[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Sign-in] [Mail] [Setup] [Help]
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
|
National News See other National News Articles Title: Obama outlines recovery plan Title: Obama outlines recovery plan WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday signaled that he would pursue a far more ambitious plan of spending and tax cuts than anything he outlined on the campaign trail, setting the tone for a recovery effort that could absorb and define much of his term. In the Democrats’ weekly radio address, Mr. Obama said he would direct his economic team to design a two-year stimulus plan with the goal of saving or creating 2.5 million jobs, “a plan big enough to meet the challenges we face that I intend to sign soon after taking office” on Jan. 20, an indication that he would begin pushing his plan through Congress even before taking office. Mr. Obama is coordinating with the Democratic leaders of Congress, who have indicated they will begin work in December. With the worsening economic turmoil certain to mark Mr. Obama’s first year in office, his advisers say they are intent on trying to use the crisis as an opportunity to act on many of the issues he emphasized in his campaign, including tax cuts for lower- and middle-class workers, addressing neglected public infrastructure projects like roads and schools and creating new “green jobs” through federal business incentives for energy alternatives and environmentally friendly technologies. “The news this week has only reinforced the fact that we are facing an economic crisis of historic proportions,” Mr. Obama said. “We now risk falling into a deflationary spiral that could increase our massive debt even further.” Mr. Obama’s address, a video of which was made available on YouTube, was the keynote of an effort to calm tumultuous financial markets roiled by an apparent leadership vacuum in Washington before he takes office in two months. On Monday, Mr. Obama plans to announce some top players on his economic team. The disclosure on Friday that he will name as his Treasury secretary Timothy F. Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, sent the stock market up nearly 500 points after days of sharp losses. Those market declines and the prospect of automakers and other storied companies near collapse last week had sparked growing criticism that Mr. Obama was sitting on the sidelines. His statements about “one president at a time,” the critics said, ignored the facts that President Bush has been ineffectual in dealing with the crisis, and Congress proved unable to do much in its quick one-week session. The economic team will also include Peter R. Orszag, head of the Congressional Budget Office, who will be the next White House budget director. Transition officials said the economist Lawrence H. Summers, who was a senior economic adviser to Mr. Obama during the campaign, is also likely to be named to a senior White House role, but that remained unclear on Saturday. Mr. Summers served as secretary of the Treasury in the last 18 months of the Clinton administration and was a contender for the same job in the Obama administration. Mr. Summers has advocated for a forceful government stimulus plan in recent newspaper columns, saying the federal government should be doing more, not less, in areas like health care, energy, education and tax relief. Mr. Obama seemed to echo those thoughts in his radio address. “We’ll be working out the details in the weeks ahead, but it will be a two-year, nationwide effort to jump-start job creation in America and lay the foundation for a strong and growing economy,” Mr. Obama said. “We’ll put people back to work rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, modernizing schools that are failing our children, and building wind farms and solar panels, fuel-efficient cars and the alternative energy technologies that can free us from our dependence on foreign oil and keep our economy competitive in the years ahead.” Though advisers say they have not begun to fill in the details, Mr. Obama’s proposal would most likely require the new administration to go back to Congress for approval of a significant jobs and infrastructure program beyond the money it has already authorized for the bailout of financial institutions. Democratic leaders have been calling for a robust economic recovery initiative of up to $300 billion, including large spending on infrastructure to create jobs. President Bush has refused to consider a package so large, yet even some conservative economists have said $300 billion is the minimum needed to spur the economy. “There are no quick or easy fixes to this crisis, which has been many years in the making,” Mr. Obama said. “And it’s likely to get worse before it gets better. But January 20th is our chance to begin anew, with a new direction, new ideas and new reforms that will create jobs and fuel long-term economic growth.” The 2.5 million jobs that he promises to save or create over two years is a gross number. With about 1.2 million jobs lost this year, and more expected to be lost in 2009, Obama advisers expect that the net number of jobs created next year will be negative — that is, job losses will outnumber new jobs. For 2010, the advisers are going to project a positive net number, with more new jobs than jobs lost. Nearly every spending program and tax cut that Mr. Obama proposed during the campaign could well end up in the package, perhaps expanded and expedited, advisers indicated. For example, Mr. Obama’s proposals in his energy plans for the government to invest in energy alternatives and environmentally advanced “green” technologies will most likely be part of the stimulus package, rather than proposed later in his administration as originally anticipated. In effect, the stimulus will be seen by the new Obama administration as “a down payment,” as one adviser put it, on Mr. Obama’s entire domestic platform, allowing him to try to take maximum advantage of the first year of his presidency. Traditionally, the first year is the one in which modern presidents have achieved most of their major victories. Mr. Obama’s plans track with those of Democratic leaders, with whom he has been consulting in hopes that Congress could take action even before he is inaugurated. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a news conference on Friday after the lame-duck session, said Democrats would work “on a recovery package — we are not using the word ‘stimulus’ — a recovery package to be introduced in January.” Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, in a statement after Mr. Obama’s radio address, said, “We will soon finally have a leader and partner in the White House who recognizes the urgency with which we must turn around our economy, and I look forward to working with him and the new Congress to do so.” While Mr. Bush would be out of office, Congressional Republicans could still block a big stimulus package in the Senate, as Mr. Obama seemed to recognize. “I know that passing this plan won’t be easy,” Mr. Obama said. “I will need and seek support from Republicans and Democrats, and I’ll be welcome to ideas and suggestions from both sides of the aisle.” “But what is not negotiable,” Mr. Obama said, “is the need for immediate action.” As part of his two-year recovery plan, Mr. Obama is considering one change to his campaign platform that would appeal to Republicans — dropping his long-standing proposal to repeal the Bush tax cuts for the richest Americans. Instead, Mr. Obama and his advisers have discussed letting the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for the wealthiest taxpayers expire in 2011 as scheduled, while extending them for low-wage and middle-class workers. That, in effect, would delay the tax increases that taxpayers making over $250,000 a year would have faced had Mr. Obama repealed them in 2009 or 2010. That could have both economic and political benefits. Economically, Mr. Obama would not be open to the charge from Republicans and other critics that he is raising taxes in a recession, which many believe is counterproductive. His Republican presidential rival, Senator John McCain, had raised that argument during the campaign. Politically, by simply letting the tax cuts expire, Mr. Obama would get the benefit of higher revenues in 2011 and beyond to help finance his proposed health care plans without having to propose raising taxes on the affluent, and without the Democratic majorities in Congress having to take a vote on a tax increase. Also, Mr. Obama is under far less pressure in the short term to raise revenues to help finance campaign promises because the seriousness of the economic crisis has brought bipartisan agreement that the government must do whatever it can to spur economic growth. President Bush and the Republicans who then controlled Congress wrote his 2001 tax cuts to expire as a way of minimizing the projected revenue losses in future years, to comply with Congressional budget rules and help pass the legislation. Mr. Bush repeatedly called for making the tax cuts permanent, but no action was taken. With daily news media attention focusing constantly on Mr. Obama as he prepares to take office, he has taken pains not to appear to be competing against Mr. Bush — emphasizing several times that there is only one president at a time. But once again on Saturday, Mr. Obama took the limelight away from Mr. Bush, who used his own radio address to criticize Democratic Congressional leaders for adjourning without reaching an agreement to help the ailing automobile industry. “If the automakers are willing to make the hard decisions needed to become viable, they should be able to receive the funds Congress already allotted to them for other purposes,” Mr. Bush said. “This is a critical issue for our economy and our country.” Mr. Obama did not mention the controversial proposal to rescue the auto industry.
Poster Comment: Credit to Mekons5.. I've been peeking in to see what he's posting on obama and this one is a hum-dinger. For example, Mr. Obama’s proposals in his energy plans for the government to invest in energy alternatives and environmentally advanced “green” technologies will most likely be part of the stimulus package, rather than proposed later in his administration as originally anticipated. BWAHAHAHAHH!! He's playing FDR! The government is going to pay people (His pals, I'm sure) to create all sorts of expensive nonsense! He's not going to stop jobs from going overseas. Instead, We'll just PRINT MORE MONEY AND BUY people new jobs! BWAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA! Even better, he's admittedly going to cause energy prices to "skyrocket" and look to bankrupt traditional energy providers, like the coal industry! During a recession! Screwing with our energy policy is the FIRST THING on his agenda! He's gonna go Jimmah Carter and FDR all at once! An ideological battle against the forces of global warming & printing wild amounts of money is the best idea he can come up with to get us out of this mess.. Forget 4 years, he's liable to single handedly set the dems up for defeat in the 2010 midterms before he's even inaugurated! We lost 1.2 Million jobs this year and he's going to bankrupt us to create 2.5 million "green jobs" over the next several years! Everyone else can be a WalMart greeter! Yes We Can! BWHAHAHA!! The dong party at it's finest! Instead, Mr. Obama and his advisers have discussed letting the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for the wealthiest taxpayers expire in 2011 as scheduled... What's this? Obama flip-flops yet again. Perhaps his rich jew constituents didn't like the idea of repealing the cuts? Regardless, all this means is moar red ink. Someone has to pay for all this and, seeing as how we wants MOAR WAR! and a huger military, all we're talking about doing here is spending MOAR MONEY!! Yee ha! Full speed ahead, and don't spare the printing presses! Cut taxes and increase spending? Didn't the democrats tell us that was a no-no? I guess it's only bad when Republicans do it....
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Jhoffa_ (#0)
Obama promised to pass Amnesty for Illegal Aliens. Millions of Mexicans have returned to Mexico. If these millions come back over the borfer (did I mention he also promised to suspend border enforcement until the Amesty is passed), we will have to create several million jobs to remain where we are. All those millions of people will be eligible for food stamps, welfare, unemployment insurance, job training, government jobs, free health care, disability and Social Security. That will bankrupt government at all levels. Mexico should be collapsing pretty soon. They are producing less oil by volume and the price of oil has dropped $90 a barrel. They will probably see fewer American tourists and I know remitances from Mexicans in the US are down so Mexico will become a big problem in 2009. Mexico could one day go into freefall with ten million Mexicans invading America in one year looking for jobs, relatives to stay with and/or crimes to commit. If we pass Amnesty, we will not be able to round them up by the tens of thousands to deport them.
The Truth of 911 Shall Set You Free From The Lie
Nah! It's OKAY! They can help us build SOLAR CELLS! It'll all work out! You'll see! Oh boy! we's free at last.. FREE AT LAST!
~ Your failure to be informed, does not make me a wacko.
OOOOOhhhhh..2.5 million green jobs?!? as i said on another thread, like money, he'll create those out of thin air.
Couldn't help but smile at this.......the setting his socialist health care package back a few more years........that will really have to freeze the jaws of a handfull of former members here who were totally in luv with da man cause he was gonna take care of them. Ya know, if he keeps this sheet up, he just might make a whole bunch of his worshippers pissed off--but then, they'd not tell ya out loud cause they can't stand the 'I told you so' that they would surely hear. As they say, 'oh well.............."
Ya know, if he keeps this sheet up, he just might make a whole bunch of his worshippers pissed off--but then, they'd not tell ya out loud cause they can't stand the 'I told you so' that they would surely hear. As they say, 'oh well.............." Indeed, some posters are going to be mighty disappointed when Messiah doesn't deliver nanny care from cradle to grave as promised.
|
||
|
[Home]
[Headlines]
[Latest Articles]
[Latest Comments]
[Post]
[Sign-in]
[Mail]
[Setup]
[Help]
|
||