Obama's 'emergency' economic plan
By MIKE ALLEN | 8/1/08 9:38 AM EST Text Size:
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Friday announced an Emergency Economic Plan that would give families a stimulus check of $1,000 each, funded in part by what his presidential campaign calls windfall profits from Big Oil.
Details are in this six-page policy paper.
http://www.politico.com/static/PPM41_emergencyeconplan.htmlThe first part of Obamas plan is an emergency energy rebate ($500 to individual workers, $1,000 to families) as soon as this fall.
This rebate will be enough to offset the increased cost of gas for a working family over the next four months, Obama said. Or, if you live in a state where it gets very cold in the winter, it will be enough to cover the entire increase in your heating bills. Or you could use the rebate for any of your other bills or even to pay down debt
Separately, Obamas plan includes a $50 billion stimulus package that his campaign claims would save more than 1 million jobs.
Half of the money would go to state governments, which are facing big budget shortfalls, and half would be used for national infrastructure, including replenishing the Highway Trust Fund, rebuilding roads and bridges, and repairing schools.
Obama announced his plan 27 minutes after a Labor Department report showed unemployment hit a four-year high of 5.7 percent in July the highest rate since March 2004, when it was 5.8 percent.
We need to do more, Obama said in a statement. Thats why today Im announcing a two-part emergency plan to help struggling families make ends meet and get our economy back on track.
McCain reacted to the surprisingly dour jobs report with a two-paragraph statement: "Across this country, Americans are hurting and today's job numbers are just the latest reminder of the economic challenges we face. ... Unlike Sen. Obama, I do not believe that raising taxes is the answer to our economic problems. There is no surer way to force jobs overseas than to raise taxes on businesses.
Obama announced his plan for a windfall profits tax on oil companies on June 9 in Raleigh, N.C., as he launched a two-week economic tour after clinching the Democratic nomination.
Fridays proposal says Obama is proposing to offset the cost of his emergency energy rebates over the next five years by enacting a windfall profits tax on big oil companies.
Obama simply asks that big oil companies contribute a reasonable share of the windfall profits they receive from high oil prices over the next five years to pay for emergency assistance for families right now, the campaign says.
I have been calling Obama a communist for quite a while, apperently I have been right all along. I can't believe that 45% of the latest poll wants to vote for this guy! Are people that stupid to realize all this rob the rich to pay the poor is going to do nothing but raise consumer prices. Companies don't want to loose money so all extra taxes gets passed on to the consumer.
So have stimulus checks now going to become part of life is the press starts to whine about a recession?