McCain says restoration of trust and confidence will end Wall Street blues

New York, Sept.22 : The only way that the crisis on Wall Street can end is through trust and confidence, Republican presidential candidate John McCain has said.

In an interview with CBs's Scott Pelley, McCain admitted that the American people were facing tough times, but ruled out a repeat of the Great Depression of 1929.

"They're (Americans) badly frightened right now. And we've gotta get their trust and confidence back," McCain said, adding that most were victims of the "greed, the excess, and, yes, in some cases, corruption."

"There's a social contract that Adam Smith talked about between capitalism and the people. That contract has been broken. It's been broken by greed and access, aided and abetted by a government in Washington that's dominated by special interests and corruption," CBS quoted McCain, as saying.

Admitting that the United States was passing through a recession in a technical sense, McCain said he has been an advocate of deregulation for most of his career, but now the situation is such that a bailout is necessary at the federal level.

"We're gonna take over these bad loans. We're gonna take over these bad - these bonds and we're gonna keep you alive. And we're gonna have the taxpayer help you out. But when the time comes and the economy recovers then anything that's gained back is gonna go to the taxpayers first. I'm not saying this isn't gonna be messy. And I'm not saying it isn't gonna be expensive. But we have to stop the bleeding," the senator said.

He also said that the Bush administration and the Congress have failed to stop the economic downslide.

When asked to give his comments on Democratic rival barrack Obama's tax cut plans, McCain said: "His tax increase along with the enormous federal programs he proposes are the surest way to turn a recession into a depression."

McCain said that were he to tackle the problem, he would eliminate so many agencies of government that are outmoded and stop subsidising.

McCain said that: "It's time to show the American people that politics will not be part of this massive effort we're gonna have to go on to restore our nation's economy."

ANI