TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Candidates Wary Of Bailout

ADVERTISEMENT

The New York Times

Published: September 23, 2008

SCRANTON, Pa. - Sen. John McCain struck a sharply more critical tone about the proposed federal bailout of the financial sector on Monday, calling for greater oversight of how the Treasury secretary administers the program because "when we're talking about a trillion dollars of taxpayer money, 'trust me' just isn't good enough."

Aides to McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, said it was too soon to say whether he would oppose the plan being hashed out by the Bush administration and Congress, noting that the final details had yet to be presented. But McCain repeated his calls to add several provisions that the administration has opposed, including a guarantee that taxpayer money would not be used to enrich the executives of failing companies.

Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, said in a speech in Green Bay, Wis., that officials should "work quickly, in a bipartisan fashion, to resolve the immediate crisis and avert an even broader economic catastrophe."

But he, too, warned that the proposal needed more oversight, as well as provisions to help homeowners and distressed communities, to ensure that it was not a "blank check to Washington."

The politics of the proposed $700 billion bailout, which calls for using taxpayer money to take distressed assets off the books of faltering financial firms, pose a challenge to both candidates.

Neither man wants to be seen as grandstanding or obstructing what both seem to agree is much-needed action to avert a wider economic crisis. But neither wants to be seen as too closely allied with a costly plan that some view as a rescue of Wall Street firms after they made risky investments.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT