Morning News
BY | Wednesday, September 17 2008
From the New York Times:
Mr. Obama spoke forcefully about the economy on Tuesday during a 40-minute address at the Colorado School of Mines... He called for more aggressive regulation on Wall Street and a renewed emphasis on innovation before returning to bread-and-butter issues like opposing extending the administration’s tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
With Mr. Obama drawing so much early attention for his opposition to the Iraq war — not a message of economic populism — many of his economic proposals have received limited notice. So using a teleprompter, he gave a speech here intended to set the framework for the rest of the campaign.
“It’s hard to understand how Senator McCain is going to get us out of this crisis by doing the same things with the same old players,” Mr. Obama told a cheering crowd of about 2,000 people. “Make no mistake: my opponent is running for four more years of policies that will throw the economy further out of balance. His outrage at Wall Street would be more convincing if he wasn’t offering them more tax cuts.”
Through those words, Mr. Obama is striving to boil down the argument of Wall Street to make it more applicable to the lives of all voters, no matter where they are. In hundreds of town meetings with voters in the last 19 months, he has heard countless stories about Americans who have lost their jobs, their homes and their quality of life.
From the Denver Post:
Presidential hopeful Barack Obama on Tuesday called for "common-sense regulations" for the financial industry and accused rival John McCain of lacking leadership and wanting to "pass the buck" on the country's economic problems.
Campaigning in Colorado for a second straight day, the Democratic nominee revisited a number of his economic proposals, such as an immediate $50 billion fiscal stimulus injection.
... Obama said McCain embraces the Bush administration's "economic philosophy that has completely failed" and scorned the Arizona senator's call Tuesday for a 9/11-style commission to investigate Wall Street's financial meltdown.
"This morning, instead of offering up concrete plans to solve these issues, Sen. McCain offered up the oldest Washington stunt in the book — you pass the buck to a commission to study the problem," Obama told a crowd of about 2,000 people gathered in a gym at the Colorado School of Mines. "This isn't 9/11. We know how we got into this mess. What we need now is leadership that gets us out."
Obama said his priority as president would be to stabilize the U.S. economy, while giving the middle class a boost.
From the Chicago Tribune:
As the most severe financial crisis in at least a generation continues to shake Main Street, Sen. Barack Obama suggested Tuesday he is more committed to economic reform and added regulation than his opponent.
The Illinois Democrat painted Sen. John McCain of Arizona as someone who has shown no past interest in added regulation of business or Wall Street.
"My opponent is running for four more years of policies that will throw the economy further out of balance," Obama told an audience at Colorado School of Mines. "His outrage at Wall Street would be more convincing if he wasn't offering them more tax cuts. His call for fiscal responsibility would be believable if he wasn't for more tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans."
Obama said McCain would support the same kind of lax oversight as the Bush administration, adding that the last few days have shown that philosophy has "completely failed."
From the Toledo Blade:
The Obama-Biden campaign yesterday rolled out a five-point plan for improving the Great Lakes, including a commitment of $5 billion to help the region move faster on sewage work and other overdue projects that were identified in an unprecedented needs inventory in 2005.
... 'Our position has been, and will continue to be, that the next president needs to take decisive action to confront the serious threats facing the Great Lakes before the problems get worse and more costly,' he said. 'This support should include fully funding in five years the comprehensive effort to restore the Great Lakes, as delay will only exacerbate the problems and cost American taxpayers more money.'
... The five points in the Obama proposal include the money for restoration work, plus the creation of a Great Lakes coordinator to streamline efforts of federal, state, and local agencies.
It calls for an increased focus on reducing toxic hotspots and mercury pollution as well as invasive species.
It promises Mr. Obama will sign into law the proposed water compact among the eight Great Lakes states as well as help governors implement it. The regional compact, which seeks to curb diversions outside of the basin, has been approved by the U.S. Senate and is awaiting approval by the House.