Obama News Conference 3/24/09 - Part 2

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.

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[keats42]

DonPhilip, good point. However that will never work because the liberals are angry people. Look at all the comments from these videos and every liberal is mad. They will always be angry about something and if you "give" them a little they take and demand more. It's actually sad reading some of these comments because these people are sitting with their hands out waiting for Barry to fix it all for them. About your flag comment - funny seeing Barry finally wearing one. Sad, real sad.

[billmuneio]

I don't know what you mean by Eagles? but the people bought tripe over the last 8 years. Now there finally waking up.

[Lobbyistdantelynch]

@keats42 I'm not a liberal. I don't say crazy things about the Federal Reserve or Wall Street. In fact, I did work on Wall Street. These tax-cut extensions for the super wealthy are a colossal failure though.  They create tremendous inequities and involve innumberable other negative externalities.

[lucasregan1986]

Our whole outlook towards economic infascructure is based on the limitations of our current technologies-

We need andriods and robotics artifitial intelligience-(co2 molecular alterations(is that cold fusion?)

[crackers2012]

"OOOOOOOO I luv to dance a little side step, now you see me now you don't. I'm here and gone" LOL

[nThErEsYeRsIgN]

Agreed JT, how can we, as US citizens, execute our rights as defined in the Constitution? I would support this monumental task in defending our greatest, most sacred document.

The GM issue seems to be inline with the country as a whole. We all know GM won't survive in it's current state, no matter how much money we throw at them, and this is the same thing we're going through as America. No matter how much money Obama spends, it's not going to fix anything. It's inexperience in the truest sense

[JT8800]

Well put.

[JT8800]

imyourdave-he has the chance-We are not united, We are crucially divided. We are not standing nor are we falling. We are already on our knees. Get with it, sir. Stop making excuses for this disgrace of a 'President'. He may be the laughing stock of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, but this individual, this 'Manchurian Candidate', is bound and determined to ruin much of what we have become. Our allies chuckle at us- If God cannot help us, please Americans-vote this bastard out of office.

[jmagic32971]

oh can someone answer this? in all the money that he passed ,how many millions went back to work or gotten back into their homes didnt he promise that in his campaign did all he said that he promised came true yet? show me where he kept his promise in anything he said

[jmagic32971]

yes mccain would be different he wouldnt spend trillions on earmarks like this man did we would have fewer issues to deal with him than this fake president .i thought we was going to bring the troops home cause since hes in office now the world will like us .LIES .oh what about the 750 BILLION stimulus bill where they dont know where the money went to .LIES .passed 400 billion package to remove bad assets from banks.LIES

[hecks305]

Do you think Mccane be any different ?

[nThErEsYeRsIgN]

Not only that, but he obviously wouldn't answer the question, "if the tax cut for 95% is not in the bill, will you sign it"HAHAHAHA, ya'll been had! How's that working for ya? Don't you feel proud for making history? You made history alright! The people who truly lose are the weak and dependent, and that appears to be the majority of the people that voted for this charade. Wonder how many of them smoke? How will they pay for them after 4-1?Did they think ACORN would continue to pad their habit?