President Obama will declare today that his economic policies have saved America from a second Great Depression, but a tumultuous 48 hours of protests over his massive spending plans could drown out his reassurance. Mr Obama is due to speak on Wall Street a year after Lehman Brothers collapsed, unleashing a global financial meltdown and the worst economic crisis since the Depression. In his speech â a week before he hosts the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh â he will argue that Februaryâs $787 billion (£471.2 billion) stimulus has staved off economic catastrophe. He will also call for action to tackle the financial, regulatory and structural problems that triggered the crisis and which still dog a painfully slow recovery. But a deafening debate over his $1 trillion plans to reform the US health industry spilt over at the weekend into broader concerns that his spending is spiralling out of control. Tens of thousands of protesters converged on Washington in the largest anti-Obama rally since he took office. The size of the protest took the authorities by surprise, as demonstrators from across the US descended on the capital to express not only their opposition to Mr Obamaâs health reform plans, but also broader anger with the expansion of government. The greatest source of concern, and the issue overshadowing Mr Obamaâs presidency, is the federal deficit, which is exploding as he is proposing costly and ambitious spending programmes centred on health insurance reform. Many protesters carried placards highly demeaning to a sitting president, as its organisers sought to invoke the spirit of the Boston Tea Party that sparked the Revolutionary War. Some even likened Mr Obama to Hitler, referring to debunked claims that his health reform plans include âdeath panelsâ that will order the euthanasia of elderly patients. Others carried posters portraying Mr Obama as the Joker from the Batman films bearing the slogan âSocialismâ. Some held placards declaring âBury Obama care with Kennedyâ, referring to Senator Edward Kennedy, a veteran champion of health reform, who now lies in Arlington cemetery.In recent weeks, because of concerns about spending and the deficit, a growing number of independents and moderate Democrats who were crucial to Mr Obamaâs victory last year have begun to desert him, polls show. In a 60 Minutes interview last night, Mr Obama said: âOnce that Bill passes, I own it. And if people say, âYou know what? This hasnât reduced my costs, my premiums are still going upâ, Iâm the one whoâs going to be responsible. So I have every incentive to get this right.â The White House is making enormous efforts to convince the sole Republican on Capitol Hill, Senator Olympia Snowe, of Maine, who is inclined to support a compromise Bill. Her support would probably give Mr Obama the 60 votes he needs in the upper chamber to see off a Republican filibuster. There is also growing confidence that a nascent revolt can be contained in the House, where liberals say that any plan should contain a government-run health option â something the Senate will never pass. A compromise, where a public option could be introduced at a later date, now seems likely. For all their protests, enough liberals appear unwilling to kill off the centrepiece of their own Presidentâs domestic agenda, making the passage of some sort of legislation probable by the end of the year. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6832953.ece
I feel much better now. Hitting Zach 5 Ave, and then Nordstroms. Gonna pull that trigger on the Beemer I've been eying.
Zero punishment for the bad actors. Everyone is scot free. How do we have the biggest crisis since the great depression and know on is responsible for it. Wink wink, snicker snicker, go the political leaders behind our backs. Nothing has changed.