This is so much in the news, I figured an omnibus thread on the subject would be worthwhile. I’m going to talk about what I think Obama will say, but have no problem with broadening the subject in any area related to the speech.
Go big or go pragmatic? I can’t see Obama going big. He’s been soooo cautious lately about almost everything. He knows the GOP isn’t going to let him spend a lot of money, if any at all. I can see an extension of the payroll tax (FICA) cut. Maybe offer it to employers, too. Maybe more tax cuts for employers who hire people. Maybe some vague references about retraining. Probably some infrastructure improvements, but how do we pay for it? I think most Americans are afraid of another big stimulus type spending package, so I don’t see that many Democrats would able to support one. And, of course, no Republican would.
I think Obama hinted strongly at this in his Labor Day speech: Middle class tax cuts, infrastructure, open new markets.
his capitulation to repubs in the face of several obstacles has rendered him irrelevant to me. I see his speeches as mere talk. No offense, i think he has great ideas but unless dems become more like repubs and stick to their guns on important subjects, it’s just a proxy repub white house.
A Stimulus Bill would be dead in the water, as the Repuiblicans have spent the better part of the past two years demonizing that word. But a *JOBS *Bill? This is what he needs to sell to the American public. Anyone that opposes that would be a fool.
Same idea, different name. It’s all about branding.
He isn’t going to go big, because he doesn’t believe in going big. He believes that government should cut spending during a recession. He’s said so many times. He’s going to propose his $300 billion in the speech, and then he’s going to do exactly what he wants to do, which is trade that $300 billion for a greater amount of money in spending cuts. YMMV, of course, and I’ll be happy to be proven wrong at the end of the day.
Thinking about this some more, I wonder if he’ll take his $300 billion proposal and use that to get the Medicare eligibility age raised to 67 and/or get Social Security to switch to chained-CPI. I’m already not going to vote for him, but if the Democrats do either of those things, I’ll never vote for a Democrat as long as I live (not that the Democrats care about my vote).
The question isn’t what will he say. The question is, how much will the stock market tank in response to what he says. Given his performance lately, I’d guessing 325-350 points.
I was about 30 feet away from Obama when he gave the Detroit speech. If you think blacks are going to abandon him, you would be mistaken. The enthusiasm was unreal.
He is trying to get a jobs through a congress that is more interested in sabotaging his presidency than creating jobs . Since that will be impossible, and he must know that, his real aim must be to dump the lack of support on the back of the Republicans. He can drop the stalemated congress in their laps too.
I hope he can make the people understand that the entire concept of cutting, cutting and cutting ,will put us in a economic death spiral. How do we get demand generated that way? How do we get employment by cutting? The result would be a long time disaster for the country.
Many other countries are instituting austerity measures. They are also headed down the wrong path .
We need revenue.
Now, he does go on to say that cutting spending should be paired with tax increases (although in practice, I have yet to see him propose any serious increases), but it’s clear that he thinks cutting spending is a good idea. Of course, he’s not alone. Everyone in charge on both sides of the Atlantic thinks austerity now is a good idea.
Well, I don’t see him losing the majority of the Democratic base, African-Americans included. But I don’t think he’s going to have an easy time of it if the economy still sucks by the election, and I don’t think his preferred austerity policies are going to get him a good economy. And if the rumors are true and he actually wants to raise the Medicare age, then I don’t see how he wins the election at all.
Here, he’s primarily talking about Republican obstruction, but the viewpoint is still clear. Just like you and I have to cut back during a recession (and our wives have to stop buying dresses:rolleyes:), he thinks the government should have to cut back too.
Plus it’s contradictory - if there weren’t job opportunities in the U.S. (or at least more so than elsewhere in the world), immigrants wouldn’t go to the U.S.
And for a even simpler solution (if your goal is to reduce or at least maintain the U.S. population), I propose dropping any and all restrictions, limitations and regulatory hoop-jumps on abortion. Set up free abortion clinics in the poorer neighborhoods. Make sure all neighborhoods are a short drive or mass-transit ride from a clinic, so the entire process can be completed in one day or less - no bullshit “counselling” and whatnot.
I didn’t see the speech - did Obama mention how he expected the $300B to affect the deficit? I thought there was going to be a committee to put together spending cuts whose report was due by Thanksgiving. Does this mean that committee will have to come up with another $300B in cuts and tax increases?
Assuming Obama is actually going to cut the deficit, the chances of which I would put somewhere between problematic and laughable.
The $787B was supposed to keep unemployment under 8% and didn’t - it’s hard to believe that another $300B is going to turn the trick.
