The ObamaMeter
>> Thursday, January 22, 2009
The people who brought us The Truth-O-Meter now offer The ObamaMeter, a reading on the progress Obama is making in keeping the promises he made while on the campaign trail. PolitiFact.com, a Web project of The St. Petersburg Times, will track each and every promise in its database of 510 campaign promises and provide the results, with updates, online.
On Monday, PolitiFact took a look at what it considers the promises most likely to define the Obama presidency:
• No. 15: Create a foreclosure prevention fund for homeowners
Obama proposed a $10 billion foreclosure fund to help struggling homeowners hold onto their homes. Speculators, people who bought vacation homes or people who falsely represented their incomes would not qualify.
• No. 32: Create a tax credit of $500 for workers
Obama's Making Work Pay tax credit that would equal 6.2 percent of up to $8,100 of earnings, yielding a maximum credit of about $500 for most workers. It's included in the economic stimulus bill that Congress is considering; we rated the promise In the Works.
• No. 38: Repeal the Bush tax cuts for higher incomes
Obama said he wants to raise taxes on roughly the top 3 percent of taxpayers in order to help pay for his health care plan. That translates to increases for single people making more than $200,000 or couples making more than $250,000.
• No. 52: Create a National Health Insurance Exchange
This is part of Obama's comprehensive health care reform, which includes many other health promises. Under Obama's plan, the creation of a National Health Insurance Exchange would allow all Americans to select a private plan or enroll in a new public one.
• No. 126: Begin removing combat brigades from Iraq
Obama said he would work with military commanders to bring troops home, with combat troops out in roughly 16 months.
• No. 177: Close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center
Obama said closing the prison created after 9/11 will "send a message to the world that we are serious about our values."
• No. 422: Create new financial regulations
Obama wants "common-sense regulations and rules" to "restore accountability and responsibility in our corporate boardrooms."
• No. 439: Create 5 million "green" jobs
Changing the country's orientation from foreign oil to renewable energy should invigorate the "green" energy sector. That means 5 million jobs, Obama said.
• No. 441: Reduce oil consumption by 35 percent by 2030
The timeframe is long -- more than 20 years -- but Obama hopes his policies will cut U.S. oil consumption by more than a third.
• No. 456: Create cap and trade system with interim goals to reduce global warming
This is a regulatory plan to curb carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. Under the plan, polluters have to pay according to what they emit.
0 comments:
Post a Comment