Obama Sees More Pain Now but Hope Later on Economy
By DAVID STOUT
WASHINGTON — President Obama said on Tuesday that the battered economy was showing signs of recovery, but he warned Americans that more pain lies ahead and urged them to help build a foundation for a new, 21st century prosperity.
Speaking just after a disappointing report on March retail sales made it clear that a sustained recovery is not yet at hand, the president delivered a speech that was part pep talk and part rebuke, not only for the once high-rolling members of the financial world but for politicians whom he said had deferred tough decisions for too long.
“I want every American to know that each action we take and each policy we pursue is driven by a larger vision of America’s future,” Mr. Obama said in remarks at Georgetown University.
The president envisioned “a future where sustained economic growth creates good jobs and rising incomes; a future where prosperity is fueled not by excessive debt, reckless speculation and fleeing profit, but is instead built by skilled, productive workers; by sound investments that will spread opportunity at home and allow this nation to lead the world in the technologies, innovations and discoveries that will shape the 21st century.”
“That is the future I see. That is the future I know we can have.”
But the near future will bring “more job loss, more foreclosures and more pain before it ends,” Mr. Obama said. Underscoring his point was a Commerce Department report showing that consumer spending on a wide array of goods declined in March, reflecting a general spirit of uncertainty as well as continuing job losses.
The president said, as he has repeatedly, that the recently enacted stimulus plan, the efforts to strengthen the banking system and attempts to rescue the flagging American auto industry have all borne fruit, demonstrated in part by an increase in home-mortgage refinancings and more lending by small businesses.
“This is all welcome and encouraging news, but it does not mean that hard times are over,” Mr. Obama said, warning that 2009 will be a difficult year, and that no one should expect a return to full prosperity soon.
As the president spoke, the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke told an audience at Morehouse College in Atlanta that there were “tentative signs” that the decline in the economy was slowing.
President Obama called on Americans to take the long view. “There is no doubt that times are still tough,” he said. “By no means are we out of the woods just yet. But from where we stand, for the very first time, we are beginning to see glimmers of hope. And beyond that, way off in the distance, we can see a vision of an America’s future that is far different than our troubled economic past.”
Realizing that vision will require a new regulatory structure, one based on 21st century needs rather than an outdated financial buccaneer ethic, the president said. It will also require work on deep, complicated issues like health care and energy, he said.
Mr. Obama said he saw a new America whose foundations are not built on sand but on rock, “proud, sturdy and unwavering in the face of the greatest storm.”
“We will not finish it in one year or even many,” he said, “but if we use this moment to lay that new foundation, if we come together and begin the hard work of rebuilding, if we persist and persevere against the disappointments and setbacks that will surely lie ahead, then I have no doubt that this house will stand and the dream of our founders will live on in our time.”
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