Obama on the economy

Friday, Oct. 31, 2008 | 6:29 p.m.

The following are statements Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has made concerning his economic plan:

• “So my attitude is we’ve got to grow the economy from the bottom up.” – Obama at the first presidential debate in Oxford, Miss.

• “Here’s what I can tell the American people: 95 percent of you will get a tax cut. And if you make less than $250,000, less than a quarter-million dollars a year, then you will not see one dime’s worth of tax increases.”

• “The middle-class needs a rescue package. And that means a tax cuts for the middle class.” – Obama at the second presidential debate in Nashville, Tenn.

At the heart of Obama’s economic plan are tax cuts 95 percent of Americans making less than $250,000. (See Obama's tax calculator to see how you would fare under his plan.)

“People who need help are getting help and those of us, like myself and Sen. McCain, who don’t need help, aren’t getting it.” – Obama at the second presidential debate in Nashville, Tenn.

Obama’s justification for providing a tax cut for Americans making less than $250,000 a year:

“Let’s first of all understand that the biggest problem in this whole process (economic crisis) was the deregulation of the financial system.” – Obama at the second presidential debate in Nashville, Tenn.

Three out of the 10 points in Obama’s economic plan are dedicated to implementing regulation back into the mortgage and credit card institutions plus reforming bankruptcy laws.

“Energy we have to deal with today . . . that’s why I’ve called for an investment of $15 billion a year over 10 years . . . so that would be priority number one.” – Obama at the second presidential debate in Nashville, Tenn.

At all three debates, Obama has declared energy independence to be the number one priority that his administration would pursue, his economic proposal for job creation outlines his plans to create a new economy through new forms of energy.

“Only a few percent of small businesses make more than $250,000 a year. So the vast majority of small businesses would get a tax cut under my plan. And we provide a 50 percent tax credit so that they can buy health insurance for their workers.” – Obama at the second presidential debate in Nashville, Tenn.

“Not only do 98 percent of small businesses make less than $250,000 but I also want to give them additional tax breaks, because they are the drivers of the economy. They produce the most jobs.” – Obama at the third presidential debate in Hempstead, N.Y.

In addition to possible tax cuts for small businesses, Obama’s economic plan includes tax credits and investments in entrepreneurship.

“What I do is close corporate loopholes, stop providing tax cuts to corporations that are shipping jobs overseas so that we’re giving tax breaks to companies that are investing here in the United States.” – Obama at the first presidential debate in Oxford, Miss.

“And NAFTA doesn’t have – did not have enforceable labor agreements and environmental agreements . . . we should include those and make them enforceable, in the same way that we should enforce rules against China manipulating its currency to make our exports more expensive and their exports to us cheaper.” - Obama at the third presidential debate in Hempstead, N.Y.

Included in Obama’s economic plan are imposing regulations in America’s trade sector which includes reforming import/export practices, tariffs, and NAFTA

— Las Vegas Sun online editorial assistant Jenna Kohler compiled this report.