Future of the Economy Under Obama

President Barack Obama has broad economic goals for America, many of which require government spending despite the national recession. His desire to fund programs like clean energy and education, combined with a desire to create new jobs for the thousands of unemployed Americans has led to record budget deficits. Combining both record spending and a record deficit makes the future of the economy under Obama uncertain, and a big target for fiscal conservatives.

In 2009, President Obama was under fire from both major political parties for the huge amounts of tax dollars spent on bailouts. Republicans criticized the pork found in the bills, and Democrats were unsatisfied with the lack of funding that went to education and the poor. The future of the economy under Obama in 2010 seems to be a more bipartisan effort to create jobs, lower taxes on small businesses, and provide increased funding for education and clean energy. Though the 2010 budget calls for 3.8 trillion dollars to spend, Obama has tried to balance out the budget by cutting Bush era tax breaks on individuals making over $250,000 a year. Big banks are another target of the Obama administration, which desires to recoup the money it spent bailing the banks out with interest. Collected taxes are expected to reach 2.2 trillion dollars, making the total budget deficit a record 1.56 trillion dollars.

With falling approval ratings and a big loss of the Massachusetts Senate seat held by the late Edward Kennedy to Republican Scott Brown, Obama has revamped his political goals to reflect more moderate, voter-oriented views that include minimizing debt. The health care reform bill, which was projected to actually save the U.S. government money, has stalled in Congress and may not be able to provide the economic boost that Obama had hoped it would. Instead, Obama hopes that the creation of more nuclear power plants and the funding of clean energy will make these industries profitable. His belief is that the country who controls the clean energy market will also control the lion's share of the global economy.

With states like California, Arizona, and Michigan that have huge budget deficits and a large percentage of the population unemployed, the future of the economy under Obama is more important than ever. Many people wonder how the record debt will be paid off, and if the American government is infringing upon future children's rights to a stable economy.