy to all for ms of private insurance, provides for portable insurance that's not linked to employers, and will not cost Americans their jobs.

"Barack Obama today proposed a 90-day foreclosure moratorium. Obama, himself, when Senator Clinton proposed such a foreclosure moratorium, labeled it a 'disastrous' policy and proceeded to rail against it. Now he's proposing it.

"Senator McCain doesn't want people in foreclosure. He's taken an aggressive stance to use a portion of the $700 billion that the American public has devoted to financial and economic rescue to make sure that we simultaneously accomplish the goals of keeping Americans in their homes, supporting housing values for every homeowner in America, and stabilizing the value of the toxic mortgage-based assets that's plaguing the financial system.

"So, Barack Obama would be much better served to solve the fundamental problems than undertake a 'disastrous' policy that would only be a band-aid after the fact. So, we're seeing more of the same from Barack Obama, lots of talk, nothing that's going to substantively help the American economy, and tomorrow we'll hear from John McCain."

...

"Tomorrow, however, he will now turn to the economy, to the pressures facing American families and businesses and we'll talk about the specific new measures to address those hurt worse by the financial crisis, unlike Barack Obama who has stood on the sidelines at moments of great national crisis. John McCain has consistently addressed the issues that have faced Americans throughout this period, with proposals that will make their lives easier and more bearable in the times of great financial distress, and so we'll look forward to John McCain's remarks tomorrow."

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