Finally, Obama has a legislative record of fighting for middle and lower income families. He fought during his tenure in the Illinois State Senate to help working families get ahead by creating programs like the state Earned Income Tax Credit, which in three years provided over $100 million in tax cuts to families across the state. He also pushed through an expansion of early childhood education. From his website, here are some of Obama’s proposals on poverty and job creation:
- Obama will invest $1 billion over five years in transitional jobs and career pathway programs that implement proven methods of helping low-income Americans succeed in the workforce.
- Obama will create a program to directly engage disadvantaged youth in energy efficiency opportunities to strengthen their communities, while also providing them with practical skills in this important high-growth career field.
- Improve Transportation Access to Jobs: As president, Obama will work to ensure that low-income Americans have transportation access to jobs. Obama will double the federal Jobs Access and Reverse Commute program to ensure that additional federal public transportation dollars flow to the highest-need communities and that urban planning initiatives take this aspect of transportation policy into account.
- Reduce Crime Recidivism by Providing Ex-Offender Supports: Obama will work to ensure that ex-offenders have access to job training, substance abuse and mental health counseling, and employment opportunities. Obama will also create a prison-to-work incentive program and reduce barriers to employment.
- Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit: Obama will increase the number of working parents eligible for EITC benefits, increase the benefits available to parents who support their children through child support payments, increase benefits for families with three or more children, and reduce the EITC marriage penalty, which hurts low-income families. (S. Leser note: This is very similar to what Obama did in the Illinois state legislature)
- Create a Living Wage: Obama will raise the minimum wage and index it to inflation to make sure that full-time workers can earn a living wage that allows them to raise their families and pay for basic needs such as food, transportation, and housing.
- Provide Tax Relief: Obama will provide all low and middle-income workers a $500 Making Work Pay tax credit to offset the payroll tax those workers pay in every paycheck. Obama will also eliminate taxes for seniors making under $50,000 per year.
Obama seems poised to and would be the best candidate to continue Edwards’ fight against poverty and close the gap between the two groups in this country, the haves and the have nots.
That is the Obama I discovered when taking this detailed second look at him. He is a great candidate in his own right. He is even more attractive when compared against Hillary Clinton in the race for the nomination. Hillary’s negative ratings by voters have consistently been so high that it would be an uphill battle from day one to try to get her elected. In order for her to have a chance at getting elected, she and her husband would have to wage the most negative campaign in history to try to raise the negative ratings of her opponent. I don’t want to be a part of that kind of campaign. It isn’t that I think she would be a bad President. I think Obama would be a better President and I think an Obama campaign would allow us to focus on issues and the things he has to offer and the way we want America to be, rather than trying to attack the GOP opponent’s character and foibles.
I strongly endorse Barack Obama for President and urge all of my fellow Democrats to support him.
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