McCain, Obama duel on economic fix-it plans

Well, they part ways on that, as they made clear in dueling economic speeches Monday on the issue that has taken center stage in their presidential contest.

Obama said that McCain offers a third term of President Bush's policies.

"John McCain's policies are essentially a repeat, a regurgitation of what we've been hearing from the Republican Party over the last two decades, maybe three," Obama said in St. Louis, where his plane made an unscheduled stop because of mechanical problems that forced him to cancel an appearance in Charlotte, N.C. "It's part of the reason that we're in the situation that we find ourselves in right now."

McCain has been forced into a more defensive crouch because his party has held the White House while jobs, home values, stock prices and consumer confidence have tumbled.

While calling Obama's plans expensive and unwise on Monday, he tried to distance himself from Bush where he could.

"This Congress and this administration have failed to meet their responsibilities to manage the government," McCain said in Denver. "Government has grown by 60 percent in the last eight years. That is simply inexcusable."

He promised to veto "every single bill with wasteful spending."

McCain has said the economy is not his strong suit, and on Monday he seemed eager to show a deeper understanding of the topic, even as he dismissed the views of some experts.

"Some economists don't think much of my gas tax holiday," he said of his plan to temporarily suspend the federal levy on motor fuels. "But the American people like it, and so do small business owners."