TOLEDO, Ohio — Democrat Barack Obama on Monday called for a moratorium on mortgage foreclosures as part of a package of proposals to deal with the effects of the economic crisis on voters, while Republican John McCain portrayed himself as a fighter who should not be counted out of the race for president.
With the economy on voters’ minds and polls showing Obama widening his lead three weeks before Election Day, the presidential candidates campaigned in Ohio and Virginia, must-win states for McCain.
At a rally in Toledo, Obama unveiled four proposals to help people caught in the economic meltdown and gyrating stock market.
“We can’t wait to help workers and families and communities who are struggling right now — who don’t know if their job or their retirement will be there tomorrow, who don’t know if next week’s paycheck will cover this month’s bills,” he told 3,000 supporters in a convention center. “We need to pass an economic rescue plan for the middle class, and we need to do it not five years from now, not next year; we need to do it right now.”
Under Obama’s proposal, companies that create jobs in 2008 and 2009 would receive a $3,000 tax credit per worker. Families could withdraw 15 percent from IRA or 401(k) accounts, up to $10,000, without penalty. Families facing foreclosure would get a 90-day reprieve if they are working with finance companies taking part in the $700 billion rescue package Congress passed earlier this month, and if they are making a good-faith effort to pay their mortgages.
Finally, Obama would like the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department to create an agency to lend money to states and cities that are caught in the credit crunch.
Some of the proposals could be done under existing law, such as the foreclosure moratorium. Others, such as allowing workers to dip into retirement accounts, would require legislative action. Obama called on Congress to act immediately.
“If Washington can move quickly to pass a rescue plan for our financial system, there’s no reason we can’t move just as quickly to pass a rescue plan for our middle class that will create jobs and provide relief and help homeowners,” he said.
McCain campaigned Monday in Virginia, whose 13 electoral votes are up for grabs. The state has not gone Democratic in a presidential election since 1964, but recent polls have given Obama a lead varying from a few points to double digits.
Before a boisterous crowd in Virginia Beach, Va., and later in Wilmington, N.C., McCain offered a gloomy prognosis for the nation’s economy and argued in fierce language that he was a fighter more qualified than Obama to lead the nation.
In his Virginia speech, McCain repeatedly alluded to his 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. Seeking to present himself as a battle-tested candidate with the “scars to prove it,” he promised to fight for the well-being of the American people.
“We have to change direction now, and we have to fight. And you and I know how to do that,” McCain told the 10,000 to 12,000 people at the rally. “I’m not afraid of the fight; I’m ready for it.”
