Voter Political Blog

Barack Obama’s Twitter account was hacked yesterday, which is very hard for me to believe. Not because I believe the internet is a safe, reliable place for social interaction that is free of malfunction, but Barack Obama on Twitter?

Twitter is a site whose purpose is to simply tell everyone “what you’re doing.”

I, myself, am addicted to my Twitter account, and constantly update my status with very important information such as: “My mom swears getting pooped on by birds is good luck. I think it’s just gross.” Or the very heady, “It’s 2am and I’m feeling bad for Britney Spears.” There aren’t many times I’ve read my list of friends’ Twitter updates and felt like a Ivy League scholar. (I’m not one.)

So what is someone like President Elect Barack Obama writing on his Twitter? I tried looking his at his account, but it’s been suspended since it was hacked. As a result, based on my personal experience with it, here’s my interpretation of what Barack Obama’s Twitter account may look like:

BarackObama: picked mah new headz of cia! holla! 42 minutes ago from web

BarackObama: just ate pint of ben and jerry’s while watching the hills. I feel gross! About 8 hours ago from twitterberry

BarackObama: brb, gg and fix economy. tax breaks! woot woot! about 18 hours ago from web

BarackObama: girlz first day of skool. hope they lurve it there! 1 day ago from web

BarackObama: LOL! u totes have to see this episode of facts of life! hilar! LOL! 1 day ago from twitterriffic

BarackObama: ew. richardson just withdrew! what up wth that? 2 days ago from web

BarackObama: sadz bout gaza. 9 days ago from web

Hopefully, he’ll get his Twitter account back up and running as soon as possible. And when he does, I’ll totes be reading his updates.

Humor provided by Joselyn Hughes

Jan. 4 (Bloomberg) — President-elect Barack Obama is pushing for tax cuts amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars in a stimulus package he’s asking Congress to pass within the next several weeks, a transition official and a Democratic aide say.

Obama is asking that tax cuts make up 40 percent of a stimulus package, the officials say. The measure may be worth as much as $775 billion, the Democratic aide says, meaning tax cuts may constitute more than $300 billion of the legislation.

Making tax cuts such a large part of the stimulus may help win support from congressional Republicans. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said today his party would support an immediate middle-class tax cut as part of any stimulus package.

“Republicans, by and large, think tax relief is a great way to get money to people immediately,’’ McConnell said on ABC’s “This Week.”

Obama’s plan would attempt to boost consumer demand by spending $140 billion on tax breaks worth $500 for individuals and $1,000 for couples, according to a House Democratic aide. The change would come by altering tax-withholding rules, rather than though a rebate check as with the previous stimulus plan enacted last year, so that workers would see an immediate increase in their take-home pay.

Business Tax Breaks

The plan also includes business tax breaks, including ones allowing companies to write off more of their losses against previous years’ tax bills. Other provisions would allow companies to write off more of the cost of their equipment, the aide said. The plan also attempts to combat joblessness by offering companies tax breaks for hiring more workers, the aide said.

Many of the business tax incentives would be accelerated from future years so that any dollar written off now would not be able to be claimed in future years, the aide said. That would reduce the long-term impact of the tax cuts on the federal budget deficit.

The tax cuts would be part of stimulus Obama is seeking which will also boost spending for roads, bridges, power grids and other public works projects.

Lawmakers and Obama say it’s imperative for legislation to be passed to prop up the U.S. economy, which is in its worst slump in decades and could deteriorate further without significant fiscal stimulus. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg last month projected gross domestic product would shrink in the fourth quarter by 4.3 percent, the biggest decline since 1982.

The news on the size of the tax cuts was first reported in the Wall Street Journal.

Chicago—President-elect Barack Obama used his weekly radio address to drum up bi-partisan support for his nearly trillion dollar economic plan, which calls for pouring money into the nation’s infrastructure, building new schools and giving a tax cut to the middle class. Obama, who will move with his family to Washington this weekend, is scheduled to meet with leaders from both parties to discuss his proposal, which he has promised will save or create 3 million jobs over the next three years.

“For too many families, this new year brings new unease and uncertainty as bills pile up, debts continue to mount and parents worry that their children won’t have the same opportunities they had,” he said. “However we got here, the problems we face today are not Democratic problems or Republican problems. The dreams of putting a child through college, or staying in your home, or retiring with dignity and security know no boundaries of party or ideology.”

Obama has faced push back from Republicans concerned about the ballooning cost of the plan — it now stands at $775 billion — and leaders have called for public hearings and said the plan should be free of special interest earmarks.

“This is taxpayers’ money, and they deserve to know their hard-earned tax dollars aren’t being wasted,” said John Boehner (R-OH) in a statement.

Republicans have put forward a plan of their own which is largely based on reforming tax laws that they say would create one million jobs.

Obama said his plan will provide jobs in the short-term and long-term economic growth, by upgrading classroom technology and “greening” buildings and reforming the health care system.

“This plan must be designed in a new way - we can’t just fall into the old Washington habit of throwing money at the problem. We must make strategic investments that will serve as a down payment on our long-term economic future,” he said. “We must demand vigorous oversight and strict accountability for achieving results. And we must restore fiscal responsibility and make the tough choices so that as the economy recovers, the deficit starts to come down.”

Source

Reporting from Washington — President-elect Barack Obama’s top advisors said Sunday that they wouldn’t back away from a promise to cut taxes on the middle class and raise them for the wealthiest Americans, as they made the case for a massive new stimulus package geared toward reviving the slumping economy.

Speaking on Sunday talk shows and in a newspaper opinion piece, Obama aides stepped up a drive to build a broad political consensus behind Obama’s core economic proposals: a two-year spending package that could exceed $775 billion, coupled with tax policies weighted in favor of the middle class.

Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” David Axelrod, a senior advisor to Obama, said, “We have to act. Every economist from left to right agrees that we have to do something big in terms of job creation, but we want to do it in a way that will leave a lasting footprint.”

Obama wants lawmakers to give him a stimulus bill to sign soon after he is sworn in Jan. 20.

Writing Sunday in the Washington Post, Lawrence H. Summers, Obama’s incoming director of the White House National Economic Council, said the bleak economic climate called for substantial new spending.

“Economic forecasts have been revised significantly downward over the past several months; today, many experts believe that unemployment could reach 10% by the end of next year,” Summers wrote. As of November, unemployment stood at 6.7%.

Summers added: “In this crisis, doing too little poses a greater threat than doing too much.”

Since his Nov. 4 victory, Obama has been confronted with signs that the economy is worsening: rising unemployment, sinking home values and a contracting gross domestic product. Last week there were reports of a dismal holiday shopping season. Retail sales dropped 5.5% in November and 8% in December through Christmas Eve, compared with a year earlier.

More: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-obama-stimulus29-2008dec29,0,3089511.story