Day Thirty-three, April 27

In the second half of yesterday's post, I promised that in today's update I would be continue rambling about Obama's fuel policy, and ramble on I shall. What I'm specifically refering to is Senator McCain's proposed 'gas tax holiday', and Senator Obama's immediate opposition to this proposal. As he outlined in his economic policy speech ten days ago, McCain says that by eliminating the $.18 per gallon tax on gasoline from Memorial Day to Labor Day, we'll get a break on filling up our cars, which will even stimulate a fragile economy. Not so fast, says Barack. Calling the proposal the "latest scheme" by McCain, Obama quickly went on record and spoke out against such a deceptively quick fix on a mounting problem. "I’ve said I think John McCain’s proposal for a three-month tax holiday is a bad idea,” Obama said, as reported in last mon's Wall Street Journal. And he's right. By cutting taxes of eighteen cents on the gallon, individuals receive less than a five-percent discount with the current price of gas, and resulting in a savings of roughly $28 per consumer. But hey, that's almost $30 more I can spend on Obama stickers and placards, right?

This isn't even considering the amount of damage such a tax holiday would deal to our country's already weakened infrastructure. Senator Obama handily referenced the effects of such a scenario in his speech in Anderson, IN, slyly asking, "Remember that bridge in Minneapolis?".

The 'hopeful' moral of today's story is this: here's just one (great) example of how far Obama is willing to stick his neck out to speech the truth to Americans, at possibly serious expense to his campaign. Outside of the extremely rich, to which "high gas prices are mostly an annoyance", as Barack said in his address yesterday, everyone who drives a vehicle in the country is feeling the burn now more than ever whenever they gas up their cars. Trimming a little bit off the cost of gas--even if it didn't amount to that much in the long run--would still feel pretty good right now, and even better come July. But Obama has wasted no time in making it painfully obvious that such a deduction is not only misleading, but does nothing to fix the fuel crisis in the long-run. “We’re talking about 5 percent of your total cost of gas that you suspend for three months, which might save you a few hundred bucks that then will spike right up,” Obama said last week in an address at a community college in Pennsylvania. “Now keep in mind that it will save you that if Exxon Mobil doesn’t decide, ‘We’ll just tack on another 5 percent on the current cost.'” Considering how frequently gas prices have jumped in just the last week, such a scenario is not difficult to imagine.

Along the lines of those $600 checks from the fed that we'll be getting in the next few weeks, a holiday on gas taxes is a short-term 'solution' to a long-term problem, and one that we'll all be feeling long after the Memorial Day weekend this September. Instead of taking the road to good P.R. and supporting the tax suspension (like Senator Clinton has done), Obama has shown the serious face this country will need in order to come to terms with our dependence on oil, and the unrelenting rise of fuel costs. Loosening the belt on the economy may relieve some pressure temporarily, but it doesn't mean we're actually trimming back the fat, which is something that Obama has made clear on this and other issues. The only way we'll combat the unyielding rise on the price of gas is by limiting our dependence on it, and I'm glad to see Obama standing up for the real solution to this growing problem in our world.

Day Twenty-seven, April 21

Earlier this afternoon, while examining the results of my daily Google search for 'Barack Obama news', I couldn't help but feel a little disheartened by most of the headlines that filled my screen. "Insults hit new low as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama face showdown," The New York Times. "Obama and Clinton, wrestling in the raw," The Washington Post. I sighed out loud. Was this really the most exciting headlines today, on the eve of one of the most decisive elections this year?

More than any other primary or caucus in this race so far, the Pennsylvania election is one that has short-circuited some of optimism and 'new politics' that make Barack such a unique, inspiring candidate. Knowing that today's post would probably not be found in this pile of disheartening news articles, I turned to Youtube in search of some brighter fare. And after looking at a couple cheeky videos (not one cheekier than the musical tribute from yesterday's post, however), I happened upon this gem: Barack's speech in Philadelphia. Taped last Saturday, in front of an audience of 35,000 supporters, this video is a diamond in the rough, as it's been an admittedly rough six weeks in Pennsylvania for both Democratic candidates. But unlike the recent swipes at Hillary's electability or retaliatory TV ads, this speech is an immediate reminder about what makes Obama so damn hopeful in the first place. He speaks his mind on his flag bearing issues (education, economic reform, troop withdrawal), but more movingly, he talks about just how crucial this year's election will be in the history of America. The little time he does spend talking about Hillary and McCain, he actually pays some respects to both his competitors, something he's shown less and less in recent weeks of the campaign. That's the Obama we love, and here's something for his supporters to hold on to!

When watching the video, it's hard not to be reminded what's at stake in this election, and more importantly, what hopes so many Americans have staked in Obama. The speech is humble but powerful, and goes out on an uplifting note. In a word, it's inspiring. While I'm sure I haven't been the only person that's been disappointed in the recent downturn of Barack's campaign tactics, I also refuse to buy into the media's suggestion that he's already cashing in his chips as the 'good guy' candidate. If we must keep our faith in the power of progress, the following is all the proof you need:



Pennsylvania, don't let us down.

Day Four, March 28

Today on the drive to work I was listening to NPR, and caught the tail end of two political panelists (columnists from the Washington Post and New York Times) talking about recent developments, or lack thereof, in the race for Democratic presidential nominee. The final question that the host proposed to his guests was whether this year's presidential race would come down to the war in Iraq, or economic and domestic concerns in the U.S. Both columnists agreed that this year's election would "definitely" be decided by the latter, which was "good news for the Democratic party." Although all three presidential candidates have been reluctant to acknowledge the possibility of a recession in the American economy (or the increasingly obvious fact that we are already in one), any potential candidate for the presidency has no choice but to recognize that the economy is in trouble, and needs a shot in the arm to avoid seeing the bottom fall out of the housing market as well as to prevent the continued floundering of Wall Street on a weekly basis.

Yesterday, both Democratic nominees clarified their positions on how they plan to fix the economic woes the country is facing. Both Obama and Clinton took a rest from highlighting the differences between themselves for once, and turned their barbs against John McCain's own economicaly conservative policies, which Obama said "amounts to little more than watching this crisis happen.'' In a two-prong entry, today I'm including both a video capture of Senator Obama's speech yesterday at Cooper Union in New York that outlines his economic outlook in his own words, as well as a link to an article from The Guardian regarding both Obama's and Clinton's plans to repair the state of the union. Click here to read that article, written by Devlin Barrett and Beth Fouhy, of the Associated Press.

Obama's speech:


The speech itself is something to behold, but in the interest of immediacy, I've attempted to sum up the main points of Obama's plan here. My own grasp of economic frailty is limited (as I will soon demonstrate), but here are the six points that Obama says need to be taken into action to repair the economy:

1.) Any institution that is able to borrow from the Federal Reserve should also be called to answer to any guidelines that the Fed should deem appropriate for these institutions.

2.) General reform is needed in all regulated financial institutions. This is particularly relevant in the mortgage business, to prevent another housing calamity from occurring in the future. This applies for domestic institutions, as well as those that the U.S. is subject to overseas, both to stablize economies and to maintain competition between said institutions.

3.) It is time to restructure regulatory agencies to meet needs for the current U.S. marketplace. Many of these agencies are either being reorganized constantly or are still under the same guiding policies as they were decades ago, and adopting streamlined approach to increase their functionality.

4.) One of the main causes contributing to the current mortgage crisis is the fact that two-thirds of sub prime mortgages were obtained from companies that didn't adhere to the same tight regulations that banks are required to follow. Where these loans originate shouldn't matter, and regulations should be enforced across the board to protect homeowners.

5.) Heightened vigilance is needed in the stock market to prevent marketplace manipulation activities by traders. These type of activities should be liable for punishment from the Security and Exchange Commission.

6.) A financial market commission should be created to oversee the state of the economy and assess upcoming risks we are facing. Such a commission would meet regularly and advise the President, Congress and market regulators about economic risks ahead, so that action can be taken to combat potential problems before they grow.

A complete transcript of the Senator's speech can be retrieved here, from barackobama.com