by Feature08

Created on: January 10, 2009

Will Barack Obama's administration be able to reverse the nation's economic downturn?

When banks have gone from being lenders to lendees in need of government handouts, when consumer confidence is at an all time low, when Americans are losing their jobs at a rate of 7.2 percent and their homes at rates that are even more unprecedented, I am delighted to learn that a bail out for individuals, not industries, is on the way.

With most of the economic crisis allegedly past, Barack Obama's campaign mantra of hope could turn out to be just that; a mantra of hope. Or, it could be just what we need.

By appointing some of the same people who brought America from a period of economic decline to prosperity during the Clinton years, it seems he has assembled the right team for the job. Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, served twice under Clinton Treasury Secretaries and is a huge proponent of forcing banks to operate under one regulatory umbrella.

Economic Advisor and former Clinton Treasury Secretary, Lawrence Summers, served under the Clinton administration at a time when America paid down huge amounts of debt and achieved record overages. He has been an essential guide to Obama's quick and calculated response to the onslaught of dilemmas.

Reaching further into the annals of economic success, Paul Volcker, an anti-inflation crusader from the Carter and Reagan eras was selected to head the Economic Recovery Board.

And it seems they work well together. Addressing the main faults of the collapse, the Obama Administration has reacted to the challenges of the struggling economy with a rescue plan so proactive it just might work.

A proposed $800 billion in all, forty percent of it is headed straight for the people who need it most: average Americans in the form of tax cuts for individuals and small businesses. Another forty percent is to be spent on massive infrastructure projects and job creation, with the remaining twenty percent allocated to help states maintain vital services despite their faltering economies.

The best part of Obama's plan is his decision to act now while we still have the semblance of an economy.

With the plan's specifics still not determined, the how is mainly speculation at this point.

Yet many have already taken to spelling out "exactly" why the plan won't work. And like the president, I too wonder why detractors have not proposed something better.

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