Obama Statement In Support Of Planned New Bailout

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Ahead of a meeting with his economic team in Florida, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) issued a statement on Friday supporting the new plan being finalized by the Treasury Department with Congress to fix the trouble on Wall Street.

"The events of the last few days have made it clear that we must take further bold and decisive action to shore up confidence in our financial markets and avoid a deepening economic crisis that could jeopardize the life savings and well-being of millions of Americans," the Illinois senator said.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Christopher Cox met with Congressional leaders Thursday night to hammer out an initiative to stabilize financial markets. The plan, which will require legislation, aims to eliminate bad mortgage-related assets, the primary cause of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

The SEC temporarily banned short selling of financial stocks on Thursday to stabilize markets. The announcement came on the heels of the Federal Reserve's decision to provide AIG a two-year $85 billion loan in return for a 79.9 percent stake in the company.

Obama said he will "closely examine" details of the plan according to four principles: the creation of new jobs and support for homeowners; the protection of long-term interests of taxpayers rather than "personal gain of CEOs and management;" the adoption of new regulations to guide the plan which should be temporary; that the plan be part of "a globally coordinated effort" with G20 partners.

The freshman senator is set to meet in Florida with economic advisors, which include former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker and Warren Buffett. He was expected to announce a new economic proposal after the meeting, but his Friday statement said, "Based on conversations I have had with both Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke, I have asked my economic team to refrain from presenting a more detailed blue-print of how an immediate plan might be structured until the Treasury and the Federal Reserve have had an opportunity to present their proposal."

The meeting will be made amid a contentious back-and-forth with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) about economic advisors. The Republican candidate began running a TV ad on Thursday accusing Obama of taking bad advice from controversial former Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines.

Obama responded with his own ad citing reports about McCain advisors. "Carly Fiorina, the fired CEO who got a $42 million golden parachute... Phil Gramm, Ex-Senator who pushed deregulation, called America 'whiners,'" the ad says.