Spring Break
Final presidential debate
Cameron Birch
Issue date: 10/17/08 Section: News
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) faced challenger Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in the final of three presidential debates Oct. 15 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.
Bob Schieffer of CBS moderated the debate that focused largely on domestic issues; the two candidates covered topics that spanned from the economy to energy, healthcare, Supreme Court nominees and education.
McCain was first asked to describe how his economic plan was better than Obama's.
McCain once again proposed a plan to, "Take 300 of that billion [from the bailout plan] and go in and buy those home loan mortgages and negotiate with those people in their homes … so that they can afford to pay the mortgage, stay in their home."
Obama refuted this plan and said, "It could be a giveaway to banks if we're buying full price for mortgages that now are worth less … we've got some long-term challenges in this economy that have to be dealt with."
The Illinois senator also reiterated that failing government programs needed to be eliminated.
"I want to go through the federal budget line by line," Obama said.
McCain responded with more discussion on home ownership. Citing a Depression era program, McCain said: "And [the government] went out and bought up these mortgages. And people were able to stay in their homes, and eventually the values of those homes went up."
He also added, "And, by the way, it was a proposal made by Sen. Clinton not too long ago."
On the topic of spending freezes, the candidates disagreed. Obama said he feels a "scalpel" should be taken to the federal budget, whereas Obama favored an "across the board" halt.
Both parties also made attacks during the debate.
As Obama accused McCain of voting for a majority of President Bush's federal budgets, McCain responded, "Sen. Obama, I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago."
McCain also responded, on the question of reaching across the aisle, "Sen. Obama, your argument for standing up to the leadership of your party isn't very convincing."
Bob Schieffer of CBS moderated the debate that focused largely on domestic issues; the two candidates covered topics that spanned from the economy to energy, healthcare, Supreme Court nominees and education.
McCain was first asked to describe how his economic plan was better than Obama's.
McCain once again proposed a plan to, "Take 300 of that billion [from the bailout plan] and go in and buy those home loan mortgages and negotiate with those people in their homes … so that they can afford to pay the mortgage, stay in their home."
Obama refuted this plan and said, "It could be a giveaway to banks if we're buying full price for mortgages that now are worth less … we've got some long-term challenges in this economy that have to be dealt with."
The Illinois senator also reiterated that failing government programs needed to be eliminated.
"I want to go through the federal budget line by line," Obama said.
McCain responded with more discussion on home ownership. Citing a Depression era program, McCain said: "And [the government] went out and bought up these mortgages. And people were able to stay in their homes, and eventually the values of those homes went up."
He also added, "And, by the way, it was a proposal made by Sen. Clinton not too long ago."
On the topic of spending freezes, the candidates disagreed. Obama said he feels a "scalpel" should be taken to the federal budget, whereas Obama favored an "across the board" halt.
Both parties also made attacks during the debate.
As Obama accused McCain of voting for a majority of President Bush's federal budgets, McCain responded, "Sen. Obama, I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago."
McCain also responded, on the question of reaching across the aisle, "Sen. Obama, your argument for standing up to the leadership of your party isn't very convincing."
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