Spokane7
58°
September 10, 2010 in Nation/World
Obama says economic progress ‘painfully slow’
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama insisted today that the U.S. economy is showing improvement from the deepest recession in decades but conceded the “progress has been painfully slow.” He said he understands that many voters in November’s elections may blame the weak recovery on him.
“For all the progress we’ve made, we’re not there yet. And that means people are frustrated and why people are angry,” he said at the White House in his first formal news conference since May. “Because I am president, and the Democrats have control the House and Senate, it’s understandable that people are saying, ’What have you done?”’
Obama repeated his insistence that Republicans drop stalling tactics on a bill to help small businesses when Congress returns next week from its summer recess.
Facing the possibility of a GOP blowout in November, Obama insisted again that Bush-era tax cuts be extended for individuals earning less than $200,000 a year and joint filers earning under $250,000. All the tax cuts are due to expire at the end of this year unless Congress acts.
Obama said Congress shouldn’t delay extending the middle-class tax cuts any longer.
“Why hold it up? Why hold the middle class hostage,” he said.
He said extending tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans “is a bad idea.”
Obama over the past week has outlined a trio of job-creation ideas designed to prod the economy: $50 billion for roads, rail lines and other infrastructure spending, a permanent research and development credit and upfront 100 percent business write-offs through 2012.
With polls suggesting that voters have decided — rightly or wrongly — that his $814 billion stimulus plan last year was less than a success, the White House has been steering clear of portraying these new items as another stimulus.
Yet when he was asked directly whether the unpopularity of the first stimulus was why White House officials weren’t using that word this time, Obama said:
“I have no problem with people saying the president is trying to stimulate growth and jobs. There’s no doubt that everything we’ve been trying to do … is designed to stimulate growth and jobs in the entire economy.” He said he hoped Republicans had the same goal.
Seeking to rally his struggling party, Obama cast Democrats as warriors for the hard-pressed middle class and Republicans as protectors of millionaires and special interests.
Asked how he had changed Washington, Obama said the dreadful economy made it hard to demonstrate real progress.
“I think that’s fair. I’m as frustrated as anybody by it,” Obama said.
Stocks plummet as outlook in Europe dims 
lewis8457 on September 10 at 9:36 a.m.
dont fear Mr. president your supporters are more then happy to blame this on Bush they wont blame you until your out of office.
horse_feathers on September 10 at 9:39 a.m.
More of B HO’s BS
spokanada on September 10 at 10:06 a.m.
okay guys, what suggestions do you have to improve the economy and what would have McCain done to improve the economy?
bdr on September 10 at 10:18 a.m.
Question okay guys, what suggestions do you have to improve the economy ?
answer……let the Koran burner guy burn 12 trillion in China debt bonds……!
It amazes me how American’s are so dumb to continue to purchase china made goods……(when you know the profits from those goods don’t go back to the people) you been doing this for 38 years now. WAKE-UP!
When the profits are made by China only 1/100th goes to a china worker. The other portion 99% is held by the government and delved back into the American bond market.
I certainly wouldn’t be happy in China a 38 year experienced plumber only earns $238 dollar per month.
give China the boot!
This is a repressive country that is now depressing America.
spokanecougar on September 10 at 10:46 a.m.
Amazing that people thought Obama would wave his magic wand and magically the economy would be fixed in 24 hours after he took office. After Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Stupid Bush were in office for 30 years enacting policies that benefited the rich, benefited companies that shipped jobs overseas and policies that destroyed the middle class nobody could fix that in 2 years.
Remember in the past 30 years CEO pay has increased 1000% while the average workers pay has decreased. The average worker is making less money now than we were in the 1970’s, please someone tell how that is right and how that is benefiting this country?
Please someone tell me how Obama was suppose to fix that in 2 years and how McCain would have done any better or would he have continued the same policies of the last 30 years that got us in this mess?
IHike4Fun on September 10 at 11:02 a.m.
Amazing that anyone would think increasing the national debt to fund what largely turned out to be non-infrastructure pork barrel special interests could improve the economy. It increases the interst burden and slows the economy. But reckless, irresponsible spending is what this president and congress are good at.
horse_feathers on September 10 at 11:05 a.m.
spokanecougar,
Answer to your last question–— not by increasing the national debt to such astronomical levels in a 2 year period.
Scoutster on September 10 at 11:08 a.m.
When history is written, it will say
things were going great, the govt was solvent and everyone in the village was happy and prosperous, then Barack Obama was elected, and he took all that away from the little people.
Not.
spokanecougar on September 10 at 11:13 a.m.
You do know Bush expanded the national debt more than any other president in history with two unfunded wars and tax cuts for the rich….but if you guys are so worried about the debt you already knew that, right?
spokanada on September 10 at 11:20 a.m.
Well I guess if Obama increased the national debt by $1 then technically he did preside the largest debt in our nation’s history.
Don’t worry about horsecrap, he just repeats what he heard on the radio. No need to cloud your opinion with facts when responding to him.
misjustice on September 10 at 11:21 a.m.
The progress is slow because over 30 years of borrow and spend politics lead us to this point, so to expect a turn around in less than a 2 year time span is unrealistic.
Shrub’s tax cuts to his buddies, the haves and have mores, were “funded” by borrowing the money from China. The money for 2 wars, yep, also borrowed from China. Funny how there is political will for borrowing money from a repressive Communist country to fund tax breaks for the rich and war; but no will for internally funding, and investing in programs that will address the pressing needs of the disappearing middle class.
I hope that the party of NO! gets a majority in the house. I’d love to watch orange man, John Boner, as the new Speaker of the House drunkenly rage against the machine and attempt to unfold Glenn Beck’s 100 year plan. It will make for good political theatre when President Barack Hussein Obama gets out his VETO pen!
The party of NO! can write all the legislation they want; without the President’s signature it will never become law.
A divided Congress may be the best gift the party of NO! could give to the Democratic Party. And it would clearly show the party of NO! as the obstructionists that they are.
PhiltheBibliophil on September 10 at 11:21 a.m.
Exactly, after George Bush and his Halliburton Big Oil henchman, Tricky Dicky Cheenieweenie, what do you Flea Baggers think old Johnny McCain could have done? McCain would have thrown one of his famous temper tantrums and had a stroke and be in Walter Reed as a vegetable and Saint Sarh would be hiding in a White House closet sucking her thumb in the fetal position after sending Warships to the Falkland Islands off Argentina thinking they were North Korea. Get real, Republicans have NO more answers than Democrats!
Scoutster on September 10 at 11:21 a.m.
Can any Obama bashers name a single initiative (either a tax cut or a spending project, like a war) the GOP approved between 2001 and 2007 that didn’t ADD to the deficit?
Anything they actually PAID FOR with taxes?
johno on September 10 at 11:43 a.m.
I’m mad as hell so I’m going to vote for the Rupublican politicians that got us into this mess!
Rock60 on September 10 at 12:20 p.m.
Spokanecougar — Don’t tell me. You are either in school to be a teacher or are already one and will be indoctrinating our children. You are a Union member. You voted for this character and are proud of your vote. Move to Seattle if you love the Socialist ways so much. The village awaits you. Your indoctrinating will be easier there too.
Rock60 on September 10 at 12:22 p.m.
Spokanecougar — Don’t tell me. You are either in school to become a teacher or are already one and will be indoctrinating our children. You are a Union member. You voted for this character and are proud of your vote. Move to Seattle if you love the Socialist ways so much. The village awaits you. Your indoctrinating will be easier there too.
misjustice on September 10 at 12:22 p.m.
If George W. Bush doubled the national debt, which had taken more than 2 centuries to accumulate, in 1 year, would you have approved?
If GB had then proposed to double the debt again within 10 years, would you have approved?
If GB had criticized a state law that he admitted he never read, would you think that he is just an ignorant hot head?
If GB joined Mexico & sued a state in the US to force that state to continue to allow illegal immigration, would you question his patriotism & wonder what side he was on?
If GB had put 87,000 workers out of work by placing a moratorium on offshore oil drilling on companies that have one of the best safety records of any industry because one company had an accident would you have agreed? If GB had used a forged document as the basis of the moratorium would you support him?
If GB had been the first President to need a Tele-Prompter to be able to get through a press conference, would you have laughed & said this is more proof of how inept he is?
If GB had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars taking Laura to a play in NYC, would you have approved?
If GB had reduced your retirement holdings of GM stock by 90% & given the unions a majority stake in GM, would you have approved?
If GB had made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics, would you have approved?
If GB had given Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive & incorrectly formatted DVDs, when Gordon Brown had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved?
If GB had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos of his speeches, would you have thought this embarrassingly narcissistic & tacky?
If GB had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, would you have approved?
If GB had visited Austria & made reference to the nonexistent “Austrian language,” would you have brushed it off as a minor slip?
If GB had filled his cabinet & circle of advisers with people who cannot seem to keep current in their income taxes, would you have approved?
If GB had stated that there were 57 states in the United States, would you have said that he is clueless?
If GB had flown to Denmark to make a five minute speech about how the Olympics would benefit him walking out his front door in Texas, would you have thought he was a self important, egotistical jerk?
If GB had been so Spanish illiterate to refer to “Cinco de Cuatro” in front of the Mexican ambassador when it was Cinco de Mayo, & continued to flub it when he tried again, would you have winced in embarrassment?
If GB had burned 9,000 gallons of jet fuel to go plant a single tree on Earth Day, would you have concluded he’s a hypocrite?
If GB’s administration had okay-ed Air Force One to fly low over downtown Manhattan for a photo op, causing widespread panic, would you have wondered whether they actually get what happened on 9-11?
If GB had failed to send relief aid to flood victims in the Midwest with more people killed or made homeless than in New Orleans, would you want it made into a major ongoing political issue with claims of racism and incompetence?
If GB had created the position of 32 Czars who report directly to him, bypassing the House and Senate on much of what is happening in America, would you have approved?
If GB had ordered the firing of CEO’s of a major corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so, would you have approved?
So, tell me again, what is it about Obama that makes him so brilliant & impressive? Can’t think of anything? He did all this in only 15 months — so you’ll have two plus years to come up with an answer.
Every statement I’ve made here is factual and directly attributable to Barrack Obama. For those of you that think this is pure conjecture on my part? Well, every bumble is a matter of record & completely verifiable.
misjustice on September 10 at 12:39 p.m.
gramms asks, If GB had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, would you have approved?
Umm, gramms, the Shrub did more than bow; he kissed the king, held his hand, and pranced around like a boy on a date (with another boy in a dress).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/911review/293457625/
What’s your point?
And where did you get your cut and paste listo?
misjustice on September 10 at 12:49 p.m.
Never mind, gramms. I found where you plagiarized your listo from…The National Gun Forum. You truly should cite your sources, gramms. Especially when you lift them verbatim.
http://www.nationalgunforum.com/showthread.php?24210-Has-anyone-seen-this-yet…-quot-If-GB…
lego on September 10 at 1:23 p.m.
Grandma, I just get sad when I see people so misinformed
“If George W. Bush doubled the national debt, which had taken more than 2 centuries to accumulate, in 1 year, would you have approved?”
Obama did not double the nation debt, if you look at spending programs enacted under G.W.B. you’ll see they account for most of the deficit spending. Ever heard of the unfunded Medicare Part D? Iraq, Afghanistan? The bank bailouts? Tax cuts that disproportionately benefited the rich? All enacted under G.W.B.
“If GB had then proposed to double the debt again within 10 years, would you have approved?”
Obama is not proposing to double the debt again in 10 years. These numbers are based on the fact that tax revenues are down because of the recession, health care costs keep rising, and we have several domestic programs that are unpaid for (like Medicaid part d), Iraq/Afghan wars.
“If GB had criticized a state law that he admitted he never read, would you think that he is just an ignorant hot head?”
Not really, the president has policy analysts that, you know, analyze policies and report back to the president. Besides that, this president actually reads the newspapers unlike our last one.
“if GB joined Mexico & sued a state in the US to force that state to continue to allow illegal immigration, would you question his patriotism & wonder what side he was on?”
Not really, I’d say he is on the side of protecting our constitutionally protected freedoms. There are plenty of Mexican/Spanish/Latin American citizens. Do they deserve to be racially profiled and harassed? Can you imagine being stopped and asked to prove you are an American citizen on a regular basis? This was already happening in some Arizona counties without this law.
“If GB had put 87,000 workers out of work by placing a moratorium on offshore oil drilling on companies that have one of the best safety records of any industry because one company had an accident would you have agreed?”
If by safe you mean an industry that was recently responsible for the largest oil spill in American history, and several reports were coming out suggesting this industry still has practices that could easily lead to the same situation happening again, then yes I would have agreed.
“If GB had reduced your retirement holdings of GM stock by 90% & given the unions a majority stake in GM, would you have approved?”
Would you rather have had GM go bankrupt making your stock worthless and laying off all their employees? I would like to point out that if GM had gone under it is quite probable Ford and Chrysler would have as well.
I could keep going on but i’ll give it a rest for now.
Albert on September 10 at 1:27 p.m.
“You do know Bush expanded the national debt more than any other president in history with two unfunded wars and tax cuts for the rich….but if you guys are so worried about the debt you already knew that, right?”
“In the first 19 months of the Obama administration, the federal debt held by the public increased by $2.5260 trillion, which is more than the cumulative total of the national debt held by the public that was amassed by all U.S. presidents from George Washington through Ronald Reagan.” CNS News, September 08, 2010”
Hum…who do I believe? One person who continually insults others with derogatory and degrading language, or a well informed and documented news source???
misjustice on September 10 at 1:41 p.m.
CNS? This CNS?
“A January 13, 2006, CNS article assailed the military record of Democratic Rep. John Murtha, a former Marine who has heavily criticized the Iraq war. The article quoted people who were either former political opponents of Murtha or who were dead or incapacitated casting aspersions on the two Purple Hearts Murtha earned while serving in the Vietnam War.[14] The next day, the Washington Post repeated the article’s allegations.[15] Critics likened the CNS article to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth attacks on the war record of Democrat John Kerry during the 2004 presidential campaign as another example of conservatives attempting to discredit the military credentials of Democrats in order to blunt their criticism of the Iraq war.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybercast_News_Service
Cybercast New Service, formally Conservative News Service, is well informed and well documented? They’re nothing but a bunch of swift boaters, hardly a well respected news source.
lego on September 10 at 1:45 p.m.
Albert -
Although the CNS News is technically correct, you have to account for the fact that most of that spending came from laws passed under Bush. Do you think that Medicare part D, Iraq/Afghanistan, and the tax cuts have stopped simply because G.W.B. is no longer in office?
Obama passed a budget neutral health care bill which will hopefully being down Medicare expenses, is trying to unwind our foreign wars, and let the absurd tax cuts the rich have received expire.
The only significant spending Obama has incurred was the stimulus bill, which is a one time expense to try and get the economy jump started.
So I ask, who is the more fiscally responsible president?
Albert on September 10 at 2:05 p.m.
Misjustice & Lego - I’m NOT political…just questioning “sources”, i.e. public agencies who purport to know what they are reporting - nothing else. All I do know is that we have spent a ton of money without significant results. Our debt load will never be repaid and in the very near future I have no doubt that we will implode. 1929 will see like child’s play - and we all know what is about to happen. I grow tired of all the “speeches, vacations, and ongoing blame game”. That’s all - nothing else - especially politics. No thank you - they all lie without exception.
horse_feathers on September 10 at 2:10 p.m.
This is B HO’s economy, he needs to quit crying & blaming others and take responsiblity
misjustice on September 10 at 2:13 p.m.
“Because I am president, and the Democrats have control the House and Senate, it’s understandable that people are saying, ’What have you done?”’
How is that blaming others?
andjusticeforall on September 10 at 2:36 p.m.
we should all know by now that “GRAMMA” supports the dumb idiot bush & just like he supports the officer who murdered Mr. Creach….hes just wanting to get a rise out of people with the ridiculous comments he posts….
as far as Obama…people should have read more into him before voting him in just to have a black pres. im totally against bush but also not a fan of obama … we need a real pres
eagleproducer on September 10 at 9:58 p.m.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ…
It’s the military industrial complex, stupid.
Erik_T on September 10 at 10:58 p.m.
andjusticeforall:
Who would you suggest?
We need a true Jeffersonian President. We have not had such a politician/Presidential Candidate/American in over one-hundred years in this country.
For what it is worth, Ron Paul is as close as we have come to such a candidate in as many years.
However, the American people, the controlling special interest groups, and those in financial control of the monetary wealth of this nation, will never back an individual such as he.
Even if the American people were to back such an individual, the facist system of rule set forth by the 3%ers’/those same who believe and influence a state capitalistic form of rule, would most likely never let that candidate make it to the oval office.
Signs, signs, everywhere signs.