State of Obama

“It begins with our economy.” The current recession and looming financial crisis took precedence during President Obama’s first State of the Union Address. On Wednesday, January 27, 2010, President Obama assured the nation that the worst of our economic woes are over, but emphasized that a lot of work still needs to be done before Americans can shed their existing fears of unemployment, mortgage payments, inflation, taxes, and truly realize the ‘CHANGE’ that the Obama promised during his presidential campaign. President Obama reminded Americans, “I never suggested that change would be easy, or that I could do it alone. Democracy in a nation of 300 million people can be noisy and messy and complicated. And when you try to do big things and make big changes, it stirs passions and controversy.”

The President insisted that Congress and the Senate reject their respective party’s ambitions for the good of the American people. President Obama apologized to the nation for not explaining the complexities of the current health care debate more clearly, referring to the fact that health care reform stall in the House and Senate has left many Americans wondering “What’s in it for me?” Half-jokingly, he added that, “If anyone from either party has a better approach that will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors, and stop insurance company abuses, let me know.”

On Iraq and Afghanistan, President Obama maintained that U.S. national security and the safety of the American people is top priority. The President declared that, “We will have all of our combat troops out of Iraq by the end of this August,” and continued, “In Afghanistan, we're increasing our troops and training Afghan security forces so they can begin to take the lead in July of 2011, and our troops can begin to come home.” Building upon his landmark speech to the Muslim world last year at Cairo University in Egypt, President Obama stated, “We're working with Muslim communities around the world to promote science and education and innovation.”

In his closing statements, President Obama urged the American people to stay resilient by looking to the unifying spirit that has sustained the prosperity of the United States for centuries, proclaiming “We don't quit. I don't quit.”

Unemployment Rates Increase

The US unemployment rate hit 5.7% in July, the highest it has been in over four years. With the economic situation worsening, the nation is still vulnerable to a recession.

While companies have cut workers for the seventh month in a row, the rate is still better than man analysts had expected. Although US productivity is holding strong, indicating the inflation could possibly come down once energy and commodity prices stabilize, and some sectors are steady, the US labor market looks bleak.


As the presidential candidates duel it out in Florida today, they both agree that wages have deteriorated and recognize the unemployment situation. But while one focuses on middle-class aid, the other looks to tax cuts.

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama plans to announce today an economic plan that would introduce a windfall profits tax on oil companies to pay for rebate checks to families and individuals to help with the increasing energy costs. He also supports a stimulus package, including funds for developing infrastructure, which could save over a million jobs.

Presumptive Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain's focus lies on cutting taxes, such as the federal gas tax and the corporate tax. McCain's Jobs for American Plan keeps taxes low "...to create good jobs here in America, and give American workers renewed confidence in their economic future." He also supports lifting taxes and other government-imposed burdens from small businesses, working to make American more competitive so as to create more jobs.

The issue of unemployment often comes on the heels of the nationwide immigration debate.

While many claim that the immigrant community - often specifically blaming undocumented immigrants - take US jobs, the relationship between the immigration and unemployment is much more complicated and affected by many more variables. Others are concerned about restrictive immigration laws that hinder the nation's ability to maintain professionals from abroad and compete internationally. With unemployment on the rise, budget gaps are expected to only further deepen in cities like New York.

Unemployment in Chicago is hard-hitting close to home, with some sources reporting a rate of over 7%. Hopefully the next President will be able to address the issue of unemployment and turn our economic frown upside down.

Economy on the Rise

No, that’s not the US economy, which is still facing many problems including rising oil prices, the subprime mortgage crisis and the housing bubble, increasing unemployment and underemployment, affecting nearly every country in the world with the interdependent global market. Debate on economic issues is on the rise among our Presidential contenders, Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama.

McCain has reverted to his original pledge to balance the budget within his potential first term in office. “The near-term path to balance is built on three principles: reasonable economic growth, comprehensive spending controls, and bi-partisanship in budget efforts…In the long-term, the only way to keep the budget balances is successful reform of the large spending pressures in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid,” the McCain campaign says in a policy paper that was released today (pg 4). The kinds of reforms, however, have yet to be spelled out.

“The McCain administration would reserve all savings from victory in the Iraq and Afghanistan operations in the fight against Islamic extremists for reducing the deficit. Since all their costs were financed with deficit spending, all their savings must go to deficit reduction.” With the new timetable for US withdrawal that Iraq may agree with, this is possible. But, that’s assuming either of the cases is thought a victory, and on what terms.

According to the NYTimes, “fiscal analysts who have examined his economic plans say that his calls to extend the Bush tax cuts while cutting corporate and other taxes would likely increase the deficit.”

The Democrats eagerly seized his pledge, calling it unrealistic. Obama’s campaign is working to emphasize economic issues as “a discussion on economic security for American’s families,” pushing his proposals that aid families and provide more direct benefits.

The battle between McCain and Obama continues as economic issues come to the forefront of this election for the time-being. When Bush first came into office the budget was in surplus. Our ridiculous deficit now demands attention, as do other issues that are significantly affecting our economy, but the solution is not so easy.