Obama to meet economic advisers to offer new plans

[September 19, 2008]  MIAMI (AP) -- Barack Obama turned to a team of advisers that shaped America's economy in happier days to fashion fresh ideas for calming the stomach-churning financial crisis that has thundered from Wall Street to Main Street.

Some of the most respected names in the business world were pitching in Friday, including billionaire investor Warren Buffett, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, former Treasury secretaries Robert Rubin, Lawrence Summers and Paul O'Neill and Laura Tyson, former head of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Clinton.

Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, was to meet with advisers in Coral Gables, Fla., on the campus of the University of Miami and then announce his new proposals. Buffett and O'Neill and perhaps others were to participate by way of a telephone conference call.

Less than seven weeks before Election Day, the high-profile consultations appeared designed to portray Obama in a presidential-like setting, grappling with the nation's gravest problems and making decisions with the help of a big-name team of experts.

Republican rival John McCain has charged that Obama is too inexperienced to sit in the Oval Office. Friday's meeting was tailored to show that McCain is wrong. But at the end of the day, Obama's proposals will be campaign fodder as opposed to the real bailout plan taking shape in Washington to rescue banks from bad debt.

"This is not a time for fear, it's not a time for panic," Obama said Thursday in New Mexico. "This is a time for resolve and it is a time for leadership."

The anxious focus on the economy is an advantage for Obama because McCain-ally President Bush has set the nation's economic priorities for the last eight years with tax cuts, global trade deals and a veto-pen threat over Democratic initiatives. On the campaign trail, Obama relentlessly tries to tie McCain with the unpopular Bush.

Briefly outlining his proposals, Obama said he would call for a Homeowner and Financial Support Act "that would establish a more stable and permanent solution than the daily improvisations that have characterized policy-making over the past year."

He said his measures would provide capital to the financial system, insure liquidity to allow the financial markets to function and "get serious about helping struggling families to restructure their mortgages on affordable terms so they can stay in their homes."

Obama also mocked McCain's promise to fire the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission if elected.

"I think that's all fine and good but here's what I think," Obama said. "In the next 47 days you can fire the whole trickle-down, on-your-own, look-the-other way crowd in Washington who has led us down this disastrous path.

"Don't just get rid of one guy. Get rid of this administration," he said. "Get rid of this philosophy. Get rid of the do-nothing approach to our economic problem and put somebody in there who's going to fight for you."

Obama came up with yet another way to poke fun at McCain for his comment Monday that the fundamentals of the economy were strong. "This comment was so out of touch that even George Bush's White House couldn't agree with it when they were asked about it. They had to distance themselves from John McCain."

Bush has used the same language many times but his press secretary would not repeat the line Wednesday in the face of historic financial turbulence.

Obama had telephone discussions Thursday about the financial markets with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Fed chief Paul Volcker and former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers.

Saying that McCain strongly advocated deregulation and then changed his mind, Obama said, "We can't afford to lurch back and forth between positions depending on the latest news of the day when dealing with an economic crisis.

"We need some clear and steady leadership and that's why I was ahead of the curve in calling for regulation," he said. "And that's why I'm calling on the Treasury and the Federal Reserve to use their emergency authorities to maintain the flow of credit, to support the availability of mortgages and to ensure that our financial system is well capitalized."

In response, McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds said, "When Barack Obama came to Washington, he chose to strengthen his ties to spiraling lenders like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and their jet-set CEOs, not make change. The American people cannot afford leadership that puts a higher premium on campaign contributions than protecting hardworking Americans."

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On the Net:

Obama: http://www.barackobama.com/

McCain: http://www.johnmccain.com/

[Associated Press; By TERENCE HUNT]

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