Over the weekend, President-Elect Obama outlined the economic challenges that our country faces, and how he plans to take them on. Here’s what he had to say, in his own words:
“…we need an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that not only creates jobs in the short-term but spurs economic growth and competitiveness in the long-term. And this plan must be designed in a new way—we can’t just fall into the old Washington habit of throwing money at the problem. We must make strategic investments that will serve as a down payment on our long-term economic future. We must demand vigorous oversight and strict accountability for achieving results. And we must restore fiscal responsibility and make the tough choices so that as the economy recovers, the deficit starts to come down. That is how we will achieve the number one goal of my plan—which is to create three million new jobs, more than eighty percent of them in the private sector.”
So… It appears that the primary focus will be on job creation. Another major focus (not mentioned in the above snippet) is reducing dependence on foreign oil. Both of these are laudable goals, but how will we achieve them?
Here’s a list of initiatives that he’s proposing:
- Doubling of renewable energy production
- Renovation of public buildings to make them more energy efficient
- Rebuilding of American infrastructure (roads, bridges, and schools)
- Updating and computerizing our healthcare system
- Modernizing classrooms, labs, and libraries
- Providing “direct tax relief” to 95% of American workers
Taken together, the components of this plan are estimated (by Obama’s advisors) to cost somewhere between $675 billion and $775 billion, though other expect the costs to be closer to $1 trillion. It’ll be interesting to see how much pork gets piled on top while these things are making their way through Congress. Note that there’s no mention of a second stimulus check.
If you’re interested in seeing his address firsthand, here’s the video:
I AM A HOME OWNER AND HAVE RECENTLY ABOUT A .YEAR AND A HALF AGO BOUGHT A NEW CAR(ACADIA GMC) MY HUSBAND AND I BOTH WORK AT GM I HAVE BEEN LAYED OFF SENCE DECEMBER AND I WAS TOLD I WILL SOON BE PERMANENTLY LAYOFF. WE THINK MY HUSBANDS JOB IS PROBABLY GOING TO BE SAFE AS LONG AS GM HOLDS ON BY MAKING GOOD DECISIONS .IF MY HUSBAND LOSSES HIS JOB EVERYTHING WE HAVE IS GONE .WE HAVE ALOT OF BILL ,WE OWE MORE ON OUR HOUSE THAN ITS WORTH , OUR HOUSE IS FALLING APART NEEDS MANY REPAIR AND IS TO SMALL FOR OUR FAMILY SO LOGICLY IT NEEDS ADDED ONTO . WE NEED TO HANG ON TO WHAT WE GOT WE HAVE 4 CHILDREN THAT ARE COUNTING ON US TO PROVIDED FOR THEM . AND WE WILL NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES. AT THIS POINT I DONT THINK NO MATTER WHAT WE DO WE WILL BE ABLE TO KEEP OUR CAR(WITH MY INCOME DECREASING EVER SO FASTLY )AND EVEN THOUGH OUR HOUSE IS TO SMALL AND FALLING APART IT IS ALL WE HAVE AND IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING NEXT TO OF COARSE OUR LOVING FAMILY BECAUSE IT IS OUR SHELTER OUR COMFORT BUT EVEN IF WE LOSS EVERTHING WE WILL SURVIVE BECAUSE WE HAVE EACH OTHER.WE STARTED OUR FAMILY YOUNG MADE MANY WRONG CHOICES .THE WRONG HOUSE YOUNG JUST WANTING TO MOVE IN TOGETHER NOT SHOPING AROUND OR LOOKING OVER THE HOUSE WELL ENOUGH THAT WE DID BUY ,AND NOW ITS FALLING APART ,WE DIDENT THINKING ABOUT HOW SMALL THE HOUSE WAS AND HOW BIG WE WANTED OUR FAMILY TO BE. WHEN I GOT HIRED IN AT GM IT WAS A DREAM COME TRUE MY DAD, 2 OF MY BROTHERS(ONE WHO PASSED ON HIS WAY HOME FROM WORK AT GM WITCH WAS ALWAY WHERE HE DREAMED OF WORKING A DREAM COME TRUE TO HIM ALSO),AND MY UNCLE HAD ALL WORKED THERE AND SENCE I WAS A LITTLE GIRL THATS WHERE I DREAMED OF WORKING. MY MOTHER WORKED THERE FOR A SHORT TIME ALSO UNTILL SHE TOOK A SMALL BUYOUT WITCH WAS BEST FOR HER MEDICALY BUT SHE STILL REGRETS IT TO THIS DAY AND WHEN I MET MY HUSBAND HE WORKED THERE ALSO AND HE STILL DOSE. GM IS IN A BAD SITUATION I WANT THEM TO SURVIVE SO BADLY I THINK THEY HAVE DONE SO MUCH FOR OUR ECONOMY AND OUR COUNTRY IN THE PAST AND IF THEY CAN JUST MAKE IT THROUGH THIS WHAT IT WILL DO FOR OUR ECONOMY . I’M NOT JUST SAYING THIS BECAUSE IT IS WHERE I WORK BECAUSE EVEN IF I LOSS MY JOB I WANT THEM TO SURVIVE I DONT THINK PEOPLE REALIZE WHAT THE US WOULD BE LIKE WITH OUT OUR AUTO INDUSTRY.THINK OF A FOOD CHAIN AND HOW IT WORKS OUR AUTO INDUSTRY WORKS THE SAME LOTS OF OTHER BUSINESSES FEED OFF OF THEM AND WOULD NOT SURVIVE WITHOUT THEM . AND TON AND TON OF JOBS WOULD BE LOST WAY MORE THAN THE TONS ANDTONS WE HAVE ALLREADY LOST. I THINK OUR PRESIDENT IS SPENDING MONEY WISLY TO DO WHAT HE WHOLE HARTEDLY BELEVE IS THE BEST THING FOR OUR COUNTRY IN THIS TIME. I PUT MY FAITH IN HIM AND EVERY DAY WHEN I SEE HIM SPEAK ABOUT WHAT HIS PLANS ARE TO GET US OUT OF THE MESS WE ARE IN I KNOW HE ISGOING TO DO THE BEST,AND AS MUCH AS HE CAN WHILE HE IS IN OFFICE.I BELIEVE THIS WITH ALL MY HEART BUT YET HIS IS STILL HUMAN AND I AM SURE HE WILL MAKE MISTAKES WE ALL DO BUT I WILL STAND BEHIND HIM KNOWING I BELIEVE HE IS THE BEST MAN FOR THE JOB AND HIS BEST HE WILL DO. I WILL CLOSE MY LETTER WITH SAYING I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD SEE OUR COUNTRY IN THIS SHAPE AND HOPE GENERATIONS TO COME WON’T HAVE TO BECAUSE WE ALL WILL START MAKING BETTER CHOICE AND SOME HOW FIGURE A WAY OUT OF THIS MESS TOGETHER UNITED AS ONE WE WILL STAND TOGETHER AND TIMES WILL GET BETTER HAVE FAITH, HOPE,AND,LOVE FOR OUR COUNTRY. THANKS ,GOD BLESS ,BUY AMERICAN ,AND MAY WE ALWAYS LIVE IN PEACE.
STACEY M RUE
He’s not fixing a crippled economy, he’s focused on the unemployment number, and a liberal agenda. A good economy creates jobs. Not all jobs can fix the economy. Obama already has it backwards.
-Doubling of renewable energy production
Renewable energy costs MORE and replaces existing jobs. This is an agenda item that will help unemployment in the short term while potentially harming the economy.
-Renovation of public buildings to make them more energy efficient
More “Green” agenda. Renovating buildings costs money and creates short-term jobs. Using energy costs money and provides for long-term jobs. Energy efficient buildings mean less money into energy companies.
-Rebuilding of American roads, bridges..
A horrible waste of money. The roads and bridges work. Increased maintenance is not sustainable. This will provide short-term unemployment relief, and zero benefit for the economy. In fact, once the roads are better off, do you think the gov’t will take the money back and destroy the jobs it created? No… so it means higher taxes to continue to pay for additional road workers. And… road work has NEVER stimulated the economy except for the initial build-out. This is a horrible plan for the economy.
-Updating and computerizing our healthcare system
Neat idea. Where’s the economic benefit, again? This is likely the first step the government needs to take before they can easily demand health-care data to start up their single-provider socialistic healthcare agenda.
-Modernizing classrooms, labs, and libraries
Is the the government’s job? Okay… and it will help the economy… how? Don’t get me wrong… libraries are cool and all.. but really… at leat No Child Left Behind has some benchmarks… dumping money into schools and libraries is just that… dumping money.
-Providing “direct tax relief†to 95% of American workers
Everybody should know by now, this is a load of toad spittle. Taking money from the wealthy and giving it to people who don’t pay tax is a GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE. This is NOT tax relief – it is Wellfare. Tax relief means lowering the income tax rates, the corporate tax rates, employment tax, and capital gains tax. Not a free handout to people who never contributed in the first place. This is possibly Obama’s biggest scam to date… he has declared that government spending is a tax cut. Wrong… so wrong…
the big glaring problems with the general framework of the plan are:
who the heck is doing the labor intensive infrastructure projects? definitely not the 1.5million unemployed within the last three months from the service and financial sectors. the recovery plan does not create jobs that match up with the work force skills.
someone has to tell me how cost effective renewable energy program is. doubling isn’t going to put a dent in curbing demand or increasing supply. now there was some bit about updating electrical grids. yeah, in addition we need more power plants. we are going to use tax payer money to invest in alternative fuels and technologies which companies will then charge us by increasing cost of the goods and services. don’t like the built in double taxation on this one. even if you are going to double renawable energy (whatever this is), it won’t be cost effective for years. does anyone remember ethanol jacking up corn prices?
automating health care records: so every liberal out there screamed foul post patriot act, yet there is no privacy concerns about a national automated health record system, especially under the current health insurance environment? I am very fearful of privacy implications as well as what it means to health coverage and abuse. I can foresee that insurers will see a episodic cough when you were 2 years old as some pre-existing condition for subdural hematoma when you are older. With that said, if safeguards can be put into place, i see some savings in automation, but not a lot. besides, the military already has an automated health records system, which could be implemented; however, i’m sure we will spend billions to reinvent the wheel.
direct tax relief: $20/mo isn’t going to do anything. sorry.
small business relief: it solves a problem if there was a supply shortage, but there isn’t. there is no demand, so the proposal is useless.
i’m all for upgrading schools and classrooms, etc.
the first thing the administration should do to gain immediate efficiencies is to get rid of 20% of the government since you have so many overlapping agencies. For example, do you really need a DNI because you can just say CIA or DIA or whoever is overall responsible? Do you really need separate counter terrorism centers from the FBI, CIA, to DOD, to National CTC? Do you really need several overlapping agencies which function under DHS? Do you really need over 20 agencies to do oversight? Even in the military you could restructure and get rid of independent Service staffs (come on the Secretaries of the Services have absolutely no power and are figure heads only)…what the heck is a Joint Staff for anyways if not to consolidate the staff force? Does every Cabinet Secretary really need numerous under, deputy, assistant deputy, principle deputy, principle deputy assistant secretaries, all being paid Senior Executive Service and higher? You could also stop expensive staff delegations doing tourist visits to every country in the world under the guise of diplomatic relations and sensing sessions. congressmen sending their staff is like a professor having a TA teach his class, not what you are paying a high price education for. Pick up the phone or in this new admin’s automation kick, video conference. you don’t get any different information from meeting in person to video conference, well except tourist gifts, per diem, and another stamp in your passport. I’d also knock out congressional delegations visiting foreign countries too. what the heck do we have a state department for if they are constantly overshadowed by staff delegations and congressional delegations? heck, congress complained that the big 3 took private jets to washington to ask for money. congress can surely stop taking taxpayer jets since they are asking taxpayers for more money (yeah, we’ll give you $1k in tax credit if you allow us to spend $20k of your tax money…not sure how the taxpayer is getting a return on his/her investment there).
Obama: “we can’t just …[throw] money at the problem.”
What, then, is “$675 billion and $775 billion”? Bananas?
I’ll agree Cali has sections of bad roads (I live in Corona), but our DOT has not been underfunded as to maintenance. It’s the mothballing of much-needed new freeway construction that has hurt us.
I disagree, Mike, but out of the principle of having a plan in general. Both parties don’t ever stop the ballooning of government, no matter who’s in charge. It just appears that everything is either experimental or a payoff, and probably the latter. Pay to play.
Rome didn’t have a deficit like we do.
It will be interesting indeed to see how many flies try to attach themselves to this plan. Pork, pork, pork.
Give the man a chance, we had 8 years of living out of our means; don’t criticize his plan without giving it time. Rome wasn’t built over night and neither did we get ourselves in this mess over night either. Time will tell if it works.
While I mostly agree with the plan, I fear it will just create more wasteful spending. The government is known for horrible budgeting. For instance, in AZ, we have decent roads but Arizona will still want a piece of the funding.
California has horrible roads IMO but yet it seems like their roads are constantly under construction with no progress. California needs the money more than us for roads but also seems better at wasting the money they already have.
About the only thing I’m 100% on board with is the renewable energy spending. That will be beneficial in the long run even if it’s a money pit in the short term.
Meh. This is government spending on ‘roids. I would like to know exactly what bridges need to be built, what and where schools need to be wired or are crumbling, and what state doesn’t have a department of transportation that’s underfunded enough not to fill potholes.
The economy is driven by private enterprise. If politicians were serious about a so-called rebound, there would be serious private enterprise incentives, like payroll tax holidays, ELIMINATION of guvmint spending, and NOT printing money in the form of more debt and rebate checks.
If government wants to regulate and instill confidence, fine. Enact a 80% capital gains tax if an asset is not held more than three months, unless it’s currency or commodities. Toughen white-collar crime penalties. I’m sure folks have more ideas here, too.
But this… this is no plan. This is bidniz as usual from just the usual politicians.
I guess all this means that no second stimulus check is on the way. Using tax rebates is probabaly smarter and a good way to get Repbulican support.