todays news

[K.O.]

The bad news: As of this morning, unemployment hit a 16-year high. We're in trouble.1


The good news: Yesterday, President-elect Obama laid out a bold plan for how to get us out of this economic crisis and invest in 3 million jobs. It's smart and progressive—doubling clean energy production, providing health care for laid-off workers, and offering real relief to struggling states.2

But the most important parts are already under attack by oil and health insurance lobbyists, joined by congressional conservatives who want to replace these progressive provisions with tax cuts for the rich.3


Only a massive public outcry will get Obama's plan passed intact. Can you sign our petition to Congress to pass Obama's economic plan right away? Click here to add your name:


http://pol.moveon.org/economy/o.pl?id=1 ... 2ddHDx&t=3
In a few days, MoveOn members across the nation will deliver the petition signatures to the local offices of key undecided lawmakers, so every signature is crucial!

The petition says: "Congress should quickly pass Obama's plan to invest in clean energy, green jobs, health care, and relief for struggling states. No more tax cuts for the rich."

The investments Obama wants to make are the most effective way to stimulate the economy in the short-term and invest for the long-term:

doubling clean energy production in three years;
building a smart electric grid to distribute clean energy;
weatherizing federal buildings and homes;

creating millions of new green jobs;
helping laid-off workers afford health care; and
making sure struggling cities and states don't have to slash services.4
But conservatives in Congress are countering Obama's plan with a proposal for more tax cuts that will primarily benefit the wealthy,5 even though, as Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman affirms, "public investment is a much better way to provide economic stimulus than tax cuts."6
And energy industry lobbyists are quietly working behind the scenes to kill some of the most important green jobs provisions in the bill.


All the bickering is severely delaying Obama's plan, which he originally hoped to pass by Inauguration Day. As Obama said yesterday, if we don't act in time, "a bad situation could become dramatically worse."7


And it's not just the economy that could suffer. If Obama doesn't win big on this first fight, he won't have the political momentum to keep going on health care, clean energy, and ending the war in Iraq.

Can you get Obama's back by urging Congress to pass his economic recovery plan immediately? Clicking here will add your name:


http://pol.moveon.org/economy/o.pl?id=1 ... 2ddHDx&t=4
Thanks for all you do.

Sources:
1. "Unemployment Hits 7.2%, 16-Year High," The New York Times, January 9, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51069&id=1535 ... 2ddHDx&t=5

2. "Obama Presses for Action on the Economy," The New York Times, January 8, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51065&id=1535 ... 2ddHDx&t=6


3. "The Intense Lobbying Frenzy Over Stimulus Dollars in Congress," U.S. News and World Report, December 30, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51066&id=1535 ... 2ddHDx&t=7


"McConnell Moving Goalposts on Obama Stimulus Plan," Talking Points Memo, January 5, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51067&id=1535 ... 2ddHDx&t=9

4. "American Recovery and Reinvestment," Change.gov, January 8, 2009
http://change.gov/newsroom/entry/dramatic_action/

5. "McConnell's 'Middle Class' Tax Cut Gives 10 Times More To Mega-Rich Than To Middle Class Families," Think Progress, January 7, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51064&id=1535 ... ddHDx&t=10

6. "Is Obama relying too much on tax cuts?," The New York Times, January 5, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51068&id=1535 ... ddHDx&t=11

7. "American Recovery and Reinvestment," Change.gov, January 8, 2009
http://change.gov/newsroom/entry/dramatic_action/