This Week With Barack Obama: President Obama's Weekly Radio Address, January 31, 2009 (Video and Transcript)

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Moving Forward

Transcript

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Sherry · 843 weeks ago

There could be no better investment in America than to invest in America becoming energy independent. The high cost of fuel this past year did serious damage to our economy and society. After a brief reprieve gas prices are inching back up again. Our nation should not allow other nations to have such power over us and our economy . We have so much available to us in the way of technology and free sources of energy. WE seriously need to get on with becoming an energy independent nation. We are spending billions upon billions in bail out dollars. Why not spend some of those billions in getting alternative energy projects set up. We could create clean cheap energy, millions of badly needed new green jobs and lessen our dependence on foreign oil all in one fell swoop. I just read an eye opening book by Jeff Wilson called The Manhattan Project of 2009. It would cost the equivalent of 60 cents per gallon to drive and charge an electric car.

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Barry Leon · 843 weeks ago

part 1 of 2 Posts:

One issue not addressed by the President is that the protectionist provisions of the proposed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act would breach the commitment made by the United States of America just weeks ago, in November, that it would not impose protectionist measures in the following 12 months.

This commitment is the G-20 pledge made in Washington by 20 nations.

The relevant paragraph of the G-20 joint declaration read as follows:

13. We underscore the critical importance of rejecting protectionism and not turning inward in times of financial uncertainty. In this regard, within the next 12 months, we will refrain from raising new barriers to investment or to trade in goods and services, imposing new export restrictions, or implementing World Trade Organization (WTO) inconsistent measures to stimulate exports.

The House bill passed this past week would bar virtually all foreign iron and steel from the $820-billion stimulus package's infrastructure projects. The Senate version of the bill goes further by extending the U.S.-only requirement to all goods and services paid for with government stimulus money.

cont'd in part 2 . . .

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Barry Leon · 843 weeks ago

part 2 of 3 Posts:

The G-20 commitment was not ultruistic. It was a recognition of the critical importance of rejecting protectionism and not turning inward because doing so would be bad economic policy for the country doing so, and would serve to prolong or even worsen the global crisis. Were each country to act only with a short term and politically expedient mindset, seeking to create economic activity or employment only for itself in isolation, the synergies of international trade and investment will be lost for all countries. A critical lesson of this economic crisis is the the world's economies are interconnected and interdependent.

The world's hope is that President Obama will have the wisdom and courage to truly recognize that lesson, and to invest some of the huge reserve of political goodwill that he now enjoys to articulate these realities to Congress and the American people.

He has the opportunity right now -- on this issue -- to bring to the way America deals with the rest of the world the new ways of doing things that he brings to America, and the new spirit of cooperation that he brings to solving problems.

cont'd in part 3 . . .

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Barry Leon · 843 weeks ago

part 3 of 3 Posts:

Doing so will better serve the American economy , Americica's greater interests and American's relationships with the rest of the world than will a breach of America's G-20 commitment, and a caving in to narrow-minded and old-style political thinking.

The world is watching carefully on this issue to see if President Obama will bring change to out-dated and ineffective protectionist attitudes that still exist in parts of the United States, and among some members of Congress.

-end-

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