McCain Says New Obama Economic Proposals Won't Help Democrats in Elections

Republican Senator John McCain said he’s “doubtful’ new economic proposals President Barack Obama plans to roll out this week will help Democrats in the congressional elections.

“They are just flailing around,” McCain, of Arizona, said on the “Fox News Sunday” program. “If we had done this kind of thing nearly a couple of years ago we’d be in a lot better shape.”

Obama this week will urge Congress to permanently extend a research and development tax credit to encourage job growth. He will lay out the proposal, which would cost about $100 billion over the next decade, in a Sept. 8 speech on the economy in Cleveland, according to two administration officials speaking on condition of anonymity before the announcement.

McCain said the administration’s economic policies have failed and predicted Republicans would “do very well” in the November elections to determine control of Congress.

McCain, his party’s 2008 presidential nominee, said Republicans need to develop a list of proposals that includes a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution and repealing and replacing the Democrats’ new health-care law.

“We’ve got to give Americans a reason to be for us, rather than be just against the Democrats and the president,” he said. “This election could be a seismic election.”

Tea Party

McCain said the Tea Party-backed candidates are “great additions” to the Republican Party and have “invigorated a base that has been dormant for a long period of time.” The Tea Party movement is a loose coalition of voters seeking limits on government spending, taxes and debt.

White House economic advisers are also considering additional measures, including more tax breaks for small businesses and new spending on infrastructure, according to congressional aides familiar with the discussions who spoke on condition of anonymity because talks are preliminary.

The chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Tim Kaine, said Democrats are focused on targeting tax credits to small business and middle-class Americans and where they will have the “most likelihood of increasing economic activity.”

While polls show voters favoring Republicans in the elections, Democrats “are going to win some surprising races” because Republican are putting up candidates with ideas that are “quite far out of the mainstream,” Kaine said on Fox.

Democrats have been “doing the heavy lifting at tough times to take a shrinking economy and get it growing again” while Republicans have “been standing in the way,” Kaine said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Catherine Dodge in Washington at cdodge1@bloomberg.net.

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