Obama to Keep Focus on Everyday People

Following a campaign that closed strongly and successfully with a promise to focus on everyday people, Obama plans to do the same as President. In his first press conference as President-elect on Friday, Obama pledged to pass a stimulus package, and Rahm Emanuel, his Chief of Staff designee, again emphasized the Obama’s economic plans.

From the front page of the Washington Post:

President-elect Barack Obama plans to push ahead with a middle-class tax cut soon after taking office, his choice for White House chief of staff said yesterday.

Rahm Emanuel also hinted that Obama would not postpone a tax increase for families earning more than $250,000 a year despite the deepening economic gloom. He said Obama's proposals would reduce taxes for 95 percent of working Americans by an average of $1,000 each, resulting in "a net tax cut" for the overall economy.

"The middle class must be the focus of the economic strategy," Emanuel said on ABC's "This Week." Over the past eight years, he noted, median household incomes have decreased, when adjusted for inflation, while the costs for essentials -- including education, energy and health care -- have soared.

Emanuel’s comments on the economy are dead-on: rising costs and dropping wages and incomes have put everyday Americans in tough economic place. Simon has been writing extensively about the need to keep the focus on everyday people, and NDN looks forward to an Obama administration that does just that.

For more on NDN’s analysis on making the economy work for all Americans, visit the Globalization Initiative page.