President Obama Addresses the Economic Issues in a Major Policy Speech at Georgetown University on April 14th, 2009

President Barack Obama gave a live speech at Georgetown University on April 14, 2009, outlining his economic recovery plan and offering to the American people the transparency he promised during his campaign for the presidency. CNN, on whose “live” news channel I watched the address, found, in a survey of its listeners, that 58% of those surveyed think that Obama and the Democrats have ” a clear plan,” while only 24% think that the Republican opposition has offered any reasonable alternative. Seventy-four % of the American public responding to the CNN poll, in fact, thought that the Republicans had offered NO clear plan for economic recovery from the recession/depression we now find ourselves trying to overcome.

To start off his remarks, Obama said, “I think that even our critics would agree that we’ve been busy.” Indeed, analysts of the speech consulted later, like Richard Quest of CNN’s London branch, felt that, in many ways, Obama’s speech on this day had 2 purposes: (1) to explain what is being done to cure our economic crisis, in layman’s terms, to a national anxiously waiting to hear and (2) to rebut or refute the critics (like Rush Limbaugh and Fox News) who are only too quick to criticize and carp about each step the president has tried to take. As Maggie Lake of CNN put it, “It was a speech designed for the American taxpayer, saying, ‘I’m going to explain (the plan).'”

Obama stated, “Each action is driven by a larger view” of the future, saying, “That’s the America I see..that is the future that I see, an America that leads the world…” This was not just whistling in the dark. Obama really does envision the United States coming out of this “perfect storm of irresponsibility and greed,” beginning with the collapse of the housing market and coming at him at warp speed every day since he’s been in office. Indeed, at one point, he remarked that there were presidencies prior to his that never experienced such major crises, one after another. I’m sure he said that a bit ruefully, but, as an American taxpayer, I felt confident that this was the man best suited to formulate and oversee this plan, and the American response to the Somalian pirates’ take-over of an American vessel, which occurred just the day prior, only reinforced my belief that we are very lucky to have this man in this place at this time in history.

So, what was/is Obama’s plan?

1)      Reform the rules. It goes without saying that if certain common-sense rules had not been dispensed with or neglected or not enforced, the corporate greed and the short sighted national policies we have had for the past 8 years might not have come to pass. New agencies and individuals need to take the helm of our sorely troubled ship of state and guide it through the shoals of these economic rapids.

2)      New investments in education to prepare workers for the 21^st century. As expected, this got a huge round of applause at Georgetown.

3)      New investment in such areas as solar and wind power and other renewable sources of energy, rather than being held captive by our dependence on foreign oil.

4)      Health care reform, which, in turn, will help with the “entitlement” programs (like Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security) that are so expensive.

5)      New savings within the federal budget (see point #4 above for the chief way this might be achieved.)

Obama followed the clear, concise speaking pattern for which he has become famous, first explaining the situation we are in; next, explaining his idea(s) for solutions; and, last but certainly not least, giving a hopeful message to the millions of out-of-work Americans praying for light at the end of this particular economic tunnel.

The TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Program) was not neglected in Obama’s discussion: “We must provide banks with the credit and confidence to start lending again.” He added that we must insure the continuity of the strong and venerable banking institutions that serve our people and prosperity. Obama predicted that, if no action were taken, the crisis would take years to overcome. If action is taken now, the crisis can be overcome in months, but those won’t be easy months, and 2009 isn’t looking like a banner year.

President Obama acknowledged that he understood the frustration of the American average taxpayer, saying, “Where’s MY bailout?” when banks and AIG are the recipients of taxpayer dollars ($330 billion to the banks of the $700 billion in TARP funds allocated by Congress) and another $100 billion to assume “toxic assets.” He acknowledged that the typical household income is “down by $2,000” while the top 1 to 5% of CEOs were raking in Big Bucks.

But Obama’s administration has been busy, busy, busy. He needed new legal powers to intervene, and he got it. He has moved aggressively to jumpstart lending outside of banks…where, said the president, over ½ of lending in America occurs. He has made a commitment to fuel-efficient cars and propped up our failing automobile industry, but not without serious caveats about the auto companies’ need to come back to the table with better business plans than have been presented to date. Plans have been moving quickly with dates as follows: February 10^th (Geithner); Feb. 13 (economy); Feb. 17 (signed into law); Feb. 18 (plan to help borrowers); March 4 (foreclosure relief); March 19 (automobile industry help); March 23 (bank troubled assets help); March 30,; April 2- the G20 Summit, which Obama attended and which pledged $1 million to try to help stabilize the troubled world economic situation. Obama noted the spike in refinancing that has occurred as a result of his actions and still retail sales in March fell 1.17% and our unemployment stood at 8.5% nationwide (with many states facing 12% unemployment.) There were 5.1 million people out of work as of December of 2007, 3.3 million in the last 5 months alone, and those are not “good” or comfortable numbers for any administration to have to deal with.

However, Obama promised, “You can continue to expect unrelenting and unyielding efforts” to right the ship of state in these troubled economic times.

Obama then went on to address each of the 5 points of his plan and amplify upon those points. (And may I just add here that I once attended a speech “live” by former President George W. Bush where he had 4 points, but he forgot to mention one of the 4 points. I wrote about this on www.blogforiowa.com at the time, and I hope to put those incredulous thoughts into book form soon.)

Said Obama, “I think it’s time for America to lead again,” in discussing harnessing new energies. As someone who ran for an alderman position in my small town on a platform of replacing antiquated cars and buses and police vehicles with cars like the Prius…and this was way back in 2004…I found his vision refreshing and timely. He talked about the gradual market cap on carbon emissions. He talked about doubling our commitment to new and renewable energy.

And those were just the talking points for Point #3. Obama had already covered Point #2 (education), saying that there would be a dramatic expansion of early childhood programs and that teacher performance should be linked to teacher pay (always a touchy subject with teacher unions like the NEA and the AFT, one of which I belonged to in my years as an educator.) He mentioned, again, the desire that each American pledge to get at least one year of post-graduate education, whether it be college or some other preparation for life, so that we can resume our position by the year 2020 of being the best-educated nation in the world. And Obama wants “the best and the brightest” to recommit to “making things,” not just moving figures on paper. He wants scientists and engineers and doctors and manufacturers.

Obama explained that the skyrocketing cost of health care has contributed to the prohibitive cost of entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid, and that, if we can get the first problem under control, the second will follow. “We can get this done and we have to get this done,” said the president.

In what was later dubbed “a very brave move,” Obama rebutted his critics, who have said he is shilling for socialism and raising our national debt by saying:

1) the worst thing would be to cut government spending when the average American is cutting back. We must focus on the long term, not the short term.

2)      We cannot sacrifice long-term plans. We must make our current plans with an eye to the future. We must “invest now or else.”

3)   Chronically slow growth will not help us out of this crisis, said Obama. Budget problems have been building, fueled by the costs of 2 wars and the housing crisis, but it will only get worse as the baby boomers age. He added, “Let’s not kid ourselves that we can fix it (a problem of this magnitude) by trimming a few things from the budget.All of these efforts will require tough decisions. For too long, too many in Washington put off making hard decisions.  They went from shock to trance (at the announcement of bad news.) The challenges are too great. The stakes are too high. We have been called to govern in extraordinary times. If we use that moment to lay that new foundation for this house (of state), the house will stand on a bed of rock and the dream of our forefathers will live on.”

And he ended, confidently, saying, “God bless the United States of America.”

A terrific speech. A terrific moment. The banks won’t like the explanation. Those in Washington may not care much for the promised transparency that has emerged under Obama or his criticism of their failure to act decisively in the face of the need to make hard decisions. Wall Street may not be confident with his pronouncements of new regulations that are needed to keep. And there are legitimate criticisms of the inclusion of such Wall Street veterans as Henry Paulsen and Larry Summers and Timothy Geithner (who was formerly head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York), especially as Goldman Sachs announced profits, but in order to lead us from the thicket created over the past 8 years, we need experienced hands-on-deck. We need those sharpshooters who have trained for years to take this one shot and rescue the American(s) held hostage.
And, hopefully, these shots at the forces of piracy will be as successful in the United States of America as Obama’s shots to restore the economy, just as those fatal shots were in the waters off the coast of Somalia in saving the life of Captain Richard Phillips, who headed for a reunion with his crew in Maersk, the crew for which he was willing to sacrifice his own life.

And after that, he’ll head home, which, if we keep the faith, will steadily improve and become once again that house built upon rock, not sand.