MSNBC is already reporting some of McCain's proposals. Just caught a glimpse, but it looks like mostly freeze or lower tax rates and a couple ditto-what-Obama-said"s.

Let's carry the computer metaphor further a bit. Rebooting won't cure the problem. He's got a bug-ridden operating system at the core of his campaign. He's just going to keep crashing until the plug is pulled.

God, how many times is McCain going to "reboot" his campaign? It's starting to look like an old 486 running Windows 98.

McCain has released an outline of his new economic plan.

· SENIORS: Lower Taxes On Seniors Tapping Their Retirement Accounts.

· SENIORS: Suspend Tax Rules That Force Seniors To Sell Their Stocks In The Midst Of This Financial Crisis.

· SAVERS: Accelerate The Tax Write-Off For Those Forced To Sell At A Loss In The Current Market.

· SAVERS: Reduce Capital Gains Taxes For 2009 And 2010 To Raise The Incentive To Save And Invest.

· HOMEOWNERS: Purchase Mortgages Directly From Homeowners And Mortgage Servicers, And Replace Them With Manageable, Fixed-Rate Mortgages.

· WORKERS: Eliminate Taxes On Unemployment Benefits.

As expected, a mix of tax cuts and pandering.

The big tax cuts are the middle two, which would mostly benefit the very wealthy. The first and last are targeted at people who likely are paying little tax. The second may be useful.

But it is the mortgage buy-back, item 5, that will likely get a lot of attention.

He says this item will cost $300B and he wants to pay for it out of the $700B package.

This targets mortgages where there is now negative equity -- that is, where the value of the house is now less than the mortgage. The govt buys the mortgage and replaces it with a fixed, 30-year mortgage worth the market value of the house. This doesn't address the problem where people can't afford their mortgage payments even if the mortgage is reduced to the value of the house.

I expect this plan will be widely panned from both sides like his last mortgage plan was. However, it is clearly an attempt to pander for votes.

I hear everyone is going to be issued a case of empty Mason jars and a shovel. You'll label half "spare change" and the other half "dreams" and start digging.

McCain is a tool. There's no tool like an old tool....

God, how many times is McCain going to "reboot" his campaign? It's starting to look like an old 486 running Windows 98.

Posted by: trailer park on October 14, 2008 at 8:18 AM | PERMALINK

Abort, Retry, Fail?

But it is the mortgage buy-back, item 5, that will likely get a lot of attention.
It sure will. Essentially, McCain is saying that the taxpayer will eat the difference between the artificially inflated value of those homes and the current market value. I'm certain that those who didn't buy more home than they could afford will be more than happy to bail out those who did.

We should remember, my friends, that for five years John McCain couldn't pander.

The Onion hit the nail on the head weeks ago:

McCain’s Economic Plan For Nation: 'Everyone Marry A Beer Heiress'

We know some elements of the plan already: It will involve hocus pocus about cutting spending and real plans to cut taxes on dividends and capital gains and reduce the top marginal income tax rate.

Lots of gimmicks in his plan and NO STIMULUS. He cuts taxes on UE benefits, but doesn't extend them. For those selling their houses at a loss, he accelerates the tax write off? Still hate his mortgage plan. Eliminate capital gains? Is that really an issue in this market? None of this stuff has anything to do with generating jobs or growing the economy.

He was right. Economics is not his or his economist's strong suit.

Besides the racist cretins showing up at Palin's rallies is anyone even paying attention to John McCain? If he wasn't thoroughly disgracing himself he wouldn't get any press. And let's face it, the Sarah Palin crowd isn't interested in economic proposals. He's really wailing and knashing his teeth in the wilderness at this point.

with this many reboots it's clear the mccain campaign is running on Vista.

with this many reboots it's clear the mccain campaign is running on Vista.

Posted by: entheo on October 14, 2008 at 8:37 AM | PERMALINK

Wait don't you mean Mojave...as in desert...as in dry as a bone?
lol

May be best described as "not well-vetted." That indirectly brings up the erratic Palin choice, too.

Reboot? Will end up the same. McCain seems to me to have elements in his campaign with an agenda much different from his. Palin, for example, seems not give a shit about the campaign, but rather is aiming at building a far right power base for herself. McCain is a metaphor for the whole Republican party, being eaten alive by a far right parasite.

Problem is, any proposal McCain makes will either be more of what caused the mess in the first place or something that Obama has already proposed...

Okay, I know I should have moved on years ago, but in 2000 Al Gore was absolutely ridiculed for constantly "reinventing himself," but McCain is simply "rebooting"? Like what you do with them thar compooters he cain't use?

Gimme a break.

What a (re)tool.

I know the so-called "liberal media" demands a close horeserace, but I can't help but wonder if anyone is willing to pronounce McCain's presidential bid DOA, as it deserves to be.

Reboot? Seems more like the lab scene from Frankenstein, trying to bring an inert hulk back to life.

We should all be very happy. Some time ago, Bill Kristol came out with another shovelful of his odorous "advice", and many of you (like me) prayed McCain would take it. It may be coincidence, but just yesterday Kristol advised McCain to kick his whole campaign to the curb and start over. Of course, nobody really expected he'd do that. But once again, he's reacting like an old bull in the ring who feels the sting of the picadors - goring about blindly at the elusive enemy who just won't keep still.

He's listening to the unhinged right who are screaming in his ear that he needs to do SOMETHING, or he's going to lose. It's finally sinking in that he's not going to be able to change the subject from the economy, so he's trying to address it, albeit half-heartedly (and less than half-brainedly). But he's charging at something that isn't there anymore. His opponent is six moves ahead.

God, how many times is McCain going to "reboot" his campaign?

"Reboot" isn't only used in computer terminology (which I don't like because it reinforces the smugness of the "I'm a Mac, you're a PC" ads), but is also extensively employed in comic book lingo. And GOP rebooting of McCain is becoming as frequent as Archie Comics' reworkings of "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch."

and unfortunately for mccain, george bush got out ahead of him.

so let's add one more item to the list:

saturday, mccain announces he'll have a plan monday

sunday, mccain hangs graham out to dry

monday, obama lays out a detailed plan

tuesday, bush lays out some kind of plan

tick tick tick

oh, johnny boy, we're still waiting ...

It's starting to look like an old 486 running Windows 98.

Now that's an insult to old 486s everywhere. I had one back in '93, and it wasn't half bad for its day. I had a grand total of 8 MB RAM, a 33 MHz processor and a 171 MB hard drive, but even on its worst day it was faster than John McCain after a double dose of Geritol.

"It's almost as if they're trying to look erratic, unable to deal with the pressure of a crisis."

They are. It's an old tactic. Look utterly confused and incompetent, then at the last minute say something brilliant. Works all the time.

He can reboot all he wants; we're going to keep getting the Green Screen of Death, I'm afraid....

Since you have evidently received your Democratic "erratic" talking points, let me just say that I will act erratically, too, if BHO is elected. My first "erratic" step will be to fire as many employees as is necessary to prevent having to "spread the wealth around" under Obama's tax "cuts" and to fund his New Socialist World Order. See what small business owners like me do to your Dear Leader's beloved "Middle Class" when he raises our taxes. Good luck finding them jobs in Barry's Utopia.

Since you have evidently received your Democratic "erratic" talking points, let me just say that I will act erratically, too, if BHO is elected. My first "erratic" step will be to fire as many employees as is necessary to prevent having to "spread the wealth around" under Obama's tax "cuts" and to fund his New Socialist World Order. See what small business owners like me do to your Dear Leader's beloved "Middle Class" when he raises our taxes. Good luck finding them jobs in Barry's Utopia.

Since you have evidently received your Democratic "erratic" talking points, let me just say that I will act erratically, too, if BHO is elected. My first "erratic" step will be to fire as many employees as is necessary to prevent having to "spread the wealth around" under Obama's tax "cuts" and to fund his New Socialist World Order. See what small business owners like me do to your Dear Leader's beloved "Middle Class" when he raises our taxes. Good luck finding them jobs in Barry's Utopia.