McCain to 'Hopefully' Support Bailout
Republican presidential nominee concedes health care plan might raise taxes.
Sept. 28, 2008 -- Sen. John McCain said Sunday that he plans to "hopefully" support the $700 billion emergency bailout package negotiated by Congress and the administration.
"I'd like to see the details," McCain told George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive "This Week" interview. "And the outlines that I have read of it, that this is something that all of us will swallow hard and go forward with. The option of doing nothing is simply not an acceptable option."
When asked if his principles had been met, McCain responded "Yes, protect the taxpayer, make sure that there isn't excessive compensation for CEOs, a oversight body, not leaving all the decisions in the hands of one individual."
McCain, who declared on Wednesday that he would "suspend" his campaign to deal with the bailout, explained his role in the process, saying, "I came back because I wasn't going to phone it in. And America's in a -- in a crisis of almost unprecedented proportions. I should be doing whatever little I can to help this process."
When asked why he did not return to the Senate on Saturday to vote on the continuing resolution, McCain explained, "I was working on all of the other stuff that I was working on, and contacting people, and working away."
But he went on to note the he "probably would have ended up voting for it."
"I certainly would have done everything in my power to remove those earmarks. But I may have voted for it."
Fielding follow-up questions from Friday night's presidential debate, the Republican nominee also conceded that his health care plan might raise taxes, saying "it depends on, on, on what plan they have. But that's usually the wealthiest people."
When pressed by Stephanopoulos on whether his health care tax credits will be large enough to compensate for his proposal to eliminate tax breaks, McCain explained, "Actually, my position is that it will be, it will give people actually more money to go out and purchase tax -- health insurance on their own and only those with the Cadillac gold-plated health insurance policies today are the ones who might suffer from it."
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