BLUE BELL, PA. — In an effort to seize the initiative in tackling the nation's financial troubles, John McCain on Tuesday outlined a $52.5-billion package of new tax breaks that he said would stimulate the economy and ease the money problems of many Americans.
Aiming his pitch largely at senior citizens who could be crucial swing voters in states with older populations such as Pennsylvania, McCain said he would lower the tax rate on their withdrawals from retirement accounts to 10% this year and next.
The Republican presidential nominee also proposed cutting the capital gains tax in half for two years, suspending taxes on unemployment benefits for workers making less than $100,000, and ordering the Treasury Department to guarantee 100% of Americans' savings for six months to calm fears of bank failures.
"If I am elected president, I will help to create jobs for Americans in the most effective way a president can do this -- with tax cuts that are directed specifically to create jobs and to protect your life savings," he told a cheering crowd of about 1,000 in the gymnasium of a community college here in the Philadelphia suburbs.
The new slate of proposals is an addendum to the Arizona senator's already expansive tax-cutting plans and his call to use $300 billion of the $700-billion rescue package to buy up bad mortgages and reset them with more favorable terms. It is part of McCain's effort to right his campaign and regain voters' trust in his handling of the economy, an area in which more voters favor his opponent, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.
The Obama campaign immediately criticized the McCain plan, saying it failed to do "anything to help jump-start job growth for America's middle class."
Obama unveiled his own $60-billion plan Monday, which included a $3,000 tax credit to companies for each full-time worker they hire, a 90-day moratorium on home foreclosures, and a temporary relaxation of rules so that families can withdraw as much as $10,000 from their retirement savings without penalty.
Several financial analysts were critical of both packages, saying they are short-sighted approaches that may soften the recent financial hardships for some Americans but do little to address the underlying weakness in the economy.
"On the campaign trail they sound good -- like they are addressing real problems -- but they create their own problems," said Roberton Williams, principal research associate at the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute.
