Obama warns of worse economy to come
Published: June 23, 2009
Updated 5 months ago
President Barack Obama painted a bleak picture Tuesday of the economy, warning unemployment will get worse, and vowed to act on climate change and health care as long-term solutions.
In a wide-ranging White House news conference, Obama also said he had no plans for a fresh stimulus package, hoping to give time to see the impact of the 787-billion-dollar economic plan approved shortly after he took office.
“We’re still not at actual recovery yet. So I anticipate that this is going to be a difficult, difficult year,” Obama said.
“I think it’s pretty clear now that unemployment will end up going over 10 percent,” he said, explaining it would take time for an economic recovery to translate into job growth.
The jobless rate in the world’s largest economy surged to 9.4 percent in May, with the figure shooting to a record high 11.5 percent in the most populous state of California.
“What’s incredible to me is how resilient the American people have been and how they are still more optimistic than the facts alone would justify,” said Obama, who has largely held onto his high popularity ratings.
Obama appealed to Americans to back plans to reform the health care system and tackle climate change, calling them critical to perking up the economy in the long term.
Obama said a bill before the House of Representatives, which would force reductions of carbon emissions blamed for global warming, would spur a new green economy vital to the country’s future.
“That will lead to the development of new technologies that lead to new industries that could create millions of new jobs in America — jobs that cannot be shipped overseas,” said Obama, who has sharply reversed predecessor George W. Bush’s skeptical approach on global warming.
“What I’ve got to do is to make sure that we’re focused both on the short term — how can we provide families immediate relief and jump-start the economy as quickly as possible — and I’ve got to keep my eye on the long term,” Obama said.
The US president said that by passing climate and health care reforms, “we’ve got a foundation for long-term economic growth.”
“And we don’t end up having to juice up the economy artificially through the kinds of bubble strategies that helped to get us in this situation that we’re in today.”
Obama called for Congress to work on legislation to bring medical care to the estimated 46 million Americans — or 15 percent of the population — without health insurance.
He said he reads two or three letters each day from families that risk losing their insurance or their homes as they struggle to keep up with payments.
But Obama also said he would not support legislation unless it tries to find systematic ways to bring down the skyrocketing cost of health care.
“We have a long-standing critical problem in our health-care system that is pulling down our economy. It’s burdening families, it’s burdening businesses, and it is the primary driver of our federal deficits,” Obama said.
The US economy fell into free-fall last year as a bad debt crisis whiplashed major banks, drying up the flow of credit which is the lifeblood of the financial system.
Obama said he believed stimulus dollars meant to help Americans pay their mortgages were helping, but not quickly enough.
“I don’t feel satisfied with the progress that we’ve made. We’ve got to get our Recovery Act money out faster,” Obama said.
26 comments
Printer Friendly |
Email
| Get breaking news alerts: Email/mobile |
No shit shirlock
Sorry, too fast to notice my typo… Sherlock
Should have gone with Shylock
Keep in mind the unemployment numbers do not count those who’ve exhausted benefits, given up on looking for a job, or working part-time at wages way below the wages of the job they’ve lost. If you factor all this in, we’re probably at or above depression-level unemployment of 20-25%. And it’s likely to get worse because we have so much debt both as a country and individually. I think the Feds should develop a plan to press the “reset” button and wipe out all personal debt. Fund it with forcing large corporations to pay taxes. That would jump-start the economy and eliminate the problem. Otherwise we’re looking at a long, hard decade to come. Sorry to be all gloom and doom, but that’s what Bush and company have left us. I think Obama is doing what he thinks is right, but it’s not close to being enough. Listen to Paul Krugman. He has the right idea (and predicted all this crap in his book “The Great Unraveling”.
Obviously no one owes you any money.
It goes way beyond BushCo.. Clinton with NAFTA fed into it, and Obama with another trillion to the banks (after what the Shrub gave away) didn’t help matters either.
You’re right about unemployment being MUCH higher.. when you fall off the rolls from time, you aren’t counted but still are “unemployed”.
At the end of the day, we’ll never be able to keep this model up (the monetary model).. it is left over from when scarcity and isolation made money viable.. today, with such a tiny world, thinking we’ll be able to keep everyone employed is silly. And if you can’t keep people working, you can’t expect them to have money to live with.. yet, they plan on staying alive.
Anyone who has been following the collapse of our economy need to deg deeper because the answers are in what happened during the Bush years with preparing our laws for this to happen. Also, I was in a family for more than 26 years who are midwest Drug Lords linked to other Drug Lords even larger than they are. They started in the later 70’s with laundering criminal money straight into property using big banks with mortgage fraud to hide ownership.
I was told in the 90’s all about the collapse of our economy. It was expected to start after “something big” happened to kick off their plans. The family is linked to a huge collection of people linked in the drug system and criminal elements within our Federal Governement. Many have been in the news for sometime.
Beleive me when I tell you that the Big Banks have been in control of what is happening to us. Also realize that when the family started their Drug Shiping business in the 90’s setting up their business was assisted by Obama while he worked in a law firm in Chicago.
Meet the family:
Mexico drug plane used for US ‘rendition’ flights: report - Sep 4, 2008
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j6QonBKKMo2gw1e3ql-xUcQEZbVg
Cocaine plane trail is open challenge for Obama administration - January 11, 2009
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/bill-conroy/2009/01/cocaine-plane-trail-open-challenge-obama-administration
There is more as lately Cheney has been in the news regarding running Special Assassination Operations. The family talked about this in the 90’s regarding using Hospitals as “Killing Machines” where those who are threatening are eliminated without anyone asking questions. I personally know someone who had a dear friend murdered in one of the hospitals in 2002 while i was being set up for the same treatment. Luckily having known about this hospital, I was able to escape any harm but it wasn’t the same for my friend’s friend. The deceased was a twin brother who is Texas’s largest political contributor. Also, be aware that the Prison system in Texas is mostly privatety run and one of the Prison owners as I understand is Cheney. The family talked about Cheney being involved in the huge Drug system. Chicago gets a weekly shipment of $100million in Cocaine that is protected by corruption from it’s point of origin to each destination. The cocaine is used to run their “Black Op’s” which is part of the Assassionation Operations and much more. This is in concert with our collapse of our economy.
There is a lot more for another time….
Marty Didier
Northbrook, IL
Gloom and doom it is. But some of us have known that for some time. If you’re just waking up to reality then you’ve been paying to much attention to the MSM or not at all. It’s like watching a train wreck in slow motion. As for unemployment maybe they should count those who are employed instead and subtract that from the working age population. That might be much more a reality check and not something they would want the public to know. Even Obama is softening the message too much. Guess they’re afraid Amercians might get off their fat asses from in front of the TV and take to the streets. Fat chance of that happening.
[“What’s incredible to me is how resilient the American people have been and how they are still more optimistic than the facts alone would justify,” said Obama, who has largely held onto his high popularity ratings.]
Cut the crap, B.O.
If by “resilient” you mean getting thrown out of their homes and living in their cars because you didn’t push hard enough for court-directed Mortgage Modification, what with being funded by Wall Street and “advised” by Larry Summers and the financial terrorists he represents, that you funneled TRILLIONS TO INSTEAD, yes we “are resilient”, you asshole.
If by “resilient” you mean working two or three part-time minimum wage jobs after losing the well-paid manufacturing job that this foul government gave some corporation a TAX BREAK to ship to China, yes we “are resilient” you freakin’ corporate talking head puppet.
Now go ask Rahm what you will be allowed to parrot today, clown.
Ron Paul is right. This clown IS trying to finish the job Bush started. Then we will be forced to accept some new currency–fine with me, as long as there is not a similar entity to the Federal Reserve in charge of it. I used to be against a North American currency, but I don’t care any more. It had just better be a one-for-one exchange, and the new shit had better buy the same amount as the old shit.
I totally agree with you westcoastliberal, especially about the deleting of debt from individuals. I have always said that there is no way this economic machine can get back to the way it was unless the govt. allows people to discharge all debt including undischargable debt (Student Loans etc.) in bankruptcy. To many people are up to their neck in debt and they need relief not repreive. The states are in a bind also, they are technically insolvent. Look at California, they need at least 25 billion dollars to balance their budget. Obama doesn’t want to bail them out (he will be forced to) because as soon as that bailout happens, look out the rest of the 49 states who are having problems will want a bailout to.
If banks and GM and Chrysler and AIG can get bailed out for being stupid, why can’t us americans. By getting this debt off of peoples back, it would allow lets say graduating college people to buy a house because they won’t be boged down with student debt. You will have people spending again because they don’t have to worry about their mistakes anymore in judgement (just like the banks) etc. etc. etc.. The economic machine isn’t working because the people that are needed to make it work are losing their jobs, in debt and scared about losing their jobs now. What should have people worried is the frank admission of Obama that this year isn’t going to get better, it’s going to get worse. I see he’s trying to prepare the populace for the dramatic decrease in living standards and the definite increase in inflation that will start to spike this fall (you can’t print that much money and not think that inflation won’t happen).
Ahem, I’m sorry buckqjohnson1, but I do NOT agree with you. What about those of us who LEARNED our lessons with credit and loans and paid the piper for them. Why should you be allowed to have your slate cleaned off while the rest of us did the right thing and paid up? Your line of thought disgusts me. If you’re irresponsible with your money, you have to pay the price. It’s called PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY! You knew what you were getting into when signing the contract for the credit card or student loans. Get over it and pay up. I’m not for wiping your slate clean. Period.
And if you’re living your life, have what you need, and were responsible.. why do you want to continue allowing pain to be caused to those who were duped into being where they are?
Face it, most people aren’t very smart.. and a lot of people that claim to have “made it on their own” are really riding someone else’s coat tails and deluding themselves into some sense of being better than everyone else.
And while I understand the urge to say “why should I have suffered while those out there now won’t have to suffer as bad?”, I also see the petty selfishness in such a view.
We’ll never move on as a species if we always use the mentality “I won’t help you because I worked for mine”. That’s not very compassionate, or humane, or decent, or kind, or generous… In fact, the “me me me” mentality is pretty simplistic and animalistic and unintellectual.
Of course, “wiping debt” but leaving all the rest in place is pointless too.. we’ll just be right back here in another generation or two. We need to completely rethink where we want to go as a species.
www [dot] thevenusproject [dot] com
check it out, it’s where we need to get to.
Oh I agree with you savantster, if they did wipe out the debt like I said we would be back in the same mess most likely in one generation. The reason I brought that up was because politically, financially and emotionally, americans aren’t ready for the type of sacrifice that would be required in order to get us out of this and the politicians know this. The logical answer would be to take our medicine like I have said over the months. That would be to let those banks and insurance companies fail, let the states fail and let the businesses fail. The problem is that the politicians know that many people in our society isn’t able to accept a standard of living that is at least half of what they have now. Unemployment at 25 to 30 percent, rampant inflation, Bushvilles/Obamavilles, etc. etc.. Why do you think they sent that “stimulus” check last year to everyone, that was chump change to quiet the chumps. When you don’t have a job you don’t have income. When you don’t have income you can’t afford rent or the mortgage anymore. When you don’t have a place to live, you live in your car or one of those villes I talked about, in essence you become a non-person.
And you know what I will amend what I said about us being in the same spot a generation from now if they decide to wash away our debt. Because I don’t see the dollar surviving for very long. The BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are slowly not buying treasuries and are finding ways to get out of the dollar. They know what we did to the banks and AIG etc. etc.. We pushed there debt onto the US books in order to keep the western anglo banking system from defaulting. So if we are going into hell at least wipe our debt out to and let me and others watch it on a 40 inch plasma screen TV.
Doom and gloom, somewhat. But have we forgotten that we were supposed to be “under martial law” and Bush was going to cancel the elections if it “looked like Obama might win”? Ah, yes, it is somewhat doom and gloom, but most of the doom is reserved for the financial powerhouses that are collapsing slowly and the gloom is reserved for those who live by the edict that they must either grow every minute or die immediately. The rest of us grow and contract, maintain, wait, grow and contract again, wait, maintain, work some more, and just keep on living by each day’s or week’s rules. It’s funny that the doom and gloomers do not use money as a necessity but as only a convenient measuring stick for their version of “idealism by greed”. It’s their own self-enforced version of a “poison pill”. Ironic, but true. They talked themselves into “drinking the koolaid” long ago, and now that the time has come to drink it, they are lining up. Oh, well.
The economy will not improve until America realizes private wealth is not the same as a happy economy. The underlying issue: private wealth vs. the greatest good for the greatest number (the haves vs. the have-nots), at: http://leftsolutions.wordpress.com/
But they aren’t long term solutions. The most important long term solution is jobs for Americans to do.
More and more Americans tire of having sunshine blown up their ass about these, so called “jobs of tomorrow” and all the promise they are supposed to hold.
Instead of looking forward, many are wistfully thinking about the jobs of yesterday.
You know, the ones with a pension and security. The ones that promoted from within, back when familiarity with the product or service you produced was considered a valuable insight. The jobs that actually produced something people wanted to buy, and tried desperately to produce it better than anyone else… Back when a name meant something. When it was something to be proud of.
The sort of job where putting in 20 years of your life meant something to someone.. and that someone wasn’t a snot nosed 28yo with a grand mall case of unwarranted self importance, because mommy and daddy paid his way through Princeton and assured him he was spechul.
Ravi Batra predicts the shit is to hi the fan by summer or early autumn.
http://archive.fwweekly.com/content.asp?article=7369
Blaming Bush for the US financial meltdown is incorrect. The ball started rolling long ago with Clinton and NAFTA. Perhaps one could argue Regan. Bush Jr was just good (or lucky) at playing the largest pyramid scam ever. Obama… not so lucky.
Rewarding those (individual and corporate) with piss poor financial abilities by “erasing” debt is not the way to fix the economy. Bailouts merely socialize debt by diluting the wealth of those who were financially responsible. Fuck AIG, Fuck GM, Fuck my over leveraged neighbor with the toy hauler, sand rail, wave runners, and two SUV’s rolling 20’s.
Fuck John Keynes, the Federal Reserve, and Corporatism.
This is where the monetary and economic policy of those like Ron Paul (Peter Schiff, Austrian School) would truly benefit our country. Things will get much worse before they get better. We are experiencing an economic collapse. Social unrest will certainly follow.
Go back to 1913 and you have your answer. Audit the Fed and perhaps we may all be enlightened. However, Obama now wants to give sweeping power to the FED which means we’re done for, economically.
wealth is an illusion; things can be taken away as well as given. WHO you are is important, not what you have.
Until more people understand that, we’ll have the multitude of psychological problems that make up the American Psyche.
Yep, Obama should know the economy is gonna gat much worse. He helped destroy it at every turn.
EVERYTHING HE DID WAS NOT ONLY WRONG BUT AS UNCONSTITUTIONAL AS THE CREATION OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE!
I’ve said it 2 years ago and I’ll say it again, they are TRYING to destroy the economy!
They DON’T CARE ABOUT YOU!
The Federal Reserve should be shut down, not granted more f*cking power!
Stupid ass partsan hacks and Obamanoids who really think this guy is their Messiah are in for the shock of their dimwitted lives.
UNBELIEVABLE!
Ron Paul has been trying to tell you as much as did Congressman Lindbergh before him.
The party is OVER!
This is exactly what Obama told us after winning the election. He said this summer would be really bad.
We here in Michigan hurt the most first and are the last to recover.
No matter what though, I trust Obama and the Dems way more than the Repubs.
Brilliant observation Holmes. I got the drift of this about three years ago and I’m no rocket man. So you surround yourself with the guys that orchestrated this crap ho help us out? And you wonder why we’re pissed? And all this will be painful…not for you but for us. Way to go Obamanation
At least obama is trying to force the republicans and its moles to give its citizens a little..republicans want all our money..
“What’s incredible to me is how resilient the American people have been and how they are still more optimistic than the facts alone would justify,” said Obama, who has largely held onto his high popularity ratings.”
Not resilient, duped. not optimistic, delusional. You’re right, the facts don’t support where American’s understanding is.. and that’s because of the propaganda and general apathy of Americans. Too selfish and ignorant to bother to learn about the world around them.. by DESIGN. Good little lemming consumers don’t care who dies or what is destroyed for them to have more junk they don’t need, they just want their junk.. like a 4 year old who just discovered their penis for the first time.. can’t stop walking around and rubbing it.
sad.
“Obama appealed to Americans to back plans to reform the health care system and tackle climate change, ”
Uh, the public (at 72%) wants health care reform, most of those are content to put in a Euro-style single payer system. It’s your boys in CONGRESS that are killing it, not public opinion. Don’t ask us to support what they are killing.. we already do.