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StumbleSun editorial:
Strong first steps
President Barack Obama’s early moves in fighting the recession show promise
Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009 | 2:09 a.m.
In the space of two days President Barack Obama has announced plans to confront the most fundamental problems behind the nation’s reeling economy.
On Tuesday Obama signed a $787 million stimulus bill in Denver to restore and create at least 3.5 million jobs. Getting people who have been laid off back to work is essential to ending the recession.
On Wednesday, in the community of Mesa, Ariz., near Phoenix, Obama announced an initiative to stem the home foreclosures that are devastating families and devaluing neighborhoods.
These steps are necessary, despite criticisms leveled by Obama’s relatively few but inordinately loud detractors. While they rail against his moves, they offer no alternatives except tax cuts, which they seem unable to admit are already a large part of the stimulus bill.
Lacking alternatives, most people accept the stark reality, which is: A recession this deep requires immediate government investment in the overall economy if the country is to have a chance of avoiding another Great Depression.
Obama’s plan for stemming foreclosures calls for using $75 billion from the money left over from the original bill approved in October for rescuing the economy. About half the $700 billion in that bill was spent rather fruitlessly by the previous administration.
As with the stimulus bill, Obama’s foreclosure plan is directed toward the heart of the problem. The plan focuses on people who, through no fault of their own, are struggling to hold onto their homes.
With the $75 billion available to provide subsidies — complete with strict guidelines — to participating lenders, Obama’s initiative will enable millions of responsible homeowners to obtain lower-cost mortgages.
The president made clear that his plan “will not rescue the unscrupulous or irresponsible ... help speculators ... help dishonest lenders ... or reward folks who bought homes they knew they would never be able to afford.”
Obama’s responses to the recession to date, each with built-in accountability, will not end the crisis on their own but they represent strong first steps toward achieving that goal.
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I can see Obama's new favorite words are; strict, immediate, change and transparency.
This man is delusional if he thinks these words mean anything at this point.
Bush failed with his rush to judgement and now Obama can add his name to the list.
The Dems have used fear to peddle their goods for a long time now, and now they have a fear-mongerer-in-chief.
When Bush did the same thing in 2008, the Sun was against.
Too bad we can have no objective news in Las Vegas. All you get is propaganda supporting one poitical side. The Democrats or the Repubicans.
Brain dead news for a brain dead town.
The bulk of the "stimulus" and bulk of the foreclosure is geared toward helping the poor.
There is very little middle class relief in either.
In the "stimulus" plan, the $1.10 per week tax cash giveaway is helpful for people who need help buying Happy Meals.
The foreclosure "relief" is geared toward those low income people who got into one of those lousy sub-prime loans.
I guess the middle class will have to wait 2 years to find help by hiring new politicans to serve them in Congress.
The CBO report and the Fed report yesterday on this Obama-Reid-Pelosi Redistribution Regime borrow and spend program both conclude that the economy will remain stuck. No benefit.
All that is left is for our kids to pay the bill plus interest later.
Reading the comments about this editorial tells me there too many college educated economists out there reading editorials. How about if we let time pass by and then pass judgment on the workability of the package signed in Denver?