McCain: Buy mortgages
GOP contender will announce a new economic plan that addresses housing and tax rules.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Sen. John McCain will outline new economic proposals on Tuesday at a rally in suburban Philadelphia, his campaign announced.
The plan - entitled "The Pension and Family Security Plan" - will "help those who are currently hurting the most" from the ongoing economic crisis, "including workers, homeowners, and seniors," according to his campaign.
The new plan builds on McCain's "American Homeownership Resurgence Plan" that was introduced last week. The campaign said that proposal called for using $300 billion of the $700 billion financial bailout package to keep Americans in their homes, stop declining housing values, and stabilize the financial markets.
In a one-on-one interview Monday with CNN's Dana Bash, the Arizona Republican said, "I have a positive plan; we'll bring the economy back."
The plan calls for lower taxes on seniors tapping their retirement accounts, suspending tax rules that force seniors to sell their stocks in the midst of this financial crisis, and accelerating tax write-offs for those forced to sell stocks at a loss in the current market.
It also calls for reducing capital gains taxes for 2009 and 2010 to raise the incentive to save and invest; purchasing mortgages directly from homeowners and mortgage services, which will be replaced by manageable and fixed rate mortgages; and eliminating taxes on unemployment benefits.
McCain's announcement comes one day after his rival, Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, announced his own proposals, which his campaign termed an "economic rescue plan for the middle class."
McCain gave CNN a hint of the new plan in Monday's interview. When asked if he was going to offer anything new in terms of economic proposals this week, McCain answered by saying, "I'll let you know tomorrow."
But McCain has his work cut out for him when it comes to the economy. The most recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll suggests Americans think Obama would do a better job than McCain when it comes to the economy. Of those polled, 57% said Obama would do a better job dealing with the economy, with 37% saying McCain would do best.