Obama pushes his $26-billion middle-class plan

Our colleague Janet Hook is on the road in Iowa with Barack Obama, and was on hand this morning in Bettendorf, near Davenport, as he outlined his economic plan to improve the lives of the nation's middle class. 

Hook reports that Obama's plan doesn't differ that much from one Hillary Clinton unveiled a month ago, and that he tried to argue that the key difference was in who would be best suited to push the agenda.

"We're not going to reclaim that (American) dream unless we put an end to the politics of polarization and division that is holding this country back," Obama said, "unless we stand up to the corporate lobbyists that have stood in the way of progress; unless we have leadership that doesn't just tell people what they want to hear -- but tells everyone what they need to know.''

Hook reports that the Obama plan "includes college tuition tax credits, liberalized family leave for working parents, and new employer mandates to help workers save for retirement." Obama said the agenda was designed to "put some wind at the backs of working people, to lower the cost of getting ahead and to protect and extend opportunity for the middle class."

Obama's speech on economic policy "comes at a time when polls indicate his political strength remains among more affluent voters, not the middle- and working-class families that would benefit most from the plans he unveiled Wednesday -- a package that also included many elements, such as his healthcare and middle-class tax cuts," Hook writes.

Obama's staff said the initiative would cost about $26 billion a year and would:

-- Require employers who do not offer pensions to automatically enroll employees in a direct-deposit retirement savings account. Employees may opt out of the plan, but Obama argues that participation rates will be higher than giving employees the option to participate but leave the initiative to them.

-- Provide a $4,000 annual tax credit for college expenses -- an amount Obama's staff estimates would cover two-thirds of the cost of the average public university.  The credit would be refundable, meaning it would come in the form of cash to low-income people who do not owe taxes.

-- Require employers to provide seven paid sick days a year.  He also would expand the federal Family and Medical Leave Act to allow workers to take time off for school conferences, doctors appointments and other purposes beyond the medical caretaking now allowed.  He also would set up a $1.5-billion fund to encourage states to require family leave to be paid, not unpaid, as is now the case under federal law.

-- Overhaul federal bankruptcy laws to lighten the strain on families in financial hardship due to medical problems, and establish other consumer protections.  He underscored his opposition to a bankruptcy reform bill that critics denounced as too favorable to credit card companies and banks.

During the speech, Obama hit one of his pay-off lines -- "I'll be a president who stands up for working parents'' -- and a 1-year-old girl in the back of the room jumped up on her mother's lap and squealed in delight.

But Hook reports the girl's mother, Brooke Bribriesco, in her 20s, was less impressed.  Joe Biden is her candidate because, she said, he is more "substantive'' than Obama, whom she dismissed as "more idealistic than realistic.''

Ouch.

-- Scott Martelle

Comments

[Alex Maas]

Anyone is better than another Republican. I cannot believe it. I live in San Diego, with the most conservative paper in the United States. 12 generals who just came back from Iraq said we need to get out now or reinstate a draft.

Nobody listens--not even Democrats.

Is this a comment on Obama? Of course not, but is a general comment.

[Larry from Purdue]

Clinton would never get 60 votes in the Senate for anything. Republicans would not work with her for fear of electoral backlash. Which means no major policy gets enacted during her tenure. So for god's sake, vote for somebody who can actually work with people that aren't of the same party!

[RuthieM]

And naturally this needle in a haystack person was singled out in order to print that last paragraph negative relating to Obama. I notice all his articles always end with some negative while Clinton's always ends with some positive. You know, this is not the people's campaign, this is not the democracy we all think it is, this is the media campaign, being driven by the media.

[Devon, Des Moines]

I just switched from supporting Edwards to supporting Joe Biden.

I think the lady quoted at the end hits the nail right on the head.

We need a man with knowledge, a man with substance and a man with credibility on both sides of the aisle.

Only Joe Biden can meet the challenges this nation's next leader will face.