Obama's plan for our economy

While President Bush and treasury secretary Henry Paulson remain fairly quiet about the economic crisis we are in, President-elect Barack Obama has started to give us some hope for the future. He has recently announced part of his economic team, and is slowly revealing details of his economic plan that will ensue immediately after he takes office. Obama’s economic plan is made up of four main criteria.



First he wants immediate action to create jobs here in America. He aims to create an estimated 2.5 million jobs by 2010 rebuilding our roads, reshaping our schools, and creating the next generation of green jobs. Obama will also be giving a tax break for each individual that a company hires here in America, and will raise taxes for companies that send jobs overseas.

Obama has also stressed the point that in order to have a strong economy and a thriving Wall Street that we must first have a strong Main Street. This is why Obama will give immediate relief for struggling families. One way in which Obama will give this relief is by cutting taxes for the majority of families in America. In a recent speech, Obama has said that today’s American families that are making millions of dollars can afford to pay a little more in taxes in order to help the struggling families of the middle and lower class. He added that it’s about time there was some fairness restored to our tax policies.

Obama also wants to see immediate assistance for homeowners. All across the country Americans are losing their homes because they cannot afford to pay their mortgages. Our 700 billion dollars that we have borrowed from China was partially used to bail out the mortgage lenders and banks, but they have not proven to be responsible with the money that Government gives them. Obama will try to modify the terms of mortgages, reform the bankruptcy code, and will provide an estimated 25 billion dollars in state fiscal relief to help states pay for their services without raising taxes.

Last, but certainly not least, Obama wants to see a very aggressive response to our financial crisis. America needs to see a sign of assurance in our financial market. Obama is determined to give this assurance, and has slowly taken steps in the right direction by announcing a strong financial team. In order to overcome this financial crisis Obama said we must create jobs, invest in science and schools, help small business, and most importantly make sure that our 700 billion dollar rescue package is used wisely and does not go to waste. Obama has assured us that he will go through the federal budget “page by page, line by line” and destroy the programs in America that don’t work, and reinvest in the ones that do. Obama has said, “that budget reform is not an option. It’s a necessity.”

In addition to announcing four key players to the Obama economic team yesterday, Obama has also recently chosen Peter Orszag as the director of the Office of Management and Budget. Orszag is the head of the congressional Budget Office, and worked under Bill Clinton as an economic adviser. He is another great addition to the Obama team, and we await more economic announcements from Obama tomorrow.