OBAMA ECONOMIC PLAN

Democratic US presidential candidate Barack Obama has unveiled an "economic rescue plan for the middle class".At its heart is a $60bn expansion of spending to help individuals, companies and states hit by the slowdown.

These benefits include:

• Temporary tax credits for firms that create jobs in the US
• A 90-day moratorium on foreclosure for homeowners who are making "good faith" efforts to keep up their payments
• Temporary elimination of tax on unemployment benefits
• A new body to lend to state and city governments who are finding it hard to get access to credit markets
• Penalty-free withdrawals of up to $10,000 from people's retirement savings plans

These proposals are additional to the $115bn in tax cuts to households earning under $250,000 that Mr Obama has already proposed.Senator Obama's plan follows the approach adopted by Congress in its earlier economic stimulus package, which gave temporary and targeted, rather than broad-brush help.The Democrats would like to call Congress back into an emergency lame-duck session immediately after the election in November to pass the new emergency stimulus package.Mr Obama also has a number of longer-term spending plans, including investing $15bn a year in renewable energy and a big programme of rebuilding US infrastructure, such as bridges and roads.

He says that these plans will create seven million new jobs over 10 years.