President-elect Barack Obama inherits a rapidly deteriorating economy that will likely dominate most of his first term, requiring massive federal spending to avoid a recession of historic scale and constraining his ability to carry out his domestic agenda, analysts said.
Obama might have to scale back his spending and tax proposals to deal with budget deficits that could hit $1 trillion a year, according to economists.
"The major Wall Street firms are projecting a deficit of $988 billion in the current budget year"
Allen Sinai, chief economist at Decision Economics, a Boston financial market advisory firm, and other economists said Obama needs to address the recession almost immediately by working with the lame duck Congress and Bush administration to pass a stimulus package to pump as much as $300 billion into the economy through tax cuts, increased unemployment benefits, aid to states, and spending on roads, bridges, and public works. Waiting until January, when he takes office, would risk an even more severe recession.
How come we DIDN'T GET that with the BANK GIVEAWAY BILL? And you wonder why I am angry!?
"We need another stimulus package, and we need to do it in a way that is decisive, with a huge amount of resources," said Robert Murphy, a Boston College economics professor. "Sooner is definitely better than later."
In Washington yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would push for a stimulus package in a lame duck session.
WhereTF you been, you enabling war criminal?
Yesterday, the Institute for Supply Management, a professional group that conducts closely watched surveys of business conditions, reported the service sector contracted sharply in October, following the manufacturing industry into recession. Job losses, meanwhile, are accelerating.
The weak economy may also complicate Obama's tax plans, analysts said. In the short term, it could make it difficult for Obama to quickly fulfill a campaign promise to raise taxes on wealthy individuals and businesses. Raising taxes during a recession can further hurt the economy because it takes away money that otherwise might be spent on goods and services, according to economists.
It just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?
In the longer term, the deficit could also make it difficult for Obama to deliver his promised middle-class tax cut, analysts said. Obama will also immediately be required to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure, as well as implement the $700 billion government bailout that is intended to revive the faltering financial sector. The Bush administration is investing US tax dollars directly in banks and taking ownership stakes as a way to provide banks with sufficient capital to keep credit flowing for consumers and businesses.
I'm tired of the lie when these guys caused this "crisis" on purpose to blackmail the Congress over this loot job!
Once the economy and credit markets stabilize, then Obama and Congress should attempt long-term fixes for the financial system, analysts said. That will require not only improving regulation of the industry here in the United States, but working with foreign regulators on oversight internationally. But economists caution Obama to not overreach and impose too much regulation on the financial sector. Ultimately, they said, growth depends on a flexible economy in which capital flows freely and investors take risks needed to fuel innovation.
Obama will likely be approaching the end of his term before he can turn his attention to long-term policies, such as improving education and investing in science, technology, and research and development, including alternative energy. By then, however, he may well have to turn his attention to cutting deficits, caused by the recession and government efforts to combat it. That's likely to require a combination of tax increases and spending cuts, analysts said. --more--"
CHICAGO - Winning might have been the easy part.
For all the euphoria that filled this city and much of the nation when Senator Barack Obama won his historic victory on Tuesday, the president-elect now turns to confront a sobering array of challenges as daunting as any incoming leader has faced in decades.
"We have a bad economy, we have a huge debt, we've got an unpopular war," said James A. Thurber, director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University. "He's inheriting all that."
Some analysts believe Obama's task is on par with that of Franklin Roosevelt, who in 1933 took the reins of a nation mired in the Great Depression. Obama himself said Monday night, at his last rally of the campaign, that the 44th president would be "facing bigger challenges than probably any administration since FDR."
So where does he start? In the immediate term, Obama will focus on building his administration, with the help of a transition team led by John Podesta, who was a chief-of-staff for former president Bill Clinton; Valerie Jarrett, a longtime close friend and adviser from Chicago; and Pete
Great. So the choke-point filter for the Obama White House is going to be the son of a Zionist terrorist.
Aides said that Obama, who did not make a public statement yesterday, would remain in Chicago through the end of the week, but that his mind is very much already on Washington. Today, 75 days before he is to be inaugurated the 44th president, he is to begin receiving classified intelligence briefings from the Central Intelligence Agency.
Obama said: "We've got to take care of our troops. And we're still going to have expenditures in Afghanistan, because we need to hunt down [Osama] bin Laden and Al Qaeda and put them finally out of business."
Sigh. No change.
In the foreign policy arena, the challenges Obama will face are clear. Beyond finding a way to end the war in Iraq, he must contend with Russia, which is asserting its power in ways reminiscent of the Soviet Union during the Cold War; with new leadership in Pakistan, a nuclear-armed country whose government is under threat from Islamic extremists; with the ongoing nuclear designs of Iran; and with a potential leadership vacuum in reclusive North Korea.
Translation: He will be serving the Zionist agenda.
Dozens of names have already been floated as possible appointees in an Obama administration, including Senator John F. Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Senator Richard Lugar, Republican of Indiana, as candidates for secretary of state; Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a potential head of the Environmental Protection Agency; and Susan Rice, a State Department official under Clinton and an Obama foreign policy adviser, who may get a top diplomatic portfolio.
With supporters on a high from his commanding win, Obama has already begun lowering expectations for his presidency, mindful of the sweeping changes he has campaigned on for the better part of two years.
"We may not get there in one year or even in one term," he said in a sober tone to the rapturous crowd Tuesday night. "But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there." --more--"
WASHINGTON - While 52 percent of voters backed Obama, only 17 percent of those surveyed before the election said they trusted the government most of the time, a historic low. Moreover, with Democrats failing to win enough seats to stop a Senate filibuster, the new president will need support from Republicans to enact his ideas.
"The American people are torn between their desire for government that will actually do something about the massive insecurity they are now feeling on so many fronts" and their lack of "confidence in the national government as an honest and effective agent," said William Galston, who was President Clinton's adviser on domestic issues.
Because IT IS NOT!! That's why we FEEL THAT WAY!! Because it has LIED and HARMED US for SPECIAL INTERESTS like CORPORATIONS and ISRAEL!
Amid the euphoria expressed by Obama supporters after his victory came a note of caution from the US Chamber of Commerce. Bruce Josten, the chamber's executive vice president, said yesterday that Obama's decisive defeat of John McCain is "hardly a strong mandate." He urged Obama not to squander precious political capital on hot-button issues that would alienate the business community, such as a proposal to make it easier for workers to form unions.
And BUSINESS is who runs things in this country -- well, save for the BANKS which run business!!
The financial crisis has helped resurrect an increase in government reach, and Obama moves into the White House at a time of massive budget deficits, a severe recession, and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama's own agenda includes many proposals that could make government even bigger: more government regulation of Wall Street, rebuilding public education, and creating an accessible, affordable healthcare system.
Just what you wanted to hear, right?
Representative Barney Frank, the Newton Democrat who chairs the Financial Services Committee, warned that Obama should not try to take on potentially divisive issues right away, such as immigration reform and international trade issues, until Americans have more confidence in the economy. "A lot of Americans are angry at the erosion of their economic positions," Frank said. "Until you give the average American a better sense of fairness in the system, I think you have a very hard time doing trade and immigration."
Translation: After everything settles down, then they will ram more "free-trade" deals through -- as well as an AMNESTY BILL!!!
Within hours of the declaration that Obama had won the presidency, a variety of interest groups that had supported his candidacy made clear they expected action on their issues. --more--"
And where did that support come from?
President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to invest in clean energy, defense, research, manufacturing, and other industries vital to Massachusetts. He has also backed proposals to help workers that some industry groups say could raise the cost of doing business, hurt corporate profits, and ultimately spur companies to reduce hiring.
But it's unclear how many of Obama's plans will become law. From the start, he will face a recession, soaring budget deficit, and lingering wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that will compete for his attention and limit federal spending. He will also need help from Congress.
Defense
Obama has promised to end the war in Iraq, cut "tens of billions of dollars of wasteful spending" and curtail investment in unproven missile defense technology. But his platform also calls for stepping up investment in advanced defense technology, such as unmanned aerial vehicles and electronic warfare capabilities, and replacing outdated naval vehicles, which could benefit Massachusetts defense companies like Raytheon Co., based in Waltham.
"We're better positioned than many states because we've moved into systems development instead of banging hardware and building ships," said William H. Guenther, the president and founder of Mass Insight Corp., a Boston research firm. "The broader concerns are that defense budgets are going to face significant pressure for cuts because of what's happening in the economy." --more--"
Yeah, the PEACE candidate! As if war-looters needed any more help.
"Raytheon bucks the tide as its profit rises sharply.... "Demand in our industry is driven by the threat environment" -- William H. Swanson, Raytheon's chairman and chief executive
Massachusetts is poised to play a leading role in helping the nation implement parts of the president-elect's energy plan, which focuses on efficiency, battling climate change, and gaining oil independence.
Already the state's energy and environmental policies - including efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve efficiency, use more renewable energy, and create a green jobs sector - fall in line with goals highlighted by Barack Obama during his campaign.
Philip Adams, president of World Energy, an energy-procurement company in Worcester, added, "We sense in Obama a real commitment to solving global climate change. This commitment will increase the likelihood of a national carbon cap-and-trade program. --more--"
Well, we KNOW what that is about, and which globalist scum is going to benefit:
"Gore said the single most important policy change would be... a carbon tax."
Open up that wallet, America.
Is this the change you thought you were getting?
