Select2008 Blog - Comparing and tracking the 2008 presidential candidates

The three major Democratic candidates to the 2008 Presidential election – Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama – have all recently released an economic stimulus package, as the softness of the U.S. economy comes into focus.

These plans include quite a few repurposed proposals, which are now being legitimized by the sudden worsening of the economy. Clinton and Edwards seize the opportunity to tout their “green” initiatives, as a way to boost the economy and convert blue collar jobs to “green collar” jobs.

There are three sets of differences between these plans: their respective size (from $25 billion to $75 billion without supplementals), their conduits (from tax cuts to direct hand outs) and their main beneficiaries among the working and the middle class, the retirees, the home owners hit by the subprime crisis, and the unemployed workers.

The charts below show that Clinton’s key measures focus on home owners impacted by the subprime crisis, as well as people hit by the rising cost of energy. On the other hand, Obama’s key measures are a large tax cut to the working and middle class and additional hand outs to retirees in need.

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