Election Guide 2008

In light of the current economic crisis, what needs to happen to ensure American economic stability in the future?
Congress needs to make the 2001 and 2003 tax relief permanent so that families and small businesses don’t have a massive tax increase. That would be devastating to the economy.
Can the United States achieve energy independence? If so, what steps do we need to take for that to happen, and how long do you think it will take?

In light of the current economic crisis, what needs to happen to ensure American economic stability in the future?
They did the bailout, which hopefully will stabilize the markets and prevent a complete collapse, and long term, we need to balance our federal budget and we have to stop importing foreign oil. We have to stop spending more money than we’re taking in, restore the value of the dollar and start lowering energy costs, which will put more money in the consumers’ pockets which will then, actually, start the economic recovery.

In light of the current economic crisis, what needs to happen to ensure American economic stability in the future?
First of all, this is a financial crisis and the whole point is to keep it from becoming an economic crisis. This thing came from three things: home mortgages, home mortgages, home mortgages. We’ve nationalized the home mortgage market, and so a new set of rules are going to have to come out, and a new set of regulations. It’s important that Congress both re-regulate and not overreact.

In light of the current economic crisis, what needs to happen to ensure American economic stability in the future?
I was generally against the bailout package because I didn’t have the information necessary to assure myself that it would free up credit. My feeling is that the key to economic revival is jobs, in the future.
There are three major threats that I think need to be dealt with: the outsourcing problem, the displacement of labor by technology and unrestricted immigration into this country.

Editor’s Note: All information comes from Barack Obama’s campaign website.

In light of the current economic crisis, what needs to happen to ensure American economic stability in the future?
“Provide a Tax Cut for Working Families: Obama and Biden will restore fairness to the tax code and provide 150 million workers the tax relief they need. Obama and Biden will create a new “Making Work Pay” tax credit of up to $500 per person or $1,000 per working family. The “Making Work Pay” tax credit will completely eliminate income taxes for 10 million Americans.”

In light of the current economic crisis, what needs to happen to ensure American economic stability in the future?
First, we need to restore oversight and transparency of our financial markets. Second, we need to balance our budget and pay down the debt. Third, we need to get a real energy strategy in this country to get off our dependence on foreign oil. Fourth, we need to invest in education so we have the most competitive work force on the face of the planet. Fifth, we need to stop spending 10 billion dollars a month every single month in Iraq.

Many politicians nationally have been talking about change recently. What do you think needs to change in Minnesota, and how do you plan to address that?