Thursday, November 04, 2010

Obama's economic policies benefit Ozarkian

Jeff Riggin's Voice of the day column in this morning's SN-L:

Thank you President Obama for the following:

1. The tax cut 95 percent of working Americans received. Even though my tax reduction was only $30 per paycheck (multiplied by 24 pay periods) $720 annually is nothing to sneeze at.

2. The $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit allowing my wife and I to buy our first home (using a VA loan).

3. The cash for clunkers program, along with the new car sales tax deduction, saved us over $5,500 on the purchase of a dependable, fuel-efficient, and safe automobile. I am now saving over $66 per month on fuel expenses. That's $792 annually no longer going to countries that want to kill Americans.

4. The tax credit for purchasing energy-efficient furnaces gave us the opportunity to replace our 30-year-old furnace (it died this past winter) with a 95 percent efficient model for the same price as an 80 percent efficient model.

5. The student loan reforms instituted that now calculate monthly payments based on a percentage of income above the poverty level and remove predatory banks from the student loan business.

6. The stimulus funds that provided me with a new job when I lost mine.

7. The credit card reforms that now require companies to notify cardholders before increasing interest rates allowing cardholders to opt-out of the new rate and pay off their balance at the prior rate.

8. The changes in health insurance law that ensures children with pre-existing medical conditions cannot be denied insurance coverage. My family has been lucky, but I know some wonderful families that have been struggling to make ends meet due to children being born with birth defects. No one should ever go bankrupt because their child is sick.

9. Saving the American automobile industry. I couldn't imagine not being able to ever again purchase a new Chevy truck or a Jeep. Now that General Motors is able to pay back the money borrowed from the government and Chrysler has been purchased by Fiat, I will still have a chance to someday take my kids for a ride in a new Wrangler or Silverado (hybrid Jeeps and trucks are on the way).

10. The financial industry reforms passed by Congress. Years of deregulation created the opportunity for investment houses to run our economy into a gigantic ditch. The new reforms will go a long way toward keeping that from happening again.

All told, my family has saved $15,000 in the past year and will continue to save over $3,500 per year as a result of these new policies. Additionally, we are using less energy and sending less money overseas. Once again, thank you President Obama. Your policies have meant much more to my family than any other president's in my lifetime.

Jeff Riggins lives in Springfield. His family includes Sarah, Hailey, and Zoƫ Mae Riggins.

3 comments:

The CDM said...

You know Jim, traditionally and currently, this country is right of center(moderate). The fringe elements(tea party) that were just elected are going to push those people who hold true to that mindset away and will be ousted by next election because they are trying to force this country to go hard right.

There are more right of center(moderates) than there are hard righties. I'd like to see exactly how many people came out and voted this time around as opposed to 2 years ago. I think a HUGE number of moderates just got disinterested this time around. We'll probably see those people 2 years from now moving in(yet again) another direction.

Anonymous said...

CDM: Do I have to do all the work for you?

In Greene County:
2008 136,665 voting = 71.05%
2010 88,813 voting = 45.72%

You're kinda' right, but Obama's a goner. Claire and Jeremiah (was a bullfrog) will survive.

The CDM said...

anon - we just found out 2 things. One, I'm lazy. Two, I'm right...but lazy.