MR. BROKAW: On this program about a year ago, you said that being a president is 90 percent circumstances and about 10 percent agenda. The circumstances now are, as you say, very unpopular in terms of the decisions that have to be made. Which are the most unpopular ones that the country’s going to have to deal with?
PRES.-ELECT OBAMA: Well, fortunately, as tough as times are right now–and things are going to get worse before they get better–there is a convergence between circumstances and agenda. The key for us is making sure that we jump-start that economy in a way that doesn’t just deal with the short term, doesn’t just create jobs immediately, but also puts us on a glide path for long-term, sustainable economic growth. And that’s why I spoke in my radio address on Saturday about the importance of investing in the largest infrastructure program–in roads and bridges and, and other traditional infrastructure–since the building of the federal highway system in the 1950s; rebuilding our schools and making sure that they’re energy efficient; making sure that we’re investing in electronic medical records and other technologies that can drive down health care costs. All those things are not only immediate–part of an immediate stimulus package to the economy, but they’re also down payments on the kind of long-term, sustainable growth that we need.
“… rebuilding our schools and making sure that they’re energy efficient…”
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What does school building energy efficiency have to do with the primary mission of educating our young people?
If our young people come from communities that place little value on educational achievement and from parents that don’t teach their children that a sound education is the most available and achieveable path to financial well-being, then pouring money into schools will have little effect.
The very fact that many schools are in poor condition is testimony to the poor local tax base supporting those schools. Their tax bases are usually “poor” because the members of that tax base are poor and have a poor or no attitude at all toward higher education.
Federal money can have only a limited effect in ‘turning a community around’ and instilling a high regard for education among members of that community. And almost all communities do not want ‘outsiders’ meddling in their affairs. When ‘outsiders’ do so, they are usually either ignored or resisted.
I cannot help but wonder at what point it will dawn on President-elect Obama, that there isn’t one cent in Washington, D.C., in the coffers of the United States government, to pay for a single one of these programs. Not a cent.
Another thing I cannot help but wonder is – – when we get ready to “create” these 2.5 million jobs re-building our infrastructure, are we going to find the experts in bridge-building, in HVAC for our schools, experts in road-surveying and building, etc – -are we going to find them among our presently unemployed factory workers, fryolator operators, and teacher’s aides? These seem like questions someone ought to be asking in Washington.
And the MSM was all over Sarah Palin for sounding incoherent?!!
Rather than give 6 answers to a question, what you should just do is pick ONE. Pity politicians have never understood that, at least since the time of the Founding Fathers.
DUH
solid interview. Amazing that he’s been ready to face the press and can answer more than one question at a time, in complex sentences. Nice to have.
Although there isn’t a penny in the coffers, the next step is called “deficit spending,” which is exactly how FDR got us out of the depression and paid for WWII. In fact, there wasn’t really a penny for our current war, but we found it.
#1- obama is answering several questions:
Is education important? Yes. We’ll build schools.”
How do we create jobs? “Build. schools rather than prisons”
How do we save the environment? “Build green schools.”
Granted, after eight years of an unexpectedly bored president who hated doing his homework, we’ve got someone who knows his stuff.
Nice.
#4 – John, did FDR REALLY get us out of the depression? I would suggest you review your economic history. His “make work” policies, his (and – to be fair – Hoover’s) tax hikes deepened and extended the suffering for years. The stock market crashed in 1929, but the economy collapsed in 1937. How did his “stimuli” help?
[i] The stock market crashed in 1929, but the economy collapsed in 1937 [/i] —Crabby [#5]
The entire banking system—and with it, the economy—collapsed in 1933, right before FDR took office. Don’t blame the New Deal for that.
Under the New Deal, unemployment declined and GDP increased, year after, except for a brief decline in 1937-38. The economy did not collapse; it had a fairly steady recovery.
You can reasonably question the wisdom of various New Deal policies. I believe FDR erred, for example, in creating large bureaucracies and institution NIRA-style cartelization and price controls. But in asserting as fact that FDR’s “tax hikes deepened and extended the suffering for years,” you are replaying your own preconceptions.
In the last paragraph of #8, the middle sentence should read:
“I believe FDR erred, for example, in creating large bureaucracies and INSTITUTING NIRA-style cartelization and price controls.”
The only thing that ended the depression was the entry of the US into WWII.
[i] The only thing that ended the depression was the entry of the US into WWII [/i]
People often say that. But consider the facts:
GDP fell 33% between 1929 and 1933. But by 1937 it had exceeded its 1929 level. That would seem to qualify as a recovery.
Unemployment rose from 3.1% in 1929 to 16.1% in 1931 and then to a staggering 25.2% in 1933. It fell steadily from then until 1937, when it reached 13.8%.
From 1933 to 1940, GNP rose 65% in constant dollars, industrial production rose 82%, exports rose 140%, and unemployment fell 45% (to 13.9%). GNP exceeded its 1929 level by 15%.