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John McCain shares a 75% similarity with your beliefs on Taxes and Budget
I oppose the use of public funds to prevent failing financial institutions like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and AIG from going bankrupt
Q: Was it a good idea for the federal government to intervene in Bear Stearns? Mr. McCain: I think we had to. American is in extremely difficult economic times. I agree with literally every expert on the economy. If Bear Stearns had collapsed it would have had a ripple effect in the market. And that’s why this latest mortgage crisis with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, are, excuse me, with the home loan mortgage people, is that we worry of the ripple effect of their collapse. And so, we’re going to have to contemplate what needs to be done now, We have a worsening economy. And I agree with Paulson, I agree with literally every economist in America that said that Bear Stearns, if they had collapsed, would have had a ripple effect, would have been very harmful to the American economy.
Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain indicated they will not stand in the way of the Bush administration's $700 billion rescue of U.S. financial markets, and each offered his own proposals for making it more palatable to voters: Obama laid out a plan to overhaul federal contracting and save an estimated $40 billion a year, while McCain proposed an oversight board to monitor the bailout.
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain called Monday for bipartisan oversight of the Bush Administration's proposed bailout of the U.S. financial markets. Campaigning in Scranton, Pa., McCain said the current plan makes him "deeply uncomfortable" because one man, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, would have control over all that money.
McCain has so far refused to publicly say whether he will support or oppose the final bailout plan in the Senate, even as he has made his objections to the package clear.
Republican presidential nominee John McCain on Tuesday renewed his insistence that the Bush administration's $700 billion bailout plan for U.S. financial markets ensure that "taxpayers' dollars don't line the pockets of executives."
Both presidential candidates intensified their efforts Tuesday to help push the financial bailout plan through Congress, lobbying skeptical lawmakers and warning publicly that a failure to act would cause a widespread economic crisis that would hurt regular people, not just financiers. Senators Barack Obama and John McCain both began the day suggesting a change in the bailout legislation to raise the federal insurance limit on bank deposits to $250,000 from $100,000, a move that had originally been sought by House Republicans, whose overwhelming opposition doomed the bill on Monday. And both men used their campaign appearances Tuesday to press for action in Congress.
Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain put their battleground campaigning temporarily on hold and returned to Washington on Wednesday to vote in favor of the $700 billion financial rescue package, the consequences of which will help frame the remainder of the fall presidential race.
I am neutral on an increase in taxes for the wealthiest Americans
"I voted to extend them because it would have the effect of having a tax increase. The tax cuts have increased revenues enormously. They've been very beneficial. The problem is that spending has lurched completely out of control. My proposal was to restrain spending. I do not support tax increases. And the effect of not making them permanent would have the effect of a tax increase."
Meet the Press: Meet the Candidates 2008 series May 13, 2007
Q: You opposed President Bush's 2001 tax cuts. Now you say you were wrong. How can you convince Republican voters you will push a Democratic Congress hard enough to make those tax cuts permanent? A: I didn't say that I was wrong. I said that the reason why I opposed those tax cuts was because we didn't rein in spending. And the fact is the tax cuts have dramatically increased revenues. If we don't make them permanent, then every business, farm and family in America will have to adjust their budgets to what is in effect a tax increase. In 2001, I proposed massive tax cuts, but I also proposed to rein in spending. Spending is out of control. We didn't lose the 2006 election because of the war in Iraq; we lost it because we in the Republican Party came to Washington to change government and government changed us. We let spending go out of control. We spent money like a drunken sailor, although I never knew a sailor drunk or sober with the imagination of my colleagues.
2007 Republican Debate in South Carolina May 15, 2007
I support tax cuts for middle-class families
"It is time to help hard-working Americans, and it is time to make sure Washington never stops working for them. I promise to take care of American families by cutting taxes for the middle class by $60 billion in a single year."
In 2000, McCain's tax cut plan was valued at $238 billion over five years; and $500 billion over 10 years. Its centerpiece is an expansion of the lowest income tax bracket, the 15% bracket, to cover higher incomes. Today, McCain says he supports the Bush tax cuts and has no plans to raise taxes, but refuses to sign a no-new taxes pledge. Under the plan, the ceiling for the 15% bracket would rise to $70,000 from $43,050 for married couples filing jointly, and to $35,000 from $25,750 for single taxpayers. The effect is to give a $3,504 tax cut to a couple with taxable income of $70,000 or more.
New York Times, p. 22 Feb 27, 2000