BARACK OBAMA’S PLAN TO STIMULATE THE ECONOMY
Barack Obama’s economic plan will inject $75 billion of stimulus into the economy by getting money in the
form of tax cuts and direct spending directly to the people who need it most. Obama’s proposal will
immediately provide stimulus using means that do not require lengthy governmental or administrative delays.
The plan also reserves an additional $45 billion of stimulus that can be injected into the economy quickly in the
future if the economy continues to deteriorate.
For most Americans, this is a time of great economic anxiety. People are working harder for less and paying
more for everything from health care, to college tuition, to filling up the gas tank. Recent data reveals that the
unemployment rate has experienced its sharpest monthly increase since 2001 the last time the economy fell into
recession. Jobs have been lost in a wide range of industries, including construction, manufacturing, retail and
the financial services. Last month only 18,000 jobs were created – a tiny fraction of the 125,000 jobs the
economy needs to generate each month to keep pace with population growth.
Limited job growth has been coupled with inflation that is outpacing increases in average wages, meaning that
even those who keep their jobs have less buying power. Consumer confidence levels are the lowest they have
been since Hurricane Katrina and consumers are starting to cut back on spending as evidenced by lower-thanexpected
holiday sales with automobile purchases falling to their lowest level in a decade.
Strengthening our economy will be Barack Obama’s priority from day one as president. Months ago he outlined
a comprehensive package of economic reforms to help ease the burdens on middle-class and working families
while making progress on achieving long-run budget balance. But with the economy getting worse by the
month, Americans cannot afford to wait until the next president takes office to take action. Obama believes the
government should take steps to restore the confidence of consumers and businesses that we will not let things
get worse and encourage them not to cut back further on their spending and investment.
Experts agree that an effective stimulus package must provide immediate, temporary, direct economic relief
targeted to the people who need it and are most likely to use the funds and increase the level of economic
activity in their communities without permanently increasing the budget deficit. The goal should be to lessen
the pain that would occur from an economy-wide slowdown, not to use Americans’ economic hardship as a
rationale for enacting an ideologically driven policy agenda.
Barack Obama’s Plan to Stimulate the Economy and Protect American Families