Editor’s note: This month, the two major candidates for president or their representatives respond to a Denver Post request for their plans on tackling four major issues. Today, Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain outline their platforms on the economy.
As American families bear the brunt of an economic crisis caused by the corruption and greed of Washington and Wall Street, it is clear that the next president of the United States will need to restore the confidence of our citizens in the economy and their government.
America needs forward-looking bipartisan leadership that will fix a broken Washington and return the nation to the path of a more secure, prosperous and just society. That goal, if I should be elected this country’s next president, will be one on which I fix my gaze.
The action Congress took recently to address our financial crisis was a tourniquet, but not a permanent solution. Our economy is still hurting. Further action is needed to assuage these worries. I have announced an American Homeownership Resurgence Plan to keep families in their homes, avoid foreclosures, save failing neighborhoods, stabilize the housing market and attack the roots of our financial crisis. America’s families are bearing a heavy burden from falling housing prices, mortgage delinquencies, foreclosures, and a weak economy. It is important that those families who have worked hard enough to finance homeownership not have that dream crushed under the weight of the wrong mortgage. The existing debts are too large compared to the value of housing. For those who cannot make payments, mortgages must be re-structured to put losses on the books and put homeowners in manageable mortgages.
The Resurgence Plan would purchase mortgages directly from homeowners and mortgage servicers, and replace them with manageable, fixed-rate mortgages that will keep families in their homes. By purchasing the existing, failing mortgages, my plan will eliminate uncertainty over defaults, support the value of mortgage-backed derivatives and alleviate risks that are freezing financial markets.
This is my plan that I intend to implement as president. Despite the claims of my opponent, the status quo is not on the ballot. Change will come on January 20, no matter who is elected. The question we all must answer is: in what direction will we go?
Which candidate’s experience — in service and in life — will make him a more reliable leader in a time of trouble and danger? Which candidate will put country first — put Main Street first?
As a senator, I’ve seen the corrupt ways of Washington in wasteful spending and other abuses of power. As your president, I will end the corruption and the abuses — and do whatever it takes to make it so. I will bring reform to Washington and I will sign into law real tax relief to the middle class, for it is the middle class — our workers and small-business owners — who are the true engine of our economic recovery. The American dream includes homes and college educations and I will help our families keep their home and help students pay for that education. Health care will be more accessible, and it will be more affordable.
Low taxes are necessary, but our recovery must include serious government restraint. I will freeze all non-vital spending. Governor Palin and I will review every agency, improving those that need it and eliminating those that aren’t working for the American people. I will not sit on the sideline. I will confront our $10 trillion debt, and I will balance the federal budget by the end of my term in office.
Clarity and candor are needed from those who wish to lead. Americans demand it. My record of fighting Washington is an open book. Barack Obama’s record, despite two memoirs, is not. Our current economic crisis is a good example of this lack of a clear record. Bad mortgages advocated by groups like ACORN were being backed by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The amount of bad investment grew, festered and infected our economy. When I called for reform, Sen. Obama and his Democratic followers in Congress opposed every effort to rein in the runaway mortgage train.
In fact, there is absolutely nothing in his record to suggest he did anything serious to head this off. He was surely familiar with the people who were creating this problem. The executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have advised him, and he has taken their money for his campaign. This kind of record is not indicative of the leadership and judgment our nation needs to recover.
Americans know I will reform our broken institutions in Washington and on Wall Street because I’ve done it before. You don’t have to hope that things will change when you vote for me. You know change will come. We will put country first — ahead of party, Washington and Wall Street. That is what I will fight for as president of the United States.
