Obama on State Governments
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on March 21st, 2009 4:39 am by HL
Obama on State Governments
National Conference of State Legislatures Over the past two days, I have been traveling in California, talking with Americans about the challenges they are facing as a result of this economic crisis. These are challenges that all of you know well. You are on the front lines of this recession. It’s your states that are struggling with shrinking revenues, your budgets that are being cut, and your services that families turn to first in a moment of need. As a former state legislator, I know how difficult your work can be, and how important it is to have a strong partner in Washington. And I want you to know I’m committed to being that kind of partner. That’s why we are taking unprecedented steps not only to help your states make it through these difficult times, but to make sure you come out on the other side stronger and more prosperous than you were before. That’s the purpose of the budget I am submitting to Congress. It’s a budget that makes hard choices about where to save and where to spend. Because of the massive deficit we inherited and the cost of this financial crisis, we are going through our books line by line so that we can cut our deficit in half by the end of my first term and reduce it by $2 trillion over the next decade.
The G-20 Summit: Potential Threats to U.S. Interests 
Key European leaders have revealed their agenda for the G-20 summit on the global financial crisis. While a few of their critiques are well-taken, their pre-summit positions raise serious concerns. In particular, the “charter of sustainable economic activity,” trumpeted especially by France and Germany, mixes statements of the obvious with rhetoric that baldly calls for the U.S. to relinquish its sovereign authority over economic policy to a global government. Of immediate concern is the charter’s appeal for global, supranational financial regulation–a clear European power grab to contain and diminish the role and freedom of the U.S. financial sector.
