“Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.” (Psalms 118:25 KJV)
Bishop E. Bernard Jordan shared the following with me: It is no secret that many economic observers have justifiably stated that the U.S. is in the midst of the greatest recession facing the nation since the Great Depression. With 120,000 jobs being shed a month, the volatility on Wall Street, home price plummeting, the economy now seems primed for an economy bust far beyond what is normally associated with natural economic principles and the prosperity once enjoyed by previous generations has been sapped dry over the past decade, leaving us with nothing but debt to build upon for the future.
Whose fault is this?
For some inexplicable reason, people want to blame President Obama. Some people say that the GOP have galvanized many people into believing that President Obama is to blame for the state of America right now.
Let’s be clear: Obama is no more to blame for the Great Recession than F.D.R. was for the Great Depression.Under the circumstances, President Obama’s record is impressive: a health-care program that covers twenty million of the uninsured while restraining costs; partial reform of the financial industry; the rescue of the American auto industry, saving a million jobs; and a fiscal stimulus—$814 billion of tax cuts, infrastructure projects, and help for states and cities—without which, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, today’s unemployment rate would be pushing twelve per cent instead of 9.8 percent.
In exchange for an extension on unemployment benefits, President Obama wants to extend tax cuts, which were originally passed under George W. Bush. Although Obama campaigned against tax cuts, the Republicans influenced him to compromise. Democrats in Congress are vehemently opposing President Obama’s tax deal with the Republicans. But is it that catastrophic? Is the color of President Obama’s skin blinding them to the good that could come out of this deal?
According to Tax Cut Deal: If It’s Good For Regular Americans, Isn’t That Good Enough For Now?:
– The long-term unemployed~In an economy with 9.8 percent unemployment, with five jobless people for each job opening, they would get another 13 months of benefits if they need them.
– Families with children and college students~They would continue to get tax credits included in last year’s stimulus package for two more years.
– Lower-income working families~The stimulus package expanded assistance under the Earned Income Tax Credit. The extra help will continue for two more years, benefiting some 6.5 million working parents with 15 million children.
– Businesses~They will continue to get tax breaks included in the stimulus, and they’ll also be able to expense 100 percent of their investments in 2011 (an Obama proposal from September).
– People who have jobs~Over 155 million workers will get a one-year, two-percentage-point cut in the payroll tax (that pays for Social Security and Medicare). That’s worth about $1,000 to the average family, Obama says.
– Everyone with income~For at least two more years, they will continue to pay lower Bush-era tax rates on income under $250,000.
– The wealthy~ They’re getting a 35 percent inheritance tax and an exemption for individual estates under $5 million (Obama and Democrats say both are too generous), and — the part that makes Democrats question their reason for being — the lower Bush-era rates on income above $250,000.
We can never forget that Obama campaigned on a promise to eradicate George W. Bush’s “tax cuts for the rich” from the face of the earth. When Democrats finally brought their tax cut package to the floor, the Senate couldn’t overcome a filibuster threat. Time was running out. Obama said his top priority is to make sure 2 million long-term unemployed don’t lose their lifelines and “tens of millions of hardworking Americans are not seeing their paychecks shrink on January 1st just because the folks here in Washington are busy trying to score political points.” The agreement gives Washington time to have the political argument over taxes, he said, without doing harm to individuals or the economy as a whole.
Some liberal interest groups and some misinformed and misguided citizens have pounced on Obama and branded the President a sell-out and/or a puppet to white politicians.
Keep in mind that Republicans would have preferred a permanent extension of the high-end tax cuts instead of the two years they got or that they agreed to extend unemployment benefits for an unprecedented 13 months, a $56-billion expense, and did not secure spending cuts to offset the cost. Their insistence on such an offset — even as they said there was no need to offset the 10-year, $700 billion cost of the high-end tax cuts — has repeatedly held up attempts to extend the benefits, including twice since Nov. 30. The size and sweep of the deal reportedly were a surprise even to those who worked it out. It will cost about as much as the $787-billion stimulus plan that the GOP opposed nearly unanimously last year. It flies in the face of all the deficit-reduction talk of recent days. It could help goose the economy. If Democrats are incensed by the idea of spending $120 billion on two years of tax cuts for the wealthy (bonus tax cuts, in CAP’s terminology), maybe they’ll feel better if they think in more general terms about how the package could spark a recovery — for both the economy and their party. Tax Cut Deal: If It’s Good For regular Americans, Isn’t that Good Enough For Now?
I agree with President Obama and former President Bill Clinton: Congress just needs to wipe their plates clean and pass the unemployment extension. In the long run, we will all begin to prosper if this deal is signed, sealed, and delivered. If the deal is signed, sealed, and delivered, I’m yours–Mr. President!!!! The truth is President Barack Obama had me at hello but that’s another story altogether. I apologize for the digression. In addition, I would be remissed if I didn’t mention that President Obama isn’t letting Republicans kill his dream of health care reform either. The Justice Department said that, as expected, the department would appeal Monday’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson in Virginia. Hudson declared that a central provision of the law — the requirement for nearly everyone to carry health insurance — was unconstitutional.
The ruling by the Republican-appointed judge in a high-profile lawsuit by Virginia’s Republican attorney general was a setback for the Obama administration, but not a surprise. Two other district court judges, both Democratic appointees, have found the law constitutional.
Obama Administration Officials noted that consultations with states on implementing the law were about to move full speed ahead. The states are expected to travel to Washington to meet with the Health and Human Services Department to discuss setting up the state-based insurance marketplaces, called exchanges, required by the new law. Most states are willing to participate.
Central provisions of the law including the exchanges and the requirement for everyone to be insured don’t take effect until 2014 anyway. By that time, the Supreme Court will likely have weighed in with the final verdict on the health law.
In spite of all of the great strides that President Obama and his administration are making, a lot of people are becoming increasingly disappointed with President Obama, which is evidenced by all of his naysayers. President Obama has faced more opposition at this stage of the presidency than any other American President in history. While some people think that President Obama has become nothing more than a black puppet in the hands of the Democrats and Republicans, I contend that President Obama is doing the “marionette dance” to ensure that lower class citizens continue to receive the assistance that they so desperately need in this bleak economic recession. President Obama’s historical significance is monumental, and he has reached out a helping hand to many people including African-Americans, the people in a devastated poor third world country, and low, working and middle class people. People need to recognize and remember that the skin color of our president is inconsequential. What is of consequence are the Acts and laws that President Obama and Congress pass in order to alleviate the suffering not only in America but in the world. By the way, I don’t really think that President Obama is hanging from strings. However, I do think that the president is putting on a great performance as the first black President of the United States. Bravo Mr. President!!!! Bravo!!!!
Love, hope, peace, and joy,
Rachel Araya
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