Obama Sees ‘Signs of Progress’ in Economy

U.S. President Barack Obama emphasized the economy in his hour-long speech in his second primetime news conference as chief executive Tuesday.

Reuters said Obama made his case to the American people for a trillion-dollar plan to soak up toxic bank assets and his massive budget plan. He also urged the world`s major economies for concerted efforts to secure global recovery, saying, “(In this regard) the president is salesman-in-chief.”

“The government’s strategy is to create jobs, to help responsible homeowners, to restart lending, and to grow our economy over the long-term. And we are beginning to see signs of progress.”

Obama explained the justification for the proposed budget of 3.55 trillion dollars next year that his administration submitted to Congress. “The government’s proposed budget is needed for the U.S. to lay the foundation for long-term prosperity, rather than short-term success, and is indispensable for economic recovery,” he said.

He sought to send a message of hope in a major shift from his first news conference Feb. 9, when he said, “Unless the U.S. takes immediate action amid an unprecedented crisis, the situation could go from bad to worse,” urging prompt congressional passage of his bill on an economic stimulus package worth 787 billion dollars.

Specifically, Obama said Washington has laid the groundwork to overcome the crisis, citing a string of measures put into place including the implementation of the economic stimulus package, measures to help stabilize the housing market, recovery of credit flow into households and companies, and the eradication of the vicious cycle of a bubble economy.

This was in line with what he said in his speech to a joint session of Congress Feb. 24, “The U.S. has been finding hope in times of crises, and opportunities amid hardships.”

On the Treasury Department’s move to enact a law on stronger government oversight of non-banking financial institutions, Obama said, “I expect the public and Congress will strongly support the bill.”

On the comment by China’s bank chief that the world needs a new key currency, he said, “Since investors are confident that the U.S. is capable of leading a global economic recovery and future development, the dollar currency remains very strong.”

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