Monday, October 13, 2008

Presidential Economic Plans - A Fighter or Actual Ideas

I keep reading stories on the upcoming election and one of the big things undecided voters keep asking for is specifics on how each candidate is going to help them. Today both campaigns promised new plans and ideas on the economy. From CNN the McCain campaign had this to say:

Earlier Monday, McCain delivered a speech that a senior aide predicted would "begin a turnaround for the campaign."
On the new tone, the aide said the campaign decided to go "back to basics" with McCain on what he can offer.
McCain told voters Monday that they should elect him because "what America needs in this hour is a fighter."
"I will fight to take America in a new direction from my first day in office until my last. I'm not afraid of the fight, I'm ready for it," McCain said at a rally in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Word from the McCain campaign over the weekend had been that he would announce several economic proposals beginning today in the effort to turn around the campaign. Instead it appears Senator McCain has told America nothing more than the fact that we need a fighter.

Obama on the other hand delivered a speech on economic policy and outlined multiple points including:

Tax credits for companies creating jobs in the US
Eliminating penalties for 2008/2009 on withdrawals from 401k plans
A freeze on foreclosures for people acting in “good faith”

Obama’s plan is designed (according to his campaign) “to immediately to stabilize our financial system, provide relief to families and communities, and help struggling homeowners”.

Clearly the economy is on everybody’s mind and an 11% increase in the stock market today is not “stabilizing” by any stretch of the imagination. I would use the term volatile. At least one candidate is actually providing details on what they want to do (though I will say McCain did outline his mortgage plan).

Can either of these guys really help the economic situation? Not single-handed, but without a comprehensive plan, besides being a fighter we won’t see any improvement.
Check out more details at the links below:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/13/campaign.wrap/index.html

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