McCain, Obama advisors spar over economy, taxes

Economics, tax cuts, social security and health care dominated a discussion held by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) today looking at how the next president will pay the nation’s bills. AARP, which is the nation’s largest lobbying organization, held the forum with policy advisors for both Senators McCain and Obama. The discussion was moderated by Wall Street Journal Economics Editor David Wessel and also featured Diane Lim Rogers from the Concord Coalition and John Rother with AARP.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Senior Policy Advisor with the McCain campaign wasted no time in attacking Sen. Obama for his health care proposal and how he would finance it. Holtz-Eakin said “Senator Obama has made the promise that every American should have health care comparable to Congress. That’s about $7,000 for an individual, $12,000 at the moment for a family plan. There are about 50 million uninsured if you multiply 7,000 times 50 million you get 350 billion dollars and that money has to come from somewhere and so far there is no explanation as to where.” Holtz-Eakin added that the Obama campaign needs to “show me the money.”

But Jeffrey Liebman with the Obama campaign stated that McCain’s plan is “bottom up economics.” In reference to the social security debate “Sen. Obama thinks that pay as you go social security is probably the greatest invention on the domestic side in history and it’s certainly not disgraceful,” said Liebman.

Liebman added that the McCain campaign put out an economic plan in which they said the Obama campaign cannot afford our benefit promises to seniors. But Liebman says that Obama “does believe we can choose to meet our benefit promises to seniors.” Liebman added that Obama believes the best way to handle social security is “in a bipartisan way,” and that the place to start in paying for it is “to have the people that can most afford it contribute more revenue.

In closing on a central campaign theme, Holtz-Earkin seemed to criticize both parties for failing to deliver results. “This country is not just tired of eight years of the Bush Administration. It is tired of a Congress that fails to deliver and it is tired of politicians who cannot rise above their party or narrow political ambitions to put the country first,” said Holtz-Earkin.