Obama says his Plans Helped Put the Brakes on Recession – Do you agree?
Seven months into his first term as President of the United States, Barack Obama has told the nation that the $787 billion dollar Recovery Act that he implemented is indeed beginning to turn the economy around. But even he admitted that there was still a long way to go.
He was speaking after new figures published seemed to show that the recession was indeed slowing. The Commerce Department said that the U.S economy shrank by one percent between April and June of 2009. That is a far better result than economists had predicted and a great improvement over the 6.4 contraction that occurred between January and March.
Referring to the stimulus package that he enacted in February Obama said “”This and other difficult but important steps that we have taken over the last six months have helped us put the brakes on the recession.”
Mr Obama also commented that another positive sign was that business investment, which has been dropping significantly for months, seems to be showing signs of stabilizing again “This means that eventually, businesses will start growing and they will start hiring again. And that is when it will truly feel like a recovery to the American people,” he said.
He also pointed to the success of the “Cash for Clunkers” program, which encourages Americans to trade in their old, gas guzzling autos in favor of newer, more fuel efficient vehicles by offering a credit of $3,500 – $4,500. Obama said “”It is working so well that there are legitimate concerns that the funds in this program might soon be exhausted. So we are now working with Congress on a bipartisan solution to ensure that the program can continue for everyone out there who is still looking to make a trade.”
The President did not pretend that it was all good news on the economic front though, especially since the employment rate continues to rise, currently standing at 9.6%, the highest in 26 years, and economists and politicians expect that the new figures due out next week will show that thousands more have lost their jobs.
“As far as I’m concerned, we will not have a recovery as long as we keep losing jobs,” Obama said. “And I won’t rest until every American who wants a job can find one.”
The state of the economy is certainly still at the forefront of the minds of the average American. A July 28th poll released by the New York times showed that 36 percent of Americans still felt that the struggling economy was their number one concern, with an additional 12 percent naming the healthcare crisis as the nation’s biggest problem.
August 5th, 2009 at 3:51 am
yes we can, thank you President Obama. Way to go!