Obama Policy: Economy

2008 Presidential Candidate Platform Discussion

As president, Barack Obama will implement a 21st century economic agenda to help ensure that America can compete in a global economy, and ensure the middle class is thriving and growing. He will increase investments in infrastructure, energy independence, education, and research and development; modernize and simplify our tax code so it provides greater opportunity and relief to more Americans; and implement trade policies that benefit American workers and increase the export of American goods.

www.barackobama.com...


Presented for critical discussion and analysis by ATS members under the spirit of the new guidelines announced in This Thread.

In regard to Obama and the economy, I think this is an indication of what we can expect;

www.youtube.com...

I thought this was a bit alarming, but it explains why the Dems have not come up with a specific plan.

[edit on 20-9-2008 by Narnia]

Well I 'll bite,

I found these stats interesting, if this is any indication??????

Fill in the blanks.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CCAGW’s 2007 Congressional Ratings came out yesterday and you may be wondering how the presidential nominees did.

• Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) 2007 rating was 10 percent, making his lifetime score 18 percent. The 2008 Congressional Pig Book contained 53 earmarks worth $97.4 million for Sen. Obama, including $1,648,850 for the Shedd Aquarium.

• Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) received the worst possible rating in 2007 with 0 percent, while his lifetime rating is 22 percent. According to the Pig Book, Sen. Biden had 70 earmarks for a total of $119.7 million in fiscal year 2008, including $246,100 for the Grand Opera House in Wilmington.

• Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) received a score of 100* percent and has a lifetime rating of 88, has never requested nor received a single earmark, and has pledged to veto any spending bill that contains any earmarks.


swineline.org...

Obama's latest comment on the economy is "If I tell you my Plan on the economy now it will effect the markets".If not now ,when?
You know all we have to go on is what Obama says and politicians can say what ever they want,but doing what they say if elected is another thing as has been proven before by so many politicians befor him,so we have to look at his past and hope to find FACTS on how he will govern if elected,what there is seems negative and little or no experiance,so if its FACTS you want to decuss there aren't many, leaving just what ever Obama wants to say witch are not facts,just a campaign speech.
If most people wearnt mad at the Bush adminastration would Obama even be considered for the highest office in the US what with his 20+ years of negative baggage and no experiance to speek of.YAH Obama,"just words".

Or there might be something to be said about not throwing your weight behind a bill that could cost tax payers up to $2 Trillion before seeing how it is laid out.

I think Obama's decision to wait to see what the Fed and Treasury are actually going to do with this is prudent and I respect the decision.

reply to post by Battleline


That is true, battle

Obama helped Tony Rezko and other unscrupulous low-income housing developers obtain millions of dollars in state grants, tax credits, low-interest loans, and regulatory advantages.

www.boston.com...

article.nationalreview.com...

reply to post by TruthWithin



That is a good thing too, but taking this into consideration, I would keep quiet.


www.bloomberg.com...

But we now know that many of the senators who protected Fannie and Freddie, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Christopher Dodd, have received mind-boggling levels of financial support from them over the years.

Throughout his political career, Obama has gotten more than $125,000 in campaign contributions from employees and political action committees of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, second only to Dodd, the Senate Banking Committee chairman, who received more than $165,000.

Clinton, the 12th-ranked recipient of Fannie and Freddie PAC and employee contributions, has received more than $75,000 from the two enterprises and their employees. The private profit found its way back to the senators who killed the fix.

There has been a lot of talk about who is to blame for this crisis. A look back at the story of 2005 makes the answer pretty clear.

Oh, and there is one little footnote to the story that's worth keeping in mind while Democrats point fingers between now and Nov. 4: Senator John McCain was one of the three cosponsors of S.190, the bill that would have averted this mess.

www.bloomberg.com...

Text of S. 190 [109th]: Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005

www.govtrack.us...

This seems to be a pattern, Obama voting present once again but not showing much effort.

Very hard to pin this guy down.

Now this is odd,

POT to KETTLE

Barack Obama lambasts government over economic bailout

story.birminghamstar.com...

[edit on 113030p://bMonday2008 by Stormdancer777]

Fact-Checking McCain and Obama’s Economic “Early Warnings” Claims

www.cqpolitics.com...

Now I too am learning things here, so have pitty on me, this is very complicated

Obama clearly deserves credit for offering a plan to bolster the sagging economy before Congress acted. But he is exaggerating the role his plan played in the stimulus package, which was jointly constructed with congressional leaders and the White House. For these reasons, we judge his claim Barely True.

McCain was referring to his 2006 decision to sign on to a Republican-led regulatory overhaul of the mortgage-financing firms, which both went through multibillion-dollar accounting scandals earlier in the decade. The occasion that prompted McCain’s involvement was the release of a 340-page report from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight that concluded that Fannie Mae had manipulated earnings and violated basic accounting principles. It describes an “arrogant and unethical corporate culture” in which executives were more concerned about their bonuses than meeting the company’s housing mission.

We give McCain some credit for weighing in on problems surrounding Fannie Mae, even though he got involved after a comprehensive government report issued a loud alarm to anyone watching. However, his attempts to depict those efforts as some sort of early warning that could have lessened the current credit crisis just don’t wash. All McCain was talking about then was the potential fallout of accounting troubles in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He didn’t say anything about a freewheeling climate among creditors that had major financial institutions becoming badly leveraged on bad loans. We rule his claim Barely True.

OK, vote Palin, lol

reply to post by Stormdancer777


I am not sure that telling me to "keep quiet" will get you anywhere. Face it - both candidates have some unruly connections to these financial entities. Both have taken money from the firms that are causing this like Goldman Sachs, Bear Sterns, Merrill Lynch etc.

The fact remains that McCain's top campaign advisor made a fortune deregulating Fannie and Freddie. Obama took 126,000 from them. Both of their hands are dirty.

reply to post by TruthWithin

The fact remains that McCain's top campaign advisor made a fortune deregulating Fannie and Freddie.

I assume you are talking about his former advisor Phil Gramm. I agree with you that both parties are responsible and both have dirty hands. But I also want to make you aware that that 1995 bill was passed by the majority of Congress and signed by Bill Clinton. Even Senator Biden voted yea. The deregulation bill wasn't so bad. The bad part was the lack of oversight to ensure that these companies were on the up and up. And for that we have both parties to blame also. No way you can tell me that the Senators from California were unaware that many of its constituents were getting interest only loans or that other Senators constituents from other states were getting similar raw deals. They all knew and chose to look the other way.

So as far as this blame game, it applies to everyone.

Obama on the Economy.... easy.

He, along with all other Democrats and a few self-interested Republicans, voted against the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005 which was directly created to prevent Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae from bursting the sub-prime mortgage bubble.

Obama is worse than Bush on the economy, and that is saying a lot. I just wish our next president would stay the heck away from the economy, and stop causing more problems than fixing.

Originally posted by DINSTAAR
Obama is worse than Bush on the economy, and that is saying a lot.

Thats really only saying your opinion for you have no evidence or proof either way.

What I do know, is that the dollar is tanking, fuel prices have risen, banks are failing, and Obama isnt the commander and chief at the moment.

After McCains 30 years or more in public service, its pretty clear to me, that like Bush, its been business as usual.

America doesnt need to understand why things went the way they did. Thats why we elect people that are supposed to know.

America sees disaster, and Golden parachutes. Bankruptcy and bank closures. America is pretty sure the president at the helm is Bush, and thats not an opinion, its a fact. Im ready for a change of course, and not just a change of face.

Peace

This is the issue that is going to decide the presidency for Sen. Obama, I hope he prepare well comes debate time because I really think he cold take us in the right direction. And at least has a plan that can fit to the current economic crisis that we are currently finding ourselves.

reply to post by Bunch


Negative. His tax and spend proposals would push the economy over the precipice. He is totally out of touch with economic reality.

reply to post by jsobecky


He had already indicated that he would have to scale back on some of his proposals because of the current financial situation.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said in an interview aired Tuesday that the cost of the mortgage bailout plan may rein in his ambitious plans for health care, energy, education and infrastructure.

Obama's comments reflect the possible new constraints on the next president's ability to expand or start programs or cut taxes. The government financial interventions of the past two weeks could cost more than $1 trillion.

More..

Does that mean that I can do everything that I've called for in this campaign right away?” Obama said. “Probably not. I think we're going to have to phase it in. And a lot of it's going to depend on what our tax revenues look like.”

news.yahoo.com...

Sen. McCain until 2 weeks ago was saying that "the fundamental of the economy are strong", now THATS out of touch, but let see if Gov. Plain knows better than McCain or Obama about the economy:


YIKES!!

So the bailout is about healthcare reform, that would spur job creation and more fair trade under the umbrella of job creation!

Even Tina Fey said it better!!

Serioulsy JS, sometimes you got to let it go, Sen. McCain is better than Sen. Obama in other issues, the economy is just not one of them.

reply to post by jsobecky

Negative. His tax and spend proposals would push the economy over the precipice. He is totally out of touch with economic reality.

Just wondering....Is "tax & spend" really worse than "don't tax & spend"?

Seems to me the direction we have been heading is one where we cut the taxes from all the people who actually are still making money...and spend what they are taking from the average Joe anyways.

Never before has the US government tried to cut taxes during a war. How would you propose we pay for a war that McCain says could last another "100 years" without SOMEONE paying for it(beside me)?

reply to post by Grafilthy


I dont understand this concept that conservatives are prasing Sen. MCain for.

Cut taxes to corporation, give subsidies to Oil companies that have record profits, cut taxes to companies that ship jobs overseas and BINGO we stimulate growth and job creation here in the U.S.

Thats is simply Bush economics that have put us in this mess. The unemployment rate has been the highest in decades all throughout this administration that have used tax cuts and outsourcing as viable tools to spur job growth here in the U.S.

Sen. McCain has no viable plan to create or even keep jobs here in the U.S. , jobs that are desperately needed in this present economic environment.

The fact that Obama doesn't want to reveal is economic package because it will affect the markets scares the HELL out of me. That is an indication that it would have a negative impact on the market.
Obama wants income redistribution. He wants to play Robin Hood, and take from the rich and give to the poor. Well, this ain't no game. I work hard for my money, and I would like to keep it. Obama says that he wants to raise taxes on those who make over $250,000. But I can guarantee that once he is elected, with a democratically controlled congress, taxes on everyone who is working will have their taxes increased.
The possiblilty that this man might be elected is the most frightening prospect I have faced during all the election cycles I've seen. He is even more frightening than Hillary.

You know when either candidate says anything,that is all it is,just words,it is up to us to figure out if he is telling the truth.So please tell me what it is about Obama that so many belive he is telling the truth.
I see 20+ years of nagative bagage,no one seemms to care,I don'tsee any experiance to speek of,no one seems to care,I see an angre (possiably racest listening to her talk and reading her thesis from college)wife that wll no doubt have a lot to do with the way Obama handles his position as Prez,no one seems to care,I see a VP that I am not sure he even likes let alone agrees with Obama,no one seems to care,the man bleeds socialisem,no one cares.Is this all about hating Bush or can anyone tell me how to tell if anything Obama says is real or truthful.
At least there is some good things about McCaine amongest the bad that we can verify.All I hear from Obama is YA! "just words".....tell me why you belive this guy,better yet tell me how you trust him.

[edit on 09/27/2008 by Battleline]