For senior citizens, it includes lower taxes on withdrawals from retirement accounts and calls for a suspension of tax rules that force them to sell their stocks during this financial crisis.

The plan also offers two items for savers and investors. It will allow the acceleration of tax write-offs for those forced to sell at a loss in the current market and will reduce capital gains taxes for 2009 and 2010 to raise the incentive to save and invest. The latter of these two is particularly interesting since it will encourage buying of stocks at their current lows since the gains will be taxed at a lower rate once profits are realized.

McCain’s plan would also purchase mortgages from homeowners and mortgage servicers and replace them with fixed-rate FHA mortgages that are more manageable. This would affect millions of homeowners that currently have mortgages that exceed the value of their homes or who are currently delinquent with their mortgage. According to johnmccain.com, there are 3.1 million delinquent or in default mortgages and 11.8 million underwater mortgages.

The last element of the plan eliminates taxes on unemployment benefits. McCain believes that this would yield most unemployed Americans earning less than $100,000 a year, a ten percent savings.

I applaud this new plan, since it offers a bailout for those who are the biggest victims of the current financial crisis.

These new mortgages could have interest rates in the 5 to 5.25 percent range for a 30 year mortgage. The proposed plan would only apply to homeowners who took on a sub-prime loan for their main residence after 2005. This could help between 200,000 to 400,000 people.

He said that part of the funding for this program could come from the $700 billion that was already approved for the Treasury in the bailout package. He also said that the Federal Housing Administration could also provide some of the funds.

Although this rewards fiscal irresponsibility, I support this program because it helps homeowners in distress and the financial institutions. It is far better than just bailing out the financial institutions and doing nothing for the people who are feeling the pain directly.

The questions that were selected by Tom Brokaw had all been answered by the candidates before. I believe that the debate should be a direct call-in event. I think everyone has forgotten that the Constitution of the United States starts with "We the People…" Wouldn’t it be more democratic to have the people ask questions that no one has read or approved? Maybe then we would get the answers that we want and deserve?

Just about the only newsworthy statement made at the debate was Senator McCain’s proposal to buy out home mortgages that are valued higher than the underlying property. This is something that has caused many foreclosures around the country and has become a major nightmare for both the homeowners and the banks. It would be a double bailout. However, this goes against Senator McCain’s fiscal conservatism and needs further explanation by the candidate.

If the economy is as desperately in need of bailouts as this proposal would indicate, then we are in a whole lot of trouble. More trouble than either candidate can fix.

What is difficult to understand is why some potential voters put on their blinders and believe that an inexperienced radical who has only been in the Senate for a few years can do a good job with the economy. What has he proposed that is so relevant to the bottom line? He has proposed nothing meaningful and can deliver nothing special.

Potential voters seem to think that Senator McCain had something to do with the current financial malaise. It could not be further from the truth. Perform your own research and be informed. Do Internet searches on McCain and regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. You will see that McCain sponsored bills to regulate these two entities before they became a problem.

Senator Obama hardly has any experience in government. He has no experience as an executive. He has not run a company. He has not been a governor or even a mayor. Senator Obama has not forged relationships with members of congress from both parties. Senator McCain, on the other hand, has over 25 years of experience. He has relationships with other members of congress and even has the support of Senator Lieberman, a former Connecticut Democrat turned Independent.

It is the economy, but please don’t be stupid. Think it through and decide based on who will actually affect your bottom line. This is not a time for blind faith–especially not in politicians.