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An Interview with President Obama

July 07, 2009 8:19 AM

MOSCOW – The day after he heralded a successful preliminary nuclear disarmament treaty with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, President Obama today told ABC News in an interview that his approach to foreign affairs was already bearing modest fruit in efforts to disarm Iran and North Korea.

“In North Korea what we saw was a very strong unanimity around a very strong sanctions regime that I think it’s fair to say that even two or three years ago might not have been imposed by either Russia or China,” the president said. “They might have blocked it in the Security Council. We’ve already seen a ship of North Korea’s turned back because of international effort to implement the sanctions and I think that is a positive step forward.”

Mr. Obama said that Iran’s “governing elites… are going through a struggle that has been mirrored painfully and powerfully on the streets.” He said that “the fact that we have both said we are willing to work with Iran -- at the same time as we have been very clear about our grave deep concerns with respect to not just the violence, not just the detentions that have taken place -- has created a space where the international community can potentially join and pressure Iran more effectively than they have in the past.”

That said, the president said that it was too early to declare the policy successful.

“Ultimately we’re going to have to see whether a country like Russia, for example, is willing to work with us to apply pressure on Iran to take a path toward international respectability as opposed to the path they’re on. That’s not something we’re going to know the results of for several more months as we continue to do the hard diplomatic work of putting this coalition together to tell Iran: ‘Make the better choice.'"

ABC News interviewed the president Tuesday afternoon at the exhibition center Gostiny Dvor, where he’d just finished speaking at the commencement address for the New Economic School.

Asked if the North Korean and Iranian nuclear proliferation challenges mean the United States needs Russia’s help more than Russia needs the United States, President Obama was non-committal.

“Russia, I think understands that their long term prosperity is still tied to the world economy and to the world community,” he said, arguing that “on a whole host of international issues they recognize that a partnership with the United States will strengthen them and their interests, so I think there’s the opportunity for mutual benefit here.”

He said of his new diplomatic efforts with Russia that the “tone” has been “reset” but now “comes the hard work of actually seeing this produce improvements in our security situation and the world security situation.”

On Michael Jackson’s Funeral: 'At Some Point People Will Start Focusing Again on Things Like Nuclear Weapons'

Having joked that he’d have to discuss Michael Jackson in order to get media coverage of the U.S.-Russian summit, the president said he wasn’t at all irritated by the media attention to the funeral of the King of Pop.

“You know, this is part of American culture,” the president said. “Michael Jackson, like Elvis, like Sinatra, when somebody whose captivated the imagination of the country for that long passes away, people pay attention. And I assume at some point people will start focusing again on things like nuclear weapons.”
The last time President Obama was in Russia was in 2005 when then-Sen. Obama was part of a congressional delegation visiting future nuclear weapons sites.

At the time, the president recalled, “you had already started to see the Russian public concerned less with democracy and human rights than they were in consumption and a growing economy.”

Mr. Obama said that “there was a renewed confidence that in some ways had pushed those other issues out to the side.”

But in conversations with President Medvedev on this trip, President Obama says he’s convinced that “there is a growing recognition that if they want to diversity their economy, continuing to develop the entrepreneurs of the sort that I just spoke to at this graduation, that issues like rule of law, transparency, democracy are going to continue to be important.”

Mr. Obama predicted that after what he called Russia’s “wild swings” since the 1990s, “you’re starting to see Russia balance out. And I think that they want to pursue economic growth but I think that they recognize that some of the nagging issues around civil society still have to be fixed.”

'There’s Nothing That We Would Have Done Differently' on the Economy

Turning to domestic issues, the president said that when Vice President Joe Biden recently told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos that the White House “misread” the economy when planning the stimulus package in January, the president said that “what Vice President Biden was referring to was simply the fact that when we passed he stimulus, we hadn’t gotten the full report of the first quarter contractions in the economy that turned out to be way worse than anybody had anticipated.”

But the president denied that his economic prescription was wrong because the diagnosis was incomplete.

“There’s nothing that we would have done differently,” he said. “We needed a stimulus and we needed a substantial stimulus.”

Even with an economic assessment that was, in retrospect, overly optimistic, the president said his team knew “there was an economic tsunami coming at us, and we still knew that we were going to need a substantial stimulus,” one that would include “tax cuts which you can get out really fast” and “money to states so they’re not laying off teachers and firefighters, and police officers at such a rapid pace.”

Infrastructure projects were always going to take “six months to eight months to get that money actually into the ground because that’s the nature of big infrastructure projects,” he said.

In Singapore over night, White House economic adviser Laura D'Andrea Tyson said that “we should be planning on a contingency basis for a second round of stimulus.” Would the president support a second stimulus package, as some congressional Democrats have proposed? 

“The question that some have argued is, ‘Okay, what next?’ Maybe you stop the freefall but you still have close to 10% unemployment,’” the president said. “And you know, this is something that we wrestle with constantly.”

The challenge, the president said, is “that we inherited a big deficit, and it is at a certain point potentially counterproductive if we’re spending more money than we’re having to borrow.”

The president said supporters such as Gen. Colin Powell (Ret.) and billionaire investor Warren Buffet, who have said they’re worried about the massive deficits the Obama administration is creating, have “legitimate concerns. In the midterm and long term we’re going to have to get control of that."

Working on short term stimulus “is one that where we’re pressing the gas, pressing the brakes, trying to get it right,” he said.

The issues the president is dealing with here may be serious, but First Lady Michelle Obama and First Tweens Sasha and Malia accompanied their father to Moscow.

Calling his daughters “great travelers,” the president said that “Sasha was walking down one of the halls of the Kremlin yesterday.  She had her trench coat on, had her pockets in her trench coat.”

The president joked that he and his wife “called her Agent 99, she just looked like she knew where she was going.  I thought she was going to pull out her shoe phone.”

-- jpt

July 7, 2009 in Obama, Barack | Permalink | Share | User Comments (96)

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Well put Mike. I can't believe how the president and the congress are getting away with this "it's worse than we thought" stuff. The fate of the stimulus aside, it is their job to know how good/bad it is. Not only to know but to take responsibility for the situation - the buck stops here- their ducking and dodging is not acceptable and makes them less credible.

Posted by: bmm | Jul 9, 2009 12:42:10 PM

bmm...danita...

The "excuse" the administration is pushing out now is that old "we didnt know it was this bad/what we inherited was worse than we thought" line.

a couple of points on this....

A. Then perhaps, just perhaps it might have been a really good idea to WAIT a few weeks and get ALL the real data - BEFORE ramming a 3/4 TRILLION dollars through the Congress on this.

B. When you run your campaign telling the country that

"We are in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, and a lot of you I think are worried about your jobs, your pensions, your retirement accounts," Obama said in Oct of last year.

the people are not going to buy into the excuse after you commit HUGE $$$ that you didn't understand the situation.

One would think that with all the so-called economic talent he pulled together, there should not have been ANY big surprises. After all, as bad as it is, this is not worse than the depression! So, this is where common sense would kick in and say....

If you had this dream team of economic advisors, and you STILL did not understand how bad bad was, WHY should anyone believe that any next step you provide based on that same group's recommendation?

This is why economics is considered a social science, not a science!

Posted by: Mike_C | Jul 9, 2009 11:09:35 AM

danita,

Flowerly language is not going to change the issue. You seem to want to rewrite history and claim the "Stimulator' was not about jobs. There were many aspects to it to be sure, BUT, it was about jobs. When the POTUS says it will create 3.5 million jobs, it IS about jobs!

For some reason, you seem to think that people who are critical of this are just bashing the President. You are wrong.

you said..."I'm not at all sure they will. We don't live in a fantasy land. The best advice at the time said this money was needed."

Many, and I mean MANY people in the feild of economics did not think this would work from the beginning.

++++
On January 28, 2009, a full page advertisement with the names of approximately 200 economists who are against President Obama's plan appeared in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. The funding for this advertisement came from the Cato Institute. The ad stated

... we the undersigned do not believe that more government spending is a way to improve economic performance. More government spending by Hoover and Roosevelt did not pull the United States economy out of the Great Depression in the 1930s... To improve the economy, policymakers should focus on reforms that remove impediments to work, savings, investment, and production. Lower tax rates and a reduction in the burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth."

On March 11, 2009, The Wall Street Journal published a forecasting survey of 49 economists about the bill's impact in regards to the Obama administration. President Obama and United States Secretary of the Treasury Timothy F. Geithner received failing grades, in the opinion of these economists, for their handling of the economic crisis and stimulus plan. Critics were divided over the bill, with 43% saying $500 billion more would be needed, while others were "skeptical of the need for stimulus at all."
++++

You take the position this had to be done, BUT many disagree. Just because Obama chose a certain opinion, it does NOT mean it was the best advice! Those opposing this idea had just as many accolades in the field as those who the President listened to.


On the Bank Bailout, I was not in favor of that either! Wether you were for it or against it, the problem there was it NEVER was applied to toxic assets in the way we were told it would be! It went in many different direction for many different things, but NOT to buy up toxic assets. Just like we are now discovering that the states are not using the "Stimulator" as they should be.

You say...just wait..let it have time to work. I am not willing to do that. Many of my friends who have lost thier jobs this year are NOT willing to just wait and "hope" it works. We all want the transparency that Obama promised us to allow us to see how things are working...or NOT working. If a program is not working...kill it and move the money from it to a program that IS having success.

To watch and track performance like this is the way ALL gov't expenditures should be evaluated. Which party is in power or controlling the political agenga is not relevant

If the states are using monies that were targeted for the "shovel-ready" jobs to keep from becoming the next California, then action needs to be taken to address getting the money where it NEEDS to be to create jobs.

I dont blame the states if they are doing what they feel is best to fulfill their obligations to their citizens, but is what they are doing "wrong" based on the bill, OR is this yet another "HOLE" in the "Stimulator" similar to the AIG bonus clauses that "mysteriously" altered. Again, rushing these things thru because we think we need to has so far resulted in additional problems and not so good "performance as promised" category.

Both of these massive spending bills PROVE why I do not want the government to rush into healthcare the way Obama wants to. He is still pushing for a bill by the end of the summer! Yet we all know that any bill passed this quickly will be full of holes. That is exactly what we dont need & can't afford to have!

Also PLEASE...

"As you know this program unfolds over 4 years through to 2012"

First off, it actually calls for dispersing the monies all the way through 2016! Second, Already 174 Billion has been made available. The majority of this 787 will be available well before 2012!

seriously danita, listen to yourself.

would you be willing to say wait until 2012 to see the results if Bush were President?

How critical were you of him & the government's handling of Katrina? This is a very similar kind of situation. A crisis needs a solution and road to recovery. Please do not insult the rest of us by saying you would grant Bush or another Republican 4 years to make your assestment of success or failure!

Posted by: Mike_C | Jul 9, 2009 10:07:17 AM

"I'm baffled by someone that is supposed to be so brillant, and o in tune with what was needed to turn things around has made things worse."

Well, its mostly just the Democrats are mostly filthy liars and cheats and President Obamas and his team are pretty stupid - and they're Democrats after all;

If only those clean, honest and decent Republicans were in power snorting their noses around they would bomb Iran, bomb Venezuela, bomb North Korea - and fix this whole economy nonsense in the snap of their blessed fingers.

That's what's really go on.

Posted by: danita | Jul 9, 2009 2:47:45 AM

Danita do you work in the adminitration?
Please answer how the POTUS and the VP could be standing senators befor taking office and not know the state of the economy. They voted for budgets,sat on committees, talked with fellow lawmakers, and still they didn't know. They travelled all over the country campainging talking with people and had no clue what was going on. Obama worked very closely with Bush before taking office and apparently didn't learn anything, what, did they sit around and talked sports? I'm baffled by someone that is supposed to be so brillant, and o in tune with what was needed to turn things around has made things worse.

Posted by: bmm | Jul 9, 2009 1:28:40 AM

Mike_C . .

"So danita, in your "deep understanding" of this thing, when will those 300,000 to 400,000+ job loss months going to reverse and show these new 800,000 to 2,300,000 jobs? July...August...Sept.?"

Mike . .. I'm not at all sure they will. We don't live in a fantasy land. The best advice at the time said this money was needed.

You will remember at the end of the Bush administration financial institutions, banks and the automotive industry (and the subsidiary industries) were in virutally free-fall collapse. As was the rest of the economy. This went global.

Under Bush approximately $700 BILLION was identified to try to prop up the banks.

Under Obama an additional $787 BILLION was identified to shore up progams of support for the hundreds of thousands losing their jobs, shore up state and local budgets to prevent as many layoffs as possible or police, firemen, teachers and health care workers . . . and begin saving or creating jobs - an encourage the country in the direction of better education and use of cleaner energy, building a modern energy grid .. . and so on.

As you know this program unfolds over 4 years through to 2012.

Is it a stone guarantee - are you kidding me? Does it have a fighting chance - absolutely.

Seems to me you're terribly quick to judge - but then again condemning the President was your goal during the election and it continues.

I think that as we travel through 2010 we will have a much better idea of how the world economies are responding to the stimulus programs; and if the world economy is recovering at all - I certainly hope so.

I don't think there is a magic wand. I don't know if the world can sustain the gross consumer society that fuelled the last few decades, the stock markets obviously couldn't sustain it . . . can our resources sustain it? Very hard to say.

You seem to think there is some magic formulae for fixing all this - I'm not sure. I don't think is as simplistic a situation as some people portray.

You were condemning Obama before the election - why would your continuing condemnation mark any special insight into the economic problems of the United States and the larger world?

I encourage you to think about ways the large numbers of people on the planet can survive and better themselves giving what to all appearances seems to be a collapse of the gross, debt ridden consumer society.

Posted by: danita | Jul 8, 2009 11:44:57 PM

danita,

The only thing you stated in this entire thread that is even close to the mark...your right this is not a joke! Perhaps you should take off your Obama rosey glasses and realize that this thing is NOT performing as promised.

The day Obama signed it - "Mr. Obama touted the measure's investments in health care, infrastructure, energy, education and, most importantly, job creation"

Wikopedia - "The impact to employment would be an increase of 0.8 million to 2.3 million by the end of 2009, an increase of 1.2 million to 3.6 million by the end of 2010" - based on CBO analysis

I can pull up more and more examples of the fact this thing was about JOBS!

So danita, in your "deep understanding" of this thing, when will those 300,000 to 400,000+ job loss months going to reverse and show these new 800,000 to 2,300,000 jobs? July...August...Sept.?

Your the one here who is living in "Magic" land if your your going to bury your head in the sand on what this thing was supposed to do VS what is REALLY happening in the REAL WORLD.


The increase and extension of unemployment benefits WAS a good thing, BUT that does not create jobs!


You can try to float the party trial ballons all day. Your WRONG...it is that simple...YOU ARE WRONG. This is now classic spin! It failed to deliver as promised, so now you go back and change the promise!

Go back to the days leading up to the vote and then after the bill was passed. Jobs, Jobs, Jobs! Remember the President going for that photo op with those 25 cops? We were told this thing would indeed create jobs quickly by funding these "shovel ready" jobs.

The obvious flaw that logic was simple too. It did not take into account wether or not the construction companies that would be working these projects ACTUALLY need to hire new workers in order to accomplisg the task!

I notice you did not go to the site and realize that we are NOT creating jobs! It is now becoming obvious that the states are using the money they are getting from the "Stimulator" to prevent becoming the next California!

Posted by: Mike_C | Jul 8, 2009 10:49:55 PM

also Mike . ...

The first wave of the Recovery and Reinvestiment plan was intended to put in place funding for programs to provide some support for those losing their jobs - and as mentioned before - funding to the states and the local governments to curtail as much as possible the laying off of police, firemen, teachers and health care givers.

State and local budgets had been massacred by the economic crash at the end of the Bush administration. I'm not sure you know how close things were to a complete disaster - we will find out when the jobs saved reports come in from the states and the local governments that without the quick action on this stimulus plan the country could have been in much worse condition.

It could have been much worse!

Jobs were being lost at the hundreds of thousands per month, and it was getting worse - IT STILL MAY! On the other hand, if we're fortunate things may start to slow up and we may (and I have to presume this will be over a matter of years) start to get some real health back to the economy.

This world wide economic breakdown is NOT A JOKE or a parlour game.

Unfortunately it is seen by many as an opportunity to score some easy political points.

Posted by: danita | Jul 8, 2009 8:52:21 PM

Well, that message was for a combination of Timmy and Mike . .

Posted by: danita | Jul 8, 2009 8:40:54 PM

Pardon me . . . that was for Mike . .

Posted by: danita | Jul 8, 2009 8:39:44 PM

Timmy .. .

"You will PLEASE note this is talking about 2 years from the start of the "Stimulator"."

Yes, Timmy . . . we've got over a year and half to go before 2 years has passed. We are A FEW SHORT MONTHS into the stimulus plan.

I know you have your own personal political agenda to attack the President over and over again. You have shown that time and time again - and you've proclaimed Bush and Cheney as your heroes.

At the same time, your fantasy world where the Republicans (for instance) or anybody else could just wave a magic wand and instantaneously create jobs - is way beyond reality.

Try to hear the following paragraphs Timmy . . .

President Obama said clearly to us and repeatedly that recovery from this economic crisis would not be easy, nor would it be fast.

The President repeatedly cautioned that things might get WORSE before they get better.

Again, that you didn't hear this or didn't understand it is no reason to attack the President repeatedly.

Your fantasy world is just that - this is a REAL worldwide problem and the recovery looks like its going to be difficult as we were cautioned.

Posted by: danita | Jul 8, 2009 8:37:41 PM

"The Recovery and Reinvestment program is on the White House web site for anyone interested in how it is structured through to 2012.

Timmy will give you a guided tour since he knows it so well (and so fairly) and moderate will be right there holding his hand."

danita, danita, danita......


I know I am assuming alot here, but try...just try to follow along here.

Forget this idea you have created about a 4 yr recovery plan. The recovery website does indeed mention 2012, BUT that has nothing to do with the job creation that everyone but you is discussing.

Take just a few moments and go here...

Now move your mouse around the map of the US. What do you see?

I see nice little message boxes popping up as I move from state to state. Boxes which say for New York as an example....Jobs created/saved in the next 2 years: 215,000. For Montana - Jobs created/saved in the next 2 years: 11,000. For Maine - Jobs created/saved in the next 2 years: 15,000.

You will PLEASE note this is talking about 2 years from the start of the "Stimulator"....NOT FOUR!

Further more, there is a link to file which describes the estimation methods. Now where in that file does the word save or saved appear. Therefore, We should not ever again discuss the term saved job. It is a phantom term. That document talks about job creation, not saved jobs.

The final line of the document is :

"The states and federal agencies will also be collecting actual data on jobs created by
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which is, of course, what ultimately matters."

This is what I and other are looking for - the REAL Data! very simple actually.... X dollars = Y jobs!

Now, do you FINALLY understand? Instead of tossing out useless talking points, try focusing on the REAL WORLD! That is where the majority of us live & work. for a few million people out there, it's where they want to work!

Posted by: Mike_C | Jul 8, 2009 11:34:57 AM

J House, President Obama is attempting to get international support against Iran (including the support of Russia) and negotiate Iran away from pursuing nuclear weapons Posted by: danita | Jul 8, 2009 12:22:36 AM
___________________________________

You're kidding right? What fantasy land do you live in? I certainly hope Obama isn't as naive as you are. Behind the scenes, Russia is suppling Iran with arms and whatever else they can afford to buy. Russia is just playing us like everyone else does. International support? I suppose the U.N. wil be involved. Good grief.

Posted by: Traffic Cop Timmy | Jul 8, 2009 11:27:18 AM

Timmy will give you a guided tour since he knows it so well (and so fairly) and moderate will be right there holding his hand. Posted by: danita | Jul 8, 2009 12:18:05 AM
__________________________________

Maybe we can double-date with you and Ryan_C. It's so sweet how you encourage each other from time to time.

Posted by: Traffic Cop Timmy | Jul 8, 2009 11:23:06 AM

danita says: "Having just seen the Bush administration and his neo-con think tankers kill hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, I think every tactic short of bombing them is worth pursuing."

Hundreds of thousands. Where do you get your numbers? Never mind. This is obviously something you have bought into without any dead bodies being found that come close to that kind of a number. Are you suggesting that the US military killed people and then secretly buried the bodies in mass graves? This is one of those pathetic made up numbers, kind of like the ones where ocean levels are supposed to go up 20ft and cover NY and CA. Try telling the truth, because if the US had killed even only dozens of innocent Iraqis and then buried them secretly it would be a disgusting crime. Do you think a secret like that could be kept if it was true? If you can't comprehend that the integrity and morality of the US military is much greater than that of our politicians then you are a lost cause.

Posted by: Jason | Jul 8, 2009 10:48:33 AM

This President must be dizzy from all the SPIN!

Posted by: Sunnyr | Jul 8, 2009 12:53:20 AM

J House, President Obama is attempting to get international support against Iran (including the support of Russia) and negotiate Iran away from pursuing nuclear weapons so he doesn't have to use the alternative of 'bombing them back into the stone age' which would kill many innocent civilians.

Having just seen the Bush administration and his neo-con think tankers kill hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, I think every tactic short of bombing them is worth pursuing.

Posted by: danita | Jul 8, 2009 12:22:36 AM

The Recovery and Reinvestment program is on the White House web site for anyone interested in how it is structured through to 2012.

Timmy will give you a guided tour since he knows it so well (and so fairly) and moderate will be right there holding his hand.

Posted by: danita | Jul 8, 2009 12:18:05 AM

The fact is the President is now being held hostage to his own policy by the Iranians themselves.They can get away with anything with no consequence, since this admin will talk 'without pre-conditions'.

America held hostage-again.

Posted by: J House | Jul 7, 2009 11:30:20 PM

RyanC,

Are you suggesting the US shouldn't ever deal with other world leaders because 'of their horrid human rights records'? Please...

Now, who was born yesterday?

Posted by: J House | Jul 7, 2009 11:26:25 PM

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