VAN NUYS “”mdash; Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama sat down with four locals on Wednesday in a residential backyard to answer their questions about his economic policies.
The four panelists, flanking Obama around a patio table, posed questions about the senator’s proposed financial policies and the problems of individual debt, such as those caused by college loans and subprime loan-related losses.
Obama related his own experience with the high costs of education, saying it took him and his wife, Michelle, 10 years to pay off their debts from law school. He proposed increasing available funding to students by cutting out middlemen.
The senator also advocated better treatment of consumers and more transparency from financial institutions, particularly in regard to interest rates.
After panelist Gustavo Lizarde explained the snowballing credit card debt he had accumulated as the owner of an auto repair shop, Obama said that credit card companies knowingly used tricks to increase their profits.
“You should have one standardized system where you can look without all the hidden fees and charges,” Obama said. He said banks can make profits without manipulating consumers.
“We shouldn’t be in a position where they can change those rates any time they feel like it if they just decide, you know, that they want to make a bigger profit,” he said.
Obama also suggested supporting more locally based financial institutions.
“We have to help more community-based financial institutions who are less oriented into sucking all the profits out of communities, giving them the opportunity to provide more financial options for people,” he said.
Mimi Vitello, who hosted the event, asked about plans to mitigate the national debt. Vitello said the senator had great suggestions but asked, “How can you tell us that (your ideas) could get through a Congress that’s going to butt heads with you?”
Obama responded, “I think people are justified in their skepticism because there hasn’t been progress in a long time.” He added that changes would be necessary before he could enact his vision of fiscal responsibility.
“I want to get more people elected to Congress who are listening to their constituents as opposed to lobbyists in Washington,” Obama said. He also said that he has worked and will continue to work to reduce the influence of lobbyists in Washington.
He said the American public would also have to begin paying more attention: “I also need the American people to be involved and educated about what the choices are, and so that’s why I put such an emphasis on transparency and accountability in the government.”
As president, Obama said, he would hold regular fireside chats and put proposed legislation online for public comment.
When a member of the press asked him to respond to allegations that he is being funded by Wall Street firms, Obama said that at one point, his campaign had raised more in small donations than the combined campaigns of the other Democratic candidates, but that Wall Street is where the money is and he has raised some funds there as well.
Although Obama focused primarily on his own goals, he was occasionally critical of the current administration and what he called a “mismanagement of the economy over the past seven to eight years.”
Among Obama’s suggestions for fiscal responsibility are a one-time tax rebate, increased taxes for the wealthy and the elimination of corporate tax loopholes.
The presidential candidate also said he would propose a federal health care system based on preventative care that people could buy into at reasonable rates, to replace the current system.
Although Obama was eager to enact new policies, he said he was doubtful the balance of power had shifted enough to allow for immediate change.
“I think we’re going to have to wait until I’m president,” Obama said. “And that will be 2009.”