Obama Proposes New Recovery Package

Los Angeles Times (10/14/08); Mehta, Seema; Hook, Janet
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has called on Capitol Hill lawmakers and the White House to approve measures to put off home foreclosures, help businesses create jobs, allow families to access retirement savings and stabilize state and local government budgets. One of the central parts of Obama's new package is the fact that households facing foreclosure would get a 90-day reprieve if they were working with finance firms taking part in the $700 billion rescue package Congress passed in September and if they could prove they were making a good-faith effort to pay their mortgages each month. Some of Obama's proposals, such as the foreclosure moratorium, could be put into effect under existing law. Critics charge that the plan would have little impact on the underlying sources of instability in the world economy.