MOMocrats EXCLUSIVE: Obama Answers Readers' Questions

Back on April 1, we asked our readers what they would ask Barack Obama if given the chance to ask any question.  After being disappointed by the last televised debate, we came up with a list of questions that the MOMocrats and our readers wished that ABC had asked, and sent them off to his campaign HQ.  They replied with answers to five of our questions on poverty, the credit crisis, torture, childcare, and maternity leave, all answered exclusively for MOMocrats.

1.  From Jen:  John Edwards spoke repeatedly about alleviating suffering and poverty for the poorest among us. With 46 million people living in poverty and tens of thousands of homeless people in most major cities in our nation, what will be your response in addressing the lack of affordable housing in our nation?

OBAMA:  Rising poverty is one of the most serious issues facing America today, and I believe that inserting simplistic tag lines or one-dimensional goals are unlikely to be helpful in meeting this challenge.  As president, I will build off of my life experiences of fighting poverty and hopelessness as a community organizer, civil rights lawyer and elected official to make poverty eradication a top goal of my administration. 

As President, I will increase the supply of affordable housing.  In too many communities, low-income families are priced out of the housing market. Between 1993 and 2003, the number of units of affordable to low-income households fell by 1.2 million. I believe we should create an Affordable Housing Trust Fund to develop affordable housing in mixed-income neighborhoods.  The Affordable Housing Trust Fund would use a small percentage of the profits of two government-sponsored housing agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to create thousands of new units of affordable housing every year. I will also restore cuts to public housing operating subsidies, and ensure that all Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs are restored to their original purpose. 

In addition to addressing the housing crisis, my anti-poverty plan will significantly improve opportunities for millions of poor children and their parents by strengthening the economy for working Americans and providing additional resources to programs that have proven to be effective in reducing poverty.  For example, my plan will expand the EITC, which is considered one of the most effective pro-work anti-poverty programs to date, to 5.8 million more Americans.  Additionally, my EITC plan will increase EITC benefits for another 6.2 million Americans.  I will also extend affordable, quality and portable health insurance coverage to every American and make significant investments in early childhood education to help low-income families.  I will invest $1 billion over five years into transitional jobs and career pathways programs to engage more Americans into the workforce and help them succeed.  I will also work to tackle chronic poverty in urban neighborhoods across American by creating Promise Neighborhoods in 20 cities to provide new hope and opportunities to residents of concentrated poverty.   

Perhaps most importantly, my plan will only focus on strengthening and expanding the most-effective methods for reducing poverty and including taking steps to strengthen families by reducing domestic violence, rewarding fathers who do the right thing and giving parents the right to take time off from work to care for a sick child.  That's why my plan includes expanding innovative programs like the Nurse-Family Partnership, a program that has nurses visit and train low-income first-time mothers, because it has been proven to have produced an average of five dollars in savings for every dollar invested and produced more than $28,000 in net savings for every high-risk family enrolled in the program.  If my administration finds that one of its anti-poverty programs is not working, that program will be eliminated and funds will be routed to more effective uses.

2.   From Debbie:  Many in the U.S. are deeply in debt, struggling to pay off credit cards with high interest rates. The mortgage crisis is pushing many working families even closer to the edge. Meanwhile, it is becoming harder for individuals with good credit scores to secure credit at a fair rate. And foreign investors are becoming nervous about whether U.S. consumers (and corporations) will be able pay back their debts, given the struggling U.S. economy. What do you plan to do to address the growing credit crisis?

OBAMA: The financial fallout from the mortgage crisis has spilled into the larger economy with millions of Americans now worried about their jobs, their homes and their financial futures.  At this moment, we must come together and act to address the housing crisis, restore balance, fairness and confidence in our economy, and provide some relief to America’s middle class families that are getting squeezed from all sides.

Six months ago, I announced my plan to put a middle-class tax cut worth $500 per person or $1000 per family into the pockets of workers who deserve it.  I also proposed eliminating income taxes for seniors making under $50,000 and creating a universal mortgage credit for homeowners  who do not itemize, which will provide an average of $500 to 10 million homeowners. 

And because this kind of relief can't wait until the next President takes office, I proposed a plan in January to provide an immediate tax cut of $250 for workers and their families and a temporary $250 bonus to seniors in their Social Security checks.  These tax cuts will help to stimulate the economy by immediately putting money into the pockets of working Americans who need it and will spend it.  And if the economy continued to worsen, I called for an additional $250 to workers and seniors to help them get by.

To address the housing crisis, I have worked with Senator Chris Dodd to introduce legislation that would convert risky mortgages to stable, fixed 30-year mortgages that helps families avoid foreclosure, reduces potential losses for investors, and injects more credit and confidence into the marketplace.  I have also called for a Foreclosure Prevention Fund to provide resources to innocent homeowners, and a 10 percent universal mortgage tax credit.  And we should provide aid to states that have been hardest-hit by the housing crisis so that they don't have to slash essential services like health care or infrastructure, and extending unemployment insurance for those Americans who find themselves out of work.

Part of the reason the housing crisis has caused so much harm is that Americans are already living on the edge.  In order to prevent the kinds of deceptive practices that led to today's mortgage crisis and to prevent credit cards from becoming the next subprime crisis, I will create a system that's open and transparent and establish a five-star credit card rating system.  And I will institute a Credit Card Bill of Rights that bans unilateral changes to credit card agreements, applies interest rates increases only to future debts, and prohibits interest on transaction fees.   

In addition to this immediate relief, we need a long-term strategy to grow our economy and make it work for every American.  That's why I have proposed a plan that would keep us competitive by providing every American with a world-class education from birth to college and to invest in the industries of the future, like renewable energy and technology, because we need to encourage entrepreneurship and innovation to keep us strong and competitive in a 21st century economy. 

3.    From SueBob:  Will you stop the United States from torturing people and holding them without charge or trial?

OBAMA: I strongly oppose the use of torture.  From both a moral standpoint and a practical standpoint, torture is wrong.  Military and intelligence experts agree that torture is not an effective means of interrogation, and that our use of it threatens our troops serving abroad.  It also violates international legal norms and human rights.  From both a moral standpoint and a practical standpoint, torture is wrong.

I will also work with Congress to restore the historic right of habeas corpus.  I am confident that we have nothing to fear and everything to gain by asking our courts to help ensure we're holding the right people, not the wrong people.  Our legal system can deal with these individuals and demonstrate to the world our commitment to the rule of law.

4.  From AmyUWM:  What do (Obama and Clinton) plan to do about the horrifically family unfriendly policies of corporate America? How can we better support working moms and working families with paid maternity leave, affordable childcare, etc. Does s/he see these issues as a priority for his/her administration?

OBAMA:  We need to give working families a break. For twenty-five years, we've seen gaps in wealth grow larger, while our tax code that favors wealth over work. That's why I've proposed an income tax cut to offset the payroll tax that working Americans are already paying. This will be worth up to $1000 for a working family. I'll make retirement more secure for America's seniors by eliminating income taxes for any retiree making less than $50,000 per year. And I won't wait ten years to raise the minimum wage - I'll guarantee that it goes up every single year. That's the change that working Americans need.

We know that the cost of the American dream must never come at the expense of the American family. You're working longer hours. More families have two parents working. Meanwhile, it's hard to get a hand. It's even harder to get a break. That's why I'll double spending on quality after-school programs - so that you can know your kids are safe and secure. And that's why I'll expand the Family Medical Leave Act to include more businesses and millions more workers; to let parents participate in school activities with their kids; and to cover elderly care. And we'll finally put federal support behind state efforts to provide paid Family and Medical Leave.

We also need to change a system that is stacked against women. Forty percent of working women do not have a single paid sick day. More and more women are denied jobs or promotions because they've got kids at home. As the son of a single mother, that is not the America that I believe in. I'll be a President who stands up for working parents. We'll require employers to provide seven paid sick days each year. We'll enforce laws that prohibit caregiver discrimination. And we'll encourage flexible work schedules to better balance work and parenting for mothers and fathers. That's the change that working families need.

5.   From Sara:  My biggest question is what can be done to help dual income families, with specific regards to paid maternity leave (which he has addressed briefly, but I would love some more detail on) and access to quality affordable childcare.

OBAMA:  As a state legislator and a U.S. Senator, I have always supported family friendly policies. As president, I will initiate a 50 state strategy to encourage all of the states to adopt paid-leave systems, and I will provide a $1.5 billion fund to assist states with start-up costs and to help states offset the costs for employees and employers.

I also believe that the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit provides too little relief to families that struggle to afford child care expenses. Consequently, I will reform the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit by making it refundable and allowing low-income families to receive up to a 50 percent credit for their child care expenses.

So, Senator Clinton, what do you have to say on these topics?  We'd love to know!

Comments

[SciFi Dad]

Well done. He really seems to have some good ideas.

[Lauren]

Holy moly! I wondered what everyone was "twittering" about yesterday.

[Miss Britt]

Wow. I am so impressed that you guys provided a place for REAL voters to get their REAL questions answered.

Good for MOMocrats! (And good for the Obama campaign for taking you seriously.)

[Lori]

Thanks for asking the questions, MOMocrats, and thanks to Senator Obama for answering them. It's helpful to get more details about what an Obama presidency would look like!

[Dawn @ Coming to a Nursery Near You]

Congrats on such a feat! That's really cool that his campaign took the time to answer the questions you asked.

[Caroline]

I love the questions and love his ideas even more. Awesome job MOMocrats! I would love to hear Hillary's responses too.

[Amy in Ohio]

I'm so proud to be a reader of this blog ladies! You guys are amazing! Frankly, you should be the ones running things! Take that George (any of the offending Georges).

[cynematic]

Hey, a big shout out to our readers, who submitted many of the questions Senator Obama answered.

You. Readers. Rock.

And of course, a salute to Senator Obama, who took the time to have his campaign respond to real issues that are the concerns of real people.

[Frank S]

Momocrats succeeds where ABC, NBC, CBS, and of course, Fox fail.
You are what the voters need!
Keep at it.

[Andrea]

I am actually a little bit verklempt at reading this post. Oh my God, someone is listening! And not just someone, but Barack Obama! And he responds so eloquently. Thanks so much for his campaign taking the time to discuss these questions and provide REAL answers.

This is a big deal. Getting questions asked by real Americans with everyday issues and concerns, many of which mirror my own, answered by a potential Presidential Candidate is better than the national news networks seem to be able to do. It's a huge deal not only in terms of blogging and its place in social media but for the people in general who haven't found a better medium in which to have their voices heard. What a revolutionary idea!

[mvdev]

Wow... a $500 tax credit--- THIS is supposed to offest the reduction in value of my $200K house (which I can afford, and didn't buy above my means!) because of the mortgage lending crisis?!?!?! I am appreciative of Obama's campign response, but really.....

[jaelithe]

I have to second Cyne here: Momocrats is only as awesome as our awesome readership. Thank you SO much for participating when we asked for questions.

[debbie]

p.s. booYAH, McCain's "we're the only blogger-friendly campaign" slogan.

how ya like *them* apples? kinda sour, huh.

[VDog]

Great work on getting the interview ladies!

[Christina]

I'm so impressed that he responded. Wow.

[Momme]

Hey MVDEV,

The tax credit isn't to help offset the value of your home. There is no way that the Feds can increase the value of your home. What he is proposing is helping people keep their homes and get into better fixed rate mortgages. If you are in an area where homes are being foreclosed on around you, that will drop the value of you home like a lead balloon. The 10% universal mortgage will help everyone that is affected by the housing bust.

Also, if you are in a state that has high property taxes, make sure that you get a reassessment on your property value!!!

[Diana]

Great job ladies! I commend Senator Obama for participating - it is absolutely refreshing to see a candidate get into the issues with the people!

[GraceD]

Am hurt you didn't ask if the Senator knew windsurfing pioneer Robby Naish but all is forgiven.

Otherwise, I'm so very, very proud to know the founders of this incredible blog effort.

Here's to a Democrat win in 2008!

[MammaLoves]

Great interview! I'm proud of the way you represent us Democratic Moms.

[Stacy]

I Senator Obama:-)

[paintitblue]

Found this via a link at DailyKos. Thanks to Momocrats and Barack Obama for this excellent interview. This is so much better and more substantial than the tripe on tv.

[followthatdog]

Fantastic, the questions, the answers, just wow. I'm impressed.
Thank you Momocrats for asking real questions and thank you Sen Obama for answering them.

[followthatdog]

Fantastic, the questions, the answers, just wow. I'm impressed.
Thank you Momocrats for asking real questions and thank you Sen Obama for answering them.

[Susan]

Great idea, great execution - wow - congratulations!

[Elle]

And I got here from a link on Ben Smith's blog at Politico. Nice work, guys--"guys" being a unisex term where I'm from ; )--it's great to read about POLICY for once! And cheers to the Obama campaign for taking the interview. Did anybody happen to catch the Obama town hall clip "Obama's White House Vision" from I think it was CNN today? In which he talked about the specific ways in which he would make the White House more transparent and about both continuing to hold town hall meetings after election and sending out Cabinet members to meet with the public in the same type of forum, posting easily accessible info about bills coming before Congress and how to get involved with advocating for ones that you care about, and so on. You can see from the way he runs his campaign that he knows how to put together a solid team and set things in motion. I can't wait to see how that translates in an Obama presidency!

[honglien123]

Great questions and so very very cool that Senator Obama answered. Still, as a moderate independant voter, I wish we could ask the follow up question that many moderates wish Senator Obama AND Clinton for that matter would answer. That question is, how exactly are we going to pay for all these proposals and changes? "[The] minimum wage - I'll guarantee that it goes up every single year" part alone makes me shudder for small business owners like my sister who has to pay typically single young people (with no families they have to support) minimum wage for help. Love the commitment to education, affordable housing, and "Promise Neighborhoods". I'm not sure what "Promise Neighborhoods" means, or how the implementation of these policy goals will line up with the realities of working with local and state governments and their own objectives, but that's the cynic in me. I definitely won't have any issues with voting for Obama, but I DO wish Clinton would respond as well.

[Lisa Stone]

Fantastic work Momocrats! This is exactly the kind of coverage I expect from you all -- and I'm impressed the Obama campaign responded. Well done.

[Elle]

honglien123, I understand your concern. Although he didn't mention it here, Obama has repeatedly said that he is a strong supporter of PAYGO (pay-as-you-go), "a term used to refer to financing where budgetary restrictions demand paying for expenditures with funds that are made available as the program is in progress." [Wikipedia]. Upon withdrawal from Iraq, billions of our tax dollars will be freed up for use on domestic programs. Eliminating certain corporate tax breaks (such as breaks for companies that send their production overseas) and raising taxes on those making more than $250K a year will help to fund programs as well. Even so, we are facing near-future crises on a number of domestic fronts (health care, social security, infrastructure...) because for too long our tax dollars have been heavily allocated elsewhere. Obama reminds us that changes won't come overnight, and they won't always be easy. They will require some sacrifices on our part, but in the end they will benefit us and our children and our children's children. I believe that being willing to say something so politically inexpedient in the midst of a hard-fought nomination battle, and what promises to be a close general election, is a clear indicator of a candidate with integrity, whom we can trust to put together a solid team of advisers and federal agency leaders, and to begin to correct our errant fiscal direction at last.

[Daisy]

Dear Momocrats: Thank you.
Dear Mr. Obama; Thank you for taking us seriously.

[nazardesign]

I am proud that my pro-family candidate took the time to answer some pressing questions for such a dedicated group. Thank you, MOMocrats, for making the great effort to coordinate and submit these substantive questions. We are all a bit wiser now.

[Nancy Crump]

Great job in getting the interview and thank you to Sen. Obama for taking the time to answer some real issue questions. Too bad ABC didn't let you ask the questions. Thanks for asking the issue questions voters need answers to. I love the idea of a more transparent White House and of a President and staff that stay in touch with the people they serve. Let's all vote for this kind of positive change.

[Nancy Crump]

Great job. Thank you for asking the issue questions that voters really want answered. Thank you to Sen. Obama for taking the time to respond. It shows he is interested and in touch with what we need. I love the idea of a more transparent White House and a staff that stays in touch with those they serve. What a nice change that would be. Let's all vote for this kind of positive change.

[Citations]

Excellent questions with at least somewhat substantive answers and details about implementation. More debates are inevitable, even if not until fall. Can MOMocrats please run them?

[Sarah Granger]

Wouldn't that be great? I can see Glennia and Stefania asking the questions already. I'd start the questioning with the environment, since the debates have given so little attention to this desperately important issue.

[Jenny, Bloggess]

So. Freaking. Kick-ass.

[Trisha]

I love Obama, I really hope he wins

[Kim/Hormone-colored Days]

Way to go, ladies! Great questions and how wonderful that he responded to you!

[Len Edgerly]

Very impressive!

[dana]

This is so amazing. I'm so happy that I got the chance to read this exclusive with Barack Obama. For me, being Republican, and crossing over to vote for Obama in my state's primary was a big deal...but to see this inspirational candidate make the effort to address the questions of so many wonderful bloggers....it just warms my heart. So much so that I can't even write a normal sentence. This just rocks my world. I wish "the other two" would make a sincere gesture such as this.

Barack Obama, I heart you.

[[email protected]]

Yey! Thanks so much for your persistence in getting in front of the candidates and getting our questions answered (especially mine!). I had not heard of the "Obama vision for the White House" that Elle describes. It's that kind of free-from-entrenchment thinking that can help to revolutionize how our government works. Awesome!

[PunditMom]

Was that really an answer to the credit crisis question?

[cynematic]

PunditMom,
I actually agree with you that he could've said more about the credit crisis. I found his answers a little superficial. Was it because he thought if he brought the full-on wonk, we'd shrivel in its harsh glare? Next time we should specify that he digs in and shows us no mercy, wonkyness-wise.

I would've liked to hear more on the supercession of Glass-Steagall (1933) by Gramm-Leach-Blilely (1999), which he alluded to in his Cooper-Union speech on the economy (and which I blogged about: http://momocrats.typepad.com/momocrats/2008/03/phil-gramm-than.html) and what specifically he planned to do to introduce greater regulation among lenders. I'm obviously no economist, so I'd welcome further schooling from Senator Obama on the steps he'd take--both a more detailed framing of the issue and his plan to address this.

In terms of the effects on consumers, I think the really punitive bankruptcy rules we have now may also be part of the problem--not only for people who lose their houses to foreclosure, but also for people who experience a big health crisis that completely drains their financial resources. In fact, I see declining home values and the concomitant loss of equity as one less piece of the safety net that underinsured people have to cope with catastrophic illness, given the expense of health care.

I know you were at the SEC, so maybe a post from you would be worth hearing on this?

[George]

Well, I'm certainly glad that Senator Obama finally came out in support of proactive parenting and has discovered that nurse-family partnership have been very successful at reducing domestic violence and child abuse.

However, he comes rather late to that party...

Senator Clinton joined with Senator Bond last February to introduced S. 667, the Education Begins at Home that will fund parenting support programs based on the nurse-family partnership model.

Senator Obama only signed onto that bill in November.

As he is looking more like the nominee every day, let's hope that while he might be a late starter in supporting parenting support programs, he'll also be a stronger finisher and live up to his words...

"Perhaps most importantly, my plan will only focus on strengthening and expanding the most-effective methods for reducing poverty and including taking steps to strengthen families by reducing domestic violence, rewarding fathers who do the right thing and giving parents the right to take time off from work to care for a sick child. That's why my plan includes expanding innovative programs like the Nurse-Family Partnership, a program that has nurses visit and train low-income first-time mothers, because it has been proven to have produced an average of five dollars in savings for every dollar invested and produced more than $28,000 in net savings for every high-risk family enrolled in the program."

[Mauigirl]

I'm really impressed that Obama responded to these great questions, and with such substantive replies. If only the debates had been even half that helpful!

[Ecclesiastes]

The definition of torture:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sup_01_18_10_I_20_113C.html

There it is. If you feel it ought to be something else then write your congressional representative. If you feel it IS something else, you're wrong.

[Kelly]

What is your stand on kids who are 18 years and older, under parent application, who are permanent resident, kids waiting for there status. How long will you take to get them status if you become a president?

[DIANA]

HOW DOES BARACK FEEL ABOUT PALIN COMMENTS THAT THE WAR IN IRAQ IS GODS WILL.AND THE OTHER ONE ABOUT OIL DRILLING THAT IS GODS WILL ALSO,,,, DOES HE NOT FEEL THAT SOUNDS AS IF SOMETHINGS ALITTLE OFF. DON'T YOU THINK YOU SHOULD SPEAK OUT ON THIS TYPE REMARK?

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