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McCain, Obama offer dueling ideas to save economy

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-11 13:21

WASHINGTON - John McCain and Barack Obama outlined steps to counter the faltering economy and plummeting stock market on Friday, fresh evidence of the dominant role of pocketbook issues in their race for the White House.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks during a rally at the Ross County Courthouse, Friday, October 10, 2008, in Chillicothe, Ohio. [Agencies]

McCain, lagging in the polls, called for legislation suspending a requirement that investors age 70 1/2 begin to liquidate their retirement accounts. "To spare investors from being forced to sell their stocks at just the time when the market is hurting the most, these rules should be suspended," the Republican presidential candidate said in a speech in LaCrosse, Wis.

It was the Republican's second proposal in three days to deal with economic woes, following his call for the government to buy bad home-loan mortgages and renegotiate them at a reduced price.

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Obama, who was campaigning in Chillicothe, Ohio, said he favors a temporary extension in an expiring tax break to let small businesses write off the cost of many new investments immediately, rather than over several years. He said he was making the proposal "because it's time to protect the jobs we have and to create the jobs of tomorrow by unlocking the drive, and ingenuity, and innovation of the American people."

The proposal would cover investments up to $250,000. Campaign officials put the cost to the Treasury at $900 million.

Aides said Obama also wants to extend the Small Business Administration's disaster loan program to help small businesses that cannot access other sources of capital, as well as eliminate fees on SBA loan guarantees and increase the size of loans that could be covered. They put the cost at $5 billion.

The presidential rivals outlined their proposals as retirement accounts continued to lose value and businesses struggled to obtain loans necessary to operate or expand.

Recent polling indicates Obama has surged to a lead in the campaign in the three weeks since the simmering credit crisis boiled over, and McCain has struggled to regain his footing. Surveys also show voters make the economy their top issue.

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