Obama economic plan aims for 2.5M new jobs
Will Lester/Special to the NNPA from the Los Angeles Sentinel
Issue date: 12/7/08 Section: Politics
President-elect Barack Obama has promoted an economic plan that would provide 2.5 million jobs by rebuilding roads and bridges and modernizing schools while developing alternative energy sources and more efficient cars.
''These aren't just steps to pull ourselves out of this immediate crisis. These are the long-term investments in our economic future that have been ignored for far too long,'' Obama said in the weekly Democratic radio address Nov. 22.
The goal is to get the plan quickly through Congress, with help from both parties, after Jan. 20. The plan, which envisions those new jobs by January 2011, is ''big enough to meet the challenges we face,'' he said. The president-elect has asked his economic advisers to flesh out the recovery plan - one ''big enough to meet the challenges we face. ... We'll be working out the details in the weeks ahead, but it will be a two-year, nationwide effort to jump-start job creation in America and lay the foundation for a strong and growing economy.''
Obama said his economic plan ''will mean 2.5 million more jobs by January of 2011.'' The African-American community has been the hardest hit with joblessness with twice the number of unemployed as the White community. Last month, the African-American jobless rate was 10.6 percent.
Obama noted the growing evidence the country is ''facing an economic crisis of historic proportions'' and said he was pleased Congress has passed an extension of unemployment benefits. But, he added, `We must do more to put people back to work and get our economy moving again.''
Nonetheless, he said, ''There are no quick or easy fixes to this crisis, which has been many years in the making, and it's likely to get worse before it gets better.''
Obama said he welcomes ideas and suggestions from both sides of the aisle. People ''are lying awake at night wondering if next week's paycheck will cover next month's bills,'' if their jobs will remain, if their retirement savings will disappear, he added.
''These aren't just steps to pull ourselves out of this immediate crisis. These are the long-term investments in our economic future that have been ignored for far too long,'' Obama said in the weekly Democratic radio address Nov. 22.
The goal is to get the plan quickly through Congress, with help from both parties, after Jan. 20. The plan, which envisions those new jobs by January 2011, is ''big enough to meet the challenges we face,'' he said. The president-elect has asked his economic advisers to flesh out the recovery plan - one ''big enough to meet the challenges we face. ... We'll be working out the details in the weeks ahead, but it will be a two-year, nationwide effort to jump-start job creation in America and lay the foundation for a strong and growing economy.''
Obama said his economic plan ''will mean 2.5 million more jobs by January of 2011.'' The African-American community has been the hardest hit with joblessness with twice the number of unemployed as the White community. Last month, the African-American jobless rate was 10.6 percent.
Obama noted the growing evidence the country is ''facing an economic crisis of historic proportions'' and said he was pleased Congress has passed an extension of unemployment benefits. But, he added, `We must do more to put people back to work and get our economy moving again.''
Nonetheless, he said, ''There are no quick or easy fixes to this crisis, which has been many years in the making, and it's likely to get worse before it gets better.''
Obama said he welcomes ideas and suggestions from both sides of the aisle. People ''are lying awake at night wondering if next week's paycheck will cover next month's bills,'' if their jobs will remain, if their retirement savings will disappear, he added.
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