McCain Agrees to Attend Debate as Bailout Talks Continue | Voice of America - English
Republican presidential nominee John McCain has reversed his earlier decision and decided to participate in Friday's long scheduled debate with Democrat candidate Barack Obama.  McCain had said he would not attend the debate unless there was agreement on a controversial $700 billion plan to shore up the U.S.
Senator John McCain announced Friday he willtake part in Friday night's debate with fellow Senator Barack Obama atthe University of Mississippi. Earlier in the week, McCain said he wassuspending his presidential campaign and wanted to postpone the debateuntil a bailout agreement had been reached. Both McCain andObama stopped making campaign appearances and returned to WashingtonThursday to meet with President Bush and other officials about theadministration's proposed $700 billion rescue plan for the financialindustry. Before leaving for the debate site in Mississippi Friday,Obama repeated his view that he and McCain should debate as planned. "Mystrong sense is that the best thing that I could do, rather than toinject presidential politics into some delicate negotiations, is to godown to Mississippi," he said. Senate Democratic Majority LeaderHarry Reid said Friday McCain was not contributing to a solution. "Theinsertion of presidential politics has not been helpful," he said. "Allhe has done is stand in front of the cameras. We still do not knowwhere he stands on the issue." Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell disagreed, saying both McCain and Obama helped the process along. "Bothpresidential candidates coming back [to Washington] was actuallyhelpful," he said. "It underscored the significance of moving forwardand moving forward on a bipartisan basis and doing it quickly. So Ithink Senator McCain's role has been entirely constructive." TopRepublican and Democratic lawmakers continued meeting with TreasurySecretary Henry Paulson and other administration officials Friday, totry to work out an economic rescue plan. U.S. President GeorgeBush urged lawmakers Friday to rise to the occasion and reach agreementsoon. "There are disagreements over aspects of the rescue plan," hesaid. "But there is no disagreement that something substantial must bedone. The legislative process is sometimes not very pretty, but we aregoing to get a package passed." Much of the opposition to theproposal has come from within President Bush's own party. Republicansin the House of Representatives are demanding "serious consideration"of a proposal which would sharply limit government assistance tofinancial institutions that are in trouble because of bad loans theymade. House Republican Minority Leader John Boehner said Friday he isbeing bullied by the White House. "I do not know what games werebeing played at the White House yesterday, ganging up on Boehner, butif they thought they were rolling me, they were kidding themselves," hesaid. Boehner says he and fellow House Republicans areprotecting the taxpayers' best interests. "There are a lot of proposalsout there that will work," he said. "What we have got to do is to doour best on behalf of taxpayers." Public opinion polls show thatthe president's economic rescue plan is not popular. Only 30 percentof Americans polled say they support the bailout package. Another 45percent oppose the plan, and 25 percent are unsure about it. Republicans and Democrats in the Senate said publicly Friday they will work together to find an acceptable solution quickly. Thelatest news from the U.S. economy highlights the urgency of thesituation. The Commerce Department reported Friday that the U.S. grossdomestic product increased at a 2.8 percent annual ratefrom April to June, less than the 3.3 percent growth estimate made onemonth ago. Also, Thursday saw the largest single bank failure inU.S. history. Washington Mutual collapsed, and its $307 billion inassets were sold to JP Morgan Chase for $1.9 billion.