Lieberman willing to star at Republican convention
By Manu Raju
Posted: 04/15/08 08:06 PM [ET]
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), the Democratic Party’s 2000 vice presidential nominee, is leaving open the possibility of giving a keynote address on behalf of Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) at the Republican National Convention in September.
Republicans close to the McCain campaign say Lieberman’s appearance at the convention, possibly before a national primetime audience, could help make the case that the presumptive GOP nominee has a record of crossing the aisle. That could appeal to much-needed independent voters.
McCain has yet to ask Lieberman to speak, either in primetime or elsewhere, at the convention. But if McCain thinks it will help make his case for the White House, as some of his allies suspect, Lieberman would be willing to speak on his behalf.
“If Sen. McCain, who I support so strongly, asked me to do it, if he thinks it will help him, I will,” Lieberman said in a brief interview.
Lieberman said he doubts McCain will ask him to give a keynote address, but acknowledges the subject has yet to come up in the two senators’ discussions.
A Lieberman aide said even though there are no plans for the Independent to give a speech at the convention, it is a “likely possibility” he will address the Republican audience in some form.
Appearing before the Republican convention carries some risk for Lieberman. His Democratic colleagues could seek retribution by taking away his gavel on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee next Congress.
Lieberman has had a long leash this Congress because his decision to caucus with Democrats — despite losing Connecticut’s 2006 Democratic primary — allows them to hold their narrow 51-49 majority. If Democrats pick up more seats as expected in November, and Lieberman angers Democrats along the campaign trail, some privately expect there might be an attempt to deny him his bid to retain his chairmanship.
One Democratic leadership aide said losing his chairmanship could happen in that scenario, but “the bar would have to be very high.”
That’s because Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has a close relationship with Lieberman.
Unlike a number of Democratic colleagues who backed Lieberman’s challenger Ned Lamont after the 2006 primary, Reid offered words of praise for the senator, saying he would not “turn on Joe.” Reid called Lieberman and promised him a chairmanship if he won reelection, a move that angered some Lamont supporters.
Even though Reid may not need Lieberman next Congress to claim a Senate majority, he told Lieberman in private conversations that he would protect his seniority.
“I can tell you Sen. Reid had talked to me a few times and said he knows there will be talk if we get more than 51 Democrats next year,” Lieberman told The Hartford Courant this month. “As far as he is concerned, I will retain my seniority, et cetera, no matter how many Democrats there are next year.”
Jim Manley, a Reid spokesman, said he would not comment on the senator’s private conversations, but acknowledged that the two men spoke.
When asked Tuesday if Lieberman’s chairmanship was at risk next Congress, Reid said succinctly: “No.”
“We have one difference of opinion, maybe two with Sen. Lieberman,” said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), a prominent supporter of Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) presidential candidacy. “As a whip, I can tell you time and again, he’s been there when we’ve needed him.”
Lieberman, a staunch Iraq war supporter, has taken the Democratic Party to task for its push to withdraw from Iraq, likening that approach to surrendering to al Qaeda. He has called for aggressive action against Iran and pushed measures that some Democrats have likened to war-mongering.
He continues to criticize the Democratic candidates for their foreign policy positions, and says the party has jettisoned its tradition of being strong on defense by pandering to its liberal base.
Making those points to a Republican audience in front of national primetime viewers would make a strong case for McCain’s candidacy, which is based largely on his national security experience, Republicans say.
“I think it would be a great idea,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), McCain’s closest Hill ally. “If you looked at economic issues and social issues, I bet you we disagree a vast majority of the time. But when you look at what the primary job of what a United States senator is in the age in which we live, we have pretty much universal agreement — and that’s to protect the homeland.”
“I think Sen. Lieberman would be a very powerful spokesperson,” said Sen. Mel Martinez (Fla.), a former general chairman of the Republican National Committee. “I think he really is someone who helps Sen. McCain break through to independent voters.”
Lieberman’s presence could potentially anger some social conservatives because of his positions supporting abortion rights and other liberal values. But Lieberman’s arguments that McCain is best suited to lead the country at a time of war would override those objections, said Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), a hero of the religious right.
“If he’s talking about security issues, Iran, Joe is fabulous on those issues,” Brownback said.
But the extent of his criticism on Democrats could bring back memories of 2004, when Georgia Democratic Sen. Zell Miller gave a scathing keynote speech attacking Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the party’s presidential nominee. Miller, who was planning to retire from the Senate at the end of 2004, had little to lose by crossing his party.
Kerry declined to comment on Lieberman, but called Miller’s speech “hysterical and inaccurate.”Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said he doubts Lieberman would give a Miller-like speech.
“I don’t think he’s going to act like that if he does that,” Brown said. “But of course, I would be disappointed if he does that.”
Showing posts with label McCain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label McCain. Show all posts
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
McCain's Big Picture
By Reuters 15 Apr 2008 01:41 PM ET
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain on Tuesday called for a summer gas tax holiday for Americans wincing at high pump prices as part of a wide-ranging plan to help the ailing U.S. economy. Arizona Sen. McCain, accused by Democratic rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton of seeking to extend the economic policies of President George W. Bush, proposed middle-income tax cuts, accused the Democrats of backing big tax increases and distanced himself from the Bush government.
Of most immediate effect to consumers was his appeal to the U.S. Congress to suspend the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax from Memorial Day at the end of May to Labor Day in early September. The candidate will discuss his economic plan in further detail during an appearance on CNBC's "Kudlow & Company" at 7 p.m. New York time Tuesday. Americans are spending more than ever to fuel their cars as the average price for gasoline has climbed to a new high of $3.39 a gallon and is projected to go higher this summer. "The effect will be an immediate economic stimulus — taking a few dollars off the price of a tank of gas every time a family, a farmer or trucker stops to fill up," McCain said in a major speech on the economy. During the same period he would suspend U.S. purchases of oil for the emergency stockpile known as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve because he believes the purchases are contributing to higher gas prices.
McCain proposed establishing a simpler U.S. tax system to serve as an alternative to the current tax code and give Americans a choice of which one to use. (See McCain's speech on tax cuts in the CNBC videos 1 and 2 at left.) As in the past, he pledged to seek a reduction in the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent because "high tax rates are driving many businesses and jobs overseas." McCain also proposed a phase-out of the alternative minimum tax, a tax originally set up to ensure that rich Americans with a lot of tax deductions pay a minimum amount of tax but that is now requiring millions of Americans to pay more taxes. He said he wanted to save more than 25 million middle-class families more than $2,000 every year. He also proposed relief for student loans and would double the personal tax exemption for dependents from $3,500 to $7,000.
Obama, speaking to a labor gathering in Washington, accused McCain of trying to extend the Bush tax cuts that he had originally opposed. "John McCain seems to think that the Bush years have been pretty good," Obama said. "In fact, he's running for a third Bush term. He's offering more of the same." McCain used his speech not only to put some distance between him and the Bush administration but also to say both Democrats and fellow Republicans are guilty of spending excesses. He criticized his Democratic rivals for ambitious spending plans that he said would causes taxes to rise for "Americans of every background," totaling $1 trillion over a decade. He poked fun at Obama's book title, "The Audacity of Hope," by saying: "All these tax increases are the fine print under the slogan of 'hope.' They're going to raise your taxes by thousands of dollars per year — and they have the audacity to hope you don't mind." McCain said it is possible to save $100 billion by ending wasteful spending and weeding out unneeded government programs and other "budget reforms," and use the savings to pay for the business income tax cut. McCain proposed reducing spending in the federal government's Medicare prescription drug program by requiring older couples making $160,000 to pay higher premiums for the benefit if they are enrolled in the program. Many conservative Republicans have criticized the drug program, a product of the Bush administration, as too large a benefit and believe it should be scaled back.
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain on Tuesday called for a summer gas tax holiday for Americans wincing at high pump prices as part of a wide-ranging plan to help the ailing U.S. economy. Arizona Sen. McCain, accused by Democratic rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton of seeking to extend the economic policies of President George W. Bush, proposed middle-income tax cuts, accused the Democrats of backing big tax increases and distanced himself from the Bush government.
Of most immediate effect to consumers was his appeal to the U.S. Congress to suspend the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax from Memorial Day at the end of May to Labor Day in early September. The candidate will discuss his economic plan in further detail during an appearance on CNBC's "Kudlow & Company" at 7 p.m. New York time Tuesday. Americans are spending more than ever to fuel their cars as the average price for gasoline has climbed to a new high of $3.39 a gallon and is projected to go higher this summer. "The effect will be an immediate economic stimulus — taking a few dollars off the price of a tank of gas every time a family, a farmer or trucker stops to fill up," McCain said in a major speech on the economy. During the same period he would suspend U.S. purchases of oil for the emergency stockpile known as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve because he believes the purchases are contributing to higher gas prices.
McCain proposed establishing a simpler U.S. tax system to serve as an alternative to the current tax code and give Americans a choice of which one to use. (See McCain's speech on tax cuts in the CNBC videos 1 and 2 at left.) As in the past, he pledged to seek a reduction in the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent because "high tax rates are driving many businesses and jobs overseas." McCain also proposed a phase-out of the alternative minimum tax, a tax originally set up to ensure that rich Americans with a lot of tax deductions pay a minimum amount of tax but that is now requiring millions of Americans to pay more taxes. He said he wanted to save more than 25 million middle-class families more than $2,000 every year. He also proposed relief for student loans and would double the personal tax exemption for dependents from $3,500 to $7,000.
Obama, speaking to a labor gathering in Washington, accused McCain of trying to extend the Bush tax cuts that he had originally opposed. "John McCain seems to think that the Bush years have been pretty good," Obama said. "In fact, he's running for a third Bush term. He's offering more of the same." McCain used his speech not only to put some distance between him and the Bush administration but also to say both Democrats and fellow Republicans are guilty of spending excesses. He criticized his Democratic rivals for ambitious spending plans that he said would causes taxes to rise for "Americans of every background," totaling $1 trillion over a decade. He poked fun at Obama's book title, "The Audacity of Hope," by saying: "All these tax increases are the fine print under the slogan of 'hope.' They're going to raise your taxes by thousands of dollars per year — and they have the audacity to hope you don't mind." McCain said it is possible to save $100 billion by ending wasteful spending and weeding out unneeded government programs and other "budget reforms," and use the savings to pay for the business income tax cut. McCain proposed reducing spending in the federal government's Medicare prescription drug program by requiring older couples making $160,000 to pay higher premiums for the benefit if they are enrolled in the program. Many conservative Republicans have criticized the drug program, a product of the Bush administration, as too large a benefit and believe it should be scaled back.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
McCain Opens Up
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Sen. John McCain on Thursday offered his most detailed ideas to date for easing the strains of the economic downturn and the mortgage crisis.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee's speech touched on jobs, gas prices and the need to make loans more affordable for homeowners. He addressed a small business roundtable in Brooklyn, N.Y.
McCain introduced what he is calling his "HOME Plan," which blends elements of mortgage rescue proposals by the Bush administration, the Office of Thrift Supervision, House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn.
"It offers every deserving American family or homeowner the opportunity to trade a burdensome mortgage for a manageable loan that reflects the market value of their home," McCain said. "People decide if they need help, they apply for assistance and, if approved, the government under my HOME Program supports them in getting a new mortgage that they can afford."
To qualify for McCain's HOME Plan, a borrower's home would have to be a primary residence. In addition, the government would verify that the owner told the truth about his financial situation when he applied for the original mortgage and was able to make a down payment when getting his original loan, according to a campaign adviser.
Lenders would voluntarily write down the loans based on the home's current market value and give the borrower at least a 10% equity stake. If the borrower later sells the home at a price higher than the refinanced loan, the lender and the federal government each would receive a portion of the sales price. They would be entitled to as much as one third of the loan's reduction in principal.
So under McCain's plan, if a borrower owes $150,000 on a home worth only $100,000, the lender would have to reduce the loan to $90,000. The $60,000 difference in principal would be split three ways: The lender and federal government would get as much as $20,000 each, depending on how much the home sells for when the borrower moves, and the owner would get the rest.
The new mortgage would be a 30-year fixed rate loan, and the government would back 80% of the new loan.
McCain said he opposes funds to purchase homes in foreclosure and tax breaks for homebuilders - both features of a Senate proposal passed Thursday.
McCain also called for the creation of a Department of Justice task force to investigate mortgage crimes involving lending and securitizing home loans.
"If there were individuals or firms that defrauded innocent homeowners or forged loan application documents, then the punishments of the market are not enough, and they must answer for their conduct in a court of law," he said.
Focus on jobs, gas prices
McCain proposed a revamp of unemployment benefits. Rather than have a fixed amount of time during which workers can collect unemployment benefits - currently up to 26 weeks - McCain recommended that the taxes workers pay into the unemployment insurance system be set aside in their own account "a buffer ... against lost earnings."
To help keep the price of gas down, he pledged to stop adding to the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve - which the Bush administration has been adding to in order to prevent a disruption in the oil supply. By suspending the stockpiling of oil, McCain believes it would lessen worldwide demand for oil and push down the price.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee's speech touched on jobs, gas prices and the need to make loans more affordable for homeowners. He addressed a small business roundtable in Brooklyn, N.Y.
McCain introduced what he is calling his "HOME Plan," which blends elements of mortgage rescue proposals by the Bush administration, the Office of Thrift Supervision, House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn.
"It offers every deserving American family or homeowner the opportunity to trade a burdensome mortgage for a manageable loan that reflects the market value of their home," McCain said. "People decide if they need help, they apply for assistance and, if approved, the government under my HOME Program supports them in getting a new mortgage that they can afford."
To qualify for McCain's HOME Plan, a borrower's home would have to be a primary residence. In addition, the government would verify that the owner told the truth about his financial situation when he applied for the original mortgage and was able to make a down payment when getting his original loan, according to a campaign adviser.
Lenders would voluntarily write down the loans based on the home's current market value and give the borrower at least a 10% equity stake. If the borrower later sells the home at a price higher than the refinanced loan, the lender and the federal government each would receive a portion of the sales price. They would be entitled to as much as one third of the loan's reduction in principal.
So under McCain's plan, if a borrower owes $150,000 on a home worth only $100,000, the lender would have to reduce the loan to $90,000. The $60,000 difference in principal would be split three ways: The lender and federal government would get as much as $20,000 each, depending on how much the home sells for when the borrower moves, and the owner would get the rest.
The new mortgage would be a 30-year fixed rate loan, and the government would back 80% of the new loan.
McCain said he opposes funds to purchase homes in foreclosure and tax breaks for homebuilders - both features of a Senate proposal passed Thursday.
McCain also called for the creation of a Department of Justice task force to investigate mortgage crimes involving lending and securitizing home loans.
"If there were individuals or firms that defrauded innocent homeowners or forged loan application documents, then the punishments of the market are not enough, and they must answer for their conduct in a court of law," he said.
Focus on jobs, gas prices
McCain proposed a revamp of unemployment benefits. Rather than have a fixed amount of time during which workers can collect unemployment benefits - currently up to 26 weeks - McCain recommended that the taxes workers pay into the unemployment insurance system be set aside in their own account "a buffer ... against lost earnings."
To help keep the price of gas down, he pledged to stop adding to the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve - which the Bush administration has been adding to in order to prevent a disruption in the oil supply. By suspending the stockpiling of oil, McCain believes it would lessen worldwide demand for oil and push down the price.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Jay Rockefeller- Idiot
From the Charleston Gazette
Rockefeller criticized Sen. John McCain, the presumed Republican nominee for president. "Senator McCain does have a temper. But today, he speaks in a monotone on the campaign trail."
Rockefeller believes McCain has become insensitive to many human issues. "McCain was a fighter pilot, who dropped laser-guided missiles from 35,000 feet. He was long gone when they hit.
"What happened when they [the missiles] get to the ground? He doesn't know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues."
Later he had this to say;
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., apologized Tuesday for a comment he made about Sen. John McCain on Monday.
During an interview with Gazette editors on Monday, Rockefeller said the next president must focus on the needs of everyday people. McCain's policies on health care, education, the economy and retirement security, he said, do not put real people front and center.
Rockefeller said he made an "inaccurate" analogy on Monday when he compared McCain's past role as a fighter pilot to his ability to connect with real people on the ground.
"I have extended my sincere apology to him. While we differ a great deal on policy issues, I profoundly respect and appreciate his dedication to our country, and I regret my very poor choice of words."
Rockefeller criticized Sen. John McCain, the presumed Republican nominee for president. "Senator McCain does have a temper. But today, he speaks in a monotone on the campaign trail."
Rockefeller believes McCain has become insensitive to many human issues. "McCain was a fighter pilot, who dropped laser-guided missiles from 35,000 feet. He was long gone when they hit.
"What happened when they [the missiles] get to the ground? He doesn't know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues."
Later he had this to say;
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., apologized Tuesday for a comment he made about Sen. John McCain on Monday.
During an interview with Gazette editors on Monday, Rockefeller said the next president must focus on the needs of everyday people. McCain's policies on health care, education, the economy and retirement security, he said, do not put real people front and center.
Rockefeller said he made an "inaccurate" analogy on Monday when he compared McCain's past role as a fighter pilot to his ability to connect with real people on the ground.
"I have extended my sincere apology to him. While we differ a great deal on policy issues, I profoundly respect and appreciate his dedication to our country, and I regret my very poor choice of words."
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
McCain's Man
By Shawn Tully, Fortune editor at large
NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Now that the faltering economy has replaced national security as the overriding issue in the presidential campaign, John McCain is portraying himself as a budget-shrinking, flat-tax-embracing, healthcare-privatizing champion of free markets. But is this Reaganesque zealot the real John McCain?
The big question is whether McCain's radical agenda is simply designed to rally the Republican base, or would prove a blueprint for a McCain presidency. Given the Arizona Senator's maverick record, voters have every reason to distrust the new McCain. He twice opposed the Bush tax cuts, advocates a big hike in gasoline taxes as part of an elaborate energy policy to halt global warming, and keeps dropping disturbing lines like, "I don't know as much about the economy as I should."
But economic conservatives should take heart. McCain's chief economic advisor - and perhaps his closest political friend - is the ultimate pure play in free market faith, former Texas Senator Phil Gramm. 65. If McCain follows Gramm's counsel, and most of his current positions are vintage Gramm indeed, his policies as president would represent not just a sharp departure from the Bush years, but an assault on government growth that Republicans have boasted about, but failed to achieve, for decades.
Since retiring from the Senate in 2002, Gramm - a former economics professor at Texas A&M - has been circling the globe as an investment banker at UBS (UBS). In July, McCain called on his old friend to salvage his floundering campaign.
"The campaign was structured on the belief that McCain would be the prohibitive front-runner, so he'd have no problem raising money," Gramm told Fortune. But McCain's support among voters and contributors collapsed when the "surge" in Iraq, which McCain championed, got off to shaky start.
"Suddenly it was 'McCain's war,'" says Gramm. With the campaign strapped for cash, Gramm swooped down on McCain headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, and spent a marathon session combing through the books. He helped McCain dramatically shrink the staff and budget. In the fall, McCain re-emerged following the Gramm strategy, as a scrappy insurgent underdog, running on puny budget.
On the economy, McCain's most daring manifesto is his healthcare plan. Not surprisingly, it bears the Gramm imprint. In fact, McCain has been heeding Gramm's "power-to-the-consumer" approach for over a decade. The two senators bonded when they linked arms to fight Hillary Clinton's ill-fated healthcare program in 1993. "We couldn't get any press coverage in Washington, DC, so we traveled all over the country, to the regional media markets," says Gramm. In 150 meetings at hospitals and clinics, McCain and Gramm relentlessly pounded the Clinton plan, helping fire the voter outrage that killed the plan in 1994.
Today, McCain is advocating a plan that's radically different from those of Clinton and Barrack Obama, and - if he goes all the way by following Gramm - could revolutionize America's healthcare system. For McCain and Gramm, the problem with our healthcare system - and the reason why over 47 million Americans are uninsured - is that it¹' excessively, scandalously expensive. The solution, they say, is to let Americans shop for healthcare with their own money. McCain advocates giving tax rebates of $2500 per individual or $5000 per family. With that money, families could purchase policies on their own. What's truly radical about the plan is that it eliminates the tax exclusion for healthcare benefits offered by companies to their employees, and replaces it with the $2500 to $5000 rebates.
Consumers could then use that cash to buy their own insurance in what Gramm foresees as a vibrant, consumer-driven marketplace for healthcare packages.
By contrast, Clinton and Obama want to leave the employer-based system in place; Clinton would make big companies either fund gold-plated packages for workers, or pay a stiff tax to support a new Medicare-like system. The Democrats wouldn't allow insurers to charge lower rates for young workers who cost far less than older Americans. McCain favors allowing insurers to charge rates based on actual cost. Gramm adamantly supports that policy allowing insurers to tailor their premiums, and their packages, to their customers. Says Gramm: "Most people without coverage are young and healthy. We shouldn't penalize them by forcing them to pay for someone else's coverage."
What about taxes? McCain now advocates extending the Bush tax cuts that he twice voted against. For Gramm, McCain's strength is that, unlike Bush, he will be a relentless hawk on spending. "McCain's main objection when Congress passed the tax cuts was that we didn't have spending controls," says Gramm. "If we'd had them, we could cut taxes again and not make do with some temporary stimulus."
McCain pledges to balance the budget by 2012, not by increasing taxes, but by vetoing all pork barrel spending, and curbing outlays for Social Security and Medicare. That would accomplish the seemingly impossible, reducing federal spending as a portion of GDP, a holy grail for conservatives. Could Gramm be the Treasury Secretary who spearheads the McCain plan? He says he'd be reluctant to return to public life, but doesn't rule it out. Indeed, he says that he and McCain talk every day. Gramm even quotes Rudyard Kipling to salute his friend's grit in political combat.
McCain is a hero to Gramm but not to free-marketers. Conservatives are hoping that by embracing their hero, McCain will become one himself.
NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Now that the faltering economy has replaced national security as the overriding issue in the presidential campaign, John McCain is portraying himself as a budget-shrinking, flat-tax-embracing, healthcare-privatizing champion of free markets. But is this Reaganesque zealot the real John McCain?
The big question is whether McCain's radical agenda is simply designed to rally the Republican base, or would prove a blueprint for a McCain presidency. Given the Arizona Senator's maverick record, voters have every reason to distrust the new McCain. He twice opposed the Bush tax cuts, advocates a big hike in gasoline taxes as part of an elaborate energy policy to halt global warming, and keeps dropping disturbing lines like, "I don't know as much about the economy as I should."
But economic conservatives should take heart. McCain's chief economic advisor - and perhaps his closest political friend - is the ultimate pure play in free market faith, former Texas Senator Phil Gramm. 65. If McCain follows Gramm's counsel, and most of his current positions are vintage Gramm indeed, his policies as president would represent not just a sharp departure from the Bush years, but an assault on government growth that Republicans have boasted about, but failed to achieve, for decades.
Since retiring from the Senate in 2002, Gramm - a former economics professor at Texas A&M - has been circling the globe as an investment banker at UBS (UBS). In July, McCain called on his old friend to salvage his floundering campaign.
"The campaign was structured on the belief that McCain would be the prohibitive front-runner, so he'd have no problem raising money," Gramm told Fortune. But McCain's support among voters and contributors collapsed when the "surge" in Iraq, which McCain championed, got off to shaky start.
"Suddenly it was 'McCain's war,'" says Gramm. With the campaign strapped for cash, Gramm swooped down on McCain headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, and spent a marathon session combing through the books. He helped McCain dramatically shrink the staff and budget. In the fall, McCain re-emerged following the Gramm strategy, as a scrappy insurgent underdog, running on puny budget.
On the economy, McCain's most daring manifesto is his healthcare plan. Not surprisingly, it bears the Gramm imprint. In fact, McCain has been heeding Gramm's "power-to-the-consumer" approach for over a decade. The two senators bonded when they linked arms to fight Hillary Clinton's ill-fated healthcare program in 1993. "We couldn't get any press coverage in Washington, DC, so we traveled all over the country, to the regional media markets," says Gramm. In 150 meetings at hospitals and clinics, McCain and Gramm relentlessly pounded the Clinton plan, helping fire the voter outrage that killed the plan in 1994.
Today, McCain is advocating a plan that's radically different from those of Clinton and Barrack Obama, and - if he goes all the way by following Gramm - could revolutionize America's healthcare system. For McCain and Gramm, the problem with our healthcare system - and the reason why over 47 million Americans are uninsured - is that it¹' excessively, scandalously expensive. The solution, they say, is to let Americans shop for healthcare with their own money. McCain advocates giving tax rebates of $2500 per individual or $5000 per family. With that money, families could purchase policies on their own. What's truly radical about the plan is that it eliminates the tax exclusion for healthcare benefits offered by companies to their employees, and replaces it with the $2500 to $5000 rebates.
Consumers could then use that cash to buy their own insurance in what Gramm foresees as a vibrant, consumer-driven marketplace for healthcare packages.
By contrast, Clinton and Obama want to leave the employer-based system in place; Clinton would make big companies either fund gold-plated packages for workers, or pay a stiff tax to support a new Medicare-like system. The Democrats wouldn't allow insurers to charge lower rates for young workers who cost far less than older Americans. McCain favors allowing insurers to charge rates based on actual cost. Gramm adamantly supports that policy allowing insurers to tailor their premiums, and their packages, to their customers. Says Gramm: "Most people without coverage are young and healthy. We shouldn't penalize them by forcing them to pay for someone else's coverage."
What about taxes? McCain now advocates extending the Bush tax cuts that he twice voted against. For Gramm, McCain's strength is that, unlike Bush, he will be a relentless hawk on spending. "McCain's main objection when Congress passed the tax cuts was that we didn't have spending controls," says Gramm. "If we'd had them, we could cut taxes again and not make do with some temporary stimulus."
McCain pledges to balance the budget by 2012, not by increasing taxes, but by vetoing all pork barrel spending, and curbing outlays for Social Security and Medicare. That would accomplish the seemingly impossible, reducing federal spending as a portion of GDP, a holy grail for conservatives. Could Gramm be the Treasury Secretary who spearheads the McCain plan? He says he'd be reluctant to return to public life, but doesn't rule it out. Indeed, he says that he and McCain talk every day. Gramm even quotes Rudyard Kipling to salute his friend's grit in political combat.
McCain is a hero to Gramm but not to free-marketers. Conservatives are hoping that by embracing their hero, McCain will become one himself.
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