President Obama to National Governor's Assoc.: "Keeping Teachers In The Classroom Is NOT Wasteful!"

[Turborama]

Run time: 10:58 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TugdlKX8wmI   Posted on YouTube: February 23, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: February 24, 2009 By DU Member: Turborama Views on DU: 519

 
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-KW6adPobQ&feature=channel

US stimulus not wasteful, says Barack Obama

Henry J. Pulizzi | February 24, 2009

Article from: Dow Jones Newswires

BARACK Obama has cautioned America not to let debate over the $US787 billion stimulus package "get lost in the cable chatter".

He also put the nation's governors on notice that he will "call them out" if they waste federal assistance.

Mr Obama told the National Governors Association the federal Government will later this week begin distributing more than $US15 billion ($23 billion) in federal assistance to help states cover the cost of their Medicaid programs.

He also named Department of Interior inspector general Earl Devaney to head up the new Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board, overseeing the implementation of the recovery package. In that position, Mr Devaney will work closely with Vice-President Joe Biden.

But Mr Obama's strongest words were an admonition not to let politics overshadow honest differences over the stimulus.

He said most of the debate on the stimulus, including "very legitimate concerns" over the sustainability of expanding unemployment insurance, focuses on provisions that make up a small portion of the overall plan.

"If we agree on 90 per cent of this stuff, and we're spending all of our time on television arguing about one, two, three per cent of the spending in this thing and somehow it's being characterised in broad brush as wasteful spending, that starts sounding more like politics and that's what right now we don't have time to do," Mr Obama said.

He urged officials not to "get caught up in the same old stuff".

Last week, the White House hit back at a CNBC reporter who was sharply critical of its housing plan. Mr Obama didn't single out any specific critics, but aimed his remarks at people who complain that the stimulus bill was loaded with wasteful spending.

"When I hear people say, 'Well, there's a lot of waste in this program,' from my perspective at least, keeping teachers in the classroom is not wasteful," Mr Obama told the governors.

"From my perspective, tax cuts to 95 per cent of working families is not wasteful.

“From my perspective, providing all of you additional resources to rebuild roads and bridges and levees and dams that will enhance the quality of life in your state but also make it more economically competitive, that's not wasteful."
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