In contrast to Hillary, Obama favors significant tax rebates for lower- and

[Satyagrahi]

middle-income households:

Closing Income Gap Tops Obama’s Agenda for Economic Change
By DAVID LEONHARDT
Published: February 2, 2008

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If elected, Mr. Obama said he would to try to forge a popular mandate for policy changes that could reverse a generation of slow wage growth and outlast any one administration. At the top of his list would be shifting the tax burden more toward the wealthy and making investments — in health care, alternative-energy research and education — that would cost a significant amount of money but could ultimately lift economic growth.

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Although Mr. Obama’s economic approach comes wrapped in his conciliatory rhetoric, it is in some ways more aggressive than that of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, his rival for the Democratic presidential nomination.

He has called for shoring up Social Security by raising payroll taxes on very high earners, while she has not. He also favors a permanent tax credit of up to $1,000 for families in the bottom 90 percent or so of the income distribution, which makes his package of middle-class tax credits significantly larger than hers.

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His approach puts him somewhat to the left of the Clinton administration but broadly in line with the Democratic Party now.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/02/us/politics/02obama.html?ref=politics

Nobel Laureate in Economics Joseph Stiglitz thinks that this is the right approach:

How to Stop the Downturn
By JOSEPH E. STIGLITZ
Published: January 23, 2008

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But middle- and lower-income Americans have been suffering for the last seven years — median family income is lower today than it was in 2000. A tax rebate aimed at lower- and middle-income households makes sense, especially since it would be fast-acting."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/opinion/23stiglitz.html?scp=2&sq=JOSEPH+E.+STIGLITZ&st=nyt