On Jan. 24, 2009, the politics section of FoxNews.com released a report that outlined several pieces of the plan laid down by U.S. President Barack Obama in his commitment to revive the nation’s struggling economy.

Taking a look into the current U.S. economic situation, 1 in 10 homeowners are at risk of foreclosure; manufacturing is at a 28-year low; and the value of the dollar is on a downward slope. Another devastating fact is that the nation lost 2.6 million jobs in 2008, the highest amount in any single year since World War II. President Barack Obama’s economists also speculate that unemployment could reach 10% before the recession stops.

In the hope of helping President Barack Obama reverse the economic slide and fulfill his campaign pledges, the Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives earlier proposed an $825 billion economic stimulus package that includes spending and tax cuts. On Friday, January 23, 2009, President Barack Obama met with lawmakers, Republican and Democratic alike, urging them to support the stimulus package. Citing details from an article by the Associated Press, the pending economic stimulus package will combine approximately $550 billion in federal spending and $275 billion in tax cuts. Energy-related proposals would include over $20 billion in tax cuts and $32 billion to upgrade the electrical distribution system.

President Barack Obama also made sure that voters would comprehend the rationale behind his economic plan, thus early on Saturday, January 24, 2009, the White House released President Barack Obama’s 5-minute address over the radio and Internet. According to President Barack Obama, his economic plan will double the nation’s renewable energy capacity within three years, increase security at 90 ports, and add 3,000 miles of electrical lines. President Barack Obama stressed that “a bad situation could become dramatically worse” if actions would not be taken boldly and swiftly. Additionally, in his manner of setting realistic expectations, President Barack Obama reminded the audience that results would not happen instantly.

In addition, President Barack Obama’s economic team released a report that sketched out the benefits of the plan and thus bolster support. Some pieces of the plan will include:

* Shifting to electronic medical records and investing in preventive health
care by providing health care coverage for 8.5 million Americans.
* Increasing the federal portion of Medicaid and children’s health insurance so
that state would no longer need to turn away any of the 20 million children.
* Creating 3 to 4 million jobs over the next years.
* Upgrading 10,000 schools and advancing learning among 5 million students.
* Tripling the number of undergraduate and graduate fellowships in science.
* Saving $2 billion each year through making federal buildings energy-
efficient.
* Doubling the amount of energy generated from renewable resources within three years.

Based on the plan, at least 75% or over $600 billion will be used up within the first 18 months, injecting a huge amount of money to support either infrastructure projects as proposed by Democrats or tax cuts preferred by Republicans.