Obama says, aid coming to troubled states
WASHINGTON – Saying “it is altogether likely that things may get worse before they get better,” President-elect Barack Obama laid out the case today for a huge economic stimulus plan to get the U.S. economy going again, saying 2009 promises to be one of those “years that come along once in a generation, the kind that mark a clean break from a troubled past and set a new course for our nation.”
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In the speech, his first major address since his election night victory speech in Chicago, Obama laid out a few new details of the plan, calling for a doubling of alternative energy production and investment in the fuel-efficient cars of the future, expanding broadband Internet access across the country, and computerizing medical records. Those aspects of his plan come on top of those already described publicly, including billions of dollars for infrastructure like roads, bridges and schools, tax credits for individuals and businesses and an extension of unemployment benefits.
He also said there will be help for struggling states – with Michigan almost certain to be among them – to avoid “harmful budget cuts, as long as they take responsibility and use the money to maintain essential services like police, fire, education and health care.”
Gov. Jennifer Granholm was among the public officials attending the speech at Virginia’s George Mason University, not far from Washington, D.C. Obama’s inauguration is set for Jan. 20 at the nation’s Capitol.
While the speech was not intended to deliver all the specifics of the plan, it served to describe the need and rouse the newly convened Congress to quick action on the recovery plan, which were likely to come soon. The Associated Press reported that Obama’s economic advisers were on Capitol Hill today briefing Democratic lawmakers on the plans as Obama delivered his speech.
Still, there have been critics who have argued that the plan – which could cost upward of $775 billion at a time when the deficit is already expected to top $1 trillion – costs too much with too few guarantees of success. It appeared those critics were the focus of Obama’s speech, as he said, “If nothing is done this recession could linger for years. The unemployment rate could reach double digits.”
“In short,” he said, “a bad situation could become dramatically worse.”
But the president-elect, while criticizing both government and the private sector for allowing an anything-goes attitude to destroy trust and confidence, said “the very fact that this crisis is largely of our making means that it is not beyond our ability to solve.”
“It will take time, perhaps many years,” he said, “but we can rebuild that lost trust and confidence.”
He added: “It is time to trade old habits for a new spirit of responsibility.”
The pace of talks on Capitol Hill has already accelerated. Obama met with a bipartisan group of congressional leaders early this week and both chambers have been holding forums to decide what should be done, with one among Senate Democrats set for today. Meanwhile, all sorts of groups from unions to trade associations, have been clamoring for their own plans to be part of the stimulus package.
Reacting to the speech, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said he was heartened to hear that Obama “wants to include Republican ideas.” But he also signaled that there could still be battles over the plan, including aid for the states, which McConnell said should be made in the form of loans rather than grants that don’t have to be repaid.
“The question is, how will the money be spent,’ McConnell said of the state aid. “I think the way to make sure it is spent judiciously is to make it a loan.”
