"The address hinted at the strategy the White House intends to employ to push for the spending plan released last week, a return to a more traditional Democratic approach of positioning the party as fighting against the rich and powerful. In Mr. Obama’s telling, he is taking on entrenched interests in the form of banks, insurance companies, large agribusinesses, oil and gas companies and others.
"Beyond the $3.6 trillion budget for the 2010 fiscal year, the president’s spending plan outlines a wide array of ambitious initiatives for the next several years that collectively would transform American society. Mr. Obama wants to extend health coverage to the more than 40 million uninsured, revamp industry so that it stops producing so many emissions that cause climate change, develop alternative energy sources, and invest billions more in education.
"At the same time, he wants to restructure the tax code to shift more of the burden from lower and middle income workers to the wealthy, effectively a redistribution of wealth intended to reverse the widening income gap of recent years. And he promised to bring the skyrocketing federal deficit, projected to reach a breathtaking $1.75 trillion this year, under control by the end of his first term.
"A number of his ideas have attracted criticism across party lines. Republicans deride the overall plan as a “job killer” intended to revive class warfare, soak the rich and burden business too much at a time of economic hardship. The plan means “the era of big government is back,” as Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the House Republican leader, put it this week.
"Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts told a conference of conservative activists on Friday that “I’m afraid I know where the liberal Democrats want to take us.” Mr. Romney, a former and possibly future Republican presidential candidate, added, “As they try to pull us in the direction of government-dominated Europe, we’re going to have to fight as never before to make sure that America stays America.”
"Certain provisions in Mr. Obama’s plan may strike special interests, but they also affect favored programs for Democrats as well as Republicans. Senator Byron L. Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota, for instance, declared that he opposed Mr. Obama’s proposal to phase out agricultural subsidies for farmers with gross receipts over $500,000.
"Senator Kent Conrad, another Democrat from North Dakota and the Senate Budget Committee chairman, likewise opposed the farm subsidy plan but said limits on mortgage, charitable contribution and other deductions for high income earners “may well not survive” and expressed concern about the buildup of debt in the spending blueprint.
“I think we ought to go to work and take the good things in this president’s budget, especially the first five years where he cuts the deficit in half,” Mr. Conrad told CNBC. “But then he kind of gets stuck in the second five years. I think we can do better.”"But even as he criticizes special interests, Mr. Obama will have his own interest group allies fighting for his plan. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and a liberal advocacy group called Americans United for Change, have produced an advertisement chiding Republicans for opposing Mr. Obama’s economic stimulus plan. “Tell them America won’t take no for an answer anymore,” the advertisement says."
Weekly Address
Saturday, February 28th, 2009
Washington, DC
Two years ago, we set out on a journey to change the way that Washington works.
We sought a government that served not the interests of powerful lobbyists or the wealthiest few, but the middle-class Americans I met every day in every community along the campaign trail – responsible men and women who are working harder than ever, worrying about their jobs, and struggling to raise their families. In so many town halls and backyards, they spoke of their hopes for a government that finally confronts the challenges that their families face every day; a government that treats their tax dollars as responsibly as they treat their own hard-earned paychecks.
That is the change I promised as a candidate for president. It is the change the American people voted for in November. And it is the change represented by the budget I sent to Congress this week.
During the campaign, I promised a fair and balanced tax code that would cut taxes for 95% of working Americans, roll back the tax breaks for those making over $250,000 a year, and end the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas. This budget does that.
I promised an economy run on clean, renewable energy that will create new American jobs, new American industries, and free us from the dangerous grip of foreign oil. This budget puts us on that path, through a market-based cap on carbon pollution that will make renewable energy the profitable kind of energy; through investments in wind power and solar power; advanced biofuels, clean coal, and more fuel-efficient American cars and American trucks.
I promised to bring down the crushing cost of health care – a cost that bankrupts one American every thirty seconds, forces small businesses to close their doors, and saddles our government with more debt. This budget keeps that promise, with a historic commitment to reform that will lead to lower costs and quality, affordable health care for every American.
I promised an education system that will prepare every American to compete, so Americans can win in a global economy. This budget will help us meet that goal, with new incentives for teacher performance and pathways for advancement; new tax credits that will make college more affordable for all who want to go; and new support to ensure that those who do go finish their degree.
This budget also reflects the stark reality of what we’ve inherited – a trillion dollar deficit, a financial crisis, and a costly recession. Given this reality, we’ll have to be more vigilant than ever in eliminating the programs we don’t need in order to make room for the investments we do need. I promised to do this by going through the federal budget page by page, and line by line. That is a process we have already begun, and I am pleased to say that we’ve already identified two trillion dollars worth of deficit-reductions over the next decade. We’ve also restored a sense of honesty and transparency to our budget, which is why this one accounts for spending that was hidden or left out under the old rules.
I realize that passing this budget won’t be easy. Because it represents real and dramatic change, it also represents a threat to the status quo in Washington. I know that the insurance industry won’t like the idea that they’ll have to bid competitively to continue offering Medicare coverage, but that’s how we’ll help preserve and protect Medicare and lower health care costs for American families. I know that banks and big student lenders won’t like the idea that we’re ending their huge taxpayer subsidies, but that’s how we’ll save taxpayers nearly $50 billion and make college more affordable. I know that oil and gas companies won’t like us ending nearly $30 billion in tax breaks, but that’s how we’ll help fund a renewable energy economy that will create new jobs and new industries. In other words, I know these steps won’t sit well with the special interests and lobbyists who are invested in the old way of doing business, and I know they’re gearing up for a fight as we speak. My message to them is this:
So am I.
The system we have now might work for the powerful and well-connected interests that have run Washington for far too long, but I don’t. I work for the American people. I didn’t come here to do the same thing we’ve been doing or to take small steps forward, I came to provide the sweeping change that this country demanded when it went to the polls in November. That is the change this budget starts to make, and that is the change I’ll be fighting for in the weeks ahead – change that will grow our economy, expand our middle-class, and keep the American Dream alive for all those men and women who have believed in this journey from the day it began.
Thanks for listening.
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