LA CROSSE — Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama told a crowd of 15,000 in La Crosse Wednesday that immediate action by Congress is needed to prevent a “long and painful recession.”
The Illinois senator flew back to Washington after the rally Wednesday to vote on a new Senate version of the bill.
He explained to attendees in La Crosse that if President George W. Bush is not able to sign a bailout plan soon, banks will be afraid to loan money, having adverse effects not only on Wall Street but on families as well.
“What it means is that if we do not act, it will be harder for you to get a mortgage for your home or the loans you need to buy a car or send your children to college,” Obama said.
Obama also asked those present and those in Washington to not look for someone to blame right now but instead focus on taking action.
“You don’t want to go around finding out what happened before you put the fire out,” Obama said. “And that’s where we’re at today.”
Despite Obama’s meeting with Republican presidential nominee John McCain, the president and other leaders in Congress, he included only one mention of his opponents’ names in his address, focusing almost entirely on the economy.
He did, however, mention several of the Arizona senator’s recent ads, which label Obama as a tax-raising liberal.
“I know you’ve been seeing some of these ads from the other side saying ‘Oh, Obama’s going to raise taxes,'” Obama said. “They’re not true.”
Obama said he would cut taxes for 95 percent of working families, and nobody making over $250,000 a year would see taxes increase by “one single dime.”
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a one-time Republican presidential hopeful and current McCain supporter, criticized Obama’s “arithmetic” in a conference call with reporters Wednesday afternoon.
He said he did not understand how Obama could cut taxes on 95 percent of people when 35 to 40 percent don’t pay taxes in the first place.
“If you are then going to support over $1 trillion in additional spending, you can’t possibly raise tax rates high enough on the remaining percentage,” Giuliani said.
Giuliani was critical of Obama’s campaign trip to La Crosse and praised McCain for staying in Washington to work on the economic crisis.
He gave McCain credit for working to improve Republican support of the bailout proposal in the House from four votes to 65 votes in Monday’s failure.
“Barack Obama’s first reaction to this was, ‘Call me if you need me,'” Giuliani said. “What that indicates to me is a quality of leadership that’s like, ‘I’m going to lead by retreating from the problem, so I don’t get blamed for it.'”
Giuliani said he thinks McCain will win Wisconsin, although current polls seem to point otherwise. In an Associated Press poll released Wednesday, Obama was favored over McCain by 48 to 41 percent in the state.
“I believe we will, because I think the things that John is talking about are the things that the people of Wisconsin are concerned about, like leadership,” Giuliani said. “It’s the reason I support him, the reason I admire him.”
The debate between vice presidential candidates Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Sarah Palin is set to start at 8 p.m. in St. Louis. Obama and McCain will have their second debate Oct. 7 at 8 p.m. in Nashville.
