Candidates fix-it plans for the economy

• Pledge $10 billion over five years to give basic retraining, adjustment and job search benefits to every worker who loses his or her job.

• Spend $2.5 billion over five years to expand federal grants for displaced workers and for on-the-job training programs for workers threatened by global competition.

• Provide $30 billion to help states and communities minimize foreclosures, expand the Federal Housing Administration's ability to guarantee restructured mortgages and protect mortgage companies from lawsuits when they modify mortgages.

• Create a Federal Housing Administration program to encourage lenders to buy or refinance problem mortgages; create 10 percent universal mortgage tax credit; allow bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages.

• Expand Federal Reserve oversight of financial institutions; raise capital and disclosure requirements; streamline regulatory agencies.

• Create a $10 billion foreclosure-prevention fund for homeowners; give $10 billion to state and local governments to prevent cuts in services; extend and expand unemployment insurance.

• Allow natural market forces to work themselves out, along with more tax breaks to help fuel growth.

• Without providing bailouts for "speculators" in financial markets, help "those who belong in a home but are in the wrong mortgage," senior policy adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin said.

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