Sen. John McCain on Tuesday will outline new economic proposals to help those who are "hurting the most" in the face of the ongoing financial crisis, his campaign said.
McCain＇s proposals come one day after Sen. Barack Obama detailed his "economic rescue plan" for the middle class. The Democrat＇s plan focuses on stabilizing the financial system, providing relief for families and communities, and helping struggling homeowners.
McCain＇s plan, called "the pension and family security plan," builds on the Arizona senator＇s "American home ownership resurgence plan," which was introduced last week.
That proposal called for using $300 billion of the $700 billion financial bailout package to keep Americans in their homes, stop declining housing values, and stabilize the financial markets.
McCain＇s new plan includes specific proposals to help seniors, those saving money, and homeowners.
The plan will help seniors by lowering taxes on withdrawals from their retirement accounts and suspending tax rules that force them to sell their stocks during the financial crisis, the campaign said.
The plan will help those saving money by accelerating the tax write-offs for those forced to sell stocks at a loss in the current market and reducing capital gains taxes for 2009 and 2010 to raise the incentive to save and invest, according to the campaign.
To provide relief for homeowners, the plan includes a proposal to purchase mortgages directly from the homeowners and mortgage servicers and replace them with manageable, fixed-rate mortgages.
To assist workers, the plan would eliminate taxes on unemployment benefits, according to the campaign.
McCain will lay out his plan at a rally in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.
Obama＇s campaign said McCain＇s proposals are "a day late and 101 million middle-class families short."
The campaign said McCain＇s plan doesn＇t offer enough tax relief for working families and small businesses.
"His trickle-down, ideological recipes won＇t strengthen our economy and grow our middle-class, but Barack Obama＇s pro-jobs, pro-family economic policies will," said Obama-Biden campaign spokesman Bill Burton.
McCain has his work cut out for him when it comes to the economy, according to recent polls.
The most recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll suggests that Americans think Obama would do a better job than McCain when it comes to the economy. Fifty-seven percent of those polled said Obama would do a better job dealing with the economy, with 37 percent saying McCain would do better.
Some conservative leaders have warned that if McCain doesn＇t step it up on the economy, he＇ll lose the election.
"Either McCain wins the argument over the economy or he loses," Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, told Politico.
Republican pollster Whit Ayres said McCain needs to convince voters he can make things better.
"It＇s not important for John McCain to give a 17-point plan in a speech. It is very important voters believe he has a plan for making the economy better," he said.
Some conservatives say McCain blew it when he joined Obama in supporting the president＇s bailout plan. But as polls showed a bailout bump for Obama, Ayres said there could be a corresponding bounce for McCain should the markets continue to recover.
And if the markets don＇t stabilize, Ayres said, McCain will have a tough road ahead.
"But one thing I＇ve learned -- you don＇t count out John McCain prematurely," he said.
The economy will likely dominate the conversation during the final presidential debate, which takes place Wednesday in Hempstead, New York.
Obama has no public events scheduled for Tuesday. He is spending the day preparing for the debate in Toledo, Ohio.
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