Obama's #1 priority: a new energy economy. Do you agree?

Considering those countries do not invest in the poor your question from the start is wrong. If you invest in poorer neighborhoods and schools, those poeple in those places will in turn spend money which in turn increases the economy of the country which is what is meant by "from the bottom up" rather than the tried twice and failed twice republican theory of "trickle down economics."

It's a tough question.... it's hard to tell what should be priority number one because everything is so fucked up.

I think his number one priority should be to rescind as many of the bush policies that led us to this mess as possible with a stroke of the executive pen.

And although this sounds vague and naive I think his number one priority should be to reestablish the trust of american citizens in their government by instituting a policy of transparency and spending a lot of time on television and the radio talking to the people as partners and equal participants in the way this country is governed. If he can do that then he'll have a better chance of putting this us back in a forward motion.

Fat ******* chance I realize from any politician but still.....

If you give the poor money, they will spend it.
They won't invest it, they won't create jobs with it.
They won't do anything but wait for the next hand out.

From the bottom up is for suckers!

Yea, but they will spend in stores which circulates money. Somebody has to buy the products businesses produce. Most poor people are working two jobs at wages that don't keep up with the price of living so they are not waiting around for a handout. The only ones with their hands out are the rich CEO's and other owners of big companies.

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised, Bear.


Here's what he's done already:

Barack Obama's Record:

Federal Ethics Reform:

Obama and Senator Feingold (D-WI) took on both parties and proposed ethics legislation that was described as the "gold standard" for reform. It was because of their leadership that ending subsidized corporate jet travel, mandating disclosure of lobbyists' bundling of contributions, and enacting strong new restrictions of lobbyist-sponsored trips became part of the final ethics bill that was signed into law. The Washington Post wrote in an editorial, "The final package is the strongest ethics legislation to emerge from Congress yet."

Google for Government:

Americans have the right to know how their tax dollars are spent, but that information has been hidden from public view for too long. That's why Barack Obama and Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) passed a law to create a Google-like search engine to allow regular people to approximately track federal grants, contracts, earmarks, and loans online. The Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "It would enable the public to see where federal money goes and how it is spent. It's a brilliant idea."

Illinois Reform:

In 1998, Obama joined forces with former U.S. Sen. Paul Simon (D-IL) to pass the toughest campaign finance law in Illinois history. The legislation banned the personal use of campaign money by Illinois legislators and banned most gifts from lobbyists. Before the law was passed, one organization ranked Illinois worst among 50 states for its campaign finance regulations.

A High Standard:

Unlike other candidates Obama's campaign refuses to accept contributions from Washington lobbyists and political action committees.


Read these pages for what we'll have to look forward to:

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/ethics/

Here's a sample:

Hold 21st Century Fireside Chats: Obama will bring democracy and policy directly to the people by requiring his Cabinet officials to have periodic national broadband townhall meetings to discuss issues before their agencies.

Make White House Communications Public: Obama will amend executive orders to ensure that communications about regulatory policymaking between persons outside government and all White House staff are disclosed to the public.

Conduct Regulatory Agency Business in Public: Obama will require his appointees who lead the executive branch departments and rulemaking agencies to conduct the significant business of the agency in public, so that any citizen can see in person or watch on the Internet these debates.

Release Presidential Records: Obama and Biden will nullify the Bush attempts to make the timely release of presidential records more difficult.

Centralize Ethics and Lobbying Information for Voters: Obama and Biden will create a centralized Internet database of lobbying reports, ethics records, and campaign finance filings in a searchable, sortable and downloadable format.

Require Independent Monitoring of Lobbying Laws and Ethics Rules: Obama and Biden will use the power of the presidency to fight for an independent watchdog agency to oversee the investigation of congressional ethics violations so that the public can be assured that ethics complaints will be investigated.

Sunlight Before Signing: Too often bills are rushed through Congress and to the president before the public has the opportunity to review them. As president, Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days.

You just described the working middle class - they are not the poor!

Wanna bet? There are plenty of people in poverty level who work two jobs. When minimum wages do not keep up with the cost of living, you can not get ahead.

Minimum wage is not intended to support anyone for long.
The MW is intended to give unskilled, entry level workers a leg
up until they advance up the corporate ladder and earn more.

Minimum wage should at least cover the basics and it does not relative to the cost of living. How can you advance when you are just struggling to survive? How will you afford to go to college or technical training and still afford to cover your bills and cost of food, shelter and gas when minimum wage don't keep up with the cost of living? This is why it makes sense to invest in the poor and middle class. If you give them a leg up, then they will advance and get jobs or create jobs and contribute to overall health of the economy.

No.

No.

No.

The minimum wage was never intended to help anyone afford to go to college or
technical training and still afford to cover bills and the cost of food, shelter and gas.

If a person is still earning minimum wage after 6 months, they need to change jobs.

Yea, and an employer in those advanced pay positions will hire them because why?

I don't, at all, agree that Obama's #1 priority is a "new energy economy."

I don't know exactly where it will fall on the list of his priorities, but it will, definately, be below

*Having his tax plan passed
*Having his healthcare plan passed
*Withdrawing from Iraq

Is it a worthy #1 priority?

Yes, but obviously how he intends to accomplish it is key.

I've been on the fence about this one for a while, not whether it should be a #1 priority (I say of course not, and agree that it isn't) but I am not even convinced that it's a great idea to subsidize so heavily.

We certainly are behind on green technology, and I think we should do something to catch up a bit, but I don't even know if this is the kind of thing that we can easily spend our way out of in the way it seems to have been talked about.

I'd much rather we focus on things I think can make a huge and immediate impact, like the smart grid, and plug-in hybrid vehicles. That's low-hanging fruit right there and can make a huge impact.