Faced with continuing double-digit unemployment and public unease over his handling of the economy, Mr. Obama is expected to zero in on economic issues during Wednesday’s State of the Union and ahead of November’s midterm congressional elections. The proposals he unveiled Monday will be included in the administration’s fiscal 2011 budget proposal, set for release in a week.
“Joe and I are going to keep on fighting for what matters to middle-class families,” Mr. Obama said at the White House. “None of these steps alone will solve all the challenges facing the middle class… but hopefully some of these steps will reestablish some of the security that’s slipped away in recent years.”
Under its proposal, the White House says all eligible families making under $115,000 a year would see a bigger dependent-care-tax credit. Families could claim up to $3,000 in expenses for one child or $6,000 for two children. Families making less than $80,000 annually could claim a maximum credit of $2,100, up $900 from current law.
where is the money for all of Obama’s buy-offs coming from?
What a crock. Hey Mr. President – howzabout an across the board tax cut for *everyone*?
If he wants to help the middle class, he could write an executive order stating that all credit card interest rates are required to conform with the usury laws of the state they send the bill too. Something like 44 states have usury laws on the books to protect consumers from loan sharking. Federal law currently allows for state laws on usury to be ignored by lenders (banks) that are headquartered in one of the six states that do not have usury laws and that lend over state lines.
That single act, fully within the regulatory purview of the executive branch, would bring immediate relief to an enormous amount of people and restore moral restraint on the predatory lenders.
Honestly, if a private individual did in most of the states what these credit card companies are doing with impunity, they would be prosecuted for loan sharking, extortion, and racketeering. The behavior of the credit card companies is [i]legal[/i] only because of this perversion of the interstate commerce clause by the federal government.
So, how about it, Mr. Obama? Put an end to usury by executive order and give immediate relief from usury to millions of Americans. (I’m not holding my breath for Mr. Progressive to do the right thing.)
Sick & Tired — probably because thanks to last week’s SC ruling, Obama can’t do anything to antagonize the big banks who make a lot of money of credit cards, because they can flood the airwaves with campaign adds in the next election cycle. Why didn’t George Bush do it?
Obama’s cutting taxes, something conservatives should be happy about, but he only gets criticism. He’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t.
Who said I was unhappy about Obama’s tax cuts?
Bush hasn’t been president for over a year and he had a democrat controlled congress for the last two years of his presidency. Do I wish that he had done what I suggest Mr. Obama do? Yes. Do I think that Mr. Bush was a bad president? Yes. What does that have to do with anything I said? It’s a complete non sequitur. It is totally irrelevant today. Get over it and move on. As your party said, “We won.” So, it’s time for you to quit making excuses. Democrats own the current state of affairs now.
Mr. Obama is president and that is the person I directed my remarks toward. Last I heard, this new president was supposed to provide the country with [i]change[/i]. That would mean a [i]departure[/i] from past practices, wouldn’t it? Well, the Bush administration already allowed credit card companies to get away with usury. President Bush already shepherded a tax cut. I was hoping for CHANGE; something different. So, yes, this is criticism. He was too busy trying to take over 1/6th of the economy to do some of the easy things that would make a HUGE difference for the vast majority of Americans…and it would be budget neutral for him to end usury!