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3rd Presidential Debate: Transcript (10-15-08)

The third presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain was held at Hofstra University in Hempstead,NY. Read the complete transcript.

McCain: No. I would like to mention that a couple days ago Sen. Obama was out in Ohio and he had an encounter with a guy who's a plumber, his name is Joe Wurzelbacher.

Joe wants to buy the business that he has been in for all of these years, worked 10, 12 hours a day. And he wanted to buy the business but he looked at your tax plan and he saw that he was going to pay much higher taxes.

You were going to put him in a higher tax bracket which was going to increase his taxes, which was going to cause him not to be able to employ people, which Joe was trying to realize the American dream.

Now Sen. Obama talks about the very, very rich. Joe, I want to tell you, I'll not only help you buy that business that you worked your whole life for and be able -- and I'll keep your taxes low and I'll provide available and affordable health care for you and your employees.

And I will not have -- I will not stand for a tax increase on small business income. Fifty percent of small business income taxes are paid by small businesses. That's 16 million jobs in America. And what you want to do to Joe the plumber and millions more like him is have their taxes increased and not be able to realize the American dream of owning their own business.

Schieffer: Is that what you want to do?

McCain: That's what Joe believes.

Obama: He has been watching ads of Sen. McCain's. Let me tell you what I'm actually going to do. I think tax policy is a major difference between Sen. McCain and myself. And we both want to cut taxes, the difference is who we want to cut taxes for.

Now, Sen. McCain, the centerpiece of his economic proposal is to provide $200 billion in additional tax breaks to some of the wealthiest corporations in America. Exxon Mobil, and other oil companies, for example, would get an additional $4 billion in tax breaks.

What I've said is I want to provide a tax cut for 95 percent of working Americans, 95 percent. If you make more -- if you make less than a quarter million dollars a year, then you will not see your income tax go up, your capital gains tax go up, your payroll tax. Not one dime.

And 95 percent of working families, 95 percent of you out there, will get a tax cut. In fact, independent studies have looked at our respective plans and have concluded that I provide three times the amount of tax relief to middle-class families than Sen. McCain does.

Now, the conversation I had with Joe the plumber, what I essentially said to him was, "Five years ago, when you were in a position to buy your business, you needed a tax cut then."

And what I want to do is to make sure that the plumber, the nurse, the firefighter, the teacher, the young entrepreneur who doesn't yet have money, I want to give them a tax break now. And that requires us to make some important choices.

The last point I'll make about small businesses. Not only do 98 percent of small businesses make less than $250,000, but I also want to give them additional tax breaks, because they are the drivers of the economy. They produce the most jobs.

McCain: You know, when Sen. Obama ended up his conversation with Joe the plumber -- we need to spread the wealth around. In other words, we're going to take Joe's money, give it to Sen. Obama, and let him spread the wealth around.

I want Joe the plumber to spread that wealth around. You told him you wanted to spread the wealth around.

The whole premise behind Sen. Obama's plans are class warfare, let's spread the wealth around. I want small businesses -- and by the way, the small businesses that we're talking about would receive an increase in their taxes right now.

Who -- why would you want to increase anybody's taxes right now? Why would you want to do that, anyone, anyone in America, when we have such a tough time, when these small business people, like Joe the plumber, are going to create jobs, unless you take that money from him and spread the wealth around.

I'm not going to...

Obama: OK. Can I...

McCain: We're not going to do that in my administration.

Obama: If I can answer the question. Number one, I want to cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans. Now, it is true that my friend and supporter, Warren Buffett, for example, could afford to pay a little more in taxes in order...

McCain: We're talking about Joe the plumber.

Obama: ... in order to give -- in order to give additional tax cuts to Joe the plumber before he was at the point where he could make $250,000.

Then Exxon Mobil, which made $12 billion, record profits, over the last several quarters, they can afford to pay a little more so that ordinary families who are hurting out there -- they're trying to figure out how they're going to afford food, how they're going to save for their kids' college education, they need a break.

So, look, nobody likes taxes. I would prefer that none of us had to pay taxes, including myself. But ultimately, we've got to pay for the core investments that make this economy strong and somebody's got to do it.

McCain: Nobody likes taxes. Let's not raise anybody's taxes. OK?

Obama: Well, I don't mind paying a little more.

McCain: The fact is that businesses in America today are paying the second highest tax rate of anywhere in the world. Our tax rate for business in America is 35 percent. Ireland, it's 11 percent.

Where are companies going to go where they can create jobs and where they can do best in business?

We need to cut the business tax rate in America. We need to encourage business.

Now, of all times in America, we need to cut people's taxes. We need to encourage business, create jobs, not spread the wealth around.

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McCain Speech on Economics: Transcript (10-14-08)

Read the complete transcript of John McCain's speech given in Pennsylvania. In the speech he makes some proposals to help the economy.

If I am elected president, I will help to create jobs for Americans in the most effective way a president can do this - with tax cuts that are directed specifically to create jobs, and protect your life savings. I will stand up to the corrupt ways of Washington, the wasteful spending and the abuses of power and I will end these abuses, whatever it takes. I will lead reforms to help families keep their homes, and retirees to keep their savings, and college students to pay their tuition, and every citizen to afford health care, and America to reclaim its energy independence. These will be my priorities. We cannot spend the next four years as we have spent much of the last eight: waiting for our luck to change. The hour is late and our troubles are getting worse. We have to act immediately. We have to change direction now. We have to fight.

That is what I will do in my term as president, and when I leave office I can promise you that this nation will not be on the same path it is today. I will not play along with the same Washington games and gimmicks that got us into this terrible mess in the first place. I am going to Washington to fight for you.

I will begin by making certain that the 700 billion dollars already committed to economic recovery is not used to further enrich the very people and institutions that invited these troubles with their own reckless conduct. Instead of just propping up institutions deemed "too big to fail" in this crisis, we will use more of this public money to help businesses and homeowners that may be too small to survive.

This financial crisis started with our housing crisis, and we cannot fix our markets and the economy until we fix the housing crisis. My plan will protect the value of your home and get it rising again by buying up bad mortgages and refinancing them so if your neighbor defaults he doesn't bring down the value of your house with him. I will direct the government to refinance troubled mortgages for homeowners and replace them with mortgages they can afford. This is what we did during the Great Depression and we can do it again. Helping families who face default, foreclosure, and possible bankruptcy helps all homeowners, and will begin the process of recovery from this crisis. With so much on the line, the moment requires that government act - and as president I intend to act, quickly and decisively.

When the government does provide funds to shore up companies, the terms will be demanding, there will be complete transparency and the safety net for our financial system will not become a golden parachute for failed executives. Moreover, we will not merely inject billions of dollars into companies and walk away hoping for the best. We will require that those companies be reformed and restructured until they are sound assets again, and can be sold at no loss - or perhaps even a profit - to the taxpayers of America.

And when that is accomplished, in each instance, government will relinquish its interest in these private companies. We're going to get government out of the business of bailouts and equity stakes, and back in the business of responsible regulation. We will learn from this crisis to prevent the next one, with much stricter oversight. No more wild overleveraging, no more liabilities concealed from the public and from shareholders, no more bundling of assets to maximize profit by assuming insane risks. Those days are over on Wall Street. With new rules of public disclosure and accounting, my reforms will make certain these betrayals of shareholders and the public trust are never repeated.

We must restore trust to our financial system. On my orders, the Department of the Treasury will guarantee one hundred percent of all savings accounts for a period of six months. This will calm the understandable fears of widespread bank failure, while also restoring rational judgment to the choices of the market.

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Bush Speech on the Economic Plan: Transcript (10-14-08)

Read below the text of Bush's remarks on his plans for the economy.

Good morning. I just completed a meeting with my working group on financial markets. We discussed the unprecedented and aggressive steps the federal government is taking to address the financial crisis. Over the past few weeks, my administration has worked with both parties in Congress to pass a financial rescue plan. Federal agencies have moved decisively to shore up struggling institutions and stabilize our markets. And the United States has worked with partners around the world to coordinate our actions to get our economies back on track.

This weekend, I met with finance ministers from the G-7 and the G-20 - organizations representing some of the world's largest and fastest-growing economies. We agreed on a coordinated plan for action to provide new liquidity, strengthen financial institutions, protect our citizens' savings and ensure fairness and integrity in the markets. Yesterday, leaders in Europe moved forward with this plan. They announced significant steps to inject capital into their financial systems by purchasing equity in major banks. And they announced a new effort to jump-start lending by providing temporary government guarantees for bank loans. These are wise and timely actions, and they have the full support of the United States.

Today, I am announcing new measures America is taking to implement the G-7 action plan and strengthen banks across our country.

First, the federal government will use a portion of the $700 billion financial rescue plan to inject capital into banks by purchasing equity shares. This new capital will help healthy banks continue making loans to businesses and consumers. And this new capital will help struggling banks fill the hole created by losses during the financial crisis, so they can resume lending and help spur job creation and economic growth. This is an essential short-term measure to ensure the viability of America's banking system. And the program is carefully designed to encourage banks to buy these shares back from the government when the markets stabilize and they can raise capital from private investors.

Second, and effective immediately, the FDIC will temporarily guarantee most new debt issued by insured banks. This will address one of the central problems plaguing our financial system - banks have been unable to borrow money, and that has restricted their ability to lend to consumers and businesses. When money flows more freely between banks, it will make it easier for Americans to borrow for cars, and homes, and for small businesses to expand.

Third, the FDIC will immediately and temporarily expand government insurance to cover all non-interest-bearing transaction accounts. These accounts are used primarily by small businesses to cover day-to-day operations. By insuring every dollar in these accounts, we will give small business owners peace of mind and bring stability to the - and bring greater stability to the banking system.

Fourth, the Federal Reserve will soon finalize work on a new program to serve as a buyer of last resort for commercial paper. This is a key source of short-term financing for American businesses and financial institutions. And by unfreezing the market for commercial paper, the Federal Reserve will help American businesses meet payroll, and purchase inventory, and invest to create jobs.

In a few moments, Secretary Paulson and other members of my Working Group on Financial Markets will explain these steps in greater detail. They will make clear that each of these new programs contains safeguards to protect the taxpayers. They will make clear that the government's role will be limited and temporary. And they will make clear that these measures are not intended to take over the free market, but to preserve it.

The measures I have announced today are the latest steps in this systematic approach to address the crisis. I know Americans are deeply concerned about the stress in our financial markets, and the impact it is having on their retirement accounts, and 401(k)s, and college savings, and other investments. I recognize that the action leaders are taking here in Washington and in European capitals can seem distant from those concerns. But these efforts are designed to directly benefit the American people by stabilizing our overall financial system and helping our economy recover.

It will take time for our efforts to have their full impact, but the American people can have confidence about our long-term economic future. We have a strategy that is broad, that is flexible, and that is aimed at the root cause of our problem. Nations around the world are working together to overcome this challenge. And with confidence and determination, we will return our economies to the path of growth and prosperity.

Meet The Press Transcript (10-12-08)

Read the complete transcript.

GOV. JON CORZINE (D-NJ): The answer to that has to be, unfortunately, yes. When you have destruction of value that we've seen, $8 trillion from the high of the stock market a year ago, 4 trillion in the last 10 days, people understand that they've lost protection of their retirement savings and other things, and that erodes confidence. And so they're going to spend less and be a little less proactive about how they go out and spend scarce dollars. And that's going to hurt the economy, slows production, has an unfortunate negative impact that I think has yet to be fully appreciated in the real economy. We've seen, obviously, the decline in homes, but now I think you're going to see rising levels of unemployment, unfortunately, and that, that's, that's a real problem as we go ahead in the months ahead.

MR. BROKAW: Congressman, do you see any light at the end of the tunnel?

[...]GOV. CORZINE: Well, I agree with the idea that we ought to stabilize housing prices. I don't agree with the idea that we ought to be bailing out the banks that made the loans, as I think Rob would recognize on Tuesday night when Senator McCain talked about a program to bail out the mortgages. That, that sounded good, that was part of the $700 billion program to start with. On Tuesday, he came out with a program that said that we're going to pay the full value for those mortgages, bailing out the banks that actually made those loans. I think that's a horrible idea. The taxpayers will end up underwriting it. What we need to do is restructure mortgages. There's a couple of ways to do that, change the bankruptcy laws or you could actually buy mortgages at their market value today and then go in and restructure them with the individuals. And yes, we ought to be stabilizing housing prices. I think actually we could even buy houses, like they did back in the--in the '30s under the RFC program, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. But the way that Senator McCain has done it is sort of really messed up on how it would actually impact folks.

[...]GOV. CORZINE: Now is the time for steady leadership. We can't have a new economic program each morning we wake up. That's what's been going on. Unfortunately, with regard to how the bailout package was put together and the whole structure in Washington, and it's certainly the case with Senator McCain's various proposals. This mortgage program that we talked about was included in the Frank-Dodd proposal, it was included in the $700 billion, and there have been changes; but it is still the basic, we ought to help mortgages. Now we're coming up with a new plan. What Senator Obama has talked about and is absolutely is essential is make sure that we use thoughtfully this $700 billion, including, by the way, investing in banks. Direct investment will stabilize--they call it recapitalization--stabilize the banks. Then he has talked about let's make sure that we have middle class tax cuts. He's been talking about that for months. Ninety-five percent of the folks, about 90 percent will get tax cuts, 95 will get no increases, including on capital gains above--below $250,000.

And then, what is maybe most important, we need a real economic stimulus. We're in what you call a liquidity trap. You can, you can, you can lead a horse to water, but it doesn't drink. Right now nobody has confidence to do things. We need to be putting demand into the system. That means infrastructure--build highways, build schools, build our energy system so that we can actually create jobs, get people back to work.

Obama Economic Speech: Transcript (10-13-08)

Read the full transcript and video.

We meet at a moment of great uncertainty for America. The economic crisis we face is the worst since the Great Depression. Markets across the globe have become increasingly unstable, and millions of Americans will open up their 401(k) statements this week and see that so much of their hard-earned savings have disappeared.

The credit crisis has left businesses large and small unable to get loans, which means they can’t buy new equipment, or hire new workers, or even make payroll for the workers they have. You’ve got auto plants right here in Ohio that have been around for decades closing their doors and laying off workers who’ve never known another job in their entire life.

760,000 workers have lost their jobs this year. Unemployment here in Ohio is up 85% over the last eight years, which is the highest it’s been in sixteen years. You’ve lost one of every four manufacturing jobs, the typical Ohio family has seen their income fall $2,500, and it’s getting harder and harder to make the mortgage, or fill up your gas tank, or even keep the electricity on at the end of the month. At this rate, the question isn’t just “are you better off than you were four years ago?”, it’s “are you better off than you were four weeks ago?”

I know these are difficult times. I know folks are worried. But I also know this – we can steer ourselves out of this crisis. Because we are the United States of America. We are the country that has faced down war and depression; great challenges and great threats. And at each and every moment, we have risen to meet these challenges – not as Democrats, not as Republicans, but as Americans.

We still have the most talented, most productive workers of any country on Earth. We’re still home to innovation and technology, colleges and universities that are the envy of the world. Some of the biggest ideas in history have come from our small businesses and our research facilities. It won’t be easy, but there’s no reason we can’t make this century another American century.

But it will take a new direction. It will take new leadership in Washington. It will take a real change in the policies and politics of the last eight years. And that’s why I’m running for President of the United States of America.

My opponent has made his choice. Last week, Senator McCain’s campaign announced that they were going to “turn the page” on the discussion about our economy so they can spend the final weeks of this election attacking me instead. His campaign actually said, and I quote, “if we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.” Well Senator McCain may be worried about losing an election, but I’m worried about Americans who are losing their jobs, and their homes, and their life savings. They can’t afford four more years of the economic theory that says we should give more and more to millionaires and billionaires and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. We’ve seen where that’s led us and we’re not going back. It’s time to turn the page.

Over the course of this campaign, I’ve laid out a set of policies that will grow our middle-class and strengthen our economy in the long-term. I’ll reform our tax code so that 95% of workers and their families get a tax cut, and eliminate income taxes for seniors making under $50,000. I’ll bring down the cost of health care for families and businesses by investing in preventative care, new technology, and giving every American the chance to get the same kind of health insurance that members of Congress give themselves. We’ll ensure every child can compete in the global economy by recruiting an army of new teachers and making college affordable for anyone who wants to go. We’ll create five million new, high-wage jobs by investing in the renewable sources of energy that will eliminate the oil we currently import from the Middle East in ten years, and we’ll create two million jobs by rebuilding our crumbling roads, schools, and bridges.

But that’s a long-term strategy for growth. Right now, we face an immediate economic emergency that requires urgent action. We can’t wait to help workers and families and communities who are struggling right now – who don’t know if their job or their retirement will be there tomorrow; who don’t know if next week’s paycheck will cover this month’s bills. We need to pass an economic rescue plan for the middle-class and we need to do it now. Today I’m proposing a number of steps that we should take immediately to stabilize our financial system, provide relief to families and communities, and help struggling homeowners. It’s a plan that begins with one word that’s on everyone’s mind, and it’s spelled J-O-B-S.

McCain Speech in Virginia Beach: Transcript (10-13-08)

Read the complete transcript of McCain's speech. He avoids being too negative.

Three weeks from now, you will choose a new President. Choose well. There is much at stake.

These are hard times. Our economy is in crisis. Financial markets are collapsing. Credit is drying up. Your savings are in danger. Your retirement is at risk. Jobs are disappearing. The cost of health care, your children's college, gasoline and groceries are rising all the time with no end in sight. While your most important asset -- your home -- is losing value every day.

Americans are fighting in two wars. We face many enemies in this dangerous world, and they are waiting to see if our current troubles will permanently weaken us.

The next President won't have time to get used to the office. He won't have the luxury of studying up on the issues before he acts. He will have to act immediately. And to do that, he will need experience, courage, judgment and a bold plan of action to take this country in a new direction. We cannot spend the next four years as we have spent much of the last eight: waiting for our luck to change. The hour is late; our troubles are getting worse; our enemies watch. We have to act immediately. We have to change direction now. We have to fight.

I've been fighting for this country since I was seventeen years old, and I have the scars to prove it. If I'm elected President, I will fight to take America in a new direction from my first day in office until my last. I'm not afraid of the fight, I'm ready for it.

I'm not going to spend $700 billion dollars of your money just bailing out the Wall Street bankers and brokers who got us into this mess. I'm going to make sure we take care of the people who were devastated by the excesses of Wall Street and Washington. I'm going to spend a lot of that money to bring relief to you, and I'm not going to wait sixty days to start doing it.

I have a plan to protect the value of your home and get it rising again by buying up bad mortgages and refinancing them so if your neighbor defaults he doesn't bring down the value of your house with him.

I have a plan to let retirees and people nearing retirement keep their money in their retirement accounts longer so they can rebuild their savings.

I have a plan to rebuild the retirement savings of every worker.

I have a plan to hold the line on taxes and cut them to make America more competitive and create jobs here at home.

Raising taxes makes a bad economy much worse. Keeping taxes low creates jobs, keeps money in your hands and strengthens our economy.

The explosion of government spending over the last eight years has put us deeper in debt to foreign countries that don't have our best interests at heart. It weakened the dollar and made everything you buy more expensive.

If I'm elected President, I won't spend nearly a trillion dollars more of your money, on top of the $700 billion we just gave the Treasury Secretary, as Senator Obama proposes. Because he can't do that without raising your taxes or digging us further into debt. I'm going to make government live on a budget just like you do.

I will freeze government spending on all but the most important programs like defense, veterans care, Social Security and health care until we scrub every single government program and get rid of the ones that aren't working for the American people. And I will veto every single pork barrel bill Congresses passes.

If I'm elected President, I won't fine small businesses and families with children, as Senator Obama proposes, to force them into a new huge government run health care program, while I keep the cost of the fine a secret until I hit you with it. I will bring down the skyrocketing cost of health care with competition and choice to lower your premiums, and make it more available to more Americans. I'll make sure you can keep the same health plan if you change jobs or leave a job to stay home.

FOX News Sunday Transcript (10-12-08)

Read the complete transcript.

PENNSYLVANIA GOV. ED RENDELL: Well, I think the message in Pennsylvania — and I think it's a national message — should be to the McCain campaign, "Look, before the economic crisis, this was a two-point race in Pennsylvania. Since the economic crisis has happened, it's blown out to 13 points."

Now, Chris, I don't believe it's a 13-point race. I believe it's tighter than that. But certainly, Senator Obama has lengthened his lead, and that should be a clear message to the McCain campaign that these personal attacks that — he's trying to describe Senator Obama as risky, or we don't know enough about him, or whatever it is — they are not working, because when the economy's in crisis, people want real answers.

Mr. Davis once said about a month ago that this campaign isn't about issues. Well, maybe that was the case before the economic meltdown. But now with the economic meltdown, it is about issues, and people want to hear what the candidates are doing.

And Senator Obama has performed far better than Senator McCain the last five weeks.

[...]PAWLENTY: Well, I think it is a fair question, Chris, to look at not only his associations, as it's been called, with people like William Ayres and others, but, you know, is he being forthcoming about the depth and scope of those relationships. And that's not the — you know, that's not the point that's been featured in these discussions.

You know, the fact of the matter is Barack Obama's political campaign in Illinois appears to have been launched in Bill Ayres' living room. And so has he been truthful about that? Has he been forthcoming about that?

But beyond all of that, to the point you raise, I don't think the country is going to like the Democratic Party running the table on taxes, on education, on health care, and have kind of the liberal unchecked imbalanced approach to all of those issues. It's going to be bad for the country.

I think having John McCain as president to balance that out and be able to work across the aisle, as he has throughout his career, to get things done would be a good compromise, a good balance.

WALLACE: Governor Rendell, don't middle-of-the-road swing voters have legitimate reason to worry about where an Obama White House and a Pelosi House and a Harry Reid Senate, possibly with a veto-proof majority, would take the country?

RENDELL: No, I don't think so, Chris, at all, and let me tell you why. I think Americans know we need our government to respond and respond quickly to the challenges we're facing, like the economy, like what's happening abroad, like the health care crisis in this country.

And I think they see the opportunity for a cohesive government to do something about that.

Let me tell you what a divided government does. Governor Pawlenty and I were the chairman and vice chairman of the National Governors Association together, and Tim was the chair and I was the vice chair.

We were trying to get the Congress to override the president's veto of the extension of the Children's Health Care Program. We couldn't get the override done, and as a result, 9 million children in this country are not going to get health care unless we can reverse that decision.

And that was because we had a divided government with two different philosophical views of things which couldn't mesh. You can talk about reaching across the aisle all you want, but on that, it was pure philosophy.

I want to say two things, if I can, about what Tim said. Number one, he called Senator Obama a rookie. I think you'll agree, Chris, that in those two debates with Senator McCain, Senator Obama looked anything but a rookie.

And then secondly, Tim talked about taxes. Well, the American people are finally getting the truth about taxes, and that is if you're a family that earns less than $250,000, not only is Senator Obama not going to raise your taxes, he's going to give you a bigger tax cut than Senator McCain will.

Obama Speech Columbus, Ohio: Transcript (10-10-08)

Read the complete transcript. Excerpts below:

• There are many causes of this crisis, and it's very important that we respond using all the tools that we have. So I'm encouraged that the Treasury is considering dramatic steps to provide more capital into our financial institutions so they have money to lend to businesses large and small. This is not a time for ideology; this is a time for common sense. This is a time for the politics of pragmatism. The test of an idea can't be whether it's liberal or conservative, the test should be whether it works for the American people and for American business. (Cheers, applause.) That's what we should be focused on in the days and week ahead.
• You know, even as we face the most serious economic crisis of our time, even as you're worried about keeping your jobs or paying your bills or staying in your home, my opponent's campaign announced last week that they plan to -- I'm quoting them now -- "turn the page" on the discussion of our economy -- (boos) -- so they can spend the final weeks of this election attacking me instead. (Boos.) Senator McCain's campaign actually said, and I quote, "if we keep talking about the economic crisis, we are going to lose." (Cheers.) So in the last couple of days, we've seen a barrage of nasty insinuations and attacks. I'm sure we're see a lot more of that over the next 25 days. We know what's coming. We know what they're going to do.

• Now, I know John McCain's worried about his campaign, but that's not what I'm worrying about. I'm thinking about Americans losing their jobs and their homes and their life savings. I'm worried about folks who started off with a 401(k) and now they've got a 101(k). (Laughter.) We can't afford four more years of the same economic theories that -- that says we should give more and more to those with the most -- the billionaires and the millionaires, the CEOs -- (boos) -- and the executives, and that somehow prosperity trickles down on everybody else. We can't afford four more years of stripping away regulations so that no one in Washington is watching -- watching anybody on Wall Street.

  We've seen where that leads us and we are not going back. It is time to move forward. It is time to take a new road with a new driver. (Cheers, applause.)

• Now, I repeat, we need to do more to help innocent homebuyers. That's why I've worked on a serious proposals over the past two years to do just that. But we have to do it in a responsible way. That means making sure that we're not overpaying for these mortgages, letting the banks off the hook, rewarding the very lenders whose recklessness helped cause this crisis. It means giving taxpayers a share of the benefits when the housing market recovers. It means cracking down on predatory lenders by treating mortgage fraud like the crime that it is. (Cheers, applause.)

  We also have to make sure that if the Treasury moves forward with its plan to put more money into struggling banks, that taxpayers will be able to get their money back, and the CEOs who contributed to this crisis will not get rich at our expense. (Cheers, applause.)

• This is going to start with a nationwide program to provide affordable, fixed-rate loans to small businesses across the country. We can run this through the SBA's Disaster Loan Program, provides loans to small-business owners, and they will get the help they need to maintain their inventory and meet their payroll. But we'll also make it easier for private lenders to make small-business loans by expanding the SBA's loan guarantee program. And by temporarily eliminating fees for borrowers and lenders, we can unlock the credit that small firms need to move forward, to pay their workers, to grow their businesses.

  And just as we make lending more available, we have to relieve the tax burden on small businesses help create jobs. That's why I've proposed eliminating all capital gains taxes on investments in small businesses and startups. (Cheers, applause.) That's why I'm proposing an additional temporary business tax incentive through next year to encourage new investments, because it is time to protect the jobs we have and to create the jobs of tomorrow by unlocking the drive and the ingenuity and the innovation of the American people. That's what I intend to do when I'm president, bottom-up economic growth. (Cheers, applause.) Bottom-up economic growth.

SNL Spoofs 2nd Presidential Debate: Transcript, Video (10-9-08)

This is the latest in the series spoofing the presidential campaign by Saturday Night Live. This a Thursday special segment of 'Weekend Update.' This time they go after John McCain, Barack Obama, and Tom Brokaw, during the second president debate held Tuesday.

Read the complete transcript

CHRIS PARNELL AS TOM BROKAW: "Good evening, and welcome
to Belmont University, in Nashville, Tennessee, for the second in a series of three Presidential debates, between Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, and, Senator John McCain of Arizona. I'm Tom Brokaw, of NBC News, and I will be your moderator this evening. Tonight's debate will follow a town hall format, with questions submitted by the eighty undecided voters in our audience, as well as thousands more sent in via email. From this enormous list of penetrating, insightful, and provocative questions, I have chosen the eight least interesting. For each question, the candidates will be allowed a twenty-five second response, and, at my discretion, a three second follow-up. These are the rules both campaigns agreed upon. Our first question, is for Senator Obama, and it comes from Elizabeth Wheeler."

CASEY WILSON: "Senator Obama. Over the last few weeks, the financial crisis which began with home foreclosures has threatened to wreck the entire economy. As President, how would you deal with this?"

FRED ARMISEN AS SEN. BARACK OBAMA: "First of all, Elizabeth, thank you for that question. There is no doubt, that after eight years of failed Republican policies, policies which Senator McCain supported, this economy is a shambles. But let me tell you, and the American people, one thing I absolutely promise..."

PARNELL AS BROKAW: "Time's up. Senator McCain?"

HAMMOND AS SEN. MCCAIN: "Elizabeth, to find any solution to this economic mess, we're going to have to put aside partisanship. Something my opponent -- this character here -- isn't very good at. But I've done my whole career. You know, my friends I'm not the most popular guy in my own party. Just ask Senator Trent Lott. I took his car one time without asking, and totaled it. Just drove it into a wall, and walked away. So I'm not going to win any popularity contests among Republicans. But, Maria, when it comes to the economy, here's what I'd do. It's very simple..."

PARNELL AS BROKAW: Your time is up.

The Economic Collapse: I Hate to Say I Told you So

I have argued for many years that stock market crashes are part of the nature of the beast. Speculative bubbles will always end the same way, unless we change the system by eliminating speculation. The stock market should be for the purpose of investment. I have already offered my solution. But it could be late to prevent what seems an inevitable economic collapse as happened in 1929. The politicians (including Obama and McCain) have failed us, again. It is time for the people to take over. The alternative is economic abyss.

Here are my previous posts predicting economic collapse:
March 17, 2006:

The Congress and Bush have given us the biggest prize of all: historic debt and deficits. The problem with all this debt is that eventually someone will come around demanding payment. Since we have no savings the money has to be borrowed. This raises interest rates which makes of our currency more vulnerable. Take your choice hyper-inflation or recession (depression). Then what?

You can't have a disastrous war while running historic deficits. It didn't work during the Vietnam War. It won't work now. The only difference back then is that we didn't have a destroyed manufacturing base. Its all being shipped abroad; everything is being imported. We are broke as a nation. We are also broke morally as well since we have allowed criminal politicians to put us in this position.

July 4th 2006:

We could be on the verge of a financial collapse in the United States. As interest on the national debt continues to rise this could mean a collapse of the dollar causing a defaulting on our massive debt problem. This was the conclusion of Robert Scott, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute think tank, who appeared on C-Span this morning.

[...]It is a terrible and disgraceful mess that we've gotten ourselves in. And where is the outrage. Where are the politicians and the media (apart from C-Span) in sounding the alarm. Already we've seen our national savings rates at the lowest levels since the Great Depression. There is that word -- depression. We are already seeing repercussions in the case of the government shutdown in New Jersey. Expect to see more of that. We have a President and Congress running up obscene deficits to pay for the quagmire in Iraq. There is nothing left over to pay for essential services. We are already seeing a rise in the crime rate because there are less police and prisons to go around. Our roads and bridges are going un-repaired. And if we have another Katrina disaster (not to mention terrorist attack), which is likely, we won't be able to help the victims. This is the awful reality on this July 4th. I fear for my country.

February 1st, 2007:

The reality is that we are going broke as a nation. And its only a matter of time before the whole thing comes crashing down as it did in the 1930s.

February 28th 2007:

Is This 1929 all Over Again?

[...]We did not learn from Vietnam War and so we are repeating the same mistake. In July of 2001 this blogger (I was not a blogger then, but I did have a message board) warned about a "disaster" without realizing what exactly would happen. I have argued since 9-11 that we have not learned from that terrible day. We are still a decadent society, a nation of spectators. We sit around and watch a disastrous war on TV started by a President who has stepped on constitutional freedoms. It is happening with little protest or outrage. Now we could be facing a crisis that was inevitable: a stock market crash. And its happening because we didn't think about it (just as with 9-11). But history tells us stock markets crash. And since we learned nothing from 1929 we are doomed to repeat the same mistake.

December 16, 2007:

Greenspan: U.S. Moving Closer to Recession[...]I'm more worried about a depression.

January 16, 2008:

It is getting very dangerous. This could easily snowball into a panic (I won't use the d-word). We need to wake up. There are very serious problems with the U.S. economy, and that impacts the rest of the world markets.

- There is only one solution. Only 'We The People' can solve the problem. We have a political system that works on behalf of small economic/political elite. It is up to you to take back what belongs to you. The alternative is to perish. Begin today to fight back.

Palin Interviewed by FOX's Greta Van Susteren: Transcript (10-9-08)

Read the complete transcript.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right. So let's take those topics. First of all, take energy independence. You're in favor of drilling in ANWR, right?

PALIN: Yes.

VAN SUSTEREN: And I know that Senator McCain isn't. You're going to work on him, I heard you say, because you two will talk about that. How do you handle this issue? There's a lot of people in the lower 48 don't want to drill. People in Alaska do want to drill a lot. How -- as you as vice president, how do you reconcile that? Because the job as governor of Alaska is a little different. You represent people of Alaska. The vice president, it's everybody.

PALIN: Well, remember, too, as VP, you are there to support the president's initiatives and agendas. So that would be my role there, and that's why I say, you know, we'll have some healthy debate and good conversation about where drilling should be allowed.

But the nice thing is, even with ANWR, John McCain hasn't asked me to check my opinions at the door. He does want to discuss that issue and other issues. And we have the "all of the above" approach towards energy independence that we do agree on. He understands, too. We can't have just a little bit of here and there solutions plugged in to get us out of this energy crisis. It does need to be all of the above, with the drilling and offshore, the alternative sources of energy and the conservation all tied in together. And we agree on the big picture there.

VAN SUSTEREN: Why do you think we haven't had more development in the alternatives? Because I remember back in the early '70s, we had gas lines. Everybody knew it was a problem and everyone talked about alternative energy. That was what -- you know, was on every nightly news. But look where we are.

PALIN: Yes. Well, I think America kind of got lax there. Yes, remember in the '70s, when we were conserving gasoline also, and our parents were always on us to turn off the lights and quit wasting electricity. And we got kind of spoiled and lax there, but now it's time to plug in those solutions.

And this nation is so richly blessed in alternative sources. You know, we've got the hydro and the wind and the geothermal and the biomass. It's just a matter now of plugging in with American ingenuity what those solutions will be. Really, we have no choice now also. People are realizing that these non-renewable sources of energy, once they're gone, they're gone. And we do have conserve and we have to start looking at the alternative sources.

But it is still a time off before we have economic and reliable sources of energy that can take the place of the conventional sources. So all the more reason that we have that "all of that above" approach. We're working on this all together comprehensively. And we have no excuse, though, not to go forward with alternative sources of energy at this time.

[...]VAN SUSTEREN: Are you then critical of the President Bush administration because the government has grown under President Bush and the deficit has grown under President Bush? Do you completely divorce yourself from that administration or do you embrace any part of it?

PALIN: I think that there have been some mistakes in the administration, but Congress is to blame also and...

VAN SUSTEREN: What mistakes of the administration?

PALIN: Well, I think that they have allowed government growth to just be too rampant, too aggressive, and certainly, that's contributing to where we are today with this deficit. Handing this to our kids, that's unfair. We're going to stop that. And that, though, has to be a commitment to reining in government growth. And we have to have that spending freeze that John McCain is going to plug in also.

So yes, there's been problems there, but also -- there's plenty of blame to go around. Congress also, though. And the Democratically-led Congress in the last couple of years, too -- there's plenty of blame to go around there also where, you know, they hold the purse strings. They craft the budgets and vote for the budgets and the budgets have grown too drastically, and individuals like Barack Obama voting 94 times for higher taxes on Americans -- now, there's some blame to go there, too.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right. Special needs for children. A lot of mothers out there with children who have all sorts of extra needs. What exactly would you do for them?

PALIN: Well, as governor, I've been a proponent and successful also in getting more funding for special needs children in our schools, in public education.

VAN SUSTEREN: That's government growing.

PALIN: Not when you prioritize for that. And these children who have special needs, they're not a problem, they are a priority. So as long as we can prioritize, I believe and what a lot of Americans believe is right, you allow equal access to good education and you allow opportunities for kids with special needs, even if that asks to you shift some of the funding that maybe went in another area, maybe growing bureaucracy in a local school district -- instead of that, get that money into the classrooms so that all kids, not just the kids with special needs, so that all kids can benefit from those public dollars, be more accountable and prioritizing better for public dollars in our schools. That's what I've been a proponent of and have affected change there.

- Watch Greta's interview with Gov. Palin: Pt. 1 | Pt. 2 | Pt. 3

McCain Interview by ABC's Charles Gibson: Transcript (10-9-08)

Read the complete transcript:

GIBSON: Senator, we're in a global market meltdown, and the very firmament of our economy and what it's based on has had seismic shocks in recent days. And yet night before last, you guys were having a debate about spending and taxes and earmarks that you could have had three months ago. And that's frustrating to people.

MCCAIN: Well, I think that in my opening comments I made a very strong case that we are in a crisis of unprecedented proportions. And that's why I recommended strongly that we go out and have the Treasury buy up these bad mortgages, so, and arrange it as they did during the Depression.

That's exactly -- in fact, Sen. [Hillary] Clinton has recommended this. Buy up these mortgages. Let people have them in affordable payment levels. And put a floor on this continuing plummeting of housing -- of home prices. As long as that value continues down, I don't see a stabilization.

But then in answer to your question, you sort of go to, in all due respect, to where the questioner leads you. One thing that frustrates audiences a lot of times and viewers is you get asked a question and you give, you know, your own set, planned answer. So I thought I emphasized as much as I possibly could in every answer that I appreciate the depth of the crisis that we're in.

GIBSON: Let me talk about that plan. $300 billion. New money or part of the $700 billion?

MCCAIN: Part of the $700 billion, new money, if necessary. Look, in one day they wiped out $1.2 trillion when it dropped 700 points. And I'm not throwing this money around lightly. But if the housing values continue to go down, there's no floor. There's no turnaround here. We all know what was the catalyst for this catastrophe. And that was Fannie and Freddie.

We did cover that a bit during the debate, which I warned about and wrote [a] letter about and proposed legislation along with others to try and rein in Fannie and Freddie. And because of the corruption and cronyism in Washington, no one acted. And it's fascinating to me that the same people that are taking credit for the bailout, the Democrats, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and others, were defending Fannie and Freddie and the corrupt practices they were doing. I'll tell you. Life's funny.

[...]GIBSON: Some of the reaction to your plan of $300 billion to buy up mortgages. People say, look, I've paid my mortgage. I didn't overspend. I didn't take a house that I couldn't afford. I'm paying my mortgage. Why are you going to help them and do nothing for me?

MCCAIN: Because if your neighbor's home value continues to decline, so is yours. Your life savings -- and I appreciate that you were able to make your payments and struggles that you had. But if your neighbor's home continues to plummet in value and sits empty, then it's going to affect your home as well. So we're doing this for you as well. And hopefully we reach a floor on the home values, and yours and your neighbor's homes can increase in value.

Michelle Obama on 'Larry King Live': Transcript (10-8-08)

Michelle Obama was interviewed by Larry King. Read the complete transcript.

KING: All right. Let's get to it. Let's get right to it. Many have noted that McCain last night -- John McCain never looked at your husband during the first debate. There's a lot of buzz about this moment -- this moment especially.

Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCAIN: There was an energy bill on the floor of the Senate loaded down with goodies -- billions for the oil companies. And it was sponsored by Bush and Cheney.

You know who voted for it?

You might never know -- that one. You know who voted against it? Me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Do you take offense to "that one?"

M. OBAMA: No. No. I mean, you know...

KING: People are talking about it.

M. OBAMA: Well, you know, I think there are two conversations that have been going on throughout this whole election. There's the conversation that's been happening with the pundits and, you know, the polls. And then there's the conversation that's been happening on the ground. And the folks out there right now are scared. They're nervous about the economy. They don't care about the sort of back and forth between the candidates. They want real answers about we're going to, you know, fix this economy and get the health care -- health care benefits back on track.

So, you know, this is part of politics, how people praise things...

KING: So you think it's the pundits that are more interested in that term and...

M. OBAMA: That's my sense of it, you know. I mean, I have traveled around this country. I was in a few states just in the last day-and-a-half. And no one asks about this kind of stuff. I mean, they want to know about the positions that the candidates have on the issues -- you know, what are we going to do with this war, how are we going to get our education system on track. And people really want to understand, you know, how this economy is going to really affect their bottom line.

KING: Did it in any way offend you?

M. OBAMA: No. No. I have to say that, you know, I -- in these debates, I am so focused on what Barack is saying, you know, and how he is, you know, phrasing his words. And I'm really trying to listen to the substance of what he's saying to make sure that I understand what's going on that these little, you know, sound bites don't register with me. A lot of times I'm looking around at the faces of the undecided voters in the room and I'm trying to see how they're reacting.

So there's so much going on in a room that a phrase here or there just doesn't -- you know, it just doesn't resonate.

[...]Do you know William Ayers?

M. OBAMA: Yes. Yes. Yes. Barack served on the board of the Annenberg Challenge with Bill Ayers and...

KING: That was started by the Annenberg family, right?

M. OBAMA: Absolutely. And Mrs. Annenberg, in fact, endorsed John McCain. So I don't know anyone in Chicago who's heavily involved in education policy who doesn't know Bill Ayers. But, you know, again, I go back to the point that, you know, the American people aren't asking these questions.

KING: You don't think it affects the campaign?

M. OBAMA: You know, I think that we've been in this for 20 months. And people have gotten to know Barack. He's written books. Books have been written about him. He, like all of the other candidates, have been thoroughly vetted. And I think people know Barack Obama. They know his heart, they know his spirit.

And the thing that I just encourage people is to judge Barack and judge all of these candidates based on what they do, their actions, their character, what they do in their lives, rather than what somebody did when they were eight or six years old.

KING: When someone calls and says he's running for vice president, that your husband associates with terrorism, that upsets you, I would think.

M. OBAMA: You know, that's part of politics. But...

KING: It doesn't -- it blows...

M. OBAMA: ...the thing...

KING: ...it goes right off of you?

M. OBAMA: You know, these issues have come up before. But the one thing that I'm proud about with Barack is that one of the things he's been talking about is our tone. And it's the notion that he says we can disagree without being disagreeable. And that's, you know, where he's trying to get to in this campaign, the notion that we can disagree on some fundamental issues in this country, but we have to do it without demonizing one another, without labeling one another, because we're in some tough times now.

And what we can see from the fall of this economy is that when we fall, we all fall. And when we rise, we all rise. And whether we're Republicans or Democrats or Independents or black or white or straight or gay, that we're in this together. And that there are times that we will disagree, that we won't share the same policies. But we're going to rise and fall together.

And that's the tone that I like. And I think that's where Americans want their elected officials to be.

The Surge is Failing

There goes McCain's last argument. You can bet the Republicans are livid this report leaked to the press.

A nearly completed high-level U.S. intelligence analysis warns that unresolved ethnic and sectarian tensions in Iraq could unleash a new wave of violence, potentially reversing the major security and political gains achieved over the last year.

These leakers should be considered patriots.

More than a half-dozen officials spoke to McClatchy Newspapers on condition of anonymity because NIEs, the most authoritative analyses produced by the U.S. intelligence community, are restricted to the president, his senior aides and members of Congress except in rare instances when just the key findings are made public.

McCain is toast.

The new NIE, which reflects the consensus of all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, has significant implications for Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, whose differences over the Iraq war are a major issue in the presidential campaign.

The findings seem to cast doubts on McCain's frequent assertions that the United States is "on a path to victory" in Iraq by underscoring the deep uncertainties of the situation despite the 30,000-strong U.S. troop surge for which he was the leading congressional advocate.

Even Petraeus admits victory is elusive.

The findings of the intelligence estimate appear to be reflected in recent statements by Army Gen. David Petraeus, the former top U.S. commander in Iraq, who has called the situation "fragile" and "reversible" and said he will never declare victory there.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice echoed that tone on Monday during a State Department awards ceremony for Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker.

"Ladies and gentlemen, nothing is certain in this life. And success in Iraq is not a sure thing," Rice said in an uncharacteristically downbeat comment.

The NIE findings parallel a Defense Department assessment last month that warned that despite "promising developments, security gains in Iraq remain fragile. A number of issues have the potential to upset progress."

That's on top of the critical situation in Afghanistan. Because of the quagmire in Iraq the U.S. government is forced to go hat in hand to our allies begging for help.

NATO allies face calls on Thursday to send more troops to fight Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan and boost military spending, despite the prospect of budget cuts due to the global financial crisis.

That same report paints a grim picture in Afghanistan.

A draft report by U.S. intelligence agencies concludes that Afghanistan is in a downward spiral and casts serious doubt on the ability of the Afghan government to stem the rise in the Taliban's influence there, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

McCain, Palin on FOX's 'Hannity & Colmes': Transcript (10-8-08)

Read the complete transcript:

HANNITY: ... said I can have you two debate among yourselves on this one point. Governor Palin you have said that you're trying, you're working on Senator McCain on the issue of ANWR. And you said you haven't had success yet, but you're still trying.

PALIN: The important thing to remember, though, is that we're on the same page in understanding that it has to be an all of the above approach in dealing with the energy crisis that we are in. It's got to be the alternative sources of energy getting plugged into the solution here. Certainly, the domestic supplies of conventional sources also being tapped into, and then we've got to remind Americans that the effort has got to be even greater today toward conservation because these finite resources that we're dealing with obviously — once oil is gone it's gone, once gas is gone, it's gone. And I think our nation has really become kind of spoiled in that arena.

So it's an all of the above approach that he embraces, and that's good. That will lead us to that energy independence, as opposed to the other ticket where they have said, no, no, no, to every domestic solution that has been proposed. And that was kind of perplexing st night, listening to Barack Obama's position, all of a sudden saying that we need clean coal and we need to offshore — he's so on record as having opposed, and Senator Biden also, having opposed those.

So, I think last night, coming away from the debate, too, one of the things that I got out of it was, I think Barack Obama was drilling for votes. I don't think that he's too keen on drilling for those source of energy that we need.

HANNITY: Well you had pointed out about Governor Biden (sic) — had once said, (INAUDIBLE) the world is raping the outer continental shell, proponents of drilling, and — but last night you brought up the fact that Senator Obama was against nuclear energy.

MCCAIN: We have to develop the technology — go to the United States Navy — we're sailing ships with nuclear power. You visit the French ,the British, the Japanese, they all reprocess spent nuclear fuel. But Senator Obama has done — he's very good with words. He's very eloquent. But when you look past it, he has opposed offshore drilling and he has opposed nuclear power.

Again, one of the things I was trying to stress in the campaign and in the debate last night, look at the gap between his rhetoric and his record.

The most liberal senator in the United States Senate: that's why I urged the people watching last night, go to these Web sites, the National Taxpayers Union, Citizens Against Government Waste, and these other watchdog organizations.

Finally, this may sound a bit gratuitous, but at least because Senator — Governor Palin — Sarah Palin is so persuasive, I would like to come to Alaska, I haven't been there in many years anyway, and maybe I'll agree to go visit that area and have a look.

[...]HANNITY: Governor Palin, you had echoed those comments in recent days, this was immediately after the debate. And you actually — (INAUDIBLE) that Senator McCain just mentioned, "air-raiding villages and killing civilians," you said that that should disqualify him, meaning Barack Obama, from being commander-in-chief.

PALIN: Because there is such a gross misunderstanding of what our U.S. troops are doing in Afghanistan. What they're doing, of course, is fighting terrorism and protecting us, protecting our country.

And you know, they're building schools for the children in Afghanistan so that there is hope and opportunity there. So that just — that gross misunderstanding of what the United States military's mission is right now is very, very concerning.

MCCAIN: Could I mention one other point on his record?

HANNITY: Yes, sir.

MCCAIN: Senator Obama said that he would never vote to cut off the funding of American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. After promising that, he and a handful of others voted that way. Now both he and Senator Biden said, well, it's the same vote that I cast. I cast a vote against withdrawal and surrender.

And I had promised that I do everything that I could to fight against any resolution that would entail withdrawal — set dates for withdrawal and therefore defeat in Iraq. So they're vastly different votes, they're vastly different.