WORLD> America
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WORLD> America
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Obama claims gains in fight against economic woes
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-03-25 11:28
• Said the American people are assessing his ability as chief executive based on his skills and work, not the color of his skin. He said there was justifiable pride in January, when he was inaugurated as the first black president. • Strongly defended his proposal to raise taxes on the wealthy by reducing the value of the deductions they may take for items such as home mortgages or charitable donations. It's a "realistic way for us to raise some revenue from people who benefited enormously over the last several years. Its not going to cripple them. They will still be well-to-do," he said.
• Said the recent elections in Israel would not make it easier to create a stable environment with side-by-side Israeli and Palestinian states. The president opened the news conference with a prepared statement read from a screen, turning the event's opening moments into a brief speech delivered to a nationwide TV audience in addition to the roomful of reporters. He said his administration was taking steps to make sure banks have money to lend "even if the economy gets worse." Obama said he did not feel the government should call on Americans to make sacrifices beyond those imposed by the recession and credit crisis. "Folks are sacrificing left and right ... across the board, people are making adjustments large and small," he said. Obama was quick with a retort when asked about Republican criticism of his budget, with its huge projected deficits. "First of all," he said he inherited a deficit of over $1 trillion from his predecessor. And secondly, he said the Republicans have yet to offer an alternative to his own tax and spending plan. Obama has emphasized a desire to cut projected deficits in half by the end of his current term, although recent estimates make it appear almost impossible barring an extraordinary series of events. Given concern in Congress over the red ink, Senate Democrats are drafting a separate budget plan that assumes Obama's proposed middle class tax cut expires after two years — the sort of sleight of hand that other administrations of both parties have used in the past. While Congress' budget does not go to the White House for a president's signature, the White House traditionally seeks to influence its provisions. Obama restated his objectives Tuesday night — health care overhaul, a new energy policy and more money for education and deficit control. Obama stepped to the microphone one day after his administration unveiled a plan to melt the 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. On Wednesday, Obama is heading to Capitol Hill to lobby Senate Democrats. Before Obama's speech, Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell emphasized Republican criticism of the president's proposed budget as an over-spending, over-taxing disaster. A Congressional Budget Office analysis 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," said McConnell, R-Ky. Obama's job approval rating is 63 percent, according to Gallup polling. 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. |
