Election Wrap-up and Summary of Obama Proposals

New Savings Vehicles

• Would require employers without retirement plans to provide payroll deduction IRAs to employees; however, no employer contributions will be required
  
  
• Would automatically enroll employees who could opt out
  
  
• Would automatically roll over retirement savings when employees change jobs
  
  
• Would allow self-employed and new small businesses access to new easy-to-enroll savings
  
  
• Would direct IRS to automatically deposit tax refunds into individuals' retirement savings plans
  
  
• Investment options would be similar to those offered through the Federal Thrift Savings Plan

Pension Provisions

• Advocates full disclosure of company pension investments
  
  
• Calls for annual disclosures about pension fund investments, including details about which projects have been invested in, the performance of those investments and other appropriate information
  
  
• Would amend corporate bankruptcy laws to protect workers and retirees
  
  
• Plans to put promises made to workers higher on the list of debts companies cannot shed in bankruptcy
  
  
• Would increase the amount of unpaid wages and benefits workers can claim in bankruptcy court against their employer
  
  
• Would limit the circumstances in which companies can reduce retiree benefits
  
  
• Would limit executive bonuses paid during bankruptcy

Retirement-Related Tax Code Changes and Tax Credits

• Would create a "Making Work Pay" tax credit of up to $500 per person or $1,000 per working family; this would completely eliminate taxes for 10 million Americans.
  
  
• Would eliminate all income taxation of seniors making less than $50,000 per year
  
  
• Plans to offer temporary tax incentives for employers establishing payroll deduction IRAs
  
  
• Wants to make the Research and Development tax credit permanent to encourage firms to invest in domestic R&D over multiyear time frames
  
  
• Would eliminate abusive tax shelters and offshore tax havens to raise $350 billion in revenue
  
  
• Would close special interest corporate loopholes
  
  
• Plans to provide additional $20 billion in tax rebates to American workers
  
  
• Would expand the Earned Income Tax Credit
  
  
• Would expand the childcare tax credit
  
  
• Would create an American Opportunity Tax Credit that will ensure that the first $4,000 of college education is completely free for most Americans
  
  
• Would enact a Windfall Profits Tax on excessive oil company profits to give a $1,000 Emergency Energy Rebate to American families; this relief would be a down payment on his long-term plan to provide middle-class families with at least $1,000 per year in permanent tax relief
  
  
• Would enact a 10% refundable tax credit on the mortgage interest paid by families that do not itemize their taxes to help offset the cost of mortgage payments
  
  
• Would allow penalty-free withdrawals of up to 15%, with a maximum of $10,000, from IRAs and 401(k)s, applied retroactively to all withdrawals in 2008 and continuing through 2009. Withdrawals would still be subject to ordinary income tax rates
  
  
• Would call on the Treasury to act immediately (rather than wait for Congress) to temporarily suspend required minimum distributions for retirees over age 70½. Also proposes that any withdrawals made up to the required minimum amount be exempt from taxation
  
  
• Would offer a 50% matching credit on the first $1,000 of savings for joint filers earning less than $75,000, with the savings match automatically deposited into designated personal accounts
  
  
• Supports temporary suspension of taxes on unemployment insurance benefits

Social Security

• Opposes any form of privatization
  
  
• Proposes an additional 2% to 4% payroll tax on those who earn over $250,000, with an additional matching employer contribution required
  
  
• Opposes further increases in Social Security retirement age

Health Care

• Would require all children to have health insurance
  
  
• Would require employers to provide insurance or contribute to the cost of coverage, with an exemption for the smallest businesses
  
  
• Would guarantee eligibility for all Americans regardless of pre-existing conditions
  
  
• Plans to offer benefits package similar to the one offered by the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan
  
  
• Plans to reimburse employers for catastrophic health costs
  
  
• Calls for creation of a purchasing pool with choice of competing private plans and one public plan like Medicare
  
  
• Would encourage a health IT system that would:
  • Minimize co-pays for preventative services and drugs
  • Require cost and quality data reporting
  • Increase competition
  • Lower drug costs by allowing importation and increasing generics in public programs
  
  
• Would finance $50-$65 billion cost of plan by rolling back tax breaks for those making over $250,000 a year
  
  
• Would give individuals and families who do not qualify for Medicaid or SCHIP but still need financial assistance an income-related federal subsidy to buy into the new public plan or purchase a private healthcare plan
  
  
• Would give participants in the new public plan and the National Health Insurance Exchange healthcare coverage that they could keep if they change jobs

Economy/Mortgage Crisis

• Supports the creation of a new Federal Housing Administration (FHA) program that will provide meaningful incentives for lenders to buy or refinance existing mortgages and convert them into stable 30-year fixed mortgages
  
  
• Would create a 10 percent universal mortgage credit that will provide tax relief to homeowners who do not itemize and provide an average of $500 to 10 million homeowners, the majority of whom earn less than $50,000 per year
  
  
• Would create a Homeowner Obligation Made Explicit (HOME) score to provide potential borrowers with simplified, standardized borrower metric (similar to APR) for home mortgages, and allow individuals to easily compare various mortgage products and understand the full cost of the loan
  
  
• Would create a fund to help people refinance their mortgages and provide comprehensive supports to homeowners to be partially paid for by increased penalties on lenders who act irresponsibly and commit fraud
  
  
• Supports the establishment of a $10 billion Foreclosure Prevention Fund that will dramatically increase emergency pre-foreclosure counseling, and help families facing foreclosure to responsibly refinance their mortgages or sell their homes
  
  
• Wants to provide $10 billion in relief for state and local governments hardest hit by the housing crisis
  
  
• Supports a Homebuyers Bill of Rights to establish new lending standards to ensure that loans are affordable and fair; provide adequate remedies to make sure the standards are met; and ensure that homeowners have accurate and complete information about their mortgage options*
  
  
• Did not vote on the Foreclosure Prevention, the housing overhaul legislation, which gave the Federal government temporary authority to purchase assets of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, including stock; created the Federal Housing Finance Agency; and increased loan limits for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) backed loans.
  
  
• Recognizes that intervention in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was necessary, but believes that the executives of these institutions should not receive severance packages following federal rescue with taxpayer resources
  
  
• Voted in favor of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA)
  
  
• Proposes a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures for homeowners acting in good faith
  
  
• Would instruct the Secretaries of the Treasury and Housing and Urban Development to use their existing authority to more aggressively modify the terms of mortgages
  
  
• Believes the Treasury should not limit itself to purchasing mortgage-backed securities, but extend its asset purchases to individual mortgages, student loans, car loans, and credit card loans
  
  
• Would reform the bankruptcy code to assist homeowners and remove legal impediments to encouraging broader mortgage restructuring

Job Creation and Manufacturing

• Would create an Advanced Manufacturing Fund to identify and invest in the most compelling advanced manufacturing strategies
  
  
• Would provide double funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), which works with manufacturers across the country to improve efficiency, implement new technology and strengthen company growth
  
  
• Would invest $150 billion in a clean energy economy to create five million new green jobs
  
  
• Would increase funding for federal workforce training programs and direct these programs to incorporate green technologies training into their efforts to help Americans find and retain stable, high-paying jobs
  
  
• Would create a federal Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) that will require 25 percent of American electricity be derived from renewable sources by 2025 and extend the Production Tax Credit, to be used by farmers and investors to increase renewable energy production and create new local jobs
  
  
• Would update the existing system of Trade Adjustment Assistance by extending it to the service industries and would create flexible education accounts to provide retraining assistance for workers before job loss
  
  
• Wants to make the Research and Development tax credit permanent
  
  
• Proposes providing companies that add jobs in 2009 and 2010 with a new, temporary tax credit of $3,000 for each additional full-time employee

Energy Policy

• Proposes investment of $150 billion over 10 years to advance the next generation of biofuels and fuel infrastructure, accelerate the commercialization of plug-in hybrids, promote development of commercial-scale renewable energy, invest in low-emissions coal plants, and begin the transition to a new digital electricity
  
  
• Proposes investment of $10 billion per year for five years to create a Clean Technologies Venture Capital Fund that will partner with existing investment funds and our National Laboratories to ensure newly developed technologies are utilized
  
  
• Wants to double science and research funding for clean energy projects including those that make use of biomass, solar and wind resources
  
  
• Supports implementation of a market-based cap-and-trade system that will require pollution credits to be auctioned
  
  
• Would establish a federal Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) that requires 25 percent of electricity consumed in the U.S. to be derived from clean, sustainable energy sources, like solar, wind and geothermal by 2025
  
  
• Would significantly increase the resources devoted to the commercialization and deployment of low-carbon coal technologies
  
  
• Would establish a goal of making all new buildings carbon neutral, or produce zero emissions, by 2030 and a national goal of improving new building efficiency by 50 percent and existing building efficiency by 25 percent over the next decade to help meet the 2030 goal

Trade Policies

• Supports a trade policy open to foreign markets that supports good American jobs and spreads good labor and environmental standards around the world
  
  
• Would pressure the World Trade Organization to enforce trade agreements and stop countries from continuing unfair government subsidies to foreign exporters and non-tariff barriers on U.S. exports
  
  
• Would work with leaders of Canada and Mexico to change NAFTA to better accommodate needs of American workers

Government/Regulatory Reform

• Has outlined six initiatives to modernize the financial regulatory system:

1. Provide the Federal Reserve with supervisory authority over any financial institutions to which it may become a lender of last resort
2. Develop and strengthen capital, liquidity and disclosure requirements for all financial institutions
3. End framework of overlapping and competing regulatory agencies by instituting a more streamlined system of oversight
4. Identify, disclose, and oversee risky behaviors - regardless of what kind of financial institution engages in them
5. Have SEC actively investigate reports of market manipulation and prosecute
6. Create a Financial Market Oversight Commission to monitor systemic risk and address issues before they deteriorate enough to cause a crisis

• Will crack down on speculators who are driving up the price of gasoline beyond the natural market rate and direct the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute market manipulation in oil futures*