Previous 1 3
Topic: The economy!
Fanta46's photo
Wed 04/15/09 09:11 PM
Edited by Fanta46 on Wed 04/15/09 09:12 PM
5 reasons Obama sounds optimistic


President Barack Obama and his economic team are changing their tone on the economy. Gone are Obama’s bleak descriptions of crisis and catastrophe. In their place are “glimmers of hope” of a turnaround.

The question is: why now?

It’s a tricky balance. The White House doesn’t want to hang a premature “Mission Accomplished” banner on the economy ala President Bush’s speech about Iraq. Obama’s recovery talk Tuesday was couched with warnings of “more job loss, more foreclosures, and more pain before it ends.”

But through all that, Obama is highlighting an economy on the mend. Here are five reasons for Obama to make that rhetorical pivot now:

1. Real “glimmers of hope”

There are a few in the economic data, as the president has noted twice in the past week.

The Dow notched five consecutive weeks of gains heading into Easter weekend, prompting Wall Street analysts to celebrate the fleeting return of a bull market. Wells Fargo reported billions of dollars in first quarter profits, a recent rarity for the beleaguered banking sector.

Even investment house Goldman Sachs said it felt so good about the market that it would sell shares of its own stock to raise money – then pay back the $10 billion in taxpayer bailout money it took last fall.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke made the same point at a speech at Morehouse College Tuesday, citing new numbers on housing and consumer spending. “Recently we have seen tentative signs that the sharp decline in economic activity may be slowing,” he said.

Roger Altman, CEO of Evercore Partners and former deputy Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, believes the U.S. is in for a “slow, painful climb-out” from the recession but says Obama is onto something when he talks about an end to the downward trend. “There are signs of what I would call ‘bottoming,’” Altman said. “We have two months of additional data and information now.”

Republicans pushed back. “Our economy will improve,” said House Republican Leader John Boehner. “But it will be because of the ingenuity and hard work of American workers and small businesses, not because of the Washington Democrats’ misguided policies that rely on recklessly spending taxpayer dollars.”

2. The 100-Day Clock is Ticking

There are political realities at work, too. Obama’s speech came on Day 85 of his presidency, and after the spate of media attention to come when he hits the 100-day mark, Obama will own the economy in a very real political sense.

After that, voters are likely to hold Obama more responsible for their economic suffering, and patience for blaming the Bush Administration will wear thin.

The president touched on this theme Tuesday, sounding almost as if he wished the clamor for results wasn’t so intense, with a “24-hour news cycle that insists on instant gratification in the form of immediate results, or higher poll numbers.”

Still, White House officials believe Obama’s window of patience from voters could last as long as two years, if the public continues to see him as someone who is being straight with them about the problems and working to solve them.

A recent Public Strategies Inc./POLITICO poll suggests Obama does have some leeway. The survey of 1,000 registered voters found that two thirds of the respondents trust the president “to identify the right solutions to the problems we face as a nation.”

But if job losses continue, at some point, voters will expect results. Says one Senate GOP aide, “If the White House is right and the job numbers continue to go south through the end of the year, people are going to start asking where the hell the jobs are that they were promised.”



3. They’ve done it all

There’s also a practical reality facing the Obama Administration, which is that they have largely done everything they set out to do to fix the economy.

Obama ticked through a list of items in his speech -- the $787 billion stimulus bill, the Wall Street and auto bailout programs, a housing recovery plan, a boost to non-bank credit markets and even his efforts to get the G-20 nations to do more. All, he said, have “been necessary pieces of the recovery puzzle.”

The White House knows that it doesn’t have another trillion-dollar program ready to go – though officials there surely would try to find one if the economic numbers grew worse -- so now is the time to begin talking about the results of this intense period of activity.

Already, the federal government has, by some estimates, committed more than $7 trillion toward the problem, much of that in loans or other temporary outlays. The scale of that spending, along with the AIG bonus scandal, have created a sort of bailout fatigue in Washington. So for Obama, this political moment is better spent talking about what he’s already done, rather than proposing to do something new.

4. Boosting his credibility

The president has two key decisions coming up, so this week marks an opportune moment to bolster his credibility with the public before he needs to make politically difficult calls.

At the end of this month, the Obama administration will have to decide what to do about the results of the bank “stress tests” – designed to see which financial institutions can withstand the economic downturn, and which need a government lifeline. Obama also must decide whether to ask Congress for more bank bailout funds.

At almost the same time, Obama will have to announce the fate of automakers Chrysler and General Motors, which could involve the politically agonizing decision of letting one of America’s most storied companies fail without a new lifeline from the government.

Meanwhile, there’s speculation that Obama will prompt the firing of a bank CEO once the stress test results come in, which will provoke as much of a furor as his termination of GM CEO Rick Wagoner did in March. It will help his case if the public accepts that the steps he’s taken so far are working.

5. Boosting the public’s confidence

And finally, consumer confidence hit its lowest reading since 1967 in February. Obama’s hoping he can translate his popularity and trust into getting consumers feeling good again.

Altman cautioned that consumer confidence alone cannot drive a recovery, but said, “I think he’s doing the right thing and that he’s trying to instill confidence in the American people that we’re on our way to recovery.”

Obama explained his thinking in his remarks at Georgetown: “When this recession began, many families sat around the kitchen table and tried to figure out where they could cut back. And so have many businesses. And this is a completely reasonable and understandable reaction,” Obama said. “But if everybody -- if everybody -- if every family in America, if every business in America cuts back all at once, then no one is spending any money, which means there are no customers, which means there are more layoffs, which means the economy gets even worse.”

Like everything else, Obama has to be careful not to oversell it – and risk getting lumped in with President Bush, who urged Americans to go shopping as a way to boost the economy after 9/11. But Obama is clearly hoping some people who’ve been holding off on buying a car, or even going out to dinner, might crack open their wallets if they hear their president say things are getting better.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/21259

Here's to hope!drinker

willing2's photo
Wed 04/15/09 09:18 PM
That last sentence is laughable. Sorry, Charlie, just like you, Obama said, things are gonna' get worse, before they get better. That was just a couple weeks ago.
Better get to crackin' them wallets!rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl

. But Obama is clearly hoping some people who’ve been holding off on buying a car, or even going out to dinner, might crack open their wallets if they hear their president say things are getting better.


Fanta46's photo
Wed 04/15/09 09:55 PM

That last sentence is laughable. Sorry, Charlie, just like you, Obama said, things are gonna' get worse, before they get better. That was just a couple weeks ago.
Better get to crackin' them wallets!rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl

. But Obama is clearly hoping some people who’ve been holding off on buying a car, or even going out to dinner, might crack open their wallets if they hear their president say things are getting better.




Hey!
I post it all!
I dont leave anything out!

Winx's photo
Wed 04/15/09 10:16 PM
Houses are selling in my neighborhood. The prices are right about where they should be.:banana:

scttrbrain's photo
Wed 04/15/09 11:21 PM
Housing sales are up here too, as is car sales. People are hiring, but too many want better jobs. Can't blame them really...but....jobs are there to have.

Kat

Sojourning_Soul's photo
Thu 04/16/09 06:43 AM
We're being driven to Hell with government in the drivers seat! Time to take control of the bus!

Fanta46's photo
Thu 04/16/09 08:00 AM

We're being driven to Hell with government in the drivers seat! Time to take control of the bus!


We took control on Jan 20, 2009!
Now we are in the process of cleaning the bugs off the windshield, changing the flat tires and checking the oil.drinker drinker

yellowrose10's photo
Thu 04/16/09 08:09 AM
i hope it does get better...i really do. i'm just not convinced

Fanta46's photo
Thu 04/16/09 08:14 AM
Edited by Fanta46 on Thu 04/16/09 08:15 AM

i hope it does get better...i really do. i'm just not convinced


No back seat drivers!:wink:
Just sit back and ride, and when you get there dont forget to tip the driver.

Winx's photo
Thu 04/16/09 08:16 AM


We're being driven to Hell with government in the drivers seat! Time to take control of the bus!


We took control on Jan 20, 2009!
Now we are in the process of cleaning the bugs off the windshield, changing the flat tires and checking the oil.drinker drinker



The driver to hell got off the bus on Jan. 19.drinker

no photo
Thu 04/16/09 08:17 AM
keeeewwwwl let ME drive


yellowrose10's photo
Thu 04/16/09 08:19 AM
oh no....if I can't drive...no one can :angry:

willing2's photo
Thu 04/16/09 08:23 AM
Edited by willing2 on Thu 04/16/09 08:24 AM
What was originally posted was off someones blog.
Not fact. Just like here, only an opinion.
They are contradictory.
One day, hunker down, it'll be years. A couple days later it's crack yo' wallet, spend da' money.
I don't think people are stupid enough to go spending much not knowing if next week they'll be homeless.
Chance is, the Extreme Left will believe and do as commanded but, realistic people will hang on to and save.

Fanta46's photo
Thu 04/16/09 08:24 AM

oh no....if I can't drive...no one can :angry:


Obama has the wheel!

Winx can you give Rose some dramamine?huh

yellowrose10's photo
Thu 04/16/09 08:26 AM


oh no....if I can't drive...no one can :angry:


Obama has the wheel!

Winx can you give Rose some dramamine?huh


brb

Winx's photo
Thu 04/16/09 08:26 AM


oh no....if I can't drive...no one can :angry:


Obama has the wheel!

Winx can you give Rose some dramamine?huh


It'll make her sleepy. laugh

willing2's photo
Thu 04/16/09 08:27 AM


oh no....if I can't drive...no one can :angry:


Obama has the wheel!

Winx can you give Rose some dramamine?huh

It's more like he's under the wheel.laugh laugh

no photo
Thu 04/16/09 08:28 AM

Fanta46's photo
Thu 04/16/09 08:29 AM



oh no....if I can't drive...no one can :angry:


Obama has the wheel!

Winx can you give Rose some dramamine?huh


It'll make her sleepy. laugh


Ouch!

That's the idea!laugh laugh laugh

Fanta46's photo
Thu 04/16/09 08:30 AM




laugh laugh laugh

Previous 1 3