Breaking Down the President's Economic Plan

By Alex Cameron, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Since taking office just over two months ago, President Obama has done one thing probably more than anything else, explain and promote his plan to turn the economy around.

Whether the steps he's taken so far will do the trick isn't clear, but it is clear that he sees being open and talking publicly about his plan as another priority.

"We've got to try to make good decisions based on the facts, in order to put people back to work, to get credit flowing again," President Obama said.

The President's appearance on 60 Minutes Sunday, and the media blitz in general, is aimed at getting America to buy in to his plan.

"The President wants to feel confident and give the American people confidence that what we're putting in place will bring our economy back long-term, create jobs and lay a path towards long-term prosperity again," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Economist Steve Agee has studied the individual pieces of the President's economic recovery plan. He said the key to a turnaround is stimulating consumer demand, which is why, he said, the $787 billion stimulus package is the most critical piece.

"Well that infuses money out into the economy, so government spending goes up, taxes go down, providing us more disposable income, and as that happens we consume more," Dr. Agee said.

In February, the administration announced a $75 billion plan to stem the tide of home foreclosures, and then Monday unveiled a public-private strategy for removing as much as a trillion dollars in toxic assets from banks to help get credit flowing again.

Agee believes Monday's 500 point jump by the Dow Jones is a sign that the President's strategy may be working.

"The stock market, I think, is telling us that they see the effects of the stimulus package. It hasn't happened yet, but they see it coming, so they're prepping for it," Dr. Agee said.

Agee said he understands concerns many may have about all the debt the government is running up, but in this economy, deficit spending is necessary. It's down the road, he said, the government will have to be very disciplined and reel the spending back in.

There's no shortage of criticism of the President's plan. Many believe the projected budget deficit of $1.8 trillion is way too high. Others said Obama is just repackaging the failed policies of the Bush administration.