Candidates fix-it plans for the economy
March 29, 2008 at 11:46PM
• Pledge $10 billion over five years to give basic retraining, adjustment and job search benefits to every worker who loses his or her job.
• Spend $2.5 billion over five years to expand federal grants for displaced workers and for on-the-job training programs for workers threatened by global competition.
• Provide $30 billion to help states and communities minimize foreclosures, expand the Federal Housing Administration's ability to guarantee restructured mortgages and protect mortgage companies from lawsuits when they modify mortgages.
BARACK OBAMA
• Create a Federal Housing Administration program to encourage lenders to buy or refinance problem mortgages; create 10 percent universal mortgage tax credit; allow bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages.
• Expand Federal Reserve oversight of financial institutions; raise capital and disclosure requirements; streamline regulatory agencies.
• Create a $10 billion foreclosure-prevention fund for homeowners; give $10 billion to state and local governments to prevent cuts in services; extend and expand unemployment insurance.
JOHN MCCAIN
• Allow natural market forces to work themselves out, along with more tax breaks to help fuel growth.
• Without providing bailouts for "speculators" in financial markets, help "those who belong in a home but are in the wrong mortgage," senior policy adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin said.
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While the focus was on Vice President Kamala Harris in their first media interview of the presidential campaign, Walz was asked if voters could take him at his word.
