Obama: Bailout likely to delay spending programs [View All]

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

Obama: Bailout likely to delay spending programs
By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL – 12 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says he probably would have to delay the spending programs he has called for during his campaign in light of the massive government bailout being proposed for the nation's financial industry.

The Bush administration and Congress on Tuesday were discussing the details of a $700 billion financial rescue plan. Obama said the problem should be dealt with as a short-term crisis with bipartisan action and then as a long-term structural issue.

"Although we are potentially providing $700 billion in available money to the Treasury, we don't anticipate that all that money gets spent right away and we don't anticipate that all that money is lost. How we're going to structure that in budget terms still has to be decided," Obama told NBC's "Today" show in an interview aired Tuesday.

"Does that mean I can do everything that I've called for in this campaign right away? Probably not," he said. "I think we're going to have to phase it in."

The Illinois senator has proposed ambitious and expensive initiatives aimed at health care, education, infrastructure, alternative energy and other concerns. He didn't say what proposals might be delayed first, adding that tax revenues would play a role in any budget decisions. He made no reference to the rescue plan's impact on his call for tax cuts for most taxpayers and tax increases for wealthier Americans.



Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5isOFwdbq0tsqatW6vJpkDRTI1gMgD93CESAG1