Remarks of President-Elect Barack Obama
Radio Address
Saturday, January 10, 2008
Washington, DC

We start this new year in the midst of an economic crisis unlike any we have seen in our lifetime.  We learned yesterday that in the past month alone, we lost more than half a million jobs – a total of nearly 2.6 million in the year 2008.  Another 3.4 million Americans who want and need full-time work have had to settle for part-time jobs.  And families across America are feeling the pinch as they watch debts mount, bills pile up and savings disappear.

These numbers are a stark reminder that we simply cannot continue on our current path.  If nothing is done, economists from across the spectrum tell us that this recession could linger for years and the unemployment rate could reach double digits – and they warn that our nation could lose the competitive edge that has served as a foundation for our strength and standing in the world.

It’s not too late to change course – but only if we take immediate and dramatic action.  Our first job is to put people back to work and get our economy working again.  This is an extraordinary challenge, which is why I’ve taken the extraordinary step of working – even before I take office – with my economic team and leaders of both parties on an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that will call for major investments to revive our economy, create jobs, and lay a solid foundation for future growth.

I asked my nominee for Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Dr. Christina Romer, and the Vice President-Elect’s Chief Economic Adviser, Dr. Jared Bernstein, to conduct a rigorous analysis of this plan and come up with projections of how many jobs it will create – and what kind of jobs they will be.  Today, I am releasing a report of their findings so that the American people can see exactly what this plan will mean for their families, their communities, and our economy.

The report confirms that our plan will likely save or create three to four million jobs.  90 percent of these jobs will be created in the private sector – the remaining 10 percent are mainly public sector jobs we save, like the teachers, police officers, firefighters and others who provide vital services in our communities.

The jobs we create will be in businesses large and small across a wide range of industries.  And they’ll be the kind of jobs that don’t just put people to work in the short term, but position our economy to lead the world in the long-term.

We’ll create nearly half a million jobs by investing in clean energy – by committing to double the production of alternative energy in the next three years, and by modernizing more than 75% of federal buildings and improving the energy efficiency of two million American homes. These made-in-America jobs building solar panels and wind turbines, developing fuel-efficient cars and new energy technologies pay well, and they can’t be outsourced.

We’ll create hundreds of thousands of jobs by improving health care – transitioning to a nationwide system of computerized medical records that won’t just save money, but save lives by preventing deadly medical errors.  And we’ll create hundreds of thousands more jobs in education, equipping tens of thousands of schools with 21st century classrooms, labs and computers to help our kids compete with any worker in the world for any job.

We’ll put nearly 400,000 people to work by repairing our infrastructure – our crumbling roads, bridges and schools.  And we’ll build the new infrastructure we need to succeed in this new century, investing in science and technology, and laying down miles of new broadband l

ines so that businesses across our nation can compete with their counterparts around the world. 

Finally, we won’t just create jobs, we’ll also provide help for those who’ve lost theirs, and for states and families who’ve been hardest-hit by this recession.  That means bi-partisan extensions of unemployment insurance and health care coverage; a $1,000 tax cut for 95 percent of working families; and assistance to help states avoid harmful budget cuts in essential services like police, fire, education and health care.

Now, given the magnitude of the challenges we face, none of this will come easy.  Recovery won’t happen overnight, and it’s likely that things will get worse before they get better.

But we have come through moments like this before.  We are the nation that has faced down war, depression and fear itself – each time, refusing to yield; each time, refusing to accept a lesser fate.  That is the spirit that has always sustained us – that belief that our destiny is not written for us, but by us; that our success is not a matter of chance, but of our own courage and determination.  Our resources may be finite, but our will is infinite.  And I am confident that if we come together and summon that great American spirit once again, we will meet the challenges of our time and write the next great chapter in our American story.

Progress.

According to the Associated Press President-elect Barack Obama is coming to Washington to put money in the pockets of taxpayers and business by proposing a significant tax cut in a second stimulus package that he hopes to  get passed by February.   See full story below.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Barack Obama’s proposed stimulus package would provide businesses with billions of dollars in refunds on taxes they paid several years ago.

The refunds are popular among business groups and could increase pressure on Republicans to support Obama’s massive stimulus package, even though most of them are wary of government spending increases that could send its total cost to $800 billion or more.

“This gives companies an infusion of cash just when they need it,” Dorothy Coleman of the National Association of Manufacturers said of the proposed refunds.

Obama’s proposal to stimulate the economy includes tax cuts of up to $300 billion, including more than $100 billion for businesses.

The refund provision would enable some companies posting losses last year to get refunds for taxes paid as far back as five years earlier. The businesses could refile their old tax returns, using the losses suffered last year to offset profits made when times were good.

Under current law, businesses can use losses to offset profits the two previous years.

Obama’s team has yet to provide estimates on what the refunds could total. When Congress considered the same idea last year, carrying back losses to offset profits in the previous five years would have provided businesses an estimated $25.5 billion in refunds.

With business losses mounting in 2008 because of the recession, the price tag on Obama’s plan would probably be much higher, said Bruce Wein, who heads the U.S. tax practice for the law firm DLA Piper.

“I think it’s creative, I think it’s bold,” Wein said. “It’s going to get a lot of backing from Republicans for the obvious reasons.”

Obama’s tax package also targets individuals, providing a $500 tax cut for most workers and $1,000 for couples, at a cost of about $140 billion to $150 billion over two years. The individual tax cuts may be awarded through withholding less from worker paychecks, effectively making them about $10 larger each week.

Another provision brought to the negotiations by the Obama team would award companies that hire new workers a one-year tax credit at a total cost of $40 billion to $50 billion over two years. Businesses also would get additional incentives to invest in new equipment.

Obama takes office in two weeks. Meeting with congressional leaders Monday at the Capitol, he described the nation’s economic condition as “precarious” and said he’d like Congress to have a stimulus package ready for signing into law by early February.

The ability to write off losses and apply them to tax bills retroactively was “at the top of the list from businesses’ viewpoint,” said Bruce Josten, the executive vice president for government affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Josten said the Obama transition team has held more than a dozen meetings with chamber officials to discuss a number of issues, with several of the meetings devoted to the economic recovery plan. The tax relief package detailed in press reports on Monday “fits the criteria that we’ve outlined,” he said.

“It doesn’t help autos, who haven’t paid taxes previously. It probably doesn’t help steel, probably doesn’t help airlines,” he said. “But the rest of the business community, I think it’s safe to say that was at the top of their list.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said tax cuts could help boost the economy “if it’s done right.”

“It’s tricky to make sure the relief is big enough to make a dent in our huge economy and done in a way that stimulates growth,” Grassley said in a statement. “Business tax incentives should be strong enough to spur investment and create jobs.”

House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said he is concerned the package could include “wasteful spending.” But he is pleased Obama and congressional Democrats “agree with Republicans that tax relief for middle-class families and small businesses has to be a major part of this economic package.”

According to the Chicago Tribune, Gov. Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff, John Harris, was taken into custody in connection with pending choice to replace Sen. Barack Obama’s senate seat.  The feds allege that the Governor was soliciting bribes in return for Sen. Barack Obama’s senate seat.  So he tried to sell former senator Barack Obama’s senate seat, the most highly profiled former senator and President-elect in history, and then talked about it with seemingly everyone he knew including his Chief of Staff, political advisers, and friends.  This should definitely go under the stupid criminals heading.  Very surprise that it took the feds this long to make an arrest.   Wow, the question now is who makes the decision as to Sen. Obama’s replacement (see order of succession from the Illinois Constitution below).  Apparently, a probe of Blagojevich regarding trading favors for government contracts has been going on for years in Chicago politics.  One would think that because Bladojevich is still governor regardless of whether he is in jail or wherever, he still makes the appointment.  That is, unless he resigns or is impeached in the next couple of weeks, in which case perhaps Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn would make the decision.  If Sen. Ted Stevens is any indication of how politicians respond to legal impediments, Blago will be choosing Obama’s replacement from his jail cell.  Talk about a freakin real life mobster movie.  This may explain his very strong statement yesterday forbidding the state of Illinois from doing business with  Bank of America….trying to garner up a troth of public sympathy right quick.  Apparently, Illinois governors have a history of doing prison time.  If Blago is indicted and convicted he will be the fourth governor to be convicted  and serve time on corruption charges.   See the Blagojevich criminal complaint here.  See Blago story below.

A source said today that Gov. Rod Blagojevich was taken into federal custody at his North Side home this morning. The U.S. attorney’s office would not confirm the information.

A Blagojevich spokesman said he was unaware of the development. “Haven’t heard anything – you are first to call,” Lucio Guerrero said in an e-mail.

The stunning, early morning visit by authorities to the governor’s North Side home came amid revelations that federal investigators had recorded the governor with the cooperation of a longtime confidant and had begun to focus on the possibility that the process of choosing a Senate successor to President-elect Barack Obama could be tainted by pay-to-play politics.

Blagojevich was taken into custody hours after the Tribune reported that the investigation into allegations of pay-to-play politics within his administration had been expanded to include his pending choice of a Senate replacement for Obama. The Democratic governor has said he expects to make a decision on the state’s next senator in weeks.

Sources told the Tribune that investigators intensified their investigation into Blagojevich amid concerns that the process of choosing a new senator could be tainted. The actions by federal authorities came a day before Blagojevich’s 52nd birthday.

The Tribune previously disclosed that federal investigators had recordings of Blagojevich. Those recordings were aided by the cooperation of longtime Blagojevich confidant and former congressional chief of staff John Wyma.

On Monday, Blagojevich said he has done nothing wrong in his stewardship of the state and challenged critics to record him because his discussions were “always lawful.”"

Order of Succession according to the Illinois Constitution.  Article V, Section 6

a)  In the event of a vacancy, the order of succession to the office of Governor or to the position of Acting Governor shall be the Lieutenant Governor, the elected Attorney General, the elected Secretary of State, and then as provided by law. 
(b)  If the Governor is unable to serve because of death, conviction on impeachment, failure to qualify, resignation or other disability, the office of Governor shall be filled by the officer next in line of succession for the remainder of the term or until the disability is removed.

UPDATE: Statement released by the U.S. Attorney office

“The breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering,” said U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in a statement.

“They allege that Blagojevich put a ‘for sale’ sign on the naming of a United States Senator; involved himself personally in pay-to-play schemes with the urgency of a salesman meeting his annual sales target; and corruptly used his office in an effort to trample editorial voices of criticism,” Fitzgerald said. “The citizens of Illinois deserve public officials who act solely in the public’s interest, without putting a price tag on government appointments, contracts and decisions.”

FBI spokesman Frank Bochte said federal agents arrested the governor and Harris simultaneously at their homes at 6:15 a.m. and took them to the Chicago FBI headquarters. Bochte said he did not know if either man was handcuffed or if the governor’s family was their North Side home at the time of his arrest. He did say Blagojevich and Harris both were given time to get dressed before being taken to the headquarters.

Corruption in the Blagojevich administration has been the focus of a federal investigation involving an alleged $7 million scheme aimed at squeezing kickbacks out of companies seeking business from the state.

Some of the allegations in the 76-page Affidavit according to USA Today.

The FBI complaint said that in one of the phone calls, Balgojevicfh entertained the idea of appointing himself to the seat if none of the mentioned hopefuls offer him anything of value.

“I’m going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain,” he allegedly said. Later, he referred to the Senate as a “valuable thing, you just don’t give it away for nothing.”

The official complaint alleged that, Blagojevich, on various occasions, discussed exchanging the Senate appointment for:

• A substantial salary for himself at a either a non-profit foundation or an organization affiliated with labor unions;

• Placing his wife on paid corporate boards where he speculated she might garner as much as $150,000 a year;

• Promises of campaign funds — including cash up front;

• A cabinet post or ambassadorship for himself.

Blagojevich also was charged in the federal complaint with illegally threatening to withhold state assistance to Tribune Co., the owner of the Chicago Tribune, in the sale of Wrigley Field, according to a federal criminal complaint.

In return for state assistance, Blagojevich allegedly wanted the Tribune to fire members of the paper’s editorial board.

The complaint alleges that Harris, the governor’s chief of staff, allegedly told Balgojevich that he had spoken with an unidentified “Tribune Financial Advisor” to deliver the message that the governor would be cooperative with the state assistance in exchange for the dismissal of editorial board members, particularly deputy editorial page editor John McCormick, a strong critic of Blagojevich’s administration.

Harris allegedly said that the advisor is “very sensitive to the issue” and had advised about “certain corporate reorganizations and budget cuts coming and, reading between the lines, he’s going after that section.” To which Blagojevich allegedly replied in the taped conversation: “Oh, that’s fantastic.”

Later, however, Harris reported that there had been some layoffs at the newspaper, but that the editorial board was not among them.

UPDATE x2: U.S. Attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, News Conference

The Feds announced that Gov. Blagojevich worked feverishly to get as much money from contractors through pay-for-play politics as possible before the end of the year.  Fitzgerald said that Blagojevich “sold influence like a salesman meeting a sales target.”  In one of the conversations, Blagojevich was reported to be upset about being “stuck” as governor.  Fitzgerald reported that the government has had wiretaps in place since 2004.  Such wiretaps were placed at Blagojevich ‘s office and inside his home. 

AG Fitzgerald went on to say that the complaint makes NO allegations against the President elect or any of his staff and cautioned people not to cast dispersions against anyone based on the fact that an unscrupulous individual tried to figure out a way to approach such individual in an effort to better his own political or economic position.  The U.S. Attorney also reported that Governor Blagojevich said the following regarding trying to get something from the Pres. elect. “[T]he Obama team are not willing to give me anything but appreciation…f@#&  them.”  Fitzgerald repeated that there is no reference in the complaint about any conversations that the governor had with the Pres. elect or any allegations in the complaint that any such conversation ever took place.

As to the senate seat appointment, Fitzgerald believes that because these allegations are now in the light of day it is less likely that the Governor can get away with appointing a person through corrupt means. Charges include solicitation of a bribe and mail fraud.  Blagojevich is scheduled to appear in court today on the charges.

UPDATE x3:  President-elect Obama said that he is “saddened and sobbered” by the Blagojevich case.  Also said that he has “had no contact with the Governor or his office and so I was not aware of what was happening.”  Lastly, the Pres. elect said “it is a sad day for Illinois, beyond that I don’t think its appropriate to comment.”

Last week, Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas, in a highly unusual move, requested that his colleagues review the petition, Donforio v. Wells, to grant an emergency stay after it was rejected by his colleague Justice David Souter.  Well his colleagues reviewed and considered the petition last Friday and delivered their answer today…..REJECTED and effectively DENIED further review of the case.

The jist of what the case argued:

“Since Barack Obama´s father was a citizen of Kenya, and therefore subject to the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom at the time of Senator Obama´s birth, then Senator Obama was a British citizen ‘at birth,’ just like the framers of the Constitution, and therefore, even if he were to produce an original birth certificate proving he were born on U.S. soil, he still wouldn´t be eligible to be president.” Washington Times, quoting Donofrio

Reactions to Thomas requesting such a review in the first place:

Trevor Morrison

[Trevor] Morrison [a professor of law at Columbia University School of Law] said that Thomas’s actions are once in a decade. “When that does happen, the case has to be of an extraordinary nature and this does not fit that circumstance,” he said. “My guess would be that Thomas accepted the case so it would go before the conference where it will likely be denied. If Thomas denied the petition, then Donofrio would be free to go to the other justices for their consideration. “This way, I would guess, the matter would be done with. Petitions of Donofrio’s types are hardly ever granted.” New America Media 3 Dec

Earl Hutchison in American Chronicle:

Thomas´s legal meddle on the Obama birth certificate [sic] non-issue fits perfectly in with his jaundiced interpretation of law and its practice and his private vow to get revenge on his liberal tormentors. Obama is the latest would be victim. He almost certainly stirred Thomas´s personal ire back in August. Obama was asked at a joint church gathering with Republican rival John McCain at the mega Saddleback church in Lake Forest, California which justice he wouldn´t have nominated to the Supreme Court. He didn´t hesitate. He named Thomas. And he told why.

“I don´t think that he was a strong enough jurist or legal thinker at the time, for that elevation, setting aside the fact that I profoundly disagree with his interpretations of a lot of the constitution.” Earl Hutchinson in American Chronicle.  He went on to say that [Thomas] wants more judges to think and act like him on the bench. Obama has made it clear not only that he would not appoint another Thomas to the High Court but that the type of judges he´d appoint will be the diametric opposite of him.

Les Payne opines:

The bitter Justice Thomas is seemingly bent these days on exacting revenge on the larger black community. It is perhaps in this light that we catch a glimpse of him stoking the Donofrio case as much for Limbaugh laughs as for the backhand it applies to the aspirations of African-Americans. Newsday

President-Elect Barack Obama just announced the names of his senior economic advisers.  The group brings a broad range of experience and expertise and are more centrist then left.  Most importantly, they are not cronies but individuals who are business leaders and leading scholars of economics.  The mere mention of Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary sent the stock market soaring 500 points on Friday. President Elect Obama made some policy pronouncements and his team in the last few days.  The President-elect will very soon after he takes office, if not done by the Bush administration, pass a massive stimulus plan to confront the current economic crisis.  Pres-Elect Obama announced that we need a big stimulus package “to jolt the economy back into shape.” No tax increase for the wealthy in the January package but will ask Congress to prepare tax-cuts for the low and middle income taxpayers.  The President-elect and his administration plans to hit the ground running on January 20th.  As Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland said:

“We expect to have during the first couple of weeks of January a package for the president’s consideration when he takes office.”

The key members of the Obama Economic Dream Team are:

Treasury Secretary – Timothy Geithner
National Economic Council Director – Larry Summers 
Chair Council of Economic Advisers – Christina Romer                                                                                                                                                                         Director of the Domestic Policy Council – Melody Barnes    (Executive Vice President for policy at the Center for American Progress, chief counsel Sen. Ted Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee.  Melody will essentially be the czar of domestic policy in the Obama Administration.

In Pres. Elect Obama’s choice of nominees for his economic team it is clear that he intends to strike a balance between experience and fresh  thinking.  Both Christina Romer and Melody Barnes both represent a fresh, outside-the-beltway, way of thinking in Washington.  While Larry Summers and Timothy Geithner represent experience in the ways of Washington.

The news came over the wire last night.  President-elect will nominate Sen. Hillary Clinton to be Aecretary of State next week.  The official announcement will be made at a joint press conference the Friday following Thanksgiving.  Per the Associated Press.

WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama is on track to nominate Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state after Thanksgiving, an aide to his transition said Thursday.
One week after the former primary rivals met secretly to discuss the idea of Clinton becoming the nation’s top diplomat, the two sides were moving quickly toward making it a reality, barring any unforeseen problems.

The transition aide told The Associated Press that the two camps have worked out financial disclosure issues involving Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, and the complicated international funding of his foundation that operates in 27 countries. The aide said Obama and Hillary Clinton have had substantive conversations about the secretary of state job.

Clinton has been mulling the post for several days, but the transition aide’s comments suggested that Obama’s team does not feel she is inclined to turn it down.

Watch CBS Videos Online

CBS) Since Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States 12 days ago, he has largely remained out of sight, getting high-level government briefings and conferring with his transition team. But he surfaced on Friday afternoon in Chicago, alongside his wife Michelle to give 60 Minutes his first post-election interview.

It covers a wide range of subjects including the economy, the ailing automobile industry, the government’s $700 billion bailout program, their visit to the White House, the emotions of election night and the quest for a family dog. You’ll hear all of it. But we begin with the president-elect and his thoughts about the new job.

Steve Kroft: So here we are.

President-elect Barack Obama: Here we are.

Kroft: How’s your life changed in the last ten days?

Mr. Obama: Well, I tell you what, there seem to be more people hovering around me. That’s for sure. And, on the other hand, I’m sleeping in my own bed over the last ten days, which is quite a treat. Michelle always wakes up earlier than I do. So listen to her roaming around and having the girls come in and, you know, jump in your bed. It’s a great feeling. Yeah.

Kroft: Has this been easier than the campaign trail?

Mr. Obama: Well, it’s different. I think that during the campaign it is just a constant frenetic, forward momentum. Here, I’m stationary. But the issues come to you. And we’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve got a lot of problems, a lot of big challenges.

TRANSCRIPT

Maya Soetoro-Ng was not in Chicago with her brother on election night even though he offered to fly the family into the Windy City for the results.  Maya knew exactly where she wanted to be on the night that millions of Americans will remember as a pivotable turning point in our nation’s history.

Maya Soetoro-Ng could have accepted her brother’s invitation to be at his side on Election Night in Chicago. But Barack Obama’s sister knew where she belonged.

As she had for much of the past eight years, Soetoro-Ng stayed in the two-bedroom apartment on Beretania Street where she had taken care of their maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham.

Dunham had died of cancer just two nights before at the age of 86, with Soetoro-Ng at her side. Then, on the day that Obama was elected as America’s first black president, Dunham’s koa urn arrived and Soetoro-Ng surrounded it with pictures of Dunham’s late daughter, Stanley Ann Dunham, Dunham’s grandchildren and her great-grandchildren, “all of us who benefited so much from her steady voice and hand,” Soetoro-Ng wrote

Maya also gives some insight into the strength and wonderful sense of humor of their grandmother Madelyn Dunham

Dunham, whom Obama called “Toot” after the Hawaiian word for grandparent, tutu, never showed self-pity or fear as she faced the end of her life, Soetoro-Ng wrote.

But Dunham could be wickedly funny.

“When she saw the number of flowers that had been sent to her,” Soetoro-Ng wrote, “she said, ‘Oh my … with all of this hullabaloo, it’s going to be embarrassing if I DON’T die.’ I gave her a chuckle and of course told her that I wouldn’t at all mind such an embarrassment, and then I invited her to stay and dance with me into the new year. She couldn’t stay, but she certainly tried, and defied expectations again and again.”

Maya gave permission to her friends to release the letter to the press.  Read the whole letter for yourself. 

“President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to change the way Washington works and curb the influence of lobbyists,” said top transition aid John Podesta.  “[I]f someone has lobbied in the last 12 months, they are prohibited from working in the fields of policy on which they lobbied” is a statement released by the Transition office yesterday.

“President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to change the way Washington works and curb the influence of lobbyists,” said Podesta in another statement. 

“During the campaign, federal lobbyists could not contribute to or raise money for the campaign…the president-elect is taking those commitments even further by announcing the strictest, and most far reaching ethics rules of any transition team in history.”

Looks like President-elect Obama has already begun to keep his campaign promises.

PROGRESS

until the first polls open.  We get one chance, one opportunity, one moment, to make history by ensuring that Sen. Barack Obama is elected President of the United States of America.  We are prepared and have done all the ground work, now we have to deliver.  The Get Out The Vote element of this campaign is the most important.   Yesterday we had 13,000 people on the streets of Virginia.  They  knocked on 500,000 doors.  All the other battleground states need to step up to keep up.  Send me information on the ground game in your state. How can you help….what can you do…..phonebank?  Canvass for Obama in the battleground  state of Virginia and turn Virginia blue for the first time in 44 years!  Help at least five people  get to the polls on Election Day.  Lend your skills as an attorney to Obama’s voter protection program.  Donate to this built from the ground up campaign.  This is the last stretch, do not take anything for granted, ignore the polls, help get out the vote.  Volunteer at your local Campaign For Change  office and help to Get Out The Vote today and tomorrow.   This is our time, this is our moment,  DO YOUR PART to make this happen.  www.Barack.Obama.com

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Transcript Below (with props to Dopeman).

Charles:

I was born in ’22. I lived through the Great Depression. That’s the reason I’ve been a Democrat all my life, ’cause I saw what Roosevelt did when he first come into office. My mother would have lose her farm and we would’ve lose everything we had if it hadn’t have been for President Roosevelt elected to office.

Merideth:

Charles started volonteering with us here about 4 weeks ago now, it was right after his wife passed away. He’d been married to her for 69 years. And he has been helping us with the front desk, greeting folks, signing them in, making sure they feel welcome here, um, he’s just, he’s one of the most amazing people I’ve met on the campaign. he saw our raffle box that we had set up for every volunteer who came in to help us was able to submit a raffle ticket to be pulled at random and the next day was the day that we pulled out, we pulled the winner and I stuck my hand in the big box then swirled it around at random and pulled out Charles Alexander’s ticket and everyone was just in shock. Everyone said that if there is one one person out of Boulder County, out of Colorado could meet Barack, this was the guy that absolutely deserved it, um, and we told him the next day and he looked at us and he said ‘are you pulling my leg? Are you kidding me? I’ve never won anything in my life.’

Charles:

Oh that’s the greatest thing in my life, I tell ya, I never did think I would meet.. uh… someone going to be the president of the United States in my lifetime. He is such a lovely person, he is just the same in person as he is on tv. And uh, if he gets to be elected president it will be one of the greatest jobs this country’s people ever done for this country. to elect him president now, somebody who can unite the country back together. ‘Cause divided we will never go no place when we are divided.

Merideth:

He’s the type of person that gets me up out of bed every morning and keeps me going.

Charles:

My God, all these young people here, they are tomorrow’s future. I’m dying off. Everybody my age is dying off. Everybody. The next 4 or 5 years, I probably won’t be around. These young people are going to take the lead. That’s what I love about seeing all these young people in here volunteering ’cause they are all tomorrow’s future. They are my grandkids’ future and great great grandkids, the young people that you see here today. God knows that I see a bunch of them. They really are wonderful people. They’re just as friendly as they can be. They are real united people. And that’s what this country needs to be, 100% united. and I just think Barack Obama is the person that can do it.

There are exactly 10 days, 21 hours, 38 minutes, to the minute before the first polls open on November 4th. My question to all of you is….what are you doing to make history?  What will you tell your grandchildren that you contributed to this historic event?  Will you tell them that you phonebanked for Obama through his revolutionary Internet phonebanking tool?  Will you tell them that you canvassed for Obama in the battleground  state of Virginia and turned Virginia blue for the first time in 44 years?! Will you say that you helped get at least five people to the polls on Election Day?  Will you say that during this historic election you lent your skills as an attorney to Obama’s voter protection program?  Will you say that you donated to Obama’s historic, built from the ground up, campaign?  What exactly will you say that you did to help create this historic movement for change?  This is the last stretch, do not take anything for granted, regardless of what the polls say, it is up the you to put Sen. Barack Obama over the finish line.  Volunteer at your local Campaign For Change  office and help to Get Out The Vote on November 4th.  100 billion more registered voters mean nothing if people do not come out, with their patience, and VOTE.  Volunteer to entertain people who are waiting in line to vote….bring water or snacks to folks who are waiting in line to vote.  This is our opportunity to experience what they experienced in the Sixties, our opportunity to be a part of something so much bigger than ourselves, our opportunity to contribute to something so much more important than we ever thought it could be, our opportunity to return America to the shining beacon to the world that it once was.  This is our time, this is our moment,  DO YOUR PART to make this happen.  www.Barack.Obama.com

Expanded Access to Capital

Barack will unlock credit needed to keep small businesses growing by implementing a nationwide emergency lending facility for small businesses.

Provide Temporary Tax Relief

To stimulate investment and job growth and spark our long-term recovery, the Small Business Rescue Plan will provide temporary business tax incentives through 2009.

Eliminate Capital Gains Taxes

Barack’s plan will eliminate all capital gains taxes on investments made in small and start-up businesses, encouraging investment and innovation.

Cut or Freeze Taxes for 99% of Small Business Owners

To help individuals with small business income — including the country’s more than 20 million self-employed individuals — Barack will provide a $1,000 Making Work Pay tax credit to 95 percent of workers and their families, and freeze any tax increases for the remaining 4 percent.

Lower Health Care Costs and Ease the Health Care Burden

Barack will give small businesses new incentives, help cut costs, and improve efficiency for all firms to provide health care to their workers at an affordable rate.

Expand Opportunity for Small Businesses

Barack will put in place far-reaching reforms to expand the ability of women-, service-disabled veteran-, and minority-owned firms to compete in today’s marketplace

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Four-star General Colin Powell said that Sen. Barack Obama has the makings of becoming “an exceptional president” when he endorsed the Illinois senator on Sunday’s Meet the Press.  For those who are asking what this high profile foreign policy and military expert endorsement of Sen. Obama will do in terms of votes, Sen. Obama’s numbers increased today by two points in the Reuters/Cspan/Zogby daily tracking poll.  On Sunday before the endorsement the numbers were Obama 48 to McCain’s 45.  After Gen. Powell’s endorsement, Obama’s numbers bumped up 50 to McCain’s 44.  Sen. Obama also gained three points among Catholics (primarly white voters).  A shout out to Obama: Sen. Obama has built a very broad coalition of voters.  The Illinois senator enjoys 40% of the white vote (average for democratic candidates Clinton, Gore, Kerry), 95% of the black vote, and 70% of the latino vote.  His support in the asian community is also very significant.  He is a candidate that truly represents all Americans instead of a small part of it.  The Reuters?Cspan/Zogby poll is a three day tracking poll where the average of three days polling is given as the final result.  On Sunday alone, after the Powell endorsement, Sen. Obama’s tracking numbers jumped 10 points!  The numbers are in and the four-star General definitely made a difference.  General Powell has worked for Bush 41 and Bush 43 and is a very good friend of Sen. John McCain’s.  Therefore, for the General to come out and support Sen. Obama, his opposing party’s candidate, is a tremendous vote of confidence in Obama-Biden and more importantly a significant lack of confidence in a McCain-Palin administration.  General Powell said that Sen. McCain’s campaign is not good for the country or its reputation around the world.  The former Secretary of State went on to say that he is concerned about McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate.  The General believes that Palin is not qualified to be vice president.  Now I say to you, if Palin is not qualified to be vice president, she is certainly not qualified to be president should the recent concerns about McCain’s health be substantiated.  

One last thing.  General Powell made a really interesting point about allegations from the Right that Sen. Obama is proposing redistributing wealth through his tax policy.  To paraphrase, Powell said that all tax policy is about redistribution of wealth in some form because for the government to function it cost money.  Think about it this way, when the Republican party and its leaders Bush/McCain demand military actions in other regions of the world knowing that it will result in significant government expenditures and then demand deep tax cuts simultaneously for a small group of Americans in the highest tax bracket, this results in wealth redistribution from the middle class and the working poor to the rich.  So for republicans and McCain to call Sen. Obama tax policy wealth redistributing, they are for redistributing themselves but to a different socio-economic class…..the rich.

Barack Obama for President

Friday, October 17, 2008

THE NOMINATING process this year produced two unusually talented and qualified presidential candidates. There are few public figures we have respected more over the years than Sen. John McCain. Yet it is without ambivalence that we endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president.

Why Sen. Obama? 

Mr. Obama is a man of supple intelligence, with a nuanced grasp of complex issues and evident skill at conciliation and consensus-building. At home, we believe, he would respond to the economic crisis with a healthy respect for markets tempered by justified dismay over rising inequality and an understanding of the need for focused regulation. Abroad, the best evidence suggests that he would seek to maintain U.S. leadership and engagement, continue the fight against terrorists, and wage vigorous diplomacy on behalf of U.S. values and interests. Mr. Obama has the potential to become a great president. Given the enormous problems he would confront from his first day in office, and the damage wrought over the past eight years, we would settle for very good…..

……Mr. Obama’s temperament is unlike anything we’ve seen on the national stage in many years. He is deliberate but not indecisive; eloquent but a master of substance and detail; preternaturally confident but eager to hear opposing points of view. He has inspired millions of voters of diverse ages and races, no small thing in our often divided and cynical country. We think he is the right man for a perilous moment.

Why not Sen. McCain? 

But the stress of a campaign can reveal some essential truths, and the picture of Mr. McCain that emerged this year is far from reassuring. To pass his party’s tax-cut litmus test, he jettisoned his commitment to balanced budgets. He hasn’t come up with a coherent agenda, and at times he has seemed rash and impulsive. And we find no way to square his professed passion for America’s national security with his choice of a running mate who, no matter what her other strengths, is not prepared to be commander in chief.

The Independent vote is in and Sen. Barack Obama won last night by an even wider margin than he did in previous debates.  In a CNN poll of several hundred independent debate watchers, 57% of the independents said that Obama won the debate.  Only 31% said McCain won the debate.  In a CBS poll, 53% of uncommitted voters said that Obama won the debate while only 22% said that McCain won.  A Fox News focus group was asked which candidate won the debate and a “clear majority” of the group said that Obama won.  Finally, an MSNBC poll showed that Obama won the debate 20 to 7.  It looks as if this final debate was not the game-changer that McCain was hoping for. 

And by the way, Joe the plumber, who makes over a quarter million dollars a year, is not your average Joe.  To compare this plumber who is making over $250,000 a year to Joe sixpack or your average Joe who makes under $50,000 a year is insulting to our intelligence.  The McCain campaign believes that because his name is Joe and he is a plumber that they can bamboozle voters into believing that this guy is your average American struggling to make ends meet in this floundering economy.  Well Joe is quarter millionaire Joe.  Yes, Joe who makes more than 95% of Americans will have to pay the same tax percentage that was paid by that tax bracket during the Clinton administration……you remember, when the economy was flourishing.  The amazing irony, as highlighted by Sen. Obama, is that had Joe the plumber been receiving the tax cuts for the middle class that Obama proposes when Joe was working 12-hour days and trying to save enough money to buy his plumbing business, Joe the plumber could have bought his plumbing business alot sooner than he has under the Bush-McCain tax plan.

The topic of tonight’s debate is the economy, the economy, the economy.  Not exactly Sen. McCain’s strong point.  Thus Sen. Obama should be prepared for Sen. McCain to raise several distractions.  This is McCain’s last stand and he is desperate to change the subject.  Therefore, as far as the McCain campaign is concerned, nothing is off the table. Obama should expect McCain to employ the politics of hate and whatever else he comes up with in an attempt to change the subject and appeal to the worse part of the human spirit.  McCain has already said that he plans to bring up the William Ayers thing to Obama’s face tonight.  Unlike prior debates, the candidates will be sitting at a table facing each other with Bob Schieffer moderating.  Both candidates should be on their toes because Schieffer plans to get specifics. 

Heaven forbid McCain should have a real plan for the economy…way to much to ask for.

Obama Campaign’s Response to McCain’s ACORN LetterSeptember 23, 2008

Honorable John C. Danforth

Honorable Warren B. Rudman

McCain-Palin 2008

P.O. Box 16118

Arlington , VA 22215

Dear Senator Danforth and Senator Rudman:

           We have received your letter of September 15, 2008, informing us of the formation of what you call the “Honest and Open Election Committee” by the McCain-Palin Campaign.

            However attractively labeled, this seems a starkly political maneuver to deflect attention from the reality of the suppression strategies pursued by national,state and Republican party committees.  This has been the shameful history of the party from the Goldwater “Operation Eagle Eye” program to the present day—a history replete with instances of systematically planned and executed programs to block access to the vote for targeted communities of voters.

           In 2004, the Republican Party, on the eve of the general election, mounted challenges to tens of thousands of voters in Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin based on “caging lists,” that is, lists of returned mailers or based on similar information providing no legitimate grounds whatsoever for such challenges.  None of these challenges, to our knowledge, was upheld and accusations of voter fraud by national Republican Party leaders were proven utterly baseless.

           Now,in 2008, the Republican Party again appears determined to engage in tactics and strategies to deny the right to vote to qualified citizens:

·        In Michigan, the chairman of Macomb County Republican Party has threatened to use lists of persons whose homes have been foreclosed to challenge those persons at the polls.  Only after public exposure, did he deny that this was the plan for Macomb County, and this matter is now before the federal district court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

·        In Florida, the RNC has mailed non-forwardable letters to Democratic voters asking them to “confirm” their party affiliation as Republican—thereby raising doubts about their registration status and creating the basis for possible challenge lists.  Even top Republican election officials in Florida, including the Secretary of State,have publicly condemned this tactic.

·        In Wisconsin, the Republican Attorney General, who serves as co-chair of the McCain-Palin campaign in the state, has filed suit challenging the refusal of the state’s own election administration authorities to throw thousands of voters off the rolls based on dubious and impractical matches of identifying information.

·        In Ohio, Republicans are challenging the decision of the Secretary of State to allow first-time voters to obtain an absentee ballot at the time they register even though the law clearly affords this right.

Manifestly, the confusion,uncertainty, deprivations of rights and interference with efficient election administration created by these tactics, and similar ones that the Republican Party has used in recent election cycles, cannot be effectively addressed by the creation late in the day of “committees” with gloriously self-serving names. Rather, the best way to address them is for responsible Republican leaders like both of you to speak out, loudly and forcefully, to condemn these tactics, to insist that they be shut down once and for all and then to make sure that they are.

   This is what we would hope that you could accomplish.  If your concern truly lies with ‘Honest and Open Elections”, then your work is properly and effectively begins at home–with the Republican operatives who are planning and running these suppressive programs and who are being directed in these activities by the same national McCain and party leadership that recruited you to this “Committee”.

Sincerely yours,

David Plouffe,

Campaign Manager, Obama for America

• Job Creation: A New American Jobs Tax Credit. Obama is calling for a temporary tax credit for firms that create new jobs in the United States over the next two years.
• Relief to Families: Penalty-Free Withdrawals from IRAs and 401(k)s in 2008 and 2009. Obama is calling for new legislation to allow families to withdraw 15% of their retirement savings – up to a maximum of $10,000 – without facing a tax-penalty this year (including retroactively) and next year
• Relief to Homeowners: 90 day foreclosure moratorium for homeowners that are acting in good faith. Financial institutions that participate in the Treasury’s financial rescue plan should be required to adhere to a homeowners code of conduct, including a 90-day foreclosure moratorium for any homeowners living in their homes that are making good faith efforts pay their mortgages.
• Responding to the Financial Crisis: A Lending Facility to Address the Credit Crisis for States and Localities. Obama is calling on the Federal Reserve and the Treasury to work to establish a facility to lend to state and municipal governments, similar to the steps the Fed recently took to provide liquidity to the commercial paper market.

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
“A Rescue Plan for the Middle-Class”
As Prepared for Delivery
Monday, October 13th, 2008
Toledo, Ohio

EXCERPT 

We can’t wait to help workers and families and communities who are struggling right now – who don’t know if their job or their retirement will be there tomorrow; who don’t know if next week’s paycheck will cover this month’s bills.  We need to pass an economic rescue plan for the middle-class and we need to do it now.  Today I’m proposing a number of steps that we should take immediately to stabilize our financial system, provide relief to families and communities, and help struggling homeowners.  It’s a plan that begins with one word that’s on everyone’s mind, and it’s spelled J-O-B-S. 

We’ve already lost three-quarters of a million jobs this year, and some experts say that unemployment may rise to 8% by the end of next year.  We can’t wait until then to start creating new jobs.  That’s why I’m proposing to give our businesses a new American jobs tax credit for each new employee they hire here in the United States over the next two years. 

We will also save one million jobs by creating a Jobs and Growth Fund that will provide money to states and local communities so that they can move forward with projects to rebuild and repair our roads, our bridges, and our schools.  A lot of these projects and these jobs are at risk right now because of budget shortfalls, but this fund will make sure they continue. 

…At a time when the ups and downs of the stock market have rarely been so unpredictable and dramatic, we also need to give families and retirees more flexibility and security when it comes to their retirement savings.  …Since so many Americans will be struggling to pay the bills over the next year, I propose that we allow every family to withdraw up to 15% from their IRA or 401(k) – up to a maximum of $10,000 – without any fine or penalty throughout 2009.  This will help families get through this crisis without being forced to make painful choices like selling their homes or not sending their kids to college.

…For those Americans in danger of losing their homes, today I’m also proposing a three-month moratorium on foreclosures.  If you are a bank or lender that is getting money from the rescue plan that passed Congress, and your customers are making a good-faith effort to make their mortgage payments and re-negotiate their mortgages, you will not be able to foreclose on their home for three months.  We need to give people the breathing room they need to get back on their feet. 

…It also means promoting a new ethic of responsibility.  Part of the reason this crisis occurred is that everyone was living beyond their means – from Wall Street to Washington to even some on Main Street.  CEOs got greedy. Politicians spent money they didn’t have.  Lenders tricked people into buying home they couldn’t afford and some folks knew they couldn’t afford them and bought them anyway. 

We’ve lived through an era of easy money, in which we were allowed and even encouraged to spend without limits; to borrow instead of save.

Now, I know that in an age of declining wages and skyrocketing costs, for many folks this was not a choice but a necessity.  People have been forced to turn to credit cards and home equity loans to keep up, just like our government has borrowed from China and other creditors to help pay its bills.

But we now know how dangerous that can be.  Once we get past the present emergency, which requires immediate new investments, we have to break that cycle of debt. Our long-term future requires that we do what’s necessary to scale down our deficits, grow wages and encourage personal savings again.

It’s a serious challenge.  But we can do it if we act now, and if we act as one nation.  We can bring a new era of responsibility and accountability to Wall Street and to Washington.  We can put in place common-sense regulations to prevent a crisis like this from ever happening again.  We can make investments in the technology and innovation that will restore prosperity and lead to new jobs and a new economy for the 21st century.  We can restore a sense of fairness and balance that will give ever American a fair shot at the American dream.  And above all, we can restore confidence – confidence in America, confidence in our economy, and confidence in ourselves.