Campaign surrogates for Obama and McCain appeared on FTN with Bob Schieffer. Also appearing representing the 2 presidential candidates, Governor Tim Pawlenty and Governor Ed Rendell. Read the complete transcript.
SCHIEFFER: Well, when you talk about a stimulus package, are you talking about some sort of massive public works program like President Roosevelt put into effect during the Great Depression?
Or are you talking about something like we’ve seen recently where you just give people a check, a government check?
RUBIN; Bob, I would say it’s neither of the two, quite the way you described it. I think what we need to do is to have a very large program of -- and people have been talking -- some of the numbers around are $150 billion, perhaps more than that. And it should consist of -- and Senator Obama has talked a lot about this. In fact, he started talking about it a few months ago, and strongly advocated it, and I think rightly.
And it could consist of help for cities and states that are now running into difficulties, so they could continue with their programs.
It could have infrastructure in it, as long as the infrastructure is ready to go right now. Because these have to be programs that give you a very large return, in terms of economic demand relative to the cost, and also that go into effect very quickly.
But you could do all of that -- and it needs to be done in a very short period of time, in order to stimulate economic demand in a time of a weakening economy.
As I said a moment ago, it’s a measure that Senator Obama has been calling for, for a long time. And I think that you can combine that with the other kinds of measures I have just mentioned, and then an effective use of the remainder, which is the predominant part of that very large program that was put in place a little bit ago, $700 billion.
And I think you have an enormous aggregate of public policy. In addition, continued cooperation around the world is imperative.
[...]SCHIEFFER: All right. Well, Mr. Rubin, we want to thank you for joining us this morning.
We’re going to turn now to Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the McCain campaign senior policy adviser.
Let me just start where Mr. Rubin left off. Do you think it is going to be necessary to bail out, give more money to the auto industry?
HOLTZ-EAKIN: I think the top priority, the one that Senator McCain has endorsed, is to take the $25 billion that the Congress has already put out there for loans to build facilities for next- generation automobiles, the kinds of autos that will not only keep Detroit running but which will keep us from having to import so much oil, expose us to the dangers of international oil markets. That money needs to get out the door, and the top priority should be to get it out quickly, not take 18 months, which seems to be the current plan.
SCHIEFFER: What about Mr. Rubin’s idea that what we need is a big stimulus package, $150 billion? Where would McCain come down on that?
HOLTZ-EAKIN: I think if you step back, the real big difference in this crisis situation is sort of where do you place your faith? Do you place it in the institutions that have failed us, which quite frankly are in Washington and on Wall Street, or do you put the money in the places where we know we can get effective results? And John McCain has not advocated sticking the money into Wall Street banks and the like.
Let’s put the money into the housing market. That’s where this problem started. Let’s get people in mortgages they can afford. Let’s get the bad mortgages off the books, so there’s cash on those books and banks can make loans. And let’s take care of the small businesses.
A remarkable fact is that in this bad economy -- and let us stipulate that it is a very bad situation -- small businesses have created 331,000 jobs this year. Don’t raise taxes on them. Don’t make their lives harder. And, you know, let’s take care of the institutions, the small businesses, the home owners, that have been successful in America. And that’s the McCain strategy. SCHIEFFER: What about this idea, though, of a stimulus? Giving people a government check, some sort of a rebate? Or some sort of a public works project?
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