Obama Campaign: relieve the squeeze on ordinary Americans

Jason Furman, Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) economic policy advisor, along with Austan Goolsbee held a conference call as a preview for Obama’s speech to take place in Raleigh, North Carolina as part of his “Change That Works for You” campaign. The purpose of the call was to contrast the economic proposals of presidential candidates Obama and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Goolsbee explained the “economic pinch” that the American population has been feeling due to the jump in the unemployment rate and the rising cost of oil. He said that the dismal state of the economy is a culmination of a failed philosophy of cutting taxes for wealthy Americans without making investments for ordinary citizens.

Furman explained the clear and direct contrasts between Obama and McCain’s economic policies, saying that McCain has no short run stimulus plan and a long run theory that is “flat out false.” While McCain proposes enormous tax cuts, nearly twice as large as President Bush’s current plan, Obama wants to implement a tax relief for ordinary Americans, cutting up to $1,000 worth of taxes and giving direct tax relief to subsidized interest payments, a program which would not increase the economic deficit.

Both Furman and Goolsbee explained Obama’s belief that a short run stimulus is crucial for the American economy. After five consecutive months of job decline, a job stimulus is needed in order to get money into Americans’ pockets.