Time will tell unless McCain gets elected instead.

Will more sick days and paid time off apply to only full time salaried employees, or will it also help the numerous people who are currently forced to work two or three part-time jobs with no benefits and paid time off?

I was the only one in the bar cheering when he said Nuclear Energy. I love me some fission reactors and fusion research.

One would hope. And dream.

Lower premiums isn't going to do it, though. We need comprehensive coverage, and for insurance companies to stop having the autonomy to act like the mob. They shouldn't be able to charge whatever they want and offer a minimal amount of coverage.

These sound like a nice start. We'll see how it goes.

What do you think? Can he deliver?

I take these promises "Very Seriously."

Here's hoping.

At least he knows how many houses he owns.. or what kind of car he drives. Or won't die of old age while in his first term...

Getting rid of capital gains and corporation tax breaks is a proven method of *lowering* tax revenues. Whose advising this clown?

Geewhiz... rolling back the bankruptcy laws to allow more consumers to declare bankruptcy is a good thing?

Guess who pays for the increased number of bankruptcies? Give you one guess... it ain't going to be the CC companies... which means consumers are going to pay the piper.

"Get rid of capital gains tax for small-businesses and entrepreneurs."

What does this mean? I wasn't aware that small businesses and entrepreneurs paid capital gains taxes. Can anyone give me some information on this?

@Michael Belisle: Nuclear power is great, but many nuclear plants currently fail to process their nuclear waste, and instead opt to dumping it in international waters.

Tax cuts for working families and the middle class

...because rich people don't work...apparently.

Reduce dependence on foreign oil in 10 years.

Hopefully this includes both new sources of energy, and additional oil exploration in the meantime.

Lower health insurance premiums for all.

How? Universal healthcare, or something else? Partial gov't subsidies of health care costs?

More sick days and paid time off.

What in the world? How does he plan to accomplish that? Mandating it?

@zigziggityzoo:

Nuclear power is great, but many nuclear plants currently fail to process their nuclear waste, and instead opt to dumping it in international waters.

Love to hear how he plans to lower health insurance premiums and get more sick/vacation days for everyone? Is the federal government going to start regulating this? Personally I get 32 days off a year and that doesn't count sick time. I also have really good health insurance premiums but I also know what it's like to get 14 days a year and pay through the nose for insurance. Quite frankly if companies are forced to give more time off or lower insurance premiums they'll find another way to pass the cost off to employees. There goes your raise/bonus.

@Corporate-Shill: Wrong. The bankruptcy "reform" is one of the major causes of the subprime meltdown. Well, maybe not wrong. I guess you could say we are all paying for that error in judgment (of which Biden was a primary architect, FYI).

@Mykro: He also knows that America has 57 states, and Kansas City is actually St Louis.

I don't think it's as much a matter of him delivering as it is of us (us being the entire constituency of the country) delivering on some of these promises. The President, whether it be Obama or McCain can only set the tone and stage. It seems to me that we're at one of those historic crossroads in our history and it's going to be up to us to rise to the challenge. Kennedy challenged us to go to the moon by the end of the decade and with the vision and backing we did it. If Obama can set the stage in a similar fashion and back it up I believe we can make it.

Wow. And Bladefist hasn't come to threadshit yet.

Obama's on the take from Exelon (the largest nuke waste creator in the country), hence the nuke power... which means massive subsides to the industry... which means more deficit.

In fact Obama has raised more corporate money than McCain. Two pro-corporate parties.

Obama voted with the mining industry on reforming (tepidly) the Mining Act of 1872. He's taking money from the corn ethanol lobby, another loser. He opposes single payer healthcare, the only real solution to cutting medical costs and insuring the uninsured. "Blech!"

One way to reduce the budget might be to cut the military budget and not commit to permanent war in the Middle East. Obama's calling for a larger military and shifting some troops from Iraq to Pakistan.

Me? I'm voting Nader. Again. How anyone claiming to be liberal or pro-consumer keeps supporting the Democrats is beyond me.

@TACP: And you've never had any minor mistakes in speaking?

Insure the uninsured with the same (and amazing) level of health coverage Congress (yep, they're employed at least!) gets?

How is this NOT a tax break for corporations? They'll slash benefits so fast, we won't have time to enroll in the government plan before it too, is bankrupt.

I'm going to petition the Socialist party to put Hussein on the ballot. Hopefully it will scare enough people to voting on the only intelligent choice. Change that isn't radical and impractical.

OK, Consumerist, obviously I'm cool with you using my photo (I did add it to your Flickr pool, after all), but what I'm not cool with: You cropping my photo. My photo, my editing.

I cropped it my way for a reason.

Not cool.

I'm pulling all my photos from your Flickr pool right now.

@zigziggityzoo: The US is not allowed to reprocess their spent fuel for fear of plutonium being stolen by terrorists. This ban was put in place in the 70s (Jimmy Carter, iirc).

Currently, US nuclear waste is stored in highly capable containers in various places, including onsite. Yucca Mountain is currently being built, significantly over budget and way past original completion date, to hold the country's waste. However, we already have enough waste to fill Yucca Mountain.

This information came from a presentation by Dr. Audeen Fentimen of Purdue University.

[engineering.purdue.edu]

@Quatre707: Well, he specifically used the example of a waitress, and I've never met any salaried waitress(es), so...

I would hope. *is a current full-time-no-benefits-no-sick-time person*

I'm ma big Obama fan and think his election would be the right direction for the country. That said, I'd put his chance of winning the election at something like 20%. Too many Americans are looking for an excuse not to vote for him. And the Republican base is highly organized. Low conversion of centrist voters + likely unprecedented Republican turnout = defeat for Obama. And I don't even want to talk about those gashes in PUMA.

Should he beat the odds, I expect him to carry out the promises just made.

The bankruptcy comment didn't appear to have anything to do with personal filings or the 2005 changes; he mentioned it in the context of putting those with pensions in line ahead of CEO bonuses. I understood that to mean a reform in corporate bankruptcy filings so that changes are made to the order or rank of creditors.

Well it all sounds good, but the real question can he cut through the bureaucracy,red tape AND get congress on his side to breathe life into these reforms?

I'm trying to wrap my brain around this
less tax breaks for corporation ~ less profits/revenue ~ lower stock prices ~ layoffs = more unemployment domestically
I am being overly simplistic?

sorry but... NObama 08'

@GamblesAC2: I cant support obama beacuse hes a socialist and we all know where socialisim leads to Dicatatorship through the all powerfull nanny state

So McCain's commercials about Obama raising taxes are false? Or is he going to raise taxes on the rich, 'cuz that's cool with me.

quote: More sick days and paid time off.

I just returned from the event. Perhaps I was distracted waving my miniature American flag but I did not hear him say those works.

He did discuss folks who have been at their jobs for 20 + years and lost them to overseas, and also brought up people in credit card debt - but I've always preached being knowledgeable in your industry and learning new and transportable skills.

Sheryl Crow did a pretty cool set. And as I said to the lady next to me, (a DEM organizer from North Carolina,) he better f-ing win.

@GamblesAC2: Right... thus we have oppressive regimes like Denmark and Finland where the nanny state has led to massive human rights violations, vs. free market paradises like Haiti and Rwanda where the individual is livin' large and swingin' easy.

Seriously... Obama has raised a large amount of corporate cash. This is because both parties are about socialism for the rich and the "free" market for the poor.

By the way Al Gore did a really excellent, or insulting - depending on your stance comparison Obama to Lincoln in regards to experience and character.

Also like most sets it looked a lot larger on the video monitors. Pretty plasticy and plywoody up close.

Barack Obama has his entire economic plan on his website. Asking people here for information is a bad idea.

On this list I take issue with the roll back of the Bankruptcy rules. It should be very difficult to file bankruptcy. Part of the problem of the credit system is it was too easy to file for bankruptcy and then we would have to pay to pick up the slack. Not cool. Good by personal financial responsibility.

The only time I think there should be a deal worked out is if its due to a medical hardship. Otherwise you should be out of luck and god forbid you pay your debts.

@GamblesAC2: The dictatorships you're talking about are people who don't care about their citizens. They are not 'nanny's' in any way and never intended to be. Obama is not a socialist. He is building the fundamentals of a good economy in which a market can function best. And a market can only function best when corruption is limited. That is why some regulations are a must.

@The_Red_Monkey:

What if you buy a plasma TV on your credit card and THEN have a medical problem.

I agree with your principal if implemented correctly.

Bankruptcy due to losing your job, medical, and crummy life situations = ok. Bankruptcy from too much shopping and material goods = bad.

These things can't be mandated. You can't close the loopholes, because corporations will find other ways to get around the law.

The only way for these things to happen is to 1) make it profitable to do so, or 2) convert the US to socialism.

I'm for #1. Seems to me Obama want's to mandate people's behavior. We all know from reading this blog that hitting people in their wallets is the best motivator.

I'm starting to lean toward flat tax on purchases rather than income tax. How many states have successful economies w/o income tax?

Or to make it "fair" why not simply divide the budget by the number of Americans to get how much each family owes?

Universal health care is a sham.

For those voting Nader (or other than Obama) consider that means McCain, and I just cannot believe that will be good for the country.

I feel a certain affinity for a fellow Vietnam vet, but I cannot buy his ideas. I do not agree with McCain more than I do not agree with Obama.

(Old, white, and disgruntled.)

"He said these will be paid for not by raising taxes, but by getting rid of corporate tax beaks and loopholes"

Which shows he knows nothing about economics. I'm sure companies will just take the tax hikes in stride and not pass any of it along to the consumer. When will people like Obama learn that companies do not pay taxes - they are simply collecting another tax of the average Joe who buys their product. Joe's getting income taxed, SS taxed, sales taxed, and the hidden tax in the cost of products since the gov't taxes the producers.

@iMike: "Should he beat the odds, I expect him to carry out the promises just made."

...thereby becoming the first President in US history to carry out his campaign promises? It was just a speech.

Sadly, I don't think Obama will get in to even try to turn the tide. My bet is the Repube Corruption Machine has Diebold squarely in their pocket still and we'll have another sham election like the last two were...

I still stumble around in disbelief that Bush got back in - But then I meet the one-issue whackjobs that proudly say they voted for that criminal regime both times, all while failing to see the bigger picture.

Should Obama make it in, I'd be very pleased if he even achieved 10% of his campaign promises - It would be a hell of a lot better than what we've put up with for the past seven years.

Fluff. Pure fluff.

If Obama wins, he will do as much of what he promised as the Congress sends to him to sign. We need to elect the right members of Congress if we want to do the things Obama outlined tonight.

Some key points:

- 95% of us will see a tax decrease with Obama. If you make that much more money than I do, you can afford to pay some more taxes. McCain is using the example of someone making $42,000 a year who will be taxed more. Yeah, a single person with no dependents will face $15 more in taxes. Oh my...three less trips to Starbucks for them.

- Small business owners pay capital gains taxes on the profits made by their business. There are different ways to calculate how much they pay based on the individuals tax bracket, how long the asset has been held, and how it compares to losses that year and in previous years. Small business owners don't have the massive accounting departments to find the loopholes to avoid taxes. Obama will level that playing field by not taxing the little guys and making sure corporations pay their fair share.

- Obama proposes a national health care system where those who are not insured through work or can not afford that coverage can buy in to the extent they can afford to buy in. My premiums will go down because I will get to stop subsidizing people who don't have any health insurance.

We have had Bush/McCain policies for the past 8 years and now things are a mess. I am willing to take a chance on change because McCain offers a certainty of more of the same. My family can't take four more years of the same.

Cut taxes for working families and the middle class.
Don't we hear this every four years from both sides of the aisle?

Some kind of rollback on the changes in bankruptcy law in '05 that made it harder for people to declare personal bankruptcy.
Because we don't have enough people declaring it now, right?

Lower health insurance premiums for all.

Insure the uninsured with the same level of coverage Congress gives itself
Somehow not seeing either of these happen within the (minimum) 4 years ahead.

Reduce dependence on foreign oil in 10 years.
Same deal. Let's see what happens in the next 4 years.

$150 billion for renewable energy solutions and next-generation biofuels
Where's this money going to come from?

More sick days and paid time off.
I don't see this happening either.

I wasn't thrilled with the choice of Biden as VP, but he's the lesser of the two evils, so he'll get my vote. Folks, let's not put him on too high a pedestal just yet.

@The_Red_Monkey: These fabled deadbeat-debtors are always cited in bankruptcy law arguments - the data doesn't support it. More than half of bankruptcies are the result of medical emergencies. The rest are overwhelmingly the result either of job loss or of divorce.

There already were high costs to bankruptcy before the more strict laws enacted in 2005. As for your suggestion: Ted Kennedy introduced an exemption for cases of medical bankruptcy. Russ Feingold introduced an amendment protecting the homes of the elderly. Dick Durbin asked for protection for armed services members and veterans. All were rejected.

Why? A unilateral Republican effort and a split Democratic party. This is why nothing has changed since 2006, and nothing will unless Obama is elected and the Democrats win over 60% of the Senate, preventing Republican filibusters.

I don't see how this speech was really any different from what both sides say they want to do for everyone. Don't worry, McCain can't deliver any of these things either America.

I did find the idea that the guy who works the counter at 7-11 is going to get the same healthcare as members of congress (whilst a noble idea) is about as realistic as everyone getting a pony.