WASHINGTON - HERE with a selection of quotes from Tuesday's second US presidential debate between Democratic candidate Barack Obama and Republican John McCain:

THE ECONOMIC CRISIS
Mr McCain
'Americans are angry, they're upset, and they're a little fearful. It's our job to fix the problem. I have a plan to fix this problem.'

Mr Obama
'This is a final verdict the failed economic policies of the last eight years.'

THE ECONOMIC FIX
Mr McCain announcing a proposal for the government to buy up bad home mortgages and renegotiate terms for distressed homeowners:
'It's my proposal, it's not Senator Obama's proposal, it's not President Bush's proposal. I know how to get America working again.'

Mr Obama
'The middle-class need a rescue package. That means tax cuts for the middle-class. It means help for homeowners so they can stay in their homes.'

TAX POLICY AND SOCIAL PROGRAMS
Mr McCain
'We can attack health care and energy at the same time. We're not rifle shots here. We are Americans.'

Nailing down Senator Obama's various tax proposals is like nailing jell-o to the wall. There's been five or six of them, and if we wait long enough there will be another one.'

Mr Obama
'I think the Straight Talk Express lost a wheel on that one.'

'Senator McCain wants to give a US$300 billion (S$441 billion) tax cut ... to the largest corporations ... and CEOs on Wall Street. That is not fair. And it doesn't work.'

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Mr McCain
'I disagreed strongly with the Bush administration on this issue, I travelled all over the world looking at the effects of green house gas emissions.'

'What's the best way of fixing it? Nuclear power.'

Mr Obama
'This is one of the biggest challenges of our times.'

'We have three per cent of the world's oil reserves and we use 25 per cent of the world's oil. So what that means is that we can't simply drill our way out of the problem.'

HEALTH CARE
Mr McCain
'I think it's a responsibility.'Mr Obama
'I think it should be a right, in a country as wealthy as us.'

NATIONAL SECURITY LEADERSHIP
Mr McCain
'I am going to act responsibly, as I did throughout my military career and throughout my career in the United States Senate.'

On Mr Obama's leadership:

'We have fundamental disagreements about the use of military power, if and how you do it.'

'In his short career, he does not understand our national security challenges. We don't have time for on-the-job training, my friend.'

Mr Obama
'Its true, there's some things I don't understand. I don't understand how we ended up invading a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 while Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda are setting up base camps and safe havens to train terrorists to attack us.'

'We will kill bin Laden, we will crush Al-Qaeda. That has to be our biggest national security priority.

IS RUSSIA UNDER PUTIN AN EVIL EMPIRE?
Mr Obama
'I think they are engaged in evil behaviour. We must understand that they are not the old Soviet Union, but they still have nationalist impulses that are very dangerous.'

Mr McCain
'Maybe. It depends on how we respond to Russia.'

Concluding remarks:
Mr McCain
'I know what it is like in dark times. I know what it is like to fight to keep one's hope going through difficult times. I know what it is like to rely on others for support and courage and love in tough times.'

Mr Obama
'The question is: Are we going to pass on that same American dream to the next generation?' -- AFP