Capital interests are the same but voter expectations are not. On Nov 9, 5:30 am, "\"Lone Wolf\"" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > More idealistic clap trap. > > Obama reassures big business on economic policy > By Patrick Martin > 8 November 2008 > > In his first public appearance as president-elect, Barack Obama held a > press conference in Chicago Friday afternoon after meeting for several > hours with a selected group of economic advisers, comprised entirely > of bankers, corporate executives and current and former government > officials. > > Members of Obama’s Transitional Economic Advisory Board and other > economic advisers, including former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul > Volcker and Clinton-era treasury secretary and current Citigroup > executive Robert Rubin, were lined up behind Obama as he answered > questions from reporters. > > In his opening statement to the press conference, Obama underscored > the gravity of the economic crisis, citing the report earlier in the > day that a net 240,000 US jobs were lost in October. “In total, we’ve > lost nearly 1.2 million jobs this year, and more than 10 million > Americans are now unemployed,” he said. “Tens of millions of families > are struggling to figure out how to pay the bills and stay in their > homes. Their stories are an urgent reminder that we are facing the > greatest economic challenge of our lifetime, and we must act swiftly > to resolve them.” > > He proposed no immediate actions, however, emphasizing that President > Bush remains in the White House until next January 20. Obama was > clearly seeking to divorce himself from responsibility for the rapid > increase in economic distress which is expected over the next two > months. > > “Immediately after I become president,” he said, “I will confront this > economic crisis head-on by taking all necessary steps to ease the > credit crisis, help hard-working families, and restore growth and > prosperity.” But he gave few details of what policies he might > propose, other than including an extension of unemployment benefits in > a new “economic stimulus” package. > > While acknowledging the depth of the crisis, Obama was at pains to > downplay expectations of any rapid economic recovery, saying, “It is > not going to be easy for us to dig ourselves out of the hole that we > are in.” > > Obama declared, “We need a rescue plan for the middle class,” but the > composition of his Transitional Economic Advisory Board belies his > claim to be focusing on the economic difficulties of ordinary people. > The panel consists entirely of representatives of the corporate and > financial elite and the Democratic wing of the political > establishment. > > The 17 members of the panel include billionaire Warren Buffett, the > richest man in America, the CEOs of Xerox and Google, the chairman of > the board of Time Warner, Hyatt Hotels heiress Penny Pritzker, and > Citigroup Vice Chairman Rubin. > > Joining them in the meeting that preceded the press conference were > former Clinton administration officials William Daley, Robert Reich, > Laura Tyson and Lawrence Summers, as well as two former commissioners > of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Volcker and former Fed Vice > Chairman Roger Ferguson, former Democratic Congressman David Bonior, > Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio > Villaraigosa. > > The panel had the obligatory gender and racial diversity—two black > members, two Hispanics, four women—but not even a semblance of class > diversity. There was not a single individual representing workers, the > unemployed, consumers, homeowners or those facing foreclosure and > homelessness. > > Nor were there any representatives of the labor federations—the AFL- > CIO and Change To Win—which poured hundreds of millions of dollars > into the Obama campaign—or of African-American, Hispanic and women’s > organizations, such as the NAACP and NOW. > > Some 16 years ago, the last time that a Democrat replaced a Republican > in the White House, President-elect Bill Clinton was at pains to > include high-ranking union officials at his economic summit in Little > Rock. But so socially irrelevant have the trade unions become that > Obama and his advisers do not consider it necessary to make even a > pretense of consulting them in the making of economic policy. > > Two indications of future Democratic policy emerged at the press > conference. Obama strongly suggested that the Bush administration’s > $700 billion bailout of the banks—adopted with the support of the > Democratic-controlled Congress, including Obama’s own vote—would be > expanded to include the auto industry. > > When asked point blank whether he would stick to his campaign pledge > to cut taxes for those making less than $200,000 a year and raise > taxes on those with incomes of $250,000, he responded by leaving open > the possibility that this policy would be reconsidered. > > “I think that the plan that we’ve put forward is the right one, but > obviously over the next several weeks and months, we’re going to be > continuing to take a look at the data and see what’s taking place in > the economy as a whole,” Obama said. > > “The goal of my plan is to provide tax relief to families that are > struggling, but also to boost the capacity of the economy to grow from > the bottom up,” he added, in what was an implicit concession to the > arguments by business groups and congressional Republicans that a tax > hike on the wealthy would damage economic growth. > > Obama made no criticism of the Bush administration’s handling of the > bank bailout, saying only that his transition office would monitor it > to make sure the Treasury was “protecting taxpayers, helping > homeowners and not unduly rewarding the management of financial firms > that are receiving government assistance.” > > The language, in avoiding any criticism of Wall Street speculators and > CEOs, is both telling and consistent with the tenor of Obama’s > election campaign. As during the campaign, Obama avoids any exposure, > let alone condemnation, of the social interests which are responsible > for the economic crisis and which underlie the policies of the Bush > administration. > > Whatever Obama’s criticisms of Bush or the Republican presidential > candidate John McCain, the Democratic president-elect represents the > same class interests--the financial aristocracy which rules America > and subordinates the social and economic life of the country to its > drive for personal enrichment. > > On Nov 9, 9:26 pm, "mike [move on] 532" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > > > > Winship: Obama Shows Us Where We're Headedhttp://www.truthout.org/110808Z > > Michael Winship, Truthout: "In the years that have followed, we > > denied > > that proffered hand; we drove wedges, built walls, waged war that not > > only isolated us from other countries, but squandered the solidarity > > and strength that existed within ourselves. On Tuesday, as a nation > > we > > stood in line, waited our turn to cast our ballots, did what we do > > best. And when the results were announced, we watched a man and his > > family stand on an outdoor stage in Chicago. He asked for our > > support, > > regardless of party or race, and finally, for a moment at least, > > together we were all Americans once again. It's a good start." > > > [ i have to say i disagree with this man we should not be so willing > > to forgive or forget what the bush republicans have done to our once > > great country ! .......mike532 ]- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
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