Obama News Conference 3/24/09 - Part 5

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama reassured Americans that his policies will lift the United States out of its recession, using a nationally televised news conference to press for support for his economic programs.

Obama sought to shift the attention of the nation Tuesday away from the outrage over massive bonuses paid to executives of bailed-out insurance giant American International Group. Instead, he looked to cast the spotlight on a series of plans he has offered to revive the U.S. economy.

His latest efforts were announced this week. On Monday, his administration released details of a plan to thaw the nation's credit freeze by buying up toxic assets clogging banks' balance sheets. And earlier Tuesday, top economic officials pushed Congress for new powers to regulate nonbank financial companies like AIG.

In his opening remarks, Obama said jobs have been saved because of the $787 billion economic stimulus measure that Congress passed, and the United States is "beginning to see signs of increased sales and stabilized housing prices for the first time in a long time."

At the same time, he said full-fledged recovery is months away, adding, "it will take patience."

He also said his administration was taking steps to make sure banks have money to lend "even if the economy gets worse."

Obama remains widely popular, but his administration has endured some rocky weeks. The outrage over the AIG bonuses has kept the administration on the defensive. Republicans have denounced what they see as wasteful spending in the economic stimulus program and in Obama's $3.6 trillion budget proposal. And he has run into opposition from some Senate Democrats on a middle-class tax cut that is part of the budget proposal.

But Obama said his administration was attacking the economic crisis "on all fronts."

"It's a strategy to create jobs, to help responsible homeowners, to restart lending and to grow our economy over the long term," Obama said.

The news conference came as Obama prepares for a European trip next week that includes a London summit on the global economic crisis, while, away from the economy, an announcement is expected by Friday on a revamped U.S. strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

While the news conference was dominated by domestic economic issues, Obama also touched on some international matters.

Asked about the drug violence in Mexico, Obama praised President Felipe Calderon's efforts to stop drug gangs, adding "we need to do more to make sure that illegal guns and cash aren't flowing back to these cartels."

He also rejected a call by China for a new global currency to replace the U.S. dollar.

The Obama administration's proposal to restart the financial system sent stocks surging around the globe Monday, though U.S. stocks slipped back somewhat on Tuesday.

The financial rescue plan seeks to melt a vast credit freeze by helping banks shed bad loans. Under the proposal, the government will finance the purchase by private investors of as much as $1 trillion of the $2 trillion in bad assets still held by the nation's banks, in the hopes of freeing banks to begin lending more freely and churn up economic activity.

But anti-AIG ferocity threatens to undermine Obama's efforts to bail out the financial sector, by possibly scaring investors away from the new program and by making it more difficult to wring more bailout money out of Congress.

Obama said he was as angry as anyone at the AIG bonus payments but added, "we can't afford to demonize every investor or entrepreneur who tries to make a profit."

He defended his decision to wait a few days before expressing his anger over the AIG bonuses. "It took us a couple days because I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak."

On Wednesday, a day after taking questions in prime-time television viewing hours — to maximize the unfiltered exposure of his message — Obama is heading to Congress to lobby Senate Democrats.

Despite campaigning on a promise to break through Washington's partisan divisions, he has won little Republican support for his economic plans.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell cast the proposed budget as an over-spending, over-taxing disaster. An analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released last Friday estimates Obama's budget would generate deficits totaling $9.3 trillion over the next decade.

"If these plans are carried out, we run the risk of looking like a Third World country," McConnell said.

But Obama repeated his claim that his budget plans would cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term in 2011 — "even under the most pessimistic estimates."

Obama's job approval rating is 63 percent, according to the Gallup polling organization. That number has been relatively stable recently, down from the 68 percent when the president took office mostly on a loss of support among Republicans.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Obama
• News
• Conference
• Economy
• Press
• Stimulus
• Budget
• Congress

[VANWES]

Obama showed tremendous resolve tonight.The press is determined to destroy public confidence.

[darkchocosinger]

YOU SMOKE TOO MUCH RUSH.

[jonojms]

Change your phone!

[klg1956]

America is going to hell in a handbasket woven by the UNION...that is going to cost Americans 18 Trillion dollars with tax and license and all the reporters want to know is do you wear boxers or briefs Mr. President?....LOL...who are these guys and how did they get these jobs if they can't think? Critical Thinking and Reporting has been replaced by Creative Writing and Feeling....Where are the hard questions my six year old was asking me?

[boots920]

Strangest thing I've ever witnessed, I got concerned when I noticed our main stream media in Canada is being censored.

Its very, very bad...looks like all world leaders are in on the scam. 1971 US closes gold window, how come another currency wasn't created, backed by gold ?

[BendoverBernanke]

boots, your speaking to people that are fast asleep, they still believe in the myth of republican/democrat--liberal/c­onservative. Let them continue to draw circles around themselves. They are to busy calling eachother names, to notice that both parties are raping this nation with the help of central banks.

[smilingseal]

Bank of America is not allowing line of equity or new loans on income property.

Even the collateral equity and borrower credit score is excellent.

Why, is this?  Interest rates are low, why arent they doing business with people??

i thought our governement is pouring money in the financial institutions for that exclusive purpose?

Something is really wrong here

lets fix this now....interest rates will not stay low, people need to refincance, and borrow to invest.

[boots920]

In the real world gold and silver is money, you're about to see the biggest fiat money bubble go poof.

The Fed has started buying their own debt, that's what banana republic's do. The dollar is still going to be around , it just won't buy much ($20 for a loaf of bread), maybe a $100.

[nThErEsYeRsIgN]

Nox, no probably not, but I GUARANTEE that CEO worked a lot harder from the time he was a factory worker until he made CEO! Why is it that so many people want to punish someone for working their ass off all of their lives to be successful? WTF? You can do the same thing if you just get off your lazy ass and work hard!

Why does everyone think that the world or government owes them something?

Get off your ass and do something for yourself!

[nThErEsYeRsIgN]

We're not here to impress you boots. Man up and get with the real world. I'd be willing to bet you were in favor of these wars at the time, and now since it's not so popular, you turn in to a retard.

And I agree Geogr, there's been a lot of mistakes made no doubt, but reducing the defense is certainly not an answer, and cutting resources will do nothing for the folks that keep this country safe. It's campaign rhetoric for the tree huggers out there! And nothing more. This is the world we live in

[Geographer76]

Where did I say that? The reason a CEO gets paid more is that the CEO is responsible for the entire company's success or failure, the factory worker is not. I served in the military and that career showed me why a Forst Sergeant gets paid more than a ne Private. The private is responsible for himself and little else, as a First Sergeant I was responsible for myself as well as the actions of the 250 soldiers in my unit.