President-Elect Barack Obama outlines 'Economic Recovery Plan'

President-Elect Barack Obama's Economic Team (AP Photo)

Before we read the first Presidential action statement by President-Elect Barack Obama regarding his two-year stimulus plan, let's look where we are today and why our situation is fundamentally so bleak.

Hilary Clinton and John McCain were the overwhelming favorites to lead their respective parties prior to the 2008 Primary season(s). However, it was Senator Barack Obama that the previous silent Americans selected to handle its' invisible problems. During the consistent downwards turn of personal and family economics, most Americans were unrecognized, our protests stifled, and our constitutional rights to assemble were re-defined by Corporations, Government, and World Order Organizations with special interests owning the ears of decision-makers and legislaters. Major Corporate News mediums (taken over by Wall Street lobbiest and deregulated by Bill Clinton in the 90's) dictating their "moraled authority" to 'shut the masses up'. Senator Barack Obama not only was a Democratic candidate but Obama also became 'The One' to voice our most inward passions to change the assaught on our constitutional freedom of speech, blatant disrespect for the middle and lower class' rights for a livable wage, and Americans right to peaceably assemble/protest.

There is a book you should read titled, "The Tyranny of Oil" http://www.tyrannyofoil.com/ by Antonia Juhasz. Juhasz previously authored the highly acclaimed best seller "The Bush Agenda" a few years ago. Juhasz's new book "The Tyranny of Oil" clearly explains what President-Elect Barack Obama referred to often, during his campaign for President, that the lobbiest and special interest groups are ruining our country. In States where the Oil industry is prevalent -- notably California, Indiana, Alaska, New Jersey, and Texas -- politicians from both the Republican and Democrat parties receive millions of dollars from Big Oil companies for their campaigns. Big Oil would then expect -- and more than likely receive -- political favors benefitial to Big Oil's operation.

Secondly, if a proposition is on the ballot demanding that Big Oil pay their fair share in taxes, or clean up our air, the Big Oil companies will use their profits -- not for cleaning their cancer causing or respitory-damaging emissions -- but to out-spend concerned citizens' propositions that would keep Oil Companies from riping off Americans' pocketbooks, or demanding a more healthy community whom live near Big Oils refineraries.

Oil companies consistently influence politicians in office to gain legislative and financial favors spending billions annually lobbying to keep their Oil industry alive and very well. Billions more are invested in research organizations by Big Oil to provide favorable studies and statistics for the media, public, and intellectual communities, which support Big Oil's point of view. You see the billions of dollars invested in television and other forms of media to paint a perfect image of a green, recyclable, and investor of the many clear air fuels.

In actuality Big Oil spends more money promoting a clean environment than it spends investing into re-building its' health threatening emissions at their refineries to benefit employees and people living in nearby residential communities. Building newer and safer refineries or building new refineries period (or more gas stations) is totally out the question for the sake of keeping Americans short of supply to increase the price during a natural disaster. Investing and actually building an infrastructure for wind, solar, and other safer energy is simply not their business, which is why they are in the back rooms with Bush to lease land in Utah to drill for more oil. As much as Big Oil companies advertising on billboards, television, radio, periodicals about use less energy and talking about the clean green projects, you would think they were leasing land in the plains and canyons to build wind farms and solar panels to clean up or air, helping out with our global warming problem. Not! Little Oil money goes into making Big Oil's refineries safer for their employeees or surrounding communities, and little monies are invested into cleaner, greener technologies.

Guess which politician is the number one benefactor of Political contributions from Big Oil in all of the United States? Former Governor of Texas and President of the United States George W. Bush. And what we seen over the past eight years is Bush's strong allegience to the Oil Companies, not being loyal to the American people -- inclusive of the millions of Americans that voted GW Bush into office. Iraq was no threat to us but Iraq has over twenty trillion barrels of un-touched oil under their soil that American Big Oil corporations are "interested" in. If Big Oil is interested, then George W. Bush is also interested. Bush recently signed Executive order 13211, directing all US Government Agencies to assess whether regulation would have" any adverse effects on energy supply, distribution, or use." API (American Petroleum Institution) proposed that Executive order 13211 apply to "any substantive action by any agency that promulgates or is expected to lead to the promulgation of a rule, regulation or policy, including, but not limited to, notice of inquiry, advance notices of proposed rule-making, notices of proposed rule-making, and guidance documents." As you can see, if API is concerned, then George Bush is concerned.

Big Oil comes first, not the grueling effects (including homicide) of Corporation's massive lay-offs, re-structuring, outsourcing, union busting, predatory lending, lowered salaries, and not to mention, the Bush Administration helping hurricane victims get back on their feet, even if the cause of a resulting flood was the fault of the US Government -- as was the case when a disfunctional levees broke in New Orleans. The actions of the Bush/Cheney administration speak louder than their verbal spin. Follow the money people.

On the other foot, President-Elect Barack Obama's contributions supporting the "Obama for America" campaign came directly from the American people with an average of roughly eighty dollars per contributor, including a few hundred from yours truly. This was the first time in my young life that I have ever contributed to any political campaign, or should I say a movement to get the country back in the hands of the American people. I trust that a President Obama will do so. One of the items on "our" agenda is getting my fellow Americans back to work with livable wages. The below article outlines Obama's two year economic recovery plan. In the coming days Obama will select an all-star Economic and Budget team. I trust in Obama's ability to comprehend all of the economic advice -- and manage their known egos -- into a logical economic plan beneficial to the American people, first and foremost.

President-Elect Barack Obama at Manny's Deli in Chicago
(photo by Scott Olson/Getty images)

Obama: 'Millions of jobs' in danger next year warns, worst may be yet to come

ap/reuters/msnbc.com
Updated: 9:45 a.m. ET Nov 22, 2008

WASHINGTON - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama said on Saturday that he was crafting an aggressive, two-year stimulus plan to revive the troubled economy, warning that swift action was needed to prevent a deep slump and a spiral of falling prices.

"If we don't act swiftly and boldly, most experts now believe that we could lose millions of jobs next year," Obama said in prepared remarks for the weekly Democratic radio and video address.

"We now risk falling into a deflationary spiral that could increase our massive debt even further," he said.

A day after U.S. stock markets rallied on his apparent choice of Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary, Obama gave a bleak assessment of the economy in his most detailed comments on the subject since winning the Nov. 4 election.

Obama in October called for a $175 billion stimulus measure, but his comments in the radio address on Saturday signaled he was prepared to push for a much larger package, though he did not give a price-tag.

The economic recovery plan being developed by his staff aims to create 2.5 million jobs by January 2011, and he wants to get it through Congress quickly and sign it soon after taking office.

He called the plan "big enough to meet the challenges we face" and said that it will jump-start job creation but also "lay the foundation for a strong and growing economy."

The proposal for a two-year stimulus plan further indicated a sizable effort. Most such plans are aimed at covering a one-year period.

The number of Americans on the unemployment rolls surged to the highest in 16 years, up more than 540,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

'Ignored for far too long' Obama said his plan would rebuild roads and bridges and modernize schools while developing alternative energy sources and more efficient cars.

"These aren't just steps to pull ourselves out of this immediate crisis; these are the long-term investments in our economic future that have been ignored for far too long," Obama said.

A trio of crises — housing, credit and financial — have badly damaged the economy, and financial analysts have projected the country's economic hardships will continue through much of 2009.

Obama acknowledged Saturday that evidence is growing the country is "facing an economic crisis of historic proportions." He noted turmoil on Wall Street, a decrease in new home purchases, growing jobless claims and the menacing problem of deflation.

He said he was pleased Congress passed an extension of unemployment benefits this week, but added, "We must do more to put people back to work and get our economy moving again."

He cautioned, "There are no quick or easy fixes to this crisis, which has been many years in the making, and it's likely to get worse before it gets better." But Obama said Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, "is our chance to begin anew."

Obama said getting congressional approval for his broad economic plan will not be easy.

"I will need and seek support from Republicans and Democrats, and I'll be welcome to ideas and suggestions from both sides of the aisle," he said. "But what is not negotiable is the need for immediate action."

Across the country, Americans "are lying awake at night wondering if next week's paycheck will cover next month's bills," people are showing up at work to clear out their desks and retirees are watching their life savings disappear, Obama said.

In this country's darkest hours, the American people have risen above their divisions to solve their problems, he said. "We have acted boldly, bravely, and above all, together," Obama said. "That is the chance our new beginning now offers us, and that is the challenge we must rise to in the days to come. It is time to act. As the next president of the United States, I will."