The White HouseOffice of the Press SecretaryFor Immediate ReleaseSeptember 20, 2010
Remarks by the President at CNBC TownHall Discussion on Jobs
Newseum, Washington, D.C.
NewseumWashington, D.C.12:03 P.M. EDTMR. HARWOOD: Good afternoon from Washington, D.C. I'm John Harwood. It is noonon the East Coast. The Dow Jones average stands around 10,700 points; 15 millionAmericans are out of work. And we're spending the next hour talking about how to fixthe troubled American economy.Please welcome the President of the United States. (Applause.)THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much.MR. HARWOOD: Mr. President, thanks for being here.THE PRESIDENT: That was quite a lead-in, by the way. (Laughter.)MR. HARWOOD: Yes, wasn’t it? You like that dramatic pause? (Laughter.) We havegot a cross-section of people from around the country -- CEOs, union workers, teachersand students --THE PRESIDENT: It’s a good-looking group, I have to say. (Laughter and applause.)MR. HARWOOD: -- small business owners, people who don't have a job. Every one of them has a stake in the American Dream. And they got some good news over theweekend. The National Bureau of Economic Research, as you know, has said that therecession ended in June 2009 -- a few months after you took office. And yet here’s the problem you find yourself with. Many leaders in business think you and your policies arehostile to them. And many ordinary Americans think your policies are helping WallStreet and big business. How did that happen?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, even though economists may say that the recessionofficially ended last year, obviously for the millions of people who are still out of work, people who have seen their home values decline, people who are struggling to pay the bills day to day, it’s still very real for them.And I think we have to go back to what was happening when I was first sworn in as the44th President of the United States. We went through the worst recession since the GreatDepression. Nothing has come close. In fact, if you look at the consequences of therecession in the ‘80s, the recession in the ‘90s, and the recession in 2001, and youcombine all three of those, it still wasn’t as bad as this recession that we went through.So the month I was sworn in we lost 750,000 jobs; the month after that 600,000; themonth after that 600,000. This is before any of our plans had a chance to take effect. Thefinancial markets were on the verge of meltdown and the economy was contracting about6 percent -- by far, the largest contraction we've seen since the ‘30s.You combine all that and what that meant was that we had to take some steps veryquickly just to make sure that the financial system was not collapsing -- that people couldget auto loans, could get student loans, that businesses large and small could get somefinancing to keep their doors open and to keep their payrolls on track. And in addition,we had to make sure that we didn’t slip into a Great Depression. Now, we've done that. Those programs that we put in place worked. So now you’ve got afinancial system that is stable. It’s still not as strong as it was back in 2006, 2007, but it isstabilized. You’ve got now eight consecutive months of private sector job growth.Businesses are able to borrow again; they’re investing again; they’re making profitsagain.That's all the good news. The challenge is, is that the hole was so deep that a lot of peopleout there are still hurting -- and probably some folks here in the audience are still havinga tough time. (Applause.) And so the question then becomes what can we now put in place to make sure that the trend lines continue in a positive direction, as opposed togoing back in the negative direction.Last week we got some good news. After fighting for several months, we finally got asmall business tax cut bill in place so that we’re eliminating capital gains for small businesses and startups, making sure that they can get loans -- because small businessesare the ones that have been hardest hit in terms of not being able to get capital. We have put forward proposals, for example, to accelerate investment here in the United Statesinstead of overseas in research and development and plants and equipment that could put people back to work.So there are a lot of plans in place that can make improvement, but it’s slow and steady,as opposed to the kind of quick fix that I think a lot of people would like to see. But thething I’ve just got to remind people of is the fact that it took us a decade to get into the problem that we’re in right now.
The Wall Street Journal came out with a report based on Census information that theyears from 2001 to 2009, the middle class actually saw their wages decline by 5 percent.This was before the financial crisis. So these have been some long-term trends of themiddle class having a lot of problems out there. And what we’ve got to do now it toreverse it, but something that took 10 years to create is going to take a little more time tosolve.MR. HARWOOD: I’ve heard you give that turnaround message you just gave manytimes.THE PRESIDENT: Right, right.MR. HARWOOD: Let me ask about your assessment of the challenge and the problem incommunicating that to the American people. We all identify with people like ourselves.Do you think it’s possible that because of your style, or the unusual things about your background -- your racial heritage, where you grew up, Ivy League education -- that thefearful voters who are about to go to the polls in November think, yes, I hear him, he mayget it intellectually, but he doesn’t feel what I’m feeling?THE PRESIDENT: Well, here’s my suspicion. I think that when the unemployment rateis still high and people are having a tough time, it doesn’t matter if I was green --(laughter) -- it doesn’t matter if I was purple. I think people would still be frustrated, andunderstandably so.Look, I can describe what’s happening to the economy overall, but if you’re out of work right now, the only thing that you’re going to be hearing is, when do I get a job?(Applause.) If you’re about to lose your home, all you’re thinking about is, when can Iget my home?So I don’t think that those are the issues. And by the way, I think most people understand-- because I spent two years running around the country talking about my life and why Iwas running for President -- they understand that I was the kid of a single mom, and I gotmy education through scholarships, and I lived in a small apartment with mygrandparents, and they were helped by the G.I. Bill and FHA in terms of being able toclimb into the middle class.The whole reason I ran was because my life is a testimony to the American Dream. Andeverything that we’ve been doing since I came into office is designed to make sure thatthat American Dream continues for future generations.I think the challenge right now is that I’m thinking about the next generation and thereare a lot of folks out there who are thinking about the next election. If I were makingdecisions based on November, then I wouldn’t have done some of the things that I did because I knew they weren’t popular. But they were the right thing to do. And that's gotto be my top priority. (Applause.)
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President Obama's townhall with CNBC John Harwood, September 20, 2010
President Obama holds a townhall meeting in Washington, DC with CNBC's host John Harwood on the economy. September 20, 2010
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