McCain's Revised Proposal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After receiving much heated criticism over his newly released economic proposal for coping with the largest credit and housing crunch in decades, John McCain has astounded his opponents with a sweeping proposal that is perceived by many as more comprehensive than plans put forth by either the Clinton or Obama campaign.

McCain's proposal would sponsor a new 100,000 employee Government Debt Forgiveness (GDF) bureaucracy reporting directly to the President. The crux of the plan is the assertion that many cashed strapped borrows who are in default on their mortgages must also necessarily have difficulty paying their taxes.

"Getting lenders and banks to agree on a plan for forgiving debt and getting people out of foreclosures will take far too long. Under my plan, we will immediately and automatically forgive anyone with an outstanding tax obligation to the Federal Gov't, this is the way to get to the root of the problem. "

Sen. McCain continued, "The Democrats are proposing a shot-gun method of stimulating the economy, dropping money out of helicopters, if you will. Why should we cut a check to families that have money in the bank and are paying their bills? They don't need the help."

The plan would also rewrite the tax law so that income taxes would no longer be withheld from each paycheck. Each citizen would have full access to pre-tax funds, and at the end of the year, pay the assigned tax obligation. The GDF would track households that consistently fail to pay taxes and put them in the "distressed household" category. Each distressed household would be assigned a personal counselor to work out an agreement such as forgiving the tax debt or giving the family a cash subsidy. "This ensures that gov't funds are given only to families that are truly distressed." said Sen. McCain's spokesperson.

Criticism from Democratic candidates was immediate and direct. Sen. Obama retorted, "The last thing the Gov't needs to be doing is rewarding those that renege on their obligations to this great country, the U.S. of K...ummm...of A. When you receive Gov't assistance, whether it be in the form of interstate highways, or access to courts, or national defense, you have a duty to repay what you owe. Not to mention that this would wreak havoc on Federal budgets..."

Sen. Clinton was likewise unsparing in her remarks, "A get out of jail free card for tax evaders? And what about the lost revenue? Is it fair for taxpayers to subsidize people who aren't responsible enough to pay their taxes? I've got news for McCain, you're going to be seeing a lot of "distressed households.""

The McCain campaign furthered the charge claiming that the tax code is too big and cumbersome for ordinary people to figure out what they owe. For people who didn't understand what they were doing when they signed their tax returns there would be more understanding and compassion. Until the full bill was passed, Sen. McCain declared that there would be a "100-day freeze on all late tax payment penalties, and no more interest charged on unpaid taxes."

An economist for the Clinton campaign, who requested to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal, was quoted as saying, "This is blatant plagiarism. This is a knock-off of our own original plans for addressing the crisis. The main advantage of the Clinton proposal is that you're giving away someone else's money [referring to the banks]."