that folks don't want to understand?
What "The Worse financial meltdown since the Great Depression" actually means:It means that the economy will NOT be fixed really, really quickly.
It means that six months is not going to do it.
It means that we have to be grown up about this and understand that President Obama doesn't "do" magic.
It means that there will be no instant fix to this large ass problem, and job will continue to be lost....and there will be no perfect instant recovery.
It means that we will likely suffer, and that no one is exempt.
It means that President Obama was right when he said it would be tough, hard and long.
It means that we don't get our Pony just because we were patient for a whole six months.
Obama's speech: times still tough; need patience to rebuild economy on solid foundation.By Lynn Sweeton April 14, 2009 9:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
WASHINGTON--President Obama delivers a major economic speech Tuesday morning where
he injects enough optimism to hopefully keep the markets from diving while reminding folks--in case they don't see it all around themselves--times are still tough.snip
The president urges patience--not instant gratification--because short term solutions don't work.snip
"There's been a 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 twenty-four news cycle, and insists on instant gratification in the form of instant results or higher poll numbers.
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."
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2009/04/obamas_speech_times_still_toug.html President's last Press conference.....June 23rd. That was just two weeks ago.
Q: Thank you, Mr. President. If I can just return to the economy more generally. When you were selling the economic stimulus package, you talked and your advisors and economists talked about keeping unemployment below 8 percent. Last week you acknowledged that unemployment is likely to reach double digits, being 10 percent. Do you think you need a second stimulus package?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, not yet, because I think it's important to see how the economy evolves and how effective the first stimulus is. I think it's fair to say that -- keep in mind the stimulus package was the first thing we did, and we did it a couple of weeks after inauguration. At that point nobody understood what the depths of this recession were going to look like. If you recall, it was only significantly later that we suddenly get a report that the economy had tanked.
And so it's not surprising then that we missed the mark in terms of our estimates of where unemployment would go. I think it's pretty clear now that unemployment will end up going over 10 percent, if you just look at the pattern, because of the fact that even after employers and businesses start investing again and start hiring again, typically it takes a while for that employment number to catch up with economic recovery. And we're still not at actual recovery yet. So I anticipate that this is going to be a difficult -- difficult year, a difficult period. Q: What's the high water mark, then, for unemployment? Eleven percent?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I'm not suggesting that I have a crystal ball. Since you just threw back at us our last prognosis, let's not -- let's not engage in another one.
Q: Does that mean you won't be making predictions ever? (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: But what I am saying is that -- here are some things I know for certain. In the absence of the stimulus, I think our recession would be much worse. It would have declined -- without the Recovery Act -- we know for a fact that states, for example, would have laid off a lot more teachers, a lot more police officers, a lot more firefighters, every single one of those individuals whose jobs were saved. As a consequence, they are still making their mortgage payments, they are still shopping. So we know that the Recovery Act has had an impact.
Now, what we also know is this was the worst recession since the Great Depression, and people are going through a very tough time right now. And I don't expect them to be satisfied. I mean, one thing that -- as I sometimes glance at the various news outlets represented here, I know that they're sometimes reporting of, oh, the administration is worried about this, or their poll numbers are going down there -- look, the American people have a right to feel like this is a tough time right now. 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, because this is a tough, tough period.
And I don't feel satisfied with the progress that we've made. We've got to get our Recovery Act money out faster. We've got to make sure that the programs that we've put in place are working the way they're supposed to. I think, for example, our mortgage program has actually helped to modify mortgages for a lot of people, but it hasn't been keeping pace with all the foreclosures that are taking place. I get letters every day from people who say, you know, I appreciate that you put out this mortgage program, but the bank is still not letting me modify my mortgage and I'm about to lose my home. And then I've got to call my staff and team and find out why isn't it working for these folks, and can we adjust it, can we tweak it, can we make it more aggressive?
This is a very, very difficult process. And 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 jumpstart the economy as quickly as possible; and I've got to keep my eye on the long term, and the long term is making sure that by reforming our health care system, by passing serious energy legislation that makes us a clean energy economy, by revamping our education system, by finally getting the financial regulatory reforms in place that are necessary for the 21st century -- by doing all those things, 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 the situation that we're in today.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/23/politics/main5107407.shtmlIt means that we have to hold on strong and hit back against the media's attempt in lowering this President's numbers right before Health Care reform is being proposed, and as we start knocking some senate heads in order to insure a Public Option (something that a whole bunch of Democrats don't want to do)...since it has been made clear that it is only with a President who is supported that we will get enough senate assholes to support a strong health care package that includes a public option.
The point is that those who are saying the sky is falling and that President Obama was wrong with how to deal with the economy; with the size and scope of the stimulus; with who he appointed as his economic team....were saying those same things six months ago, six weeks ago, six days ago, and are saying it now still. There has been nothing that has changed in terms of what we are dealing with here; "The Worse financial meltdown since the Great Depression". It wasn't going to just go away....and no one in their right mind said it would.