unknown
2008-08-30 15:49:20 UTC
Obama's Progressive, Populist Agenda: "Now Is Not the Time for Small
Plans"
By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet. Posted August 29, 2008.
Obama has shown the pathway out of the decades-long, ruinous mess
conservative rule has created.
Barack Obama opened the final phase of the 2008 presidential election
by unveiling an unabashedly populist, progressive agenda to renew
America's promise in the 21st century.
Speaking at the final night of the Democratic Convention before tens
of thousands in Denver, Obama said that "we are a better country" than
the sum total of our current problems and the legacy left by decades
of conservative Republican domination of the nation's politics.
Obama forcefully challenged Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee,
saying he looked forward to debating McCain on virtually every issue
raised by Democrats during the primary and caucus season, and even
those raised by McCain.
Obama specifically detailed more than two dozen policy areas where he
explained why the approach taken by the Bush Administration has not
worked and would continue not to work for ordinary Americans. He said
McCain, whose politics mirror Bush's, would not bring America the
solutions that it needs.
"The record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush 90 percent
of the time," Mr. Obama said. "Senator McCain likes to talk about
judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you
think George Bush was right more than 90 percent of the time? I don't
know about you, but I'm not ready to take a 10 percent chance on
change."
Obama's speech recapped aspects of prior speeches, but broke much new
ground. As he has said many times before, the country is at a historic
crossroads.
"We meet at one of those defining moments, a moment when our nation is
at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been
threatened once more," Obama said.
"Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder
for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching
your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to
drive, credit cards, bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's
beyond your reach.
"These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure
to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and
the failed policies of George W. Bush... America, we are better than
these last eight years. We are a better country than this."
Obama spoke of "keeping the American promise alive," saying that while
McCain was an honorable man, he simply did not understand what was
going on in America.
"Now, I don't believe that Senator McCain doesn't care what's going on
in the lives of Americans; I just think he doesn't know," Obama said.
"Why else would he define middle-class as someone making under $5
million a year? How else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax
breaks for big corporations and oil companies, but not one penny of
tax relief to more than 100 million Americans?
"How else could he offer a health care plan that would actually tax
people's benefits, or an education plan that would do nothing to help
families pay for college, or a plan that would privatize Social
Security and gamble your retirement? It's not because John McCain
doesn't care; it's because John McCain doesn't get it."
Obama said Democrats have a different view of what constitutes
progress in America.
"You see, you see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what
constitutes progress in this country," he said. "We measure progress
by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage, whether you
can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can
someday watch your child receive her college diploma. We measure
progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill
Clinton was president...
"We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of
billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether
someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or
whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off and look
after a sick kid without losing her job, an economy that honors the
dignity of work," he said. "The fundamentals we use to measure
economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental
promise that has made this country great, a promise that is the only
reason I am standing here tonight."
Obama also laid out the Democratic agenda in the most specific terms
of the campaign to date.
"Let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am
president," he said. "Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the
lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses
who deserve it.
"You know, unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to
companies that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to
companies that create good jobs right here in America. I'll eliminate
capital gains taxes for the small businesses and start-ups that will
create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow. I will -- listen now
-- I will cut taxes -- cut taxes -- for 95 percent of all working
families, because, in an economy like this, the last thing we should
do is raise taxes on the middle class."
Obama then turned to energy and energy independence.
"For the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our
planet, I will set a clear goal as president: In 10 years, we will
finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East," he said. "We
will do this. Washington -- Washington has been talking about our oil
addiction for the last 30 years. And, by the way, John McCain has been
there for 26 of them.
"And in that time, he has said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards
for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable
fuels. And today, we import triple the amount of oil than we had on
the day that Senator McCain took office," he said. "Now is the time to
end this addiction and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap
measure, not a long-term solution, not even close.
"As president, as president, I will tap our natural gas reserves,
invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness
nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the
fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America.
I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars.
And I'll invest $150 billion over the next decade in affordable,
renewable sources of energy -- wind power and solar power and the next
generation of biofuels -- an investment that will lead to new
industries and 5 million new jobs that pay well and can't be
outsourced."
Obama described how he would pay for these initiatives and concluded
by drawing on the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I have a dream
speech," urging the country to join him in taking bold steps into the
future.
"America, now is not the time for small plans," he said.
Steven Rosenfeld is a Senior Fellow at AlterNet.org, where he reports
on elections from a voting rights perspective. His books include Count
My Vote: A Citizen's Guide to Voting (AlterNet Books, 2008), What
Happened in Ohio: A Documentary Record of Theft and Fraud in the 2004
Election (The New Press, 2006), and Making History in Vermont: The
Election of a Socialist to Congress (Hollowbrook Publishing, 1992). An
award-winning journalist, he has been a staff reporter at National
Public Radio, Monitor Radio, TomPaine.com, and at daily and weekly
newspapers in Vermont.
Plans"
By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet. Posted August 29, 2008.
Obama has shown the pathway out of the decades-long, ruinous mess
conservative rule has created.
Barack Obama opened the final phase of the 2008 presidential election
by unveiling an unabashedly populist, progressive agenda to renew
America's promise in the 21st century.
Speaking at the final night of the Democratic Convention before tens
of thousands in Denver, Obama said that "we are a better country" than
the sum total of our current problems and the legacy left by decades
of conservative Republican domination of the nation's politics.
Obama forcefully challenged Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee,
saying he looked forward to debating McCain on virtually every issue
raised by Democrats during the primary and caucus season, and even
those raised by McCain.
Obama specifically detailed more than two dozen policy areas where he
explained why the approach taken by the Bush Administration has not
worked and would continue not to work for ordinary Americans. He said
McCain, whose politics mirror Bush's, would not bring America the
solutions that it needs.
"The record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush 90 percent
of the time," Mr. Obama said. "Senator McCain likes to talk about
judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you
think George Bush was right more than 90 percent of the time? I don't
know about you, but I'm not ready to take a 10 percent chance on
change."
Obama's speech recapped aspects of prior speeches, but broke much new
ground. As he has said many times before, the country is at a historic
crossroads.
"We meet at one of those defining moments, a moment when our nation is
at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been
threatened once more," Obama said.
"Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder
for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching
your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to
drive, credit cards, bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's
beyond your reach.
"These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure
to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and
the failed policies of George W. Bush... America, we are better than
these last eight years. We are a better country than this."
Obama spoke of "keeping the American promise alive," saying that while
McCain was an honorable man, he simply did not understand what was
going on in America.
"Now, I don't believe that Senator McCain doesn't care what's going on
in the lives of Americans; I just think he doesn't know," Obama said.
"Why else would he define middle-class as someone making under $5
million a year? How else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax
breaks for big corporations and oil companies, but not one penny of
tax relief to more than 100 million Americans?
"How else could he offer a health care plan that would actually tax
people's benefits, or an education plan that would do nothing to help
families pay for college, or a plan that would privatize Social
Security and gamble your retirement? It's not because John McCain
doesn't care; it's because John McCain doesn't get it."
Obama said Democrats have a different view of what constitutes
progress in America.
"You see, you see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what
constitutes progress in this country," he said. "We measure progress
by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage, whether you
can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can
someday watch your child receive her college diploma. We measure
progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill
Clinton was president...
"We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of
billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether
someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or
whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off and look
after a sick kid without losing her job, an economy that honors the
dignity of work," he said. "The fundamentals we use to measure
economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental
promise that has made this country great, a promise that is the only
reason I am standing here tonight."
Obama also laid out the Democratic agenda in the most specific terms
of the campaign to date.
"Let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am
president," he said. "Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the
lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses
who deserve it.
"You know, unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to
companies that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to
companies that create good jobs right here in America. I'll eliminate
capital gains taxes for the small businesses and start-ups that will
create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow. I will -- listen now
-- I will cut taxes -- cut taxes -- for 95 percent of all working
families, because, in an economy like this, the last thing we should
do is raise taxes on the middle class."
Obama then turned to energy and energy independence.
"For the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our
planet, I will set a clear goal as president: In 10 years, we will
finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East," he said. "We
will do this. Washington -- Washington has been talking about our oil
addiction for the last 30 years. And, by the way, John McCain has been
there for 26 of them.
"And in that time, he has said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards
for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable
fuels. And today, we import triple the amount of oil than we had on
the day that Senator McCain took office," he said. "Now is the time to
end this addiction and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap
measure, not a long-term solution, not even close.
"As president, as president, I will tap our natural gas reserves,
invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness
nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the
fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America.
I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars.
And I'll invest $150 billion over the next decade in affordable,
renewable sources of energy -- wind power and solar power and the next
generation of biofuels -- an investment that will lead to new
industries and 5 million new jobs that pay well and can't be
outsourced."
Obama described how he would pay for these initiatives and concluded
by drawing on the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I have a dream
speech," urging the country to join him in taking bold steps into the
future.
"America, now is not the time for small plans," he said.
Steven Rosenfeld is a Senior Fellow at AlterNet.org, where he reports
on elections from a voting rights perspective. His books include Count
My Vote: A Citizen's Guide to Voting (AlterNet Books, 2008), What
Happened in Ohio: A Documentary Record of Theft and Fraud in the 2004
Election (The New Press, 2006), and Making History in Vermont: The
Election of a Socialist to Congress (Hollowbrook Publishing, 1992). An
award-winning journalist, he has been a staff reporter at National
Public Radio, Monitor Radio, TomPaine.com, and at daily and weekly
newspapers in Vermont.