WASHINGTON, DC (AP):

With the contentious financial bailout bill behind them, Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama launched an attack yesterday on presidential rival John McCain over health care, and both stepped up their rhetoric on United States economic ills.

Health care had been put on the back burner as the Congress grappled with the financial rescue bill, which passed the House of Representatives on Friday and was quickly signed by US President George W. Bush.

Obama planned to criticise McCain's plan to tax health-care benefits as "radical" during an event in Newport News, Virginia, while his campaign echoed the message in four new television ads and radio commercials.

McCain has proposed a dramatic change to the way Americans get health insurance. The Republican would tax the health benefits that 156 million people get through the workplace as income. In exchange, McCain would give tax credits to help pay for insurance - US$2,500 for individuals and US$5,000 for families, paid directly to the insurer they choose.

Obama favours subsidising the cost of health coverage for millions who otherwise would have trouble affording it on their own.

In remarks prepared for his rally yesterday, Obama warns that under his opponent's plan, "Many employers will drop their health-care plans altogether."

Criticising bailout

The teetering economy and a government plan to rescue Wall Street continued to command the nation's - and the candidates' - attention.

Despite the passage Friday of the unprecedented US$700 billion financial bailout, Wall Street ended an intensely volatile week Friday with another sell-off and many predict the US cannot avoid falling into recession.

In Paris on yesterday, leaders of France, Britain, Germany and Italy said they would seek a summit to reassure investors and markets jittery about a growing financial and economic crisis. But European governments differ on how far they should intervene, and their differences could drive them apart.

Bush, meanwhile, was buoyed by the legislative outcome but still spoke cautiously in his weekly radio address yesterday about the economy's future.

"While these efforts will be effective, they will also take time to implement," Bush said. "My administration will move as quickly as possible, but the benefits of this package will not all be felt immediately."

The presidential candidates both have turned to traditional rhetoric as they battle over the economy, with Obama blaming Republicans for the economic crisis and McCain accusing Obama of proposing harmful tax-and-spend remedies.

On Friday, Obama cited the government's latest report of big job losses in the US to argue that the policies of his Republican opponents "are killing jobs in America every single day."

The Illinois senator encouraged voters to change Republican leadership in the White House, continuing a theme of tying McCain to the unpopular Bush.

McCain, a senator from Arizona, retorted that Obama's tax and spending plans will not solve the problem.

McCain told a town hall meeting in Pueblo, Colorado: "He wants higher taxes, more government, higher spending, and frankly, that record is not something which has been good for America and we won't let it happen."

The McCain campaign launched a new national TV ad Friday repeating his claims.

Obama is proposing tax increases only for those earning more than US$250,000 but would cut taxes for those making less.

Increasing ratings

As the financial crisis unfolded through the week, Obama picked up voter support nationwide. The Republican nominee's poll numbers slipped everywhere, dropping so far in Michigan that the campaign announced it would not fight for votes there any longer.

It diverted resources elsewhere, even moving to shore up Republican bastions such as the states of Indiana and North Carolina.

McCain's running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, on Friday told Fox News that she disagreed with the decision to abandon Michigan, a campaign move she only learned about Friday morning when she read it in the newspapers.

"I want to get back to Michigan, and I want to try," said Palin, who acknowledged that polls in the state show Obama outdistancing McCain.