KANSAS CITY, Mo. – President Barack Obama is trying to assure skeptics that his economic initiatives are working and are business-friendly even though 10 percent of the workforce remains unemployed.
“There are some people who argue that we should abandon these efforts, some people who have made the political calculation that it’s better to obstruct than lend a hand and clean up the mess that we’re in,” Obama said in remarks on the floor of an electric truck manufacturer. “But my answer is that they ought to come here to Kansas City. Come see what’s going on at Smith Electric. I think they’re going to be hard-pressed to tell you that you’re not better off than you would be if we hadn’t made this plan.”
Obama insisted that the way out of the economic slump is to move forward, not backward, even as he took his usual look back at the crisis he inherited when he took office.
“This recession was the culmination of a decade of irresponsibility — a decade that fell like a sledgehammer on middle class families,” Obama said. “And we had to make some difficult decisions at a moment of maximum peril. ... Some of the decisions we made were unpopular.”
Obama, who has traveled to Missouri more than any other swing state, began his visit with a tour of Smith Electric Vehicles, a company that received some $32 million in stimulus funds. The tour was perfunctory, and his speech, had the feel of a sidebar to a main event. The president walked out to the podium without being announced, finding more than a few empty chairs and a surprised audience that belatedly rose to its feet. - Politico Story
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