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McCain Plan Calls For Tax Cuts

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The Associated Press

Published: October 15, 2008

BLUE BELL, Pa. - Sen. John McCain, echoing both Sen. Barack Obama and Republican orthodoxy, proposed a $52.5 billion economic plan Tuesday that would eliminate taxes on unemployment benefits and cut the capital gains tax. He warned voters about taking a chance on his Democratic rival.

"Perhaps never before in history have the American people been asked to risk so much based on so little," McCain said of his opponent during a speech at a community college in this Philadelphia suburb.

The Arizona senator also promised that as president he would order the Treasury Department to guarantee 100 percent of all savings for six months. Such a guarantee, above the $250,000 now in force, would ease consumer fears of bank failures and restore "rational judgment to the choices of the market," he said.

McCain, who trails in the polls on economic issues, said, "The moment requires that government act. And as president I intend to act, quickly and decisively."

He said President Bush's $250 billion plan to buy shares in the nation's leading banks - advance word of which helped stocks soar on Monday - should be short-term and last only until the institutions are reformed and put on a sound footing again.

"When that is accomplished, government will relinquish its interest in these private companies. We're going to get the government out of the business of bailouts and equity stakes and back in the business of responsible regulation," he said.

More than 3.6 million Americans received unemployment benefits, according to the McCain campaign. If the government eliminated taxes on unemployment benefits, recipients would see an increase on average of nearly 10 percent, the campaign said.

McCain also called for cutting the tax rate on capital gains in half, down to 7.5 percent for two years.

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