Read in full "
Remarks by the President in a Town Hall Meeting in Decorah, Iowa"
The good:
Began with a discussion of employment and events that affected the economy:
Now, some of the challenges are not of our own making. We had reversed the recession, avoided a depression, got the economy moving again, created 2 million private sector jobs over the last 17 months. But over the last six months, we’ve had a run of bad luck, some things that we could not control. We had an Arab Spring that promises democracy and potentially a growth of human rights throughout the Middle East, but it also caused high gas prices that put a crimp on a lot of families just as they were trying to dig themselves out from the recession. Then we had a tsunami in Japan that disrupted supply chains and affected markets all around the world. And then in Europe, there are all kinds of challenges around the sovereign debt there, and that has made businesses hesitant and some of the effects of Europe have lapped onto our shores. And all those things have been headwinds for our economy.
Now, those are things that we can’t completely control. The question is, how do we manage these challenging times and do the right things when it comes to those things that we can control? See, the problem we have is not with our country; the problem is that our politics is broken. (Applause.) The problem is, is that we’ve got the kind of partisan brinksmanship that is willing to put party ahead of country, that’s more interested in seeing their political opponents lose than seeing the country win.
Pointed out the balanced budget under the Clinton administration:
Now, we do have to be thinking about how we invest in education and how we invest in infrastructure and how we invest in basic research, but still do it while the government is living within its means. And neither party is blameless on this. The truth is we had a balanced budget in 2000 -- the last time we had a Democratic President -- (applause) -- and what we ended up doing was we had two wars that we didn’t pay for, a prescription drug plan we didn’t pay for. We had two tax cuts that we did not pay for, and the result was a burgeoning debt. And then what ended up happening was because of the recession and the lack of regulation on Wall Street, this wrenching recession meant less tax revenues coming in and more going out, because we were providing help to states to make sure teachers and police officers and firefighters weren’t laid off, and to make sure that we could help small businesses and put people back to work.
Supported closing tax loopholes:
I think it makes sense for us to say, you know what, let’s close some loopholes that only oil and gas companies are able to take advantage of to make sure that we don’t have to cut back on Pell Grants for students who are trying to go to college and get a better education.
Called for investing in hiring teachers and rebuilding infrastructure:
So states all across the country are laying off teachers -- this is not the time for us to be laying off teachers. We should be training teachers -- (applause) -- putting the best teachers in front of the classroom, because whoever’s best educated is going to win the race for the future.
Now is not the time for us to not invest in infrastructure. We used to have the best roads, the best bridges, the best seaports, and these days China has got better airports than us. Europe has better rail systems. Try to get products to market -- we should have the best. We should have the best smart grid that transmits energy from solar panels and wind turbines to high-population centers, which could be an income generator for rural America and would improve our environment and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Those are investments we should be making right now. (Applause.)
In the Q&A he expressed concern with the consequences of the Supreme Court's
Citizens United v. FEC decision:
And as we go into this presidential election, what you’re going to see is unlimited money that’s going to be going on the airwaves -- and, frankly, we’re already seeing it. I mean, I think they’ve already spent about $20 million, $30 million around the country going after me, and nobody even knows where this money is coming from. You got a bunch of front groups. They’re usually called something having to do with freedom or -- you know. We don’t know who they are. They’re not accountable to anybody.
Here’s the good news, though -- I mean, right now, the Supreme Court has made a ruling -- we’re not going to be able to change it -- but slowly, surely, when the American people put their voice behind something, eventually the system responds. It may not always respond as fast as we want, but eventually it responds. And so if voters all across the country say we want a different kind of politics, we will get a different kind of politics.
If all of you are enlisted in the fight to make sure that we’ve got a country that is looking out for middle-class families and promoting common sense, and thinking about the next generation and not just the next election, and is thinking more about country than it is about party, and is less interested in vilifying opponents than figuring out how to get something done, then we’re going to start electing folks who do that.
The uncomforting:
Favoring free trade:
Look, we’ve got a whole bunch of Kias and Hyundais here in the United States of America on our roads, and that’s fine and good. But I want some Chryslers and some GMs and some Fords on the roads of the South Korea as well. We should go ahead and get those trade deals done.
Advising public employee unions to make shared sacrifice:
I do say, though, to my friends in the public sector unions that it is important that you are on the side of reform where reform is needed. Because the truth of the matter is, is that at a time when everybody is belt-tightening, there is nothing wrong with a union saying to itself, you know what, we know budgets are hard right now. Let’s sit down and say we’re willing to negotiate so that we’re making some sacrifices to maintain the number of teachers in the classroom and keep class sizes at a reasonable level. We’re willing to make some modifications in terms of how our pension systems work so that they’re sustainable for the next generation of teachers as long as it’s a conversation, as opposed to it simply being imposed and collective bargaining rights being stripped away.
At WashingtonMonthly.com, Steve Benen highlighted the president's
defense of unions.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
