McCain advises Bush administration on next move

Following the House’s rejection of the Wall Street bailout bill, Sen. John McCain described a series of steps the administration could take to aid the economy. These suggestions included increasing the insurance for bank deposits to regain lost confidence, allowing the Treasury Department to borrow money and purchase mortgage backed securities, and using the exchange stabilization funds to temporarily support financial institutions while Congress reconvenes.

“All of this is focused on making sure that in the near term our economy continues to do as well as possible, and thus not incur further damage in the credit crunch,” said the McCain campaign’s Senior Economic Policy Advisor Doug Holtz-Eaken during a telephone conference.

Holtz-Eaken contrasted the goal with Sen. Obama’s plan which the campaign claims will endanger the economy by raising taxes on the small businesses that have been a source of new jobs despite the economic downturn and increasing spending by $3 trillion over the next decade.

“I don’t know of an economic theory on the face of this earth that would suggest raising tax rates on business, raising tax rates on small business, raising tax rates on investment capital would be a good idea at a time of severe financial strain,” said former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Jack Kemp.

“We need a pro-growth stimulus to make sure we don’t go into the depth of a deep recession, the likes of which would be caused by raising tax rates on investment capital at exactly the wrong time,” said Kemp.