President Obama was at Georgetown University today to talk about signs of an improving economy. The World's Katy Clark reports that the President would like to focus public attention back to domestic matters as he approaches his 100th day in office.
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MARCO WERMAN: Iran and North Korea notwithstanding, the economy remains the top priority for the Obama Administration. Today, the President delivered an address at Georgetown University defending his economic strategy. Mr. Obama said there are signs of economic progress, but he warned that we're not out of the woods yet. The World's Katy Clark reports.
KATY CLARK: In the opening lines of his nearly 45-minute-long address, President Obama made reference to critics who accuse his administration of taking on too much at once. Then there are those, he said, who've accused him of not doing enough to respond to the global economic collapse.
BARACK OBAMA: And many Americans are simply wondering how all of our different programs and policies fit together in a single, over-arching strategy that will move this economy from recession to recovery, and ultimately to prosperity. So today, I want to step back for a moment and explain our strategy as clearly as I can.
CLARK: President Obama went on to say that recessions are not uncommon, but this one is different. He said it was caused by a perfect storm of irresponsibility and poor decision-making that stretched from Wall Street to Washington to Main Street. Mr. Obama said the first step has been to fight a severe shortage of demand in the economy by boosting demand.
OBAMA: My administration and Congress boosted demand by passing the largest recovery plan in our nation's history. It's a plan that's already in the process of saving or creating 3.5 million jobs over the next two years. It's putting money directly into people's pockets with a tax cut for 95 percent of working families. It's now showing up in paychecks across America.
CLARK: President Obama also touched on efforts he's made to coordinate a global response to the economic crisis. They include getting G-20 nations earlier this month to agree to increase their own stimulus efforts, and to pursue tougher regulatory reforms at home. Mr. Obama said today that those efforts, in conjunction with his own domestic policies, are starting to generate signs of economic progress. But he cautioned people not to get too hopeful just yet.
OBAMA: The severity of this recession will cause more job loss, more foreclosures, and more pain before it ends.
CLARK: The President's economic address today came after an intense two weeks, which saw the White House largely focusing on international affairs. First, there were the G-20 and NATO summits. Those were followed by the hostage drama involving Somali pirates and an American cargo ship captain. Later this week, Mr. Obama heads off again, this time to Mexico, and then on to Port-of-Spain, where he'll attend the Summit of Americas. Steven van Evera teaches Political Science at MIT. He says, with so many pressing issues on his plate, Mr. Obama is engaged in an astonishing juggling act.
STEVEN VAN EVERA: He's attempting more initiatives than any President, I think, in our history has. But as long as he knows how to delegate and not engage in micromanagement, there's no reason he can't do it.
CLARK: Van Evera says President Obama, though, needs to remember that the American people aren't necessarily as versed as he appears to be in the intricacies of economic policy. He says Mr. Obama could do a better job of laying out the evidence that a stimulus will in fact pull the economy out of a downturn. Van Evera says the administration would do well to mix future economic addresses with a bit more economic history. For The World, this is Katy Clark.
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