Question 3

What are you willing to give up to afford a $700 billion bail-out?

Obama - Can't guarantee what the tax receipts will be, so can't be sure what the tax policy will really be. Shifts to alt-energy, health care, cost of college, infrastructure. Haven't heard what he would cut, though.

McCain - Defense spending cuts - good for him - Nixon-goes-to-China stuff. Speaks smartly about the contract issues involved and how he saved $6.8 billion on a Boeing contract - "I know how to do this".

Lehrer asks again - what are you going to cut?

Obama jumps in to answer first. Lehrer unimpressed with his answers. Obama still not answering the question, and Lehrer still trying to get an answer.

McCain - spending freeze on everything except for a handful of vital things (veterans issues, defense, etc.).

Obama - Says a spending freeze is a hatchet and you need a scalpel, but he won't say where he will direct his scalpel. Tries to tie in Iraq war costs.

McCain - Shout out for nuclear power. I wish he would go back and take on the Iraq war canard.

Lehrer, trying again to get an answer to his question:

Obama - no doubt it will affect our budgets. FDR got us out of the depression by buying up homes and holding them until their value increased? News to me.

McCain - I want to make sure we don't hand over the health care system to the federal government (plays well in this 2 MD household). McCain comes back to the spending freeze (at least he gave an answer to Lehrer's question). Spending restraint called for again. Wants to cut federal budgets.

Obama - Ham-fisted attempts to tie McCain to Bush on spending. Another set-up for McCain. We'll see...

McCain - Back to the "I'm not Miss Congeniality" - lists where he has disagreed with Bush. "Maverick of the Senate".