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.