McCain: Cut Spending After Economy Recovers

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Monday that the Senate should not pass the $825 economic stimulus package in its current form, and called on any plan to include a provision that would slash government spending across the board after two consecutive quarters of economic growth.

“I believe that the package as its presently constituted is a spending package that would mortgage our children’s future, which is already mortgaged,” McCain said on a call into the conservative Sean Hannity radio show. “In its present form, it shouldn’t be passed. It is a spending bill, not a stimulus bill.”

The former Republican presidential candidate said that any stimulus plan should include a sectiont that would automatically enact spending cuts across the board after two quarters of economic growth.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who joined McCain on the show, said that a stimulus package may not even be necessary if the government acts more aggressively to abate toxic assets and works to instill greater liquidity in the economy.

“We can put all the stimulus out there we want — if we don’t handle toxic assets and liquidity, it doesn’t mean anything,” Coburn said. “There’s not one thing in any of the bills that gets rid of any program that’s not working.”