About This Series
Barack Obama's first term as president begins next Tuesday. This is the last in a series of Tuesday stories that have looked at a particular issue and expectations for Obama's first term.
MONROE - President Barack Obama named stabilizing the economy as his number one priority in October, "making sure the plumbing works in our capitalist system," he said.
Sunday on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," Obama noted 2.5 million jobs were lost last year - "the most since World War II."
"We are in the worst recession since the Great Depression," he said.
Without any changes to the present situation, Obama predicts 4 million jobs will be lost in 2009.
"I think we can fix it, but it's going to take some time. It's not going to happen overnight," Obama said.
Obama expects his stimulus package eventually will stop the leak of money and put the country on a "new, green economy."
"Not everything that we talked about during the campaign are we going to be able to do on the pace that we had hoped," he added.
Senior Democrat Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa criticized Obama's stimulus package after a briefing with Obama's economic adviser Larry Summers last week.
"There's only one thing we've got to do in this stimulus, and that's create jobs," Harkin said. "I'm a little concerned by the way Mr. Summers and others are going on this ... it still looks a little more to me like trickle-down."
Right now, Green County government is seeing an area that needs more trickling down.
"As far as the county goes, our biggest area (in need of support) is the aged area, and covering the nursing home," Harvey Mandel, chairman of the Green County Finance and Accounting Committee, said.
Mandel said the state is using Medicaid money passed to it from the federal government on other programs, instead of passing it on to the local municipalities.
"They use it in other places, not that that is illegal or wrong, but it doesn't go into exactly what it should be," Mandel said.
The area of caring for the aged is an area that "needs more put into it," he said.
Mandel said the number of aged is starting to pick back up as Baby Boomers are aging, and more people are on medications, making them harder to place.
Meanwhile, people also are making arrangements so as to not have any assets when they enter nursing homes, he said.
Seventy percent of the county's nursing home residents are on 100 percent Medicaid, Mandel said.
On Sunday, Obama said health care investments in information technology and to update and reduce medical error are needed, both of which will save money.
Obama used Medicare Advantage as an example of "programs that don't work" and should be eliminated.
"We are spending a lot of money subsidizing the insurance companies around something called Medicare Advantage, which doesn't make people on Medicare healthier," he said.
"If we eliminate that and other programs, we can save $200 billion out of the current health care system and take that money and use it in ways that are actually going to make people healthier," Obama said.
Mandel said Green County's Human Services also needs more help.
"At times like these, you see more people with more problems, like heating costs," he said.
Obama said Sunday the bulk of his economics stimulus package will be "direct government spending."
Among the programs in the package, he specifically identified plans to double alternative energy production, weatherize 2 million homes, and create a much more efficient energy system.
"I think we can create a new green economy, and that's going to be one of the keys to the 21st century," he said.
Bob McIntyre, director of watchdog group Citizens for Tax Justice, said Obama wants to "recreate the Bush stimulus package for business."
"It's sort of backwards: Businesses aren't investing because nobody's buying their stuff," he said.
Pamela Christopher, executive director of Monroe Chamber of Commerce and Industry, doesn't think the stimulus package will have an immediate, direct impact on local businesses.
"It'll take a while to trickle down," she said.
But she has a few ideas to weather the wait.
"What our business community as a whole needs during this slowed economy is a positive approach and uplifting outlook from business to business," she said.
"This is a time that our business community needs to talk positively to encourage increased business, cross-reference each other's business for a product they do not carry, and focus intently on customer service.
"Additionally, our community needs to focus in at home and do all they can to patronize our local businesses."
The national unemployment rate in December rose to 7.2 percent, up from 6.8 in November and 6.6 in October, and up by 2.3 percentage points since the start of the recession in December 2007, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reports. In December, the number of unemployed increased by 632,000 to 11.1 million.
In addition to the number of jobs lost in 2008, 3.4 million workers went from full- to part-time work or want full-time employment, Obama said Sunday.
Initial and continuing claims for state unemployment insurance rose dramatically this year, over the past three years.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, initial claims for unemployment insurance totaled 29,151 for the week ending Jan. 3, up almost 9,000 compared to the same period in 2008, and compared to 20,471 in 2007 and 20,451 in 2006.
Continued claims for unemployment insurance increased to a total of 164,911 for the week ending Jan. 3. Continued claims for previous years during the same time period totaled 118,000 in 2008; 114,937 in 2007; and 109,426 in 2006.
At its December meeting, the Federal Reserve revised its forecast for a deeper contraction in the first half of 2009 and slower growth in the second half that won't make up for the losses, concluding the unemployment rate in 2010 could be significantly higher than predicted in the October outlook, when forecasts ranged from 6.5 to 7.3 percent.
More than half of microbusiness owners surveyed by the National Association for the Self-Employed, (NASE), expected their 2008 year-end gross revenue to be lower than it was in 2007. Twenty-four percent of small business owners said the same thing.
"We realize it is a slowed economy, the numbers tell us that, but while we are trying to stimulate the economy, let's do so at home, not in neighboring communities," Christopher said. "If we like our local, friendly businesses, we must do business with them to keep them in business. Remember, these businesses and merchants are our next-door neighbors, friends, and they need our support now more than ever."
Obama wants Congress to pass bills that spend wisely and prudently, and are "not a Christmas tree loaded up with pet projects." He'd prefer to spend money on "things like making federal buildings energy efficient."
Christopher's stimulus idea for Monroe is more direct:
"Do you want to keep Monroe thriving? Do business in Monroe," she said.
Sunday on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," Obama noted 2.5 million jobs were lost last year - "the most since World War II."
"We are in the worst recession since the Great Depression," he said.
Without any changes to the present situation, Obama predicts 4 million jobs will be lost in 2009.
"I think we can fix it, but it's going to take some time. It's not going to happen overnight," Obama said.
Obama expects his stimulus package eventually will stop the leak of money and put the country on a "new, green economy."
"Not everything that we talked about during the campaign are we going to be able to do on the pace that we had hoped," he added.
Senior Democrat Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa criticized Obama's stimulus package after a briefing with Obama's economic adviser Larry Summers last week.
"There's only one thing we've got to do in this stimulus, and that's create jobs," Harkin said. "I'm a little concerned by the way Mr. Summers and others are going on this ... it still looks a little more to me like trickle-down."
Right now, Green County government is seeing an area that needs more trickling down.
"As far as the county goes, our biggest area (in need of support) is the aged area, and covering the nursing home," Harvey Mandel, chairman of the Green County Finance and Accounting Committee, said.
Mandel said the state is using Medicaid money passed to it from the federal government on other programs, instead of passing it on to the local municipalities.
"They use it in other places, not that that is illegal or wrong, but it doesn't go into exactly what it should be," Mandel said.
The area of caring for the aged is an area that "needs more put into it," he said.
Mandel said the number of aged is starting to pick back up as Baby Boomers are aging, and more people are on medications, making them harder to place.
Meanwhile, people also are making arrangements so as to not have any assets when they enter nursing homes, he said.
Seventy percent of the county's nursing home residents are on 100 percent Medicaid, Mandel said.
On Sunday, Obama said health care investments in information technology and to update and reduce medical error are needed, both of which will save money.
Obama used Medicare Advantage as an example of "programs that don't work" and should be eliminated.
"We are spending a lot of money subsidizing the insurance companies around something called Medicare Advantage, which doesn't make people on Medicare healthier," he said.
"If we eliminate that and other programs, we can save $200 billion out of the current health care system and take that money and use it in ways that are actually going to make people healthier," Obama said.
Mandel said Green County's Human Services also needs more help.
"At times like these, you see more people with more problems, like heating costs," he said.
Obama said Sunday the bulk of his economics stimulus package will be "direct government spending."
Among the programs in the package, he specifically identified plans to double alternative energy production, weatherize 2 million homes, and create a much more efficient energy system.
"I think we can create a new green economy, and that's going to be one of the keys to the 21st century," he said.
Bob McIntyre, director of watchdog group Citizens for Tax Justice, said Obama wants to "recreate the Bush stimulus package for business."
"It's sort of backwards: Businesses aren't investing because nobody's buying their stuff," he said.
Pamela Christopher, executive director of Monroe Chamber of Commerce and Industry, doesn't think the stimulus package will have an immediate, direct impact on local businesses.
"It'll take a while to trickle down," she said.
But she has a few ideas to weather the wait.
"What our business community as a whole needs during this slowed economy is a positive approach and uplifting outlook from business to business," she said.
"This is a time that our business community needs to talk positively to encourage increased business, cross-reference each other's business for a product they do not carry, and focus intently on customer service.
"Additionally, our community needs to focus in at home and do all they can to patronize our local businesses."
The national unemployment rate in December rose to 7.2 percent, up from 6.8 in November and 6.6 in October, and up by 2.3 percentage points since the start of the recession in December 2007, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reports. In December, the number of unemployed increased by 632,000 to 11.1 million.
In addition to the number of jobs lost in 2008, 3.4 million workers went from full- to part-time work or want full-time employment, Obama said Sunday.
Initial and continuing claims for state unemployment insurance rose dramatically this year, over the past three years.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, initial claims for unemployment insurance totaled 29,151 for the week ending Jan. 3, up almost 9,000 compared to the same period in 2008, and compared to 20,471 in 2007 and 20,451 in 2006.
Continued claims for unemployment insurance increased to a total of 164,911 for the week ending Jan. 3. Continued claims for previous years during the same time period totaled 118,000 in 2008; 114,937 in 2007; and 109,426 in 2006.
At its December meeting, the Federal Reserve revised its forecast for a deeper contraction in the first half of 2009 and slower growth in the second half that won't make up for the losses, concluding the unemployment rate in 2010 could be significantly higher than predicted in the October outlook, when forecasts ranged from 6.5 to 7.3 percent.
More than half of microbusiness owners surveyed by the National Association for the Self-Employed, (NASE), expected their 2008 year-end gross revenue to be lower than it was in 2007. Twenty-four percent of small business owners said the same thing.
"We realize it is a slowed economy, the numbers tell us that, but while we are trying to stimulate the economy, let's do so at home, not in neighboring communities," Christopher said. "If we like our local, friendly businesses, we must do business with them to keep them in business. Remember, these businesses and merchants are our next-door neighbors, friends, and they need our support now more than ever."
Obama wants Congress to pass bills that spend wisely and prudently, and are "not a Christmas tree loaded up with pet projects." He'd prefer to spend money on "things like making federal buildings energy efficient."
Christopher's stimulus idea for Monroe is more direct:
"Do you want to keep Monroe thriving? Do business in Monroe," she said.