Obama defends handling of the economy

President Obama said
Tuesday that he sees “glimmers of hope” in the economy following the
at-times-controversial steps he has taken to correct the global crisis, but he
warned that “by no means are we out of the woods just yet.”

The president, delivering a major address on the economy from Georgetown
University, defended the costly programs his administration has put in place
and argued that they were working and inaction was not an option.

{mosads}In laying out his defense, Obama, who promised “prose and not
poetry,” laid out what he sees as a “larger vision” for the
economy and described for the country the reasons for the crisis and the
rationale he has employed in trying to correct it.

The president pointed to a number of areas where the economy is starting to
show signs of recovery, like a jump in small-business loan activity, increases
in home sales and hints that the credit flow is starting to thaw.

But he warned that while those signs are “all welcome and encouraging
news,” Americans should be aware that the progress “does not mean that
hard times are over. 2009 will continue to be a difficult year for America’s
economy.

“The severity of this recession will cause more job loss, more
foreclosures and more pain before it ends,” Obama said. “The market will
continue to rise and fall. Credit is still not flowing nearly as easily
as it should. The process for restructuring AIG and the auto companies
will involve difficult and sometimes unpopular choices. All of this means
that there is much more work to be done. And all of this means that you
can continue to expect an unrelenting, unyielding, day-by-day effort from this
administration to fight for economic recovery on all fronts.”

The president took on his Republican critics and noted that he has only been in
office for an intense and busy 12 weeks.

“In just under three months, we have responded to an extraordinary set of
economic challenges with extraordinary action — action that has been
unprecedented in both its scale and its speed,” Obama said.

The president took direct aim at his critics on Capitol Hill, condemning the
“fundamental weakness in our political system and excoriating the
“tendency to score political points instead of rolling up sleeves to solve
real problems.” 

“There is also an impatience that characterizes this town — an attention
span that has only grown shorter with the 24-hour news cycle, and
insists on instant gratification in the form of immediate results or higher
poll numbers,” Obama said. “When a crisis hits, there’s all too often
a lurch from shock to trance, with everyone responding to the tempest of the
moment until the furor has died away and the media coverage has moved on,
instead of confronting the major challenges that will shape our future in a
sustained and focused way. This can’t be one of those times. The
challenges are too great. The stakes are too high.”