McCain, Not the Compassionate Conservative

Many Americans fell for the BS story that current President Bush spread around that he was a compassionate conservative politician and now we all know what one is not. As the unmitigated candidate from the Republican Party, Senator McCain is giving lip service to the little people we all call the middle and lower class. After repeated criticism for lack of any plan on the housing crisis and that he has a plan. Or is it just more lip service from a want to be Presidential candidate?

Conservative principals are less government intervention in individual rights and less government and taxes overall. Is the distinguished Senator from Arizona playing politics with his plan to help but not help homeowners facing the loss of their homes? Over at the Washington Post and On the Trail they have this to say on his latest speech…

McCain Refines Plan for Homeowners
By Dan Balz

BROOKLYN -- Two weeks after drawing criticism for saying he favored only a limited federal role to help deal with the home mortgage crisis, Republican presidential candidate John McCain sought to assure Americans he is prepared to use the government where necessary to help ease the impact of a declining economy on working families.

In a campaign appearance with small business owners in Brooklyn, McCain also addressed the spreading economic downturn with proposals to help families facing foreclosure restructure their mortgages and to give workers who have lost their jobs more flexibility and incentives to seek retraining and a speedier return to the workforce.

McCain plans a more comprehensive economic speech for next week, but came here today to blunt criticism from Democratic rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton that he is insensitive to the plight of ordinary Americans.

"Let me make it clear that that in these challenging times, I am committed to using all the resources of this government and great nation to create opportunity and make sure that every deserving American has a good job and can achieve their American dream," he said.

~SNIP~

Instead, McCain proposed a federal program that would require individual homeowners to seek help from the federal government and, if they qualified for assistance, emerge with a restructured mortgage that would allow them to stay in their homes.

"There is nothing more important than keeping alive the American dream to own your home, and priority number one is to keep well meaning, deserving home owners who are facing foreclosure in their homes," he said. - Washington Post, The Trail

Senator McCain’s plan is more government? Is that even remotely Conservative or Republican? Then you have to love the part of “deserving homeowners”. What’s the classification or status as to what American deserves to keep their home Senator? Is there a nobody making under X amount of dollars gets a McCain thumbs down? Same article, same link…

There are some limitations. Those families who can afford the terms of their current, albeit higher, mortgage would not qualify. And the assistance would only cover primary residences and only go to families that can truly afford the new mortgage.

McCain economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin said the housing assistance would reach an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 families, with an estimated cost of $3 billion to $10 billion. He said McCain's goal is to use federal money only for those families "who really need help." He also called McCain's approach superior to some Democratic measures because it places primary emphasis on the individuals in need, rather than the lenders.

Hello to the Senator! If they could afford the mortgage payments they were lassoed into they would not be in foreclosure? That is the first clue to the big picture that John McCain and his political staff have no clue as to what is really going on down in your neighborhood.

One of the only things in his speech that made sense was demanding a Justice Department investigation. Shouldn’t he be doing that from his Senate office where it would actually be a formal request? Something that someone that in our government that cares about all Americans should have done a year or more ago? Politics is a learning curve for the McCain camp and they are pretty much amateurs. He’s still on the same page as Bush.

You get what you pay for Mr. McCain. Or in the case of homeowners facing foreclosure you get screwed. Same thing, different geography.

Papamoka

Cross posted at MichaelLinnJones.com and To the Center

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