Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) and McCain senior policy advisor Doug Holtz-Eakin held a conference call to respond to the Barack Obama economic speech today. Holtz-Eakin pointed out two alleged factual errors in the Obama speech. He contends that Obama is incorrect that John McCain backed the Bears-Stearns bailout; McCain opposed it while Obama said supportive things at the time, Holtz-Eakin said. Holtz-Eakin contends that saying McCain is in favor of a massive tax cut for Exxon as Obama did is inaccurate; McCain voted against the 2005 Bush-Cheney energy bill and the tax breaks for oil companies while Obama supported the bill.

Not surprisingly Holtz-Eakin hit Obama on James Johnson, saying that Johnson had “benefited from preferential lending” and is “thoroughly entangled” in the subprime mortgage crisis.

I asked Holtz-Eakin about McCain’s promise to simplify the tax code and what he thinks about the breakdown in support for free trade. On tax policy, he said they would continue to roll out plans but declined to preempt McCain by describing them in detail. On trade, he said that McCain was committed to a one-stop retraining program for displaced workers and that by restoring trust in government, such as by eliminating earmarks, people would have greater faith in the government including trade policy and enforcement. He said that McCain was disappointed by the “sad demagoguing in political battles” by the Democrats and that the “truth of history” confirms the benefits of free trade.

In response to other questions, Holtz-Eakin said it was impossible to evaluate Obama’s claim that his spending plans are paid for by his tax hikes since he refuses to provide specifics, such as how high he would raise capital gains taxes. Senator Burr dismissed the notion that North Carolina was “in play” this year, pointing to polling and McCain’s conservative economic record.