President Barack Obama said a main objective of his trip to Latin America will be to forge even stronger economic partnerships in the region in order to create jobs in the U.S.
Obama began his weekly address on the radio and Internet by reaffirming his earlier statements that the U.S. will work with international partners to protect Libyan civilians and “hold the Qaddafi regime accountable.” He also repeated his pledge to “stand with the people of Japan in their greatest hour of need” as they recover from the aftereffects of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Obama said that even “as we respond to these immediate crises abroad, we also will not let up in our efforts to tackle the pressing, ongoing challenges facing our country, including accelerating economic growth.”
The president left yesterday for a five-day trip to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador that will focus on his goal to double U.S. exports by 2015.
Obama said he wants U.S. companies to take advantage of Latin America’s growing economy. For every $1 billion worth of goods and services the U.S. exports, he said, more than 5,000 U.S. jobs are supported.
He said that Brazil imports more goods from the U.S. than from any other country in the world. In 2010, U.S. exports to Brazil supported more than 250,000 U.S. jobs, he said. The president will be meeting with Brazilian and U.S. business leaders during the trip to try to find ways to increase trade.
Jobs Through Trade
Obama said companies like Chatsworth, California-based Capstone Turbine Corp. (CPST) -- which he said recently sold $2 million worth of equipment to Brazil -- are examples of ways the economy can be strengthened through increased trade. He said larger companies also benefit from trade with Brazil, citing United Technologies Corp. (UTX)’s sales of Sikorsky helicopters that help support workers at plants in Connecticut, Alabama and Pennsylvania. U.S. exports to Chile have also grown, surging 300 percent since 2004 and supporting 70,000 U.S. jobs, he said.
The Obama administration plans to revise trade agreements with Colombia and Panama this year and submit them for approval to Congress.
“In an increasingly global economy, our partnership with these nations is only going to become more vital,” he said. “For it’s a source of growth and prosperity -- and not just for the people of Latin America, but for the American people as well.”
Republican Address
In the Republican address, Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington state said that “if we want to get our economy back to creating jobs, we can’t duck our responsibility to rein in spending.”
Herrera Beutler, who was part of the Republican wave of victories in November that gave the party the majority in the House of Representatives this year, said Republican lawmakers have reduced spending by $10 billion over five weeks through short-term funding measures. On March 17, Congress passed a stopgap measure to fund the government through April 8 as lawmakers seek agreement on a final budget for the 2011 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.
Congress is moving closer to confrontations that may force the issue of dealing with entitlement programs, such as Social Security and Medicare. A bipartisan majority of the U.S. Senate sent Obama a letter yesterday asking him to lead a broad effort to slash the nation’s debt through spending cuts and tax increases as part of negotiations on this year’s budget.
‘Debt Crisis’
Herrera Beutler, who sits on the House Small Business Committee, said “failing to address the explosive growth of autopilot spending means failing to address our debt crisis.” She criticized Democrats for not passing a budget for fiscal year 2011 and said the Senate must work with the House to pass a long-term budget bill.
“Instead of offering a credible long-term plan, the president has stayed on the sidelines,” she said.
Herrera Beutler, who is in her first term, said she thinks of her job as a “tale of two Washingtons.” She said her constituents in Washington state work hard and are “scraping to save more than they spend as they cope with double-digit unemployment,” while politicians in Washington, D.C., are stifling Republican efforts to cut the deficit and create jobs.
“I was sent here to get this Washington, with all its overspending and overregulation, out of the way, so the country we know and love can thrive and prosper,” she said.
Herrera Beutler said are working to block added regulations by voting to repeal parts of Obama’s health- care law that would harm small businesses. They will work to block regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency that, she said, would raise gas prices.
Source: www.bloomberg.com
Obama began his weekly address on the radio and Internet by reaffirming his earlier statements that the U.S. will work with international partners to protect Libyan civilians and “hold the Qaddafi regime accountable.” He also repeated his pledge to “stand with the people of Japan in their greatest hour of need” as they recover from the aftereffects of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Obama said that even “as we respond to these immediate crises abroad, we also will not let up in our efforts to tackle the pressing, ongoing challenges facing our country, including accelerating economic growth.”
The president left yesterday for a five-day trip to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador that will focus on his goal to double U.S. exports by 2015.
Obama said he wants U.S. companies to take advantage of Latin America’s growing economy. For every $1 billion worth of goods and services the U.S. exports, he said, more than 5,000 U.S. jobs are supported.
He said that Brazil imports more goods from the U.S. than from any other country in the world. In 2010, U.S. exports to Brazil supported more than 250,000 U.S. jobs, he said. The president will be meeting with Brazilian and U.S. business leaders during the trip to try to find ways to increase trade.
Jobs Through Trade
Obama said companies like Chatsworth, California-based Capstone Turbine Corp. (CPST) -- which he said recently sold $2 million worth of equipment to Brazil -- are examples of ways the economy can be strengthened through increased trade. He said larger companies also benefit from trade with Brazil, citing United Technologies Corp. (UTX)’s sales of Sikorsky helicopters that help support workers at plants in Connecticut, Alabama and Pennsylvania. U.S. exports to Chile have also grown, surging 300 percent since 2004 and supporting 70,000 U.S. jobs, he said.
The Obama administration plans to revise trade agreements with Colombia and Panama this year and submit them for approval to Congress.
“In an increasingly global economy, our partnership with these nations is only going to become more vital,” he said. “For it’s a source of growth and prosperity -- and not just for the people of Latin America, but for the American people as well.”
Republican Address
In the Republican address, Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington state said that “if we want to get our economy back to creating jobs, we can’t duck our responsibility to rein in spending.”
Herrera Beutler, who was part of the Republican wave of victories in November that gave the party the majority in the House of Representatives this year, said Republican lawmakers have reduced spending by $10 billion over five weeks through short-term funding measures. On March 17, Congress passed a stopgap measure to fund the government through April 8 as lawmakers seek agreement on a final budget for the 2011 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.
Congress is moving closer to confrontations that may force the issue of dealing with entitlement programs, such as Social Security and Medicare. A bipartisan majority of the U.S. Senate sent Obama a letter yesterday asking him to lead a broad effort to slash the nation’s debt through spending cuts and tax increases as part of negotiations on this year’s budget.
‘Debt Crisis’
Herrera Beutler, who sits on the House Small Business Committee, said “failing to address the explosive growth of autopilot spending means failing to address our debt crisis.” She criticized Democrats for not passing a budget for fiscal year 2011 and said the Senate must work with the House to pass a long-term budget bill.
“Instead of offering a credible long-term plan, the president has stayed on the sidelines,” she said.
Herrera Beutler, who is in her first term, said she thinks of her job as a “tale of two Washingtons.” She said her constituents in Washington state work hard and are “scraping to save more than they spend as they cope with double-digit unemployment,” while politicians in Washington, D.C., are stifling Republican efforts to cut the deficit and create jobs.
“I was sent here to get this Washington, with all its overspending and overregulation, out of the way, so the country we know and love can thrive and prosper,” she said.
Herrera Beutler said are working to block added regulations by voting to repeal parts of Obama’s health- care law that would harm small businesses. They will work to block regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency that, she said, would raise gas prices.
Source: www.bloomberg.com
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