McCain pitches housing slump fixes

During an economic round-table at an Orlando tub manufacturer, Sen. John McCain talked about Florida's housing slump and what he would do to fix it.

"We are paying a price for violating one of the fundamental principles of economics: Don't lend money to people who can't pay it back," McCain said at Baker Manufacturing, which makes fiberglass bath and spa tubs.

McCain suggested cracking down on predatory lenders and mortgage brokers that "deceived people" as well as rating agencies "that gave high ratings based on nothing I know of." He also talked about making the mortgage process easier to understand and more transparent. "Why shouldn't (a mortgage document) be one page, and at the bottom say I understand this document?"

McCain also said he doesn't "know when this whole thing is going to resolve itself."

"If we can get the economy going, get the taxes low, get the spending under control and get interest rates I think you're going to see progress sooner rather than later," McCain said.

"Let me just also say, I don't think anything in life is inevitable. I don't think anything is written engraved in golden tablets. If we do the right things and do it quickly and make sure we cut people's taxes, make sure we encourage business, make sure that we make funds available for institutions such as yours, I think we can avoid the worst aspects of this and the quicker the housing market is going to react."

Comments

"Mr. Romney, the Republican candidate from Massachusetts by way of Michigan and Utah who enjoys a milkshake at the end of a long day, stopped by a staging area for a Martin Luther King Birthday parade here. In his dress shirt and tie, and with his unwavering smile, he walked over and posed for photographs with a group of black youngsters. Putting his arm around a teenage girl, he waved to the cameras and offered, “Who let the dogs out?” He added a tepid “woof woof.”

Somewhere, the Baha Men, the Bahamian group whose 2000 song the candidate was referencing, must have been shuddering.

Kevin Madden, one of Mr. Romney’s campaign boyz on the bus, said the candidate had been joking around and had responded to someone who asked, “Who let you out?”

Later, Mr. Romney admired a child’s gold necklace and said, “Oh, you’ve got some bling-bling here.”

That's a hilarious story thanks for sharing. Nice to know he has a sense of humor. Not sure what that has to do with McCain discussing the housing slump but still a funny story.

McCain needs a reality check.

McCain has the best economic plan of any candidate... he has more foriegn policy experience than any candidate. That will help open up markets, balance the trade deficit and grow our economy.

Plus he has a 10 point tax cut, which is great!

[Joe]

The housing slump isn't a problem - it is a needed correction. Median home prices are still way out of whack compared to median salaries. It sucks for anyone that bought at the peak and want to move soon, but it isn't like this has never happened before. McCain is certainly the best of the R candidates but I'm not sure he understands economics very well. Lending money to people that can't pay it back is not a basic economic principle, it is a business ethics principle.

12:34 McCain has absolutely no foreign policy experience. He votes on treaties only. That's it.

Foreign policy experience means making decisions on behalf of the government. He has never, ever done that.

Please stop the myth of foreign policy experience.

"If we can get the economy going, get the taxes low, get the spending under control and get interest rates I think you're going to see progress sooner rather than later," McCain said.

Tell you what, John... start with getting spending and waste under control, and I'll be we wont need any more "corporate" tax cuts... and I'll bet the economy will grow from there.

Could this guy possibly get through a primary where only Republicans can vote? If so, then CC has completely wimpified Florida Republicans.

GOP Plan for the Economy:

1.)Start War + Cut Taxes for Wealthy
2.)Cut taxes for wealthy some more.
3.)Hold off recession by cutting taxes for wealthy.
4.)Jan 2010 "This recession is the result of {Obama/Clinton} Admin waste and overspending!"

Governor Romney has earned a reputation for campaign spin, but he can’t hide the facts about his record. Economists at the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and Northeastern University called job growth under Romney ‘anemic’ and economic growth among ‘the worst in the country.’ The facts are clear: His state’s economic performance and job growth lagged behind the national average, as Romney raised taxes and fees by more than $700 million per year. According to the Tax Foundation, Massachusetts’ business tax climate ranking fell 11 spots, forcing employers to take their jobs elsewhere. With a record like that, it’s understandable why Mitt Romney wouldn’t want Florida voters to know the facts.

John McCain has been fighting for pro-growth policies since he first enlisted in the Reagan Revolution. Even Mitt Romney acknowledged as much, calling John McCain ‘Washington’s number one watchdog against waste’ in his 2004 book.

Romney would sell his momma for a vote. The guy cannot be trusted. Whatever he says today, he believed the opposite last week when the polls were different.

[Bhaskar Menon]

The simplest way to end the housing slump is to have state lotteries buy up houses and offer them as prizes. That will pump a lot of money into the economy without burdening taxpayers.

[Spencer]

McCain,

It's not the governments job to control everything and make sure everybody feels good.

He is the worst kind of politican, I've ever seen.

I'm voting for Mitt on the 29th. For a stronger economy.

[Ian MacFarlane]

Mr. McCain is absolutely right! Someone needs to prosecute those predatory mortgage brokers who pressured so many people into loans that they could not really qualify for.

If we can prosecute Enron for corporate fraud, then we should be able to demand that our law enforcement prosecute those companies that flooded my mailbox with questionable loan offers, which I did not take up, but many others did.

This economic crisis came about by unscrupulous people taking advantage of those who are easily gulled! Put them in jail!