US:PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES Barack Obama and John McCain yesterday gave a reluctant welcome to the deal between Congress and the White House to bail out financial institutions, writes Denis Stauntonin Oxford, Mississippi
Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain yesterday gave a reluctant welcome to the deal between Congress and the White House to bail out financial institutions.
"This is something that all of us will swallow hard and go forward with. The option of doing nothing is simply not an acceptable option," Mr McCain said.
Mr Obama said it was outrageous that taxpayers should have to bail out Wall Street but he sought to take some credit for securing congressional approval for the deal proposed by treasury secretary Hank Paulson.
"Here are the facts: For two weeks I was on the phone every day with secretary Paulson and the congressional leaders making sure that the principles that have been ultimately adopted were incorporated in the Bill," he said.
Mr McCain said the plan meets his demand for an oversight body to monitor the treasury secretary and limits the compensation of executives of financial institutions applying for loans.
"Let's get this deal done, signed by the president, and get moving, because the real effect of this is going to restore some confidence, and get some credit out there, and get the economic system moving again, which is basically in gridlock today," he said.
The candidates each claimed victory in Friday night's presidential debate at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, which saw stark contrasts in style and policy and sharp exchanges on key issues.
Neither candidate delivered a game-changing blow but each had powerful moments as Mr McCain stressed his knowledge and experience and Mr Obama presented himself as a more effective agent of change.
The debate was designed as a foreign policy forum but almost half of its 90 minutes were devoted to a discussion of economic policy in the light of the financial crisis facing the United States.
Mr Obama waited less than two minutes before criticising his opponent, linking Mr McCain to the economic policies the Democrat blamed for the current crisis.
"We also have to recognise that this is a final verdict on eight years of failed economic policies promoted by George Bush, supported by Senator McCain, a theory that basically says that we can shred regulations and consumer protections and give more and more to the most, and somehow prosperity will trickle down," he said.
Mr McCain turned the economic discussion into a debate on wasteful government spending and tax policy, identifying Ireland's corporate tax rate as a model for the US.
"Right now, the United States of American business pays the second-highest business taxes in the world, 35 per cent. Ireland pays 11 per cent," he said (underestimating the Irish rate by 1.5 per cent). Mr Obama's most effective moment came after Mr McCain accused him of showing poor judgment in opposing the troop surge in Iraq, which the Republican credited with turning around the US military campaign there.
"John, you like to pretend like the war started in 2007. You talk about the surge. The war started in 2003, and at the time when the war started, you said it was going to be quick and easy. You said we knew where the weapons of mass destruction were. You were wrong," Mr Obama said.
The two men showed contrasting styles as well as policies, with Mr Obama addressing many of his remarks directly to his opponent, whom he often called by his first name. Mr McCain refused to look at the Democrat, even when he was attacking the man he consistently referred to as Senator Obama.
After the debate, both campaigns claimed victory, although instant polls for the television networks gave Mr Obama an edge.