Obama's Weekly Address

In his weekly address, President Obama announced that the economic stimulus bill—officially known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act—will have an impact on taxpayers by April 1, making it the quickest and broadest tax cut in history.

The Treasury Department has directed its employees to reduce the amount of taxes withheld from paychecks. A typical family will now start keeping an extra $65 each month.

According to Obama, 95 percent of all working families will get a tax cut, in keeping with a campaign promise. The $400 credit for individuals, and $800 for couples, will be handed out over the rest of the year. Most workers will have an extra $13 per week in take-home pay.

Opponents will argue that an extra $65 a month will not make much of a difference, given the cost of recent government expenditures. Since December 2007, the federal government has spent $7.2 trillion on bailouts, and that number is rapidly approaching the $8 trillion mark. To put it in perspective, $8 trillion is 57 percent of the U.S.’s $14 trillion Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The projected 2010 – 2017 budget deficit of the Obama administration including the stimulus bill is $8.4 trillion. Obama has promised to take on the nation’s massive debt. On Monday, the President will hold a fiscal summit to discuss the trillion-dollar national debt and plans for fiscal responsibility.

The Obama administration conceived of the stimulus plan as an emergency lifeline to save the nation during a crisis, but governors around the country aren’t so sure that the plan will stabilize the economy and create jobs.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has criticized the plan, stating that it will only deepen the nation’s debt without stimulating the economy. Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana announced Friday that he would reject part of the stimulus plan aimed at expanding state unemployment insurance coverage. No other governor has rejected stimulus funding.