Barack_Obama

Senator Obama delivered a major economic policy address to lay out his economic rescue plan for the middle class in Toledo, Ohio this afternoon.

He unveiled his Economic Rescue Plan for The Middle Class. This is a comprehensive four-part plan to deal with the immediate crisis that builds on proposals he has previously announced and includes several major new ideas.

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 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 everyone’s mind, and it’s spelled J-O-B-S. 

We’ve already lost three-quarters of a million jobs this year, and some experts say that unemployment may rise to 8% by the end of next year.  We can’t wait until then to start creating new jobs.  That’s why I’m proposing to give our businesses a new American jobs tax credit for each new employee they hire here in the United States over the next two years. 

We will also save one million jobs by creating a Jobs and Growth Fund that will provide money to states and local communities so that they can move forward with projects to rebuild and repair our roads, our bridges, and our schools.  A lot of these projects and these jobs are at risk right now because of budget shortfalls, but this fund will make sure they continue. 

...At a time when the ups and downs of the stock market have rarely been so unpredictable and dramatic, we also need to give families and retirees more flexibility and security when it comes to their retirement savings.  ...Since so many Americans will be struggling to pay the bills over the next year, I propose that we allow every family to withdraw up to 15% from their IRA or 401(k) – up to a maximum of $10,000 – without any fine or penalty throughout 2009.  This will help families get through this crisis without being forced to make painful choices like selling their homes or not sending their kids to college.

...For those Americans in danger of losing their homes, today I’m also proposing a three-month moratorium on foreclosures.  If you are a bank or lender that is getting money from the rescue plan that passed Congress, and your customers are making a good-faith effort to make their mortgage payments and re-negotiate their mortgages, you will not be able to foreclose on their home for three months.  We need to give people the breathing room they need to get back on their feet. 

...It also means promoting a new ethic of responsibility.  Part of the reason this crisis occurred is that everyone was living beyond their means – from Wall Street to Washington to even some on Main Street.  CEOs got greedy. Politicians spent money they didn’t have.  Lenders tricked people into buying home they couldn’t afford and some folks knew they couldn’t afford them and bought them anyway. 

We’ve lived through an era of easy money, in which we were allowed and even encouraged to spend without limits; to borrow instead of save.

Now, I know that in an age of declining wages and skyrocketing costs, for many folks this was not a choice but a necessity.  People have been forced to turn to credit cards and home equity loans to keep up, just like our government has borrowed from China and other creditors to help pay its bills.

But we now know how dangerous that can be.  Once we get past the present emergency, which requires immediate new investments, we have to break that cycle of debt. Our long-term future requires that we do what’s necessary to scale down our deficits, grow wages and encourage personal savings again.

It’s a serious challenge.  But we can do it if we act now, and if we act as one nation.  We can bring a new era of responsibility and accountability to Wall Street and to Washington.  We can put in place common-sense regulations to prevent a crisis like this from ever happening again.  We can make investments in the technology and innovation that will restore prosperity and lead to new jobs and a new economy for the 21st century.  We can restore a sense of fairness and balance that will give ever American a fair shot at the American dream.  And above all, we can restore confidence – confidence in America, confidence in our economy, and confidence in ourselves.

Read Barack's full remarks, as prepared for delivery...

Obama's plan includes four new major ideas about job creation, relief to families, relief to homeowners and responding to the financial crisis:

Job Creation: A New American Jobs Tax Credit. Obama is calling for a temporary tax credit for firms that create new jobs in the United States over the next two years.

Relief to Families: Penalty-Free Withdrawals from IRAs and 401(k)s in 2008 and 2009. Obama is calling for 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.  

Relief to Homeowners: 90 day foreclosure moratorium for homeowners that are acting in good faith. 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.

Responding to the Financial Crisis: A Lending Facility to Address the Credit Crisis for States and Localities. Obama is calling on the Federal Reserve and the Treasury to work to establish a facility to lend to state and municipal governments, similar to the steps the Fed recently took to provide liquidity to the commercial paper market.

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.

Read Obama's full Economic Rescue Plan.

Do you have any family members who aren't sure if they're voting for Obama? You may be the only person who can convince them! Check out our video and new website to help:



http://My.BarackObama.com/TheTalk

Over the years, your parents or grandparents have probably sat you down to talk with you about all kinds of serious issues. We need you to have "the talk" with them about why voting for Obama is important to you.

Your family knows you and cares about you, so they'll listen to what you have to say. Need ideas on how to get started? Have friends who need to convince their parents? We can help:

http://My.BarackObama.com/TheTalk

Thanks for everything you do!

Martha & Scott @ Obama HQ

Aloha, everyone. I want to share this terrific letter from our talented AAPI Vote Team. I'm proud of the strong leadership of campaign staff, community leaders, elected officials and grassroots activists over the past 20 months.

WHY ASIAN AMERICANS AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS SHOULD VOTE

The American dream is increasingly out of reach for many people, including far too many Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) children and families. AAPI families have experienced stagnating wages, declining health care coverage, erosion of pension protections, rising personal debt, and jobs disappearing as a result of global competition and rising housing costs. Further, the gap between America’s richest and poorest is at its widest points in at least 25 years. At a time when costs are rising and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are working harder just to keep up, Barack Obama will provide relief for the middle class and support for working people. In addition to his health care and tax relief plans, Obama will make college affordable, reform our bankruptcy and credit card laws, protect the balance between work and family, and put a secure and dignified retirement within the reach of all Americans. Obama has been a strong advocate for working people throughout his public life, and he will stand up to special interests and bring America together to reclaim the American dream.

This election is a critical moment in our history. We can change the nation, but Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders need to vote to do it.

• Barack Obama frequently says that real change cannot come from the top, but rather that it has to come from the bottom, and he’s right. The change that we want and that this country needs won’t come on its own. We have to get involved to make it happen. And the first step to getting involved is getting registered to vote.

• Throughout this campaign, we’ve seen millions of Americans get involved who have never been interested in politics, never volunteered on a campaign, and many who have never been registered to vote before.

• It’s exciting and inspiring to see so many of us – young and old, Asian and Pacific Islander, rich and poor – getting involved for the first time, because they know that it’s time for change. We’re tired of the cynicism, the fear, and the petty gridlock that has defined our politics for so long. If we get involved, if we choose hope instead of fear, we will change not only our politics, but our entire country.

There have been too many times that elections have been lost because not enough people voted.

• The last two elections were decided by extremely close margins. In 2000, the Presidential election was decided by roughly 500 votes in Florida. In 2004, it was just two percent of the vote in Ohio. And this election is going to be just as close, if not closer.

• Barack Obama believes that in 2008 and beyond, we can register enough new voters to remake our politics. There are currently over 55 million Americans that are eligible but not registered. That’s over 25% of our voting eligible population.

• During the primaries, voter registration drives conducted by the campaign registered more than 200,000 new Democrats in Pennsylvania; more than 115,000 new Democrats in North Carolina; and more than 150,000 new Democrats in Indiana. Those numbers only scratch the surface of what’s possible.

• Obama/Biden can win this election, but they cannot do it without our help. We need to register as many new voters as possible and make sure that they get to the polls on November 4.

The Asian American and Pacific Islander community can help deliver the White House for Barack Obama and Joe Biden in 2008.

• The AAPI community is one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the country. More importantly, our community is the only ethnic community that has voted increasingly Democratic in every presidential election since 1992.

o 1992 31% AAPI vote for Clinton/Gore

o 1996 43% AAPI vote for Clinton/Gore

o 2000 54% AAPI vote for Gore/Lieberman

o 2004 61-74% AAPI vote for Kerry/Edwards

• Recent elections have shown that AAPIs have the ability to act as a critical swing vote in major elections, especially when motivated to vote. Their critical role in Senator Jim Webb’s 2006 victory in Virginia shows their electoral power.

• Nationally, about two-thirds of all Asian Americans who are registered to vote are Democrats. • 47% of Asian students recently polled by Harvard identify as Democratic, 15% Republican and 39% independent — making them more Democratic than any other ethnic group except African-Americans in the survey.

• For 2008 elections, Asian Americans nationwide said they want the presidential candidates to address issues in this order: economy/jobs (28%), health care (19%), war in Iraq (15%) and education (15%). Immigration was chosen by 9% of the Asian Americans surveyed, the report said. (Asian American Legal Defense Fund)

• AAPI numbers might be small compared to other ethnic groups—only 5 percent of the total population—but they've been growing nine to 10 times faster than the general population, according to the U.S. Bureau of the Census.

• If AAPI voter registration increases by 30% in the General Election, just imagine how Barack Obama and Joe Biden could expand the electoral map. We can potentially win Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio and the Southern corridor votes of Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia – as well as Colorado and Nevada.

The Obama-Biden campaign is empowering new voters with the Vote for Change 50 state voter registration project.

• Vote for Change is being led by the Obama-Biden campaign and the grassroots supporters and volunteers who make up the backbone of Obama’s movement for change.

Obama for America launched the website http://www.voteforchange.com to simplify the registration and absentee ballot request process.

We must unite and work harder than ever to ensure that Senator Obama is elected president. We need a president who will advocate for AAPIs and who understands our values and concerns. Senator Obama will be that President.

Please encourage your friends and family to join the AAPI for Obama group at http://my.barackobama.com/aapiforobama. They will receive news and updates on what the AAPI Vote Team is planning, access valuable resources and literature on AAPI issues and Obama's candidacy, and purchase AAPI for Obama gear.

Working together, we will make history.