Chilean President Michelle Bachelet describes how most of the Latin American states managed to absorb the shock from the global financial crisis. Bachelet mentions learning from the economic crisis that Chile went through in the 1980’s, the central banks offsetting the lack of liquidity in dollars, regulation prudence and early lending. (0:57)
Vice President Joe Biden says, “I am more optimistic about the place we are today”, referencing the new goal to achieve a clean energy plan. The opportunity, he says, is gigantic due to the “god-awful economic circumstance we find ourselves in.” (0:40)
By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service
“The force of the economic storm is weakening a bit,” said U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner yesterday. Geithner discussed proposed Fiscal Year 2010 budget for the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service with members of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee.
“We’re working to repair and reform our financial system so that it works for, not against, recovery. We’re working to restore growth and meet our fiscal goals by redesigning our tax code, bolstering enforcement,” said Geithner. “We’re working to advance our interest globally, working with other countries to promote economic recovery and financial repair and to ensure more open markets for U.S. businesses.”
Geithner and the Treasury Department are seeking increases in multiple areas including an increase that will bolster the staffs of the U.S. domestic finance and tax policy offices. Other increases will contribute to community development institutions and IRS enforcement efforts. Geithner also said the increase in the budget proposal will allow the U.S. to “meet international obligations and to help us craft a global response to the crisis in this more integrated global economic system we live in today.”
Talk Radio News Service’s Washington Bureau Chief talks to Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) about the current economic crisis. (4:16)
Former Vice President Dick Cheney explains why he does not perceive the help GM will receive as the best solution to overcome and recover from the financial crisis. Amongst other reasons, Cheney says that going through the chapter 11 process which allows for the reorganization of a firm might be a good way to start over. (1:02)
By Michael Combier-Talk Radio News Service
The $100 billion given to the Department of Education by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is the most expensive piece of legislation since the G.I. Bill which provided college education for returning World War II veterans. The investment is intended to shore up state education efforts, while saving jobs and encouraging educational innovation with its main objective to provide a better future for the youth of this country and the future generations said Education Secretary Arne Duncan at a press conference this morning.
“It is a time of economic crisis, it is a time of educational crisis and I am convinced we need to educate our way to a better economy. The challenges are real, the challenges are profound,the stakes have never been higher but the opportunity is absolutely once in a lifetime,” said Duncan.
“With unprecedented resources we want to push unprecedented reform,” said Duncan, adding that “we have to get dramatically better if we were to retain our spot around the world as the education leader… By the year 2020, we want to have the highest percent of college graduates in the world.”
To reach this ambitious goal, investments will be made in nearly every level of education. $5 billion will be invested to early childhood education. $30 billion will be invested in higher education. “There are no good dropouts, no good jobs today for high school dropouts… condemning them to poverty and social failure,” Duncan said. $2.5 billion will be dedicated over five years to retain students in higher education, and “the goal is not to go to college, the goal is to graduate,” he said.
These students are “competing with students in India and China for jobs… We have to raise the bar,” said Duncan.
For Duncan,”we cannot go backwards”, the crisis should lead people “to think very differently, to invest differently… and show what the country is possible.”
By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service
We can’t let things go back to the way they were with the United States Financial System according to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Monday. Geithner joined Newsweek Magazine editor, Jon Meacham, at a luncheon interview on the topic of the recession and what American’s should expect as the steps to recovery continue to be put into action.
“This is still the most challenging economic crisis that this country has seen in generations. It took a long time for these problems to build up,” Geithner said. “It’s going to take time for us to work through them. We’re not going to have a steady, even process of repair, it’s going to be bumpy, still feel fragile for a while.”
Geithner expressed his sympathy for struggling Americans and said he understands why Americans are angry. He said that even as growth inevitably begins to turn positive, unemployment will continue to increase for awhile. He also said, “It’s not going to feel better for a long time for millions of Americans.”
As the administration continues to work its way through this economic crisis, Geithner believes they need to take a “fresh look” at the financial system as a whole. In terms of speed and quality of initiative that are already in progress, he said he thinks the administration is doing well.
“The American people want to see us moving to change things, not just waiting and hoping,” he said.
Meacham asked Geithner about people’s critique that the administration was being too lenient. Geither replied, “I actually think that what the President has put in place is the most aggressive approach to solving a financial crisis than we’ve seen from any serious country in a very long period of time.”
He also noted that they are doing more preventative work and referred to it as a type of insurance from a greater recession. They are working to make the system more stable and plan to release a new set of proposals in the next few weeks for reforming the oversight framework.
By Suzia van Swol, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service
One-time giant Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection today, but President Obama says he has every confidence it will emerge from this process stronger and more competitive.
After speaking with the President today, U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) said that the auto industry is important to the U.S. defense industrial base and the economic power of Northern Ohio. “Most important are the 30,000 jobs saved at Chrysler,” said Kaptur.
Kaptur said that the auto industry was brought down by Wall Street and it deserves to flourish. “The government will stand behind the working capital for Chrysler in the form of working capital and loans,” said Kaptur.
Striking comparison with other bailouts, Kaptur said that if you look at who got the big money, “the AIG gets 70 billion, one company?” She went on to say that TARP should have been opened up for vehicle sales
and for the financing of dealership showroom floors. Instead, there was a total credit strangle hold, which still is impacting this industry, and unemployment started to tick up all across the country.
The federal bankruptcy court will ultimately determine Chrysler’s immediate future, but Jeeps might still get a chance to four-wheel over mountains.
By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service
>House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) called congressional voting cards “the most dangerous credit card in the history of the world”, because then enable Congress and the president to engage in reckless spending. This was not Boehner’s first criticism of Obama, but his statement came on the 101st day of the Obama Administration, a time which Boehner has criticized as being pock marked with excessive borrowing, reckless spending and a massive growth in government.
Boehner said that Democrat’s “record on spending and debt is staggering, but our economy is growing weaker, and it’s not going to get any better by growing the size of the government here in Washington.”
Boehner believes that the Democratically controlled Congress has enabled and contributed to the recklessness, and thinks it is up to the Republicans to put a stop to it. Republicans must be “the party of better solutions” if they are going to stand up to the Democrats in Congress, Boehner said, adding that he hopes Democrats will be committed to a bipartisan policy approach..
Citing the elections of 2008, Boehner said “out brand has been tarnished”, but to help the party serve the American people, Republicans must stand up to the Obama Administration when disagreements arise, and to offer alternative solutions.
Leader Boehner applauded President Obama on his strategy towards Afghanistan and Iraq, but showed concern at Obama’s greater national security policy.
“The big question continues to be: what is the Administration’s overarching plan to fight terrorism? Judging from their recent decision to release 30 terrorist detainees with no plan on where to put them, it continues to beg the question,” referring to Obama’s closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention center without knowing where the detainees will be sent.
By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service
Correspondent Michael Ruhl reports on the recent release of the unemployment statistics for March.
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