According to a New York Times poll released Tuesday, “55 percent of Americans say they are just making ends meet, with more than six in 10 concerned that someone in their household might lose his (or her) job in the next year.” Sixty-one percent of those polled said they believe the condition of the economy is “very bad.”
Also on Tuesday, President Obama detailed ambitious proposals in a speech before Congress, and he told them to act swiftly in passing legislation aimed at improving the economy and helping the American people through this recession.
After the president spoke, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) and Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) commented to the media that the speech lacked details. Not only is that a weak criticism, it’s simply not true.
President Obama made it clear that credit is the “lifeblood of our economy” and he proposed “creating a new lending fund that represents the largest effort ever to help provide auto loans, college loans and small business loans to the consumers and entrepreneurs who keep this economy running.”
Because of the outrage over several stories of bank CEO’s misuse of the $700 billion bailout funds – like those who lined their pockets with bonuses – President Obama assured Americans and Congress that under his administration, banks will have proper oversight. He also said that if we don’t act, our problems will culminate into a greater crisis that will then cost even more.
He addressed Republican concerns over spending when he vowed to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term. He said his administration has gone through the budget line-by-line to “eliminate the no-bid contracts” in Iraq, stop funding Cold War weapons America no longer uses, remove the waste and fraud in Medicare and end tax breaks for big corporations that ship jobs overseas.
President Obama also spoke very clearly about specific issues he will emphasize in his forthcoming budget proposal, such as health care and energy.
He told Congress that the crushing cost of health care causes a bankruptcy in America every 30 seconds, and that his plan will “invest in electronic health records and new technology that will reduce errors, bring down costs, ensure privacy and save lives.”
He said of energy policy, “I ask this Congress to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America.”
He continued, saying, “To support that innovation, we will invest $15 billion a year to develop technologies like wind power and solar power, advanced bio-fuels, clean coal and more efficient cars and trucks built right here in America.”
I urge those who missed the president’s speech to take a look at each initiative and the details of his proposals online.
Tuesday night, as Gov. Jindal (R-LA) gave the rebuttal to President Obama’s speech and my eyes glossed over during each of his meaningless anecdotes, my meditations drifted to the infinite wisdom of the pundits who warned me beforehand that the Republican response would be a major buzz-kill.
I did not hear any new ideas from the Republicans on reforming energy and healthcare policy or ending the recession. In fact, I didn’t hear any new ideas at all. They only rattled off their talking points: increasing taxes will ruin the economy and the stimulus package will expand the power of the federal government.
But it doesn’t really matter what Republicans say anyway. In the Times’ poll previously mentioned, the majority of those polled said they would rather Barack Obama stick to his policies than work with Republicans. I agree. We need visionary solutions and Republicans aren’t even in the business of solutions yet.
Stephanie England is an English junior and a Mustang Daily political columnist.