March 17, 2008
"Teetering On A Potential Crisis"
MONACA, PA -- Barack Obama said today that the economy is "teetering on a potential crisis," and he criticized President Bush for poor fiscal management.
"History will not judge President Bush kindly," Obama said of the nation's economic downturn.
Obama noted that Bush appeared blasé about the potential crisis last week during a media availability.
"When I saw the president in his press conference, almost lighthearted and joking about some of these issues, I think it did not instill the kind of confidence in the American people, and certainly it didn't instill any confidence in me that the administration is taking the situation seriously," he added.
Focusing much of his attention on "ordinary Americans," Obama said that the average family's wages had flatlined over the last seven years.
"They were already having a tough time during the so-called boom times over the last seven years," he said. "The average family's wages and incomes have flatlined. In fact they have gone down when adjusted for real income by a $1,000."
Obama's remarks today come on the heels of Hillary Clinton's claim that the economy 'was in the soup' and more had to be done by the Federal Reserve to help with the fiscal crisis.
He did not openly criticize what Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke or Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson did in helping JP Morgan buy Bear Stearns, instead calling them "creative steps."
Obama noted that though he hasn't spoken with any of the Fed presidents or Secretary Paulson "calls have been scheduled." He did say that he's spoken with some presidents of major Wall Street Banks to get a better picture of the financial market.
Obama said he favors a middle class tax cut that could be instituted right away.
"I continue to believe that a middle class taxcut that gets money into the pockets of working Americans is going to be most effective in regenerating the economy, not a continuation of the same tax cuts that have been going to the top one percent for the last several years," he said.
Obama also said that he was unfamiliar with Senator Clinton's plans for the economy, but pointing to his middle class tax cut proposal, he said that he had been out with one far ahead of her. He appeared far more interested in slamming Clinton's earlier Iraq speech, stressing that Clinton couldn't dismiss opposing a decision to go to war as "just a speech."
(NBC/NJ's ASWINI ANBURAJAN)
Posted at 03:37 PM
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