John McCain said Tuesday that he understood Americans' anger about the mortgage foreclosure crisis and was open to ideas for addressing the problem, but he rejected the sort of activist approaches proposed by his Democratic rivals for the presidency.
In a speech at a small printing business in Santa Ana, the presumptive Republican nominee said he was "committed to the principle that it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers."
McCain cited the $30-billion plan by New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to aid homeowners and communities threatened by foreclosures, saying that it sounded "very expensive" and that he would "like to know how it's paid for."
His remarks came as the mortgage crisis and related economic troubles increasingly are moving to the forefront of the presidential campaign. Clinton and the Democratic front-runner, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, have criticized mortgage-lending practices and called for government intervention to provide relief to homeowners.
By contrast, McCain -- who has been trying to shore up his economic credentials -- placed some of the blame on homeowners themselves, while also scolding "complacent" lenders.
He also said government assistance should be limited to homeowners who intend to stay in their homes, not to those who bought second homes hoping to profit from them as rental properties. He added that aid should be temporary "and must not reward people who were irresponsible at the expense of those who weren't."
"I will not play election-year politics with the housing crisis," he said at C&H Letterpress Inc. in Santa Ana, addressing a group of Latino small-business leaders. "I will evaluate everything in terms of whether it might be harmful or helpful to our effort to deal with the crisis we face now."
The Arizona senator's remarks came on a busy campaign swing through the Los Angeles area, where he picked up the endorsement of former First Lady Nancy Reagan. McCain also attended a fundraiser hosted by former Univision Chairman A. Jerrold Perenchio and his wife, Margaret.
Reagan greeted McCain in the late afternoon during a brief meeting in front of her Bel-Air home. In a prepared statement, she called McCain "a good friend for over 30 years." She said she and her husband got to know McCain after his 5 1/2 -year imprisonment in North Vietnam, and "were impressed by the courage he had shown."
