Friday, October 10, 2008

McCain Can Change His Proposals, But Don’t Criticize Him For It

On MSNBC, John McCain’s senior economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin complained that some critics have flip-flopped in their assessments of McCain’s Homeownership Resurgence Plan.

Many progressives changed their opinion of McCain’s proposal for one “quite simple” reason: McCain changed his proposal.

On Tuesday night, McCain appeared to be offering a responsible plan that called for lenders to sell the mortgages of struggling homeowners to the government at a discount, rather than their face value — thus forcing lenders to foot the loss.

By Wednesday, McCain had significantly modified his proposal, shifting the cost of the plan from the lenders and onto tax payers. Under his new plan, McCain would pay each lender the full face value of each mortgage, amounting to a $100 billion boondoggle for lenders who made bad loans.

According to Holtz-Eakin, McCain is allowed to change his proposals, but we’re not allowed to criticize him for it.

Watch the video - Think Progress

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