Obama Comes Out Against McCain's Mortgage Plan!

[slinkerwink]

UPDATE: Here's the statement from the campaign's economic policy director, Jason Furman.

Senator McCain’s first response to this economic crisis was to say that the fundamentals of our economy are strong. Since then, he’s acknowledged that there is a crisis and offered multiple plans, sometimes conflicting. Last night, in his latest attempt to get it right, he threw out a proposal that appeared to give the Treasury authority it already has to re-structure troubled mortgages. But now that he’s finally released the details of his plan, it turns out it’s even more costly and out-of-touch than we ever imagined. John McCain wants the government to massively overpay for mortgages in a plan that would guarantee taxpayers lose money, and put them at risk of losing even more if home values don’t recover. The biggest beneficiaries of this plan will be the same financial institutions that got us into this mess, some of whom even committed fraud.

Since this beginning of this crisis, Barack Obama has demanded that any rescue plan must protect taxpayers and ensure that they share in any profit once the economy recovers, and he worked to include that principle in the plan that passed Congress. John McCain’s plan to overpay for bad mortgages by handing taxpayer dollars over to big financial institutions is erratic policy-making at its worst, and it’s not the change we need to strengthen our economy, create new jobs, and keep Americans in their homes.

[Eric J in MN]

1. How is McCain's plan different from Obama saying...

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"We should consider giving the government the authority to purchase mortgages directly instead of simply purchasing mortgage-backed securities."

- Obama, Sept. 24, 2008

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081008/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_mortgages

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[Connie_Corleone]

3. Probably has to do with the difference in the details.

[TwilightGardener]

2. Good.

[Bucky]

4. Is this a bid to bring Florida back into the McCain column?

Florida is the headquarters for much of the overly mortgaged speculative borrowing that runs through this crisis. Is McCain simply trying to buy off all those Florida speculators and every one of their panicked creditors? It seems like an insane and unworkable plan, but then again... it's a McCain plan!

[krkaufman]

5. Thank god. Thank you, Obama, for not doubling-down on McCain's pander.

McCain truly demonstrated his lack of understanding on the economy, thinking he could artificially create a "floor" on housing prices simply by buying-up some mortgages.