President Obama remarks on the economy
Speech by President Barack Obama
www.whitehouse.gov
I’ve just finished a candid and productive meeting with the CEOs of 12 of our nation’s largest financial institutions. I asked them to come to Washington today – at the end of this difficult year for their industry, but also for the economy – to discuss where we’ve been, what we expect of them going forward, and how we can work together to accelerate economic recovery.
Our nation’s banks play, and have always played, a crucial role in our national economy – from providing loans for homes and cars and colleges; to supplying the capital that allows entrepreneurs to turn ideas into products and businesses to grow; to helping people save for a rainy day and a secure retirement. So it’s clear that each of us has a stake in ensuring the strength and the vitality of the financial system. Read more
Obama: Statement on jobs
Staff Report
White House news: www.whitehouse.gov
I have just concluded an informative and constructive discussion with Republican and Democratic leaders about job creation and our economic future. We spoke about the challenges facing our families, our businesses, and our country as a whole, and what we can do to overcome them. Today’s meeting built on some of the ideas that I offered in the economic speech that I gave yesterday and on some of the ideas discussed at the Job Forum that we held at the White House last week. Read more
Transcript: President Obama on job creation
Speech at The Brookings Institution
www.whitehouse.gov
Almost exactly one year ago, on a frigid winter’s day, I met with my new economic team at the headquarters of my presidential transition offices in Chicago. And over the course of four hours, my advisors presented an analysis of where the economy at that time stood, accompanied by a chilling set of charts and graphs, predicting where we might end up. It was an unforgettable series of presentations. Read more
The Rant | Party crash this
Video Essay by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
What about those White House party crashers? We haven’t had something this salacious to talk about since, well, the balloon boy.
With unemployment at 10 percent, with the health-care system in bad need of reform, with wars in Afghanistan and Iraq seemingly at no end, does it really matter that two socialites talked their way into the White House?
Chris Graham muses in today’s Rant.
AFP Video. Length: 1:49.
Dinner with the First Family
Story by Chris Graham
newdominion@ntelos.net
Mike Lund found himself a few feet away from the First Couple at the November state dinner held at the White House in honor of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife, Gursharan Kaur.
President Barack Obama broke away from small talk with First Lady Michelle Obama to talk with the people in charge of preparing the dinner, and Lund, the executive chef at Zynodoa in Downtown Staunton, had to take the lead after a fellow chef had trouble finding words. Read more
Focus | Webb discusses Afghanistan strategy
Raises questions about surge, withdrawal timeline
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
With AFP Audio
U.S. Sen. Jim Webb has questions both about President Barack Obama’s planned Afghanistan troop surge and the goal set by the Obama administration to be able to begin drawing down troops from the Afghan theater in 2011.
“My belief is that it’s not as important to focus on a particular date as it is to reinforce the conditions under which we can have an endpoint,” said Webb, who wants to see what the administration’s ideas are as to the conditions that can be met “so that we can end our involvement in a positive way.” Read more
Worse than last year, but …
Posted by afp on December 3, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Column by David Reynolds
Columns, letters: freepress2@ntelos.net
Budgeting is not baseball. No one waits until next year. No one wants to see how bad the numbers will become if you add 12 months. Read more
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