Obama courts middle class, McCain talks of comeback
Democrat Barack Obama, seeking to cement his advantage on the economy, today plans to lay out a more detailed rescue plan for the middle class.
Republican John McCain, trying to turn his deficit in the polls to his advantage, today delivered a more pumped-up speech he hopes will fuel a comeback.
Obama, like McCain, voted for the $700 billion financial bailout plan. But he and other congressional Democrats now say there needs to be a second $150 billion stimulus package, aimed at helping average Americans and to be enacted immediately after the Nov. 4 election.
"Over the course of this campaign, I’ve laid out a set of policies that will grow our middle class, strengthen our economy in the long-term," Obama said in Toledo. "I’ll reform our tax code so that 95 percent of workers and their families get a tax cut. I'll eliminate income taxes for seniors making under $50,000 a year. We'll make the tax code fair. I’ll bring down the cost of healthcare for families and businesses by investing in preventative care, new technology, and giving every American the chance to get the same kind of health insurance that members of Congress give themselves. We'll ensure every child can compete in the global economy by recruiting an army of new teachers and making college affordable for anyone who wants to go and is willing to put some time into community service....We are going to create five million new, high-wage jobs by investing in the renewable sources of energy that will eliminate the oil we currently import from the Middle East in ten years. We’ll create another two million jobs by rebuilding our crumbling roads, schools, and bridges, our infrastructure.
"But that’s the long-term strategy for growth," Obama added. "Right now, we face an immediate economic emergency, and that requires urgent action. We can’t wait to help workers and families and communities who are struggling right now -- who don’t know if their job or their retirement will be there tomorrow; who don’t know if next week’s paycheck will cover this month’s bills....We need to pass an economic rescue plan for the middle class and we need to do it not five years from now, not next year, we need to do it right now. Today I’m proposing a number of steps that we should take immediately to stabilize our financial system, provide relief to families and communities, and help struggling homeowners. It’s a plan that begins with one word that’s on everybody’s mind, and it's easy to spell -- j-o-b-s."
The Obama campaign issued a summary of his plan:
-- A temporary tax credit for firms that create new jobs in the United States over the next two years.
-- New legislation to allow families to withdraw 15% of their retirement savings – up to a maximum of $10,000 – without facing a tax-penalty this year (including retroactively) and next year.
-- Financial institutions that participate in the Treasury’s financial rescue plan should be required to adhere to a homeowners code of conduct, including a 90-day foreclosure moratorium for any homeowners living in their homes that are making good faith efforts pay their mortgages.
-- The Federal Reserve and the Treasury to work to create a program to lend to state and municipal governments, similar to the steps the Fed recently took to provide liquidity to the commercial paper market.
The campaign also said: "Obama’s plan also calls for temporarily eliminating taxes on unemployment insurance benefits; keeping all options on the table to help our automakers weather the financial crisis; having the Fed and Treasury prepare for guaranteeing a broader range of liabilities of the banking system; and instructing Treasury to help unfreeze markets for individual mortgages, student loans, car loans, loans for multi-family dwellings and credit card loans."
Tucker Bounds, a McCain spokesman, responded, “The American people heard a series of new proposals from Barack Obama today, but what they did not hear was a promise to stop pursuing his massive tax increases. As our economy and our financial markets struggle through unprecedented turmoil, one thing is certain: raising taxes on the American people and American business will have a devastating effect. When pressed on this point, Obama has repeatedly said he would consider abandoning his planned tax increases if the economy is 'weak,’ but apparently this economy is not weak enough for Barack Obama. It is clear that the economy is hurting, that Americans need across-the-board tax relief, and yet Barack Obama has proven unwilling to break with the left-wing of his party and stand up for the American taxpayer.
“Interestingly, Barack Obama called a moratorium on foreclosures, which is a policy he had previously labeled ‘disastrous’ when it was proposed by a political opponent. Proving yet again that Barack Obama’s positions on the issues are tied to elections, not solutions for the American people.”
McCain, meanwhile, gave a revamped stump speech this morning in Virginia Beach, Va., and warned about what would happen if Obama and a Democratic Congress were in power.
In warming up the crowd, Sarah Palin said there is justified anger about insider dealing, corruption, and voter fraud.
"America, let John McCain turn that anger into action," she urged.
In a seeming swipe at President Bush, a fellow Republican, McCain declared, "We cannot spend the next four years as we have spent much of the last eight: waiting for our luck to change. The hour is late; our troubles are getting worse; our enemies watch. We have to act immediately. We have to change direction now. We have to fight."
"I've been fighting for this country since I was seventeen years old, and I have the scars to prove it. If I'm elected President, I will fight to take America in a new direction from my first day in office until my last. I'm not afraid of the fight, I'm ready for it," he added.
"We have 22 days to go," McCain said. "We're 6 points down. The national media has written us off. Senator Obama is measuring the drapes, and planning with Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid to raise taxes, increase spending, take away your right to vote by secret ballot in labor elections, and concede defeat in Iraq. But they forgot to let you decide. My friends, we've got them just where we want them.
"What America needs in this hour is a fighter; someone who puts all his cards on the table and trusts the judgment of the American people. I come from a long line of McCains who believed that to love America is to fight for her. I have fought for you most of my life. There are other ways to love this country, but I've never been the kind to do it from the sidelines.
"I know you're worried. America is a great country, but we are at a moment of national crisis that will determine our future. Will we continue to lead the world's economies or will we be overtaken? Will the world become safer or more dangerous? Will our military remain the strongest in the world? Will our children and grandchildren's future be brighter than ours?
"My answer to you is yes. Yes, we will lead. Yes, we will prosper. Yes, we will be safer. Yes, we will pass on to our children a stronger, better country. But we must be prepared to act swiftly, boldly, with courage and wisdom. I know what fear feels like. It's a thief in the night who robs your strength. I know what hopelessness feels like. It's an enemy who defeats your will. I felt those things once before. I will never let them in again. I'm an American. And I choose to fight."
Obama-Biden Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer responded, “Less than twelve hours after his campaign announced that Senator McCain would finally have some new ideas on the economy, he decided that it was more important to give a new political speech about where he is in the polls. But the American people know that this election isn’t about who’s up or who’s down, it’s about who will change the disastrous Bush-McCain economic policies of the last eight years. Barack Obama will continue to bring his message of change to every corner of this country, which is why he’s talking today about his new plan to provide immediate relief to struggling families and homeowners, jumpstart job creation in America, and ease the credit crisis that’s hurting too many businesses.”
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Didn't the Dems have control of both houses of Congress for the last two years? Wasn't there something about planes crashing into buildings that had negative effects on the economy?
And I choose to fight also!
Obama is a fool for this one!! That is too funny!! Obama is looking more and more like the lean, clean, working machine; and he's capitalizing on every Mc Cain mistake. The problem with is that Mc Cain is at a no win situation. He can release an economic plan that's good for the people; he'll lose his base, he can't release a plan good for his base, he'll lose the people... GO OBAMA...
Republican's Budget 101 v.s. Main St. Budget 101
MAIN ST BUDGET 101
Main St. folks sit at the kitchen table and figure out what their costs are. We cut the things we don't need to pay for the things we do need. Unlike congress, we have to cut things that are necessities for living: i.e. cut food to pay for gas, etc. The rich and privilege never have to make such a choice (note that the privilege includes our own government representatives).
REPUBLICAN'S BUDGET 101
Here is how the Republicans budget. Republicans sit around in their million dollar buildings and thousand dollar suits looking at how to spend our tax dollars on the rich and corporate America but scream bloody murder that they need to raise taxes and label it as social programs to take care of middle class needs while wasting millions on things we do not need. I'm tired of hearing about the need to raise taxes to pay for middle class needs or labeling it as social programs while congress spends our taxes on Bridges to Nowhere, DNA studies for bears, and social programs for the rich and corporate America.
The next time Republicans scream about how to pay for Main St needs without having to raise taxes, tell them to stop spending 10 million a month on a war we do not want to be in, stop spending billions on foreign aid overseas while forgetting about the domestic aid we need here, stop giving corporate tax breaks (social programs for the rich) to those who don't need it, stop spending millions on congressional hearings to give yourself face value for your career (we are sick at looking at representative hypocrites), stop the waste of our taxes by redefining corruption for your cronies and not punishing those who deserve it (this includes the corrupt congress) and stop spending billions on your social programs for wall st and the rich at the expense of middle class needs.
BOTTOM LINE
Bottom line, you don't need to raise taxes, you need to prioritize your spending of OUR tax dollars on the folks who deserve and need it and stop wasting and spending it on your congressional careers and social programs for the rich.
Now Obama wants to bail out GM and Ford as well as everyone else in the entire country who hasn't learned to live within their means. When will the madness end?
McCain's "OL' GEEZER EXPRESS" has run out of straight-talk and the wheels are falling off:
MCCAIN HAS AN ABUSIVE TEMPER AND PALIN ABUSES POWER.
PALIN IS BUSTED. SHE IS CONFIRMED AS HAVING ABUSED PERSONAL POWER IN HER GOVERNOR'S OFFICE. VIOLATED ETHICS. PERIOD. WHAT PART OF THIS DON'T PEOPLE UNDERSTAND?
The finding of Palin's guilt in abuse of executive power speaks worlds about John McCain's lack of judgment. But of course he admitted he had only met her personally ONE TIME before he selected her--was it with the other Joe Six-Pack's at a bar, and he decided to take her with him? Who knows, there are not even any pictures of him meeting with her before he selected the LUV GUV!
She's no longer a pitbull, but has to go back to being a sleddog ---....As the ol' song says: You go North to Alaska, you go North perhaps you know, ....way up North....North to Alaska.... -- RIGHT NOW PLEASE!
No longer a pitbull, but looking like a weasel--a little ol' mavericky weasel-you betcha!
Let's put Obama and Biden to work for all America, and let's do it now!!
Who said?
"From each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs."
A. Barrack Obama
B. Karl Marx
C. Both
Answer: C
Beyond economics, there is the question of McCain's temperament. About MCCAIN’S ANGER, we need to know more—and the media has a responsibility to let us know before it is too late. This especially urgent in light of McCain’s recent behavior—in debates and stumping. WE HAVE ALL HEARD A LITTLE SOMETHING ABOUT his TEMPER--and now the code word is that he is erratic, which no doubt he is. The media has a responsibility to explore this matter more fully before it is too late--before November 4 elections! For a starter, there is a You-tube video circulating on the internet and now carried by Huffington Post. Time is of essence. I recommend it to everyone as a starting point. More than thirty public officials and some journalists testify to that, including Keith Olbermann of MSNBC. And about Cindy McCain, she is doing something that no Candidate's wife has ever done--attacking her husband's opponent. She is taking a dangerous path that will make her a fair game. I see hate and venom vanished all over Cindy McCain's face--and she lied. If she had the brain, and cared to look up the fact, she would have discovered that McCain also voted against a bill to fund the troops-- because it had a dateline for withdrawal, just as Obama voted for one because it didn't have such a timeline. That makes it two chills up her spine!
Looking out for the middle class is justify,but wait if Obama is focusing only on the middle that means John Mccain is on the right track.Mccain is campaigning for all classes starting from the lower,the middle and the upper class of American people.The economy Mr Obama is not one sided but both side,it work for the lower,middle and upper class.The notion that you only worried about the middle class raises some eyebrow especially given the fact that majority of the workforce throughout the country are in the minimum wage class.You start from the bottom up not the middle up then your economic plan will make sense.How can you and your campaign team lay out a plan start from the middle up rather than from the bottom and make its way up.This sounds more like an ACORN strategy.
DEAR Posted by benighse
DO YOU CALL GRANDMA AND GRANDPA OLD GEEZERS TOO. YOU SEEM ANGRY, DID SOMEONE .........AH DO SOMETHING TO YOU A LONG TIME AGO.
sounds like obama is taking after Deval Patrick. Promise the world to get elected. Who cares if you can't do any of it, say what they want to hear.
Together we can
Free lunches for everyone! Obama is turning out to be just another pandering politician .... George Bush asks Congress to send half the federal budget to JP Morgan and Bank of America, and Obama is just another one of the clowns in Washington too happy to oblige. The only thing worse than the Bush depression will be the Frank and Obama hyperinflation and federal debt default.
Query.
Is the Tom Bradley effect going to lead to President McCain winning by 2%..... or 3%?
BTW, hasn't the globe been endorsing Obama for months now?
I am writing in response to the Globe editorial endorsement of BHO. How pompous to now come forward with such overt ness when in fact your paper has been endorsing him from the start, Your rag of a paper has been falling over itself at every opportunity to position BHO into the hearts and minds of you readership. Your unyielding biases and belief that you have a winner who shares your Socialistic ways has left you guilty with the lust of power you so urgently crave. For the record I think John McCain is a lunatic but your over enthusiastic coverage of BHO has robbed me of my constitutional right to vote as I have become disgusted with this process. I am rooting for BHO primarily so all of my whinny ultra liberal friends will quit their whining about swift boats, hanging chads, GWB etc.
FYI-Due to you overwheling coverage on how bad of shape the country is in I have gone ahead and canceled my subscription to the globe...ya know gotta tighten the olde' belt at least until our savior assumes his rightful seat on Pennsylvania Blvd.
JS
REPUBLICANS promote "small government" yet in the last 28 years we have accumulated over $8 trillion in national debt (a 400% increase!), while three out of four presidents were Republicans. And, Clinton managed to be the only President who started to pay down the deficit. The Republicans spend spend spend, and the nasty truth is that the future generation will pay for it, if they possibly can.
REPUBLICANS claim "moral superiority" yet get caught with their pants down in airport mens-rooms and sending lewd messages to underage male interns in Congress.
REPUBLICANS claim to care about the little guy, just ask those good folks that were stuck in the New Orleans Superdome after Katrina. Nice job Brownie!
REPUBLICANS claim to be good public servants, yet Bush avoided Vietnam by joining the National Guard and then disappearing for several months. Now he sends our Guardsmen abroad on multiple tours of duty, in an effort to mask the fact that our military is straining! And he had the gall to attack Kerry's service record in 2004! No respect for those that serve.
REPUBLICANS claim to be prepared to protect our country, yet when our nation faced this most recent calamity with the mortgage mess, Bush's plan was to let Treasury spend $700 billion with no strings and no oversight. Sounds like Wall Street first, Nation Second! And shows a complete lack of foresight and pre-planning!
WAKE UP AMERICA. Republicans have not earned another 4-8 years in the White House.
If you believe McCain is on the right track you need a history lesson. GWB gave a tax cut across the board in 2003 after being advised by prominant economists and advisers that it was a bad decision. In 2007 GWB abandoned trickle down economics by offering a tax refund to Americans to "as he said" stimulate the economy with little positive impact as you can see. A $5,000 tax credit across the board as proposed by McCain is a continuation of GWB's failed policies. The people that are hurting in this country are not those that make over $250,000 a year. It is the people that are struggling to survive and stay in their homes(the middle class). Look at Warren Harding's (just prior to the Great Depression) presidency and you will see the similarities with GWB. Two of the worst presidents in US History. Job creation is a major aspect to the solution of our economic woes. OBama proposed funding alterative energy with a more detailed plan than McCain's lone nuclear plan and meager off-shore drilling solution. McCain should be commended for serving this country, unfortunately he is not the best candidate to serve as president. People talk about O Bama's lack of experience, yet GWB's experience at running companies into the ground was tremendous on-the-job training for him to do the same to this country. One criteria I have for the next president is that he should be more intelligent than me. Unfortunately McCain is only a few IQ points higher than GWB and that is the type of experience that I can do without repeating.
I'm still wondering if there are gullible people available to turn the tide for McCain... and why Palin said nothing when a wingnut in her audience yelled "Kill him!" after her diatribe about Obama.f
Really dumb plan that rewards failure, mismanagement and irresponsibilty. Tax free unemployment? Yeah that's real good and will provide great incentive for someone to find a job while I am paying taxes. One of the main problems with the economy was individual failure to adhere to sound living principles. Tax free hacking into retirement accounts without penalty only encourages that behavior.
This Obama plan is nothing more than toilet paper. It won't do any good. If you want to fix the economy fix yourself first and then do not vote for Barney Frank, John Kerry and any other democrat you keep sending back. Including Saint Ted
SMKJ - the Republican shills get less intelligent and less eloquent as the days go by.
BTW is English your first or third language, because you make no sense at all to my English speaking ears?
You know how to tell when Tucker Bounds is lying?
His lips are moving.
Bounds is so unprepared for his media interviews, I hope he's an unpaid volunteer. Because if he's not, he's stealing from John McCain. He gets sliced and diced every day so much, I hope McCain demands his salary back when the campaign is over.
Hey Andy Trimpin, you know when the madness will end? When everyday Joe's like you get a basic understanding of economics. These recovery steps are improperly labeled as "bailouts." They are not. A bailout implies the government is throwing money at people and businesses it will never recover. It is not.
Congress is providing capital (money) to businesses so they can stay in business (ie if many large corporations fail, the economy comes to a grinding halt) and so banks can have money to lend despite their illiquid investments which have dropped in value (so people and businesses can continue to get loans and fuel the economy with their investments and purchases.) Consumer consumption makes up 70 percent of our economy.. without money to borrow, that all stops. Then you'll
be whining even louder when you can't borrow money to buy a house, car, boat or whatever.
The government is putting money into these systems and getting an equity stake in them. (Of course, neo-cons scream "socialism" about this, even though they wouldn't recognize Karl Marx if he bit them on the arse. It's a pavlovian reaction to label anything they don't understand/agree with as socialism. It's the McCarthyism of the 21st century.)
Anyway, when the banks/corporations start to regain liquidity and their assets rise in value, guess what? The government (ie, you and me) gets paid back our money. We might even make a profit.
Remember the Chrysler "bailout" in the early 80s? Of course you don't. Anyway, in the 80s, the government bailed out Chrysler... and guess what? When Chrysler recovered, the Federal Government MADE money in the deal.
At the time, that 'bailout' was equal to about 20 percent of the country's GDP. This so-called 'bailout'? Around 4 percent of our GDP.
I don't know about you, but for me, that's a small price to pay to be able to help the economy recover faster and so consumers like you and me can continue to buy houses, cars and college educations without a 750+ credit rating.
JOHN MACCAIN AND PALIN. PLEASE DONT FIGHT FOR US, ANYMORE. WE DONT NEED YOUR HELP.OBAMA FOR 2009. MACCAIN GO HOME GIVE IT UP. JOHN MACCAIN HAS AN ABUSIVE TEMPER AND PALIN ABUSES POWER. TOO OLD FOR PRESIDENT.
OBAMA - BEYOND ALL REASONABLE DOUBT? REALLY?
There is more and more coming out about Obamas association with bad people and it really shows his dark side.The more of these allegation of Obamas involvement with Terrorists and ACORN the clearer the picture of the real Obama.But the worst fear of all is his DISHONEST to the American people by not admitting his association and involvement with RADICALS with serious agenda.This tsunami is huge and people must flee to mount Mccain/Palin for safety.