September, 23 2008, 11:30am EDT
Candidates and the Bailout
Wall St waits for blank check from congress but crisis will last into new Presidential term
WASHINGTON
The financial crisis and the proposed bailout have become fodder for a heated back and forth in the presidential campaign. The deepening financial crisis and the shifting government response to it have challenged both presidential candidates for more than a week.
McCain cautioned against giving too much power to treasury secretary Henry Paulson " I am greatly concerned about the plan that gives a single individual the unprecedented power to spend 1 trillion dollars without any meaningful accountability. Never before in the history of our nation has so much power and money been concentrated on one single person. This arrangement makes me deeply uncomfortable."
Obama warned that the bailout should not be a "blank cheque" and called for tighter regulation of the financial industry, suggesting he would support imposing federal capital requirements on investment firms. He also stressed that the plan would have to include more relief for homeowners and distressed communities.
Voter anxiety over the US economic turmoil is now the number one issue in the presidential campaign. It will still be an issue when the new president takes office.
Chief economist at ATL-CIO, Ron Blackwell says, "makes no mistake about it, on January 20th when there is a new president in the white house, we will be in a very serious economic situation with employment problem and housing problem and we still be working out of this financial crisis, even if everything goes in the best possible way."
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