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WASHINGTON, D.C.--The White House's $3.6 trillion budget, outlined Thursday, provides a broad plan for government spending during the next decade and a road map for slashing the deficit from $1.75 trillion to $533 billion by 2013. But its true value may be in what it says about how Americans will be taxed during that same period.

Specifics of the Obama administration's budget plan won't be unveiled until April--standard procedure for a first-year president. But many of the broad strokes are campaign promises finally put to paper, causing worry from some quarters of the business community. "There's a significant business tax increase suggested in this budget," says Clint Stretch, a tax expert at Deloitte Tax LLP in Washington.

Among them is the closure of tax "loopholes" for the oil and natural gas industries, raising revenue by $32 billion over the next decade. In part, the money would come from reinstating an excise tax on oil and gas from the Gulf of Mexico. It would take away a tax deduction that treats oil and gas as manufactured goods. And it would repeal provisions that allow some drilling costs to be counted as expenses instead of an investment.

The industry, obviously, is not happy. "New taxes could mean fewer American jobs and less revenue at a time when we desperately need both," says Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute. Less revenue? Higher taxes would discourage oil and natural gas investment domestically, sending it overseas, he argues.

Another major concern is a very vague line item that calls for better implementation of international tax enforcement, reform of tax deferral for income earned and kept overseas, and "other tax reform policies." It's expected to raise revenues by $210 billion during the next 10 years.

Business groups don't like what they see. "We've all been invited to the dinner, but some of us turn out to be the main course," says Martin Regalia, chief economist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Of course, not all proposals affecting business are tax hikes. As he proposed on the campaign trail, Obama's budget calls for an elimination of capital gains taxes on small businesses, which would begin to take effect in 2014. A permanent expansion of the "research and experimentation" tax credit would take effect in 2010, costing $74.5 million over a 10-year period.

Also assumed is an expansion of a tax provision that allows businesses to carry back current losses to prior years when they were profitable. That means they can get big refunds from the Treasury now from the taxes they paid in their profitable years. The details aren't spelled out, but PriceWaterhouseCoopers tax expert Lindy Paull says the figures indicate that the "carryback" period will be five years for all businesses.

, Ford Motor Chief Executive Alan Mulally sat shoulder-to-shoulder with the bosses of General Motors and Chrysler like a line of delinquent schoolboys.

But now that the Bush administration has agreed to lend GM and Chrysler $17.4 billion to stave off bankruptcy, Mulally is running as fast as he can from those other guys. "We're in a different place," says Mulally, whose company had $19 billion in cash on Sept. 30 and isn't seeking an immediate cash infusion.

Don't be so sure. Ford, which lost $8.7 billion through September, may yet need taxpayer money. It is burning more than $2 billion a month and has asked for a $9 billion line of credit as a safety net in case industry conditions worsen. And it's looking more and more like Ford will need it.

Ford's financial projections are based on a rosier industry sales forecast--12.5 million vehicles (including heavy trucks) in 2009 and 14.5 million in 2010--than most industry experts predict. JD Power & Associates is forecasting 11.4 million light-vehicle sales in 2009 and 13.6 million for 2010.

IHS Global Insight is even more pessimistic. It now forecasts sales of 10 million to 10.5 million light vehicles for 2009, and 12.5 million units for 2010. GM's best case scenario is 12 million units in 2009 and 14 million in 2010, though its business plan is based on more conservative estimates. Last year, the industry sold 16.1 million light vehicles.

If Ford's assumptions prove too optimistic--as is likely--it too will be approaching Uncle Sam for help. "All automakers, including Ford, are going to need government money," says IHS Global Insight analyst Rebecca Lindland.

Self-interest required Mulally to stand up for his weaker competitors. A collapse of one or both would hurt suppliers and could potentially bring down Ford as well. But in the meantime, Ford is shrewdly portraying itself as the healthiest U.S. carmaker and quietly stealing market share from its crosstown rivals. Ford gained 1.4 points of market share in November, while GM lost 1.6 points and Chrysler lost 2.3 points.\

Many observers are pessimistic about the economy because they believe a vicious downward cycle has taken hold, where less spending leads to fewer jobs, which reduces purchasing power, leading to even more job losses. Many just can't see how this vicious cycle will stop.

We are frequently asked, what is the "catalyst" for a recovery? What force (external or internal) will break the downward cycle of job losses? How does it ever end?

Taking this thought process to its conclusion clearly shows that something is missing. If job losses beget less spending and more job losses, then recessions would never end. On the other hand, if job gains beget more spending and more job gains, then expansions would never end.

A cursory look at history shows that this can't be true. Since 1854, the U.S. economy has gone through 32 business cycles (recessions and recoveries). In other words, the direction of economic activity eventually changed. Many times in these past cycles, the economy started to recover well before employment turned up. Take the last time consumption fell during a recession, in the early 1990s. In the four quarters after the end of the official recession, "real" (inflation-adjusted) consumption increased 2.9% even as payrolls continued to decline.

There are a number of reasons why this is true. The first reason is that the combined decisions we make as independent members of a free society tend to generate economic growth. When people lose their jobs, it does not mean they lose their ability to be productive. It may take time for them to find a new position that matches their skill set, but as long as they have worthwhile abilities, they will eventually get another chance to produce.

In the meantime, companies can use layoffs to increase efficiency, laying the groundwork for future increases in profits and wages for their remaining workers. What that means is that a 1% loss in jobs results in a smaller than 1% loss of production. And using assets more productively frees up resources to do "new" things. We have lost millions of farming jobs over the decades and centuries, but the nation as a whole is more prosperous as a result, not less.

In addition, if a recession is partly caused by over-investment in a particular sector, two forces drive down jobs in that sector, but one is temporary. For example, home building exceeded demand, and those extra jobs were unnecessary. Reducing inventories of homes will cause employment to fall even further. But once excess inventories are worked off, the industry will add jobs, even if it does not ramp up to the previous peak in production.

(CNN) -- The rapper Common wants to take hip-hop in a new direction, he says, and he has an unsuspecting ally -- President-elect Barack Obama.

Obama "is going to change hip-hop for the better," predicted the rapper, whose eighth album, "Universal Mind Control" (G.O.O.D. Music/Geffen), hits shelves Tuesday.

"I really do believe we as hip-hop artists pick up what's going on in the world and try to reflect that," he told CNN, outlining his belief that mainstream as well as so-called "conscious" rappers -- the more socially aware -- will pick up on what he sees as the more optimistic prospects of an Obama presidency.

"I think hip-hop artists will have no choice but to talk about different things and more positive things, and try to bring a brighter side to that because, even before Barack, I think people had been tired of hearing the same thing," he said.

Likewise, "Universal Mind Control," with its hook-heavy, synthed-out tracks, represents a "broadening" of hip-hop's audience -- one that demands evolution rather than hackneyed revamps of old beats, rhythms and rhymes, Common said. Listen to clips from the album and Common's interview with CNN.com »

Not that Common, born Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr., is altogether removed from the temptations of his hip-hop brethren.

He serves as a spokesman for Lincoln Navigator and purports on his new album to "rebel in YSL," a reference to designer Yves Saint Laurent. Money is also a weakness, as Common -- No. 14 on Forbes magazine's 2008 list of richest rappers -- regularly invokes the greenbacks he makes and spends.

Still, Common has come at hip-hop from a different angle from many of his colleagues. He was generally considered "underground" until he linked up with Kanye West, who produced his albums "Be" (2005) and "Finding Forever" (2007).

Even now, while paying homage at mainstream hip-hop's altar, the Chicago-born lyricist also enters parishes where most rappers wouldn't be seen. He's helped front movements for HIV/AIDS awareness and vegetarianism, and he's written two children's books emphasizing the importance of self-esteem.

Lyrically, violence has never been his thing; soft-drug use has been mentioned but rarely glamorized; he removed homophobic references from his lyrics years ago; and while there have been hints of misogyny and the occasional N-word in his verses, neither has been a staple of his rhymes.

"I've always been conscious, honestly," he said. "I made a choice on this album, 'Universal Mind Control,' to really make some music that was bright, that would be a little more lighthearted, just because of what was going on in the world." Read more from the interview

With a few exceptions, his latest lyrics are consummate Common. In his beat poet's cadence, the 36-year-old rhymesmith aggressively courts the ladies, personifies hip-hop, aggrandizes himself and his hometown (lovingly, "the Chi"), and respectfully doles out props to hip-hop's forefathers -- most notably to Afrika Bambaataa on the album's title track. Hear the title track »

The album's sound, however, is atypical, moving -- sometimes jerkily -- from club-banger to anthem to ballad to Top 40. The latter even runs counter to the opening verse of "Everywhere": "No pop, no pop, no pop, no pop/We gonna do this thing till the sky just drop."

But the sound is part of "a whole new sound and a new movement" in hip-hop, something he explored out of disdain for repetition and predictability, he said. That might explain Kanye West's relative absence on "Universal Mind Control."

The Louis Vuitton don appears on only one track, the pop-drenched "Punch Drunk Love." But West has long been credited, even by Common, with bringing his fellow Chicagoan to the mainstream after "Be" and "Finding Forever" went gold and leapt up the Billboard 200.

Of course, it's not all Kanye, said Common.

"I'm a true believer that it all boils down to the music, because Kanye can endorse something, and if people don't like it they ain't gonna get with it -- regardless of whoever endorses it," he said.

He compared his working relationship with West to the collaboration he enjoyed with The Neptunes' Pharrell Williams on "Universal Mind Control." Williams, whom Common casually likened to Quincy Jones, pushed him lyrically, much like West did, he said.

Between Williams and Mr. DJ -- who composed backbeats for some of OutKast's biggest hits -- Common arrived at the evolution he sought, he added.

Common also is plotting a change, or at least a detour, in his career path. Though his past cinematic endeavors have been primarily gangster flicks, Common has landed a role in the upcoming "Terminator Salvation" and could play Green Lantern in "Justice League: Mortal" should the derailed movie get back on track.

"I would truly love to go increasingly in the acting direction," he said. "My goal is to be a movie star. I want to be at Will Smith's level. I want to be co-leading with Leonardo DiCaprio."

Fear not, Common fans. The aspiring thespian is confident he can pull off both, though hip-hop might ride sidecar to the silver screen. Acting, he said, seems to improve his music.

"I don't take as much time overthinking it. Actually, since 'Be' I've been working on films and each album has been expanding and increasing, so I feel like I would still make music, but it wouldn't be the main gig," he said.

Selling albums, Common said, is about more than good music, and though he stands proudly by the music he made pre-West, he concedes he didn't do enough to claw his way up from the underground.

"After you make good, quality music, then it's your job to go out there and promote it and to market it and to get it out there to the people. I feel like I wasn't doing that early on," he said. "Now I am, and I feel like I'm growing as a songwriter and working with producers that are very incredible, so I feel all that is contributing to me getting the recognition that I'm getting."

(CNN) -- There's no indication when -- or if -- the White House and congressional leaders will reach agreement on the Democrats' proposal to give troubled U.S. automakers a financial lifeline.

General Motors Corp. and Chrysler could get $15 billion in federal loans as soon as December 15, according to a working Democratic draft of proposed legislation and a senior Democratic congressional aide.

Meanwhile, one key GM official already is talking about the need for more help from the government -- even before this package's approval.

In an interview Tuesday on CNN's "American Morning," Bob Lutz, GM vice chairman of global product development, told anchor John Roberts that he expects the industry to go back to Washington next year for more money.

John Roberts: A lot of taxpayers are asking if you get this $15 billion collectively, what will you do to make sure your company won't fail?

Bob Lutz: Well, first of all, GM will only get a portion of that money and ... this is simply a bridge loan which will get us into the next administration, where we hope we can do something more fundamental. Because the main problem is the lack of liquidity and the lack of revenue flowing in as we're facing absolutely the lowest, lowest car market in history, and it's not just the domestics, the Japanese are all down 30 percent and 40 percent. Their inventories are piling up. You know, this isn't a question of Detroit is in trouble; the whole automobile industry is going to be in trouble

Roberts: You don't see Toyota and Honda coming to the government for a handout. But based on what you said there -- that this is just the beginning -- you're going to need more money next year?

Lutz: I think that's a reasonable assumption.

Roberts: How much more?

Lutz: At this point, you know, that's going to have to be discussed with Congress. We'll have to see. But this is definitely a bridge loan that will solve the immediate liquidity problem

Roberts: When you come to Congress next year and say, OK, you gave us $15 billion in December, now we need X amount of money, how difficult a sales job will that be?

Lutz: You know, I don't think anybody in Congress or the president-elect assumes that this is all the money that is going to be required to bridge this liquidity crisis that the American automobile industry is facing, and, again, it all depends on how fast we have an economic recovery. Again, let me restate this. At 10.8 or 10.5 million total market, we do not have a viable automobile industry in this country for anybody.
iReport.com: How is the automaker crisis affecting you? Should there be a bailout?

Roberts: Yesterday, you took out a full page ad in the Automotive News Journal; it was a big mea culpa. I guess on GM'S part. You said in part we acknowledge we disappointed you. We violated your trust by letting our quality fall and our designs become lackluster. You also laid out a GM commitment to the American people. First thing, you said specifically we're committed to producing automobiles you want to buy and are excited to own. There are many people who might think that's just a fundamental tenet of free enterprise, and why should that be revolutionary?

Lutz: It isn't. I think people were expecting this sort of message. What we're trying to do with an ad like that is live down this legacy of the '80s. Everybody agrees that American cars of the '80s were not very good and were not competitive with the Japanese. But that was a long time ago.

We've now equaled the Japanese in productivity and quality, and speaking for General Motors we got Car of the Year with the Saturn Aura, Car of the Year for Chevy Malibu, Truck of the Year with the Silverado, Green car of the Year with the Silverado hybrid, and on and and on. Car of the Year with the Cadillac CTS.

Roberts: One more question, Bob, certainly, as a condition of this bridge loan, the government is going to appoint a car czar to oversee what you do with it. They will talk about what kind of models you should build, fuel efficiency you should get. There will be a government approval of any vehicles you make. Who would you like to see as the car czar?

Lutz: Wait a minute. We don't know if it will be a czar or overseer. I doubt whether this person would dictate the product policy.

Roberts: Certainly an idea they are talking about. Who would you be comfortable with as car czar?

Lutz: I wouldn't even -- other than myself? Unfortunately I'm not available because I'm still gainfully employed.

Roberts: Some people [are] floating the idea maybe [that former Massachusetts Gov.] Mitt Romney would be a good car czar. He comes down hard on you guys. His father [George Romney] ran American Motors for a time.

Lutz: Well, I hardly think that the automobile business is a genetic trait, but he would probably be satisfactory as would many other people.

Wal-Mart will start selling iPhones by the end of the year, but it is unlikely that they will be available in time to take advantage of holiday sales.

Of more importance, perhaps, is that the phone may be sold for its lowest price yet—$99.

The rumors started circulating last week that a partnership between Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ) and Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) may be in the works, but Bloomberg confirmed today that employees at five California stores said that Wal-Mart will offer iPhones by the end of December, likely after Christmas.

Two of the representatives said the store will carry two models.

Bloomberg said analysts are suspecting that Apple may use the partnership to sell a discontinued 4-gigabyte version, which will allow it to hit what is considered a low price point for a smartphone.

Wal-Mart will be the second outside chain to be allowed to sell the device, following Best Buy (nyse: BBY - news - people ).

Currently, two models are for sale—an 8-gigabyte and 16-gigabyte version for $199 and $299.

In the last few years, working from home has gone from being a rarity to a reality.

With advances in technology, more people are able to link to work from their home computers or laptops. And as employees continue to crave flexibility and yearn for a better work/life balance, more people are working from home for at least part of their workweek.

Home-based companies

While many companies are allowing existing employees to transition to various telecommuting options, some companies are also building work forces that are made up solely of employees working from home. Watch how to best handle working from home »

Here is a sample of 10 companies that only hire at-home workers:

• Alpine Access is a call center company that uses customer service representatives that work from home. Employees use their own telephones and computers. The company provides representatives for clients like Office Depot and J. Crew.

• Convergys hires home-based call center agents who provide support in customer service, and also supplies sales agents or help desk staff for companies.

• Extended Presence provides their clients with outbound sales agents and marketing support staff who work from home.

• Internet Girl Friday provides information technology support as well as administrative services for clients nationwide.

• LiveOps provides customer service support for a variety of major corporations.

• Spheris provides support to medical professionals. Their services include medical transcription and clinical documentation.

• Staffcentrix supplies virtual assistants for business clients, including CEOs and upper management of major corporations.

• VIPDesk provides call center support and also offers a home-based concierge service to clients.

• Voicelog provides representatives to perform verifications for transactions done online or by telephone. Many states require changes to telephone service and other remote transactions to be verified by a third party, which VoiceLog provides.

• West At Home also hires home-based customer service agents. They cater to a specific range of industries, specializing in health care and pharmaceutical support, as well as the hospitality industry.

Employees need to meet some basic requirements, including having a telephone and access to a PC. Although the work is conducted from home, interviews for the job aren't always done remotely.

Working at home is a growing and legitimate opportunity, but workers should still beware of any job that asks you to invest money, provide access to a bank account or give up a great deal of personal information up front. These are indicators of a possible scam.

Traditional companies with home-based workers

Some traditional companies also have home-based workers in the mix as part of their overall staffing strategies. Companies as diverse as American Airlines, TDS Telecom, 1-800-FLOWERS, Sprint and Xerox have programs that enable traditional workers to transition to telecommuting or hire workers specifically to work at home.

Aetna is one of the companies that has developed and implemented such a program. "Our telework program started as a grassroots initiative to keep talented employees when there were site consolidations," Aetna Telework Program head Eileen Levin explains.

The program, which started only a few years ago, has become very popular with employees. Levin notes that since the inception of the program, participation has jumped 300 percent. Around 10,000 Aetna employees, or 27 percent of the company's work force, now work from home.

Levin says that the company looks at several factors before transitioning a job or task to be done at home. Aetna ensures that the employee is an appropriate candidate to work at home. It also confirms that the home office is a stable, business-friendly environment. And most importantly, Aetna carefully considers whether the job is an appropriate choice to be performed by home-based workers.

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta is another company that is mixing traditional workers with employees who work from home. These home-based employees include medical transcriptionists and nurses who operate the hospital's Advice Line, a hotline where Laurie Peterson, one of the Advice Line nurses, has been working for CHOA from home for 11 years. She takes calls that vary from minor questions to emergency situations, and provides callers with a recommended course of action based on their conversations.

Peterson says, "I really enjoy being able to use my nursing judgment and experience right here in the convenience of my own home. We get inquiries from people both locally and all over the world seeking help with their child's health problems. At the end of a shift, it's very fulfilling for me to know I've helped allay a parent's fears."

If you're a worker who wants to transition from commuting to the office to working at home, talk to your company. Think about these discussion points before approaching your boss:

• Talk to the company about how offering this option to you and other employees will benefit them. Money talks, so be sure to refer to any potential savings the company will see by implementing this program. With gas prices at a record high, you should also underscore your savings, as well as the environmental benefits of working from home.

• Not every job or every process can be done from home, so be ready with a plan. Identify jobs and transactions at the company that can be done easily, safely and securely from home.