Second Presidential Debate Focuses Heavily on Fiscal Policy

October 8 - The second presidential debate gave both candidates numerous chances to discuss the state of the economy, restate their tax and spending plans, and criticize their opponent's fiscal record. The candidates also mentioned the national debt and deficit multiple times, and discussed how urgently they would prioritize entitlement reform. McCain stated that he would attempt to reform entitlements at the same time as he made progress on other concerns like energy policy and healthcare, and Obama said that although he couldn't promise he would tackle entitlements in the first two years of his presidency, he wanted to address them sometime in his first term.
One of the more notable new developments in the debate came from McCain, while he was discussing the bailout package:

"So this rescue package means that we will stabilize markets, we will shore up these institutions. But it's not enough. That's why we're going to have to go out into the housing market and we're going to have to buy up these bad loans and we're going to have to stabilize home values, and that way, Americans...can realize the American dream and stay in their home."

McCain later elaborated further on this proposal, saying that the government would buy "bad" mortgages from homeowners in order to reset the mortgage price at a level that better reflects current home values.