Obama explains his new spending plan to change the health-care system, energy policy and public education
19 03 09 - 13:12
Obama, in Calif., Says He Hopes To Return 'Balance' to Economy
By Scott Wilson - Washington Post Staff Writer
COSTA MESA, Calif., March 18 -- Striking a sharp populist tone, President Obama used a town hall meeting here Wednesday to argue that he is "trying to bring balance back to our economy" after years when only the wealthiest Americans benefited from government policy and lack of regulation.
The president, at the first stop of a two-day visit to Southern California, said he took responsibility for the AIG scandal even though the contracts paying out the $165 million in bonuses were written before he became president.
But he told an exuberant audience of teachers, community bankers, construction workers and others that the issue was only "a symptom of a much larger problem" he is confronting in trying to fix a broken financial system, revive an economy in deep recession and push through a $3.6 trillion budget.
"And that is the system and culture that made them possible -- a culture where people made enormous sums for taking irresponsible risks that have now put the whole economy at risk," Obama said to cheers.
"So we are going to do everything we can to deal with these specific bonuses," he continued in 20-minute opening remarks striking for the stridency of their assault on the financial industry. "But what's just as important is that we make sure we don't find ourselves in this situation again, where taxpayers are on the hook for losses in bad times and all the wealth generated in good times goes to those at the very top."
The president's trip here represents the beginning of a national campaign for his budget, which he has said demands new spending to change the health-care system, energy policy and public education that may not yield result for years. He will hold a prime-time news conference Tuesday, the second of his young presidency.
California supported Obama in last year's election, and Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger endorsed the president's stimulus package, which will bring a state with a 10.1 percent unemployment rate more than $30 billion in federal help.
But an angry populism fed by the financial crisis is rising in the country, including among moderate Republicans, whose support for Obama in this state was important to his success. Here in traditionally conservative Orange County, which he lost in last year's election, his visit was as much a show of solidarity as a sales opportunity.
Shedding his jacket and rolling up his sleeves, the president took eight questions from the crowd, which chanted "Obama, Obama" as he shook hands along the edges of the throng before taking the stage.
"People at the very top -- and I'll be honest with you, I'm in that category -- we were seeing all the benefits," the president told the estimated 1,300 people gathered inside a convention hall at the fairgrounds.
Obama suggested he would accept the label "tax-and-spend Democrat" from his Republican critics if that is how they characterize a budget proposal he says would raise taxes on households making more than $250,000 and reducing them for a neglected middle class.
"It allows us to pay for health-care reform for a lot of people out there working every day but are one illness away from bankruptcy," Obama said. "I don't think that's unreasonable. I don't think that's socialism. I think that's a realization that we're all in this together."
Most of the questions focused on California's abysmal economy, expressions of concern from a laid-off teacher, a union leader worried about construction-industry wages and a community banker unable to make loans because of stricter regulations.
In one exchange, a man who said he was a convicted felon thanked Obama for listening to him, then told him he had recently been laid off from Toyota after 13 years on the job.
"What am I going to do?" he asked.
After a pause, Obama told him, "You have made amends for your past mistakes, you are rehabilitated, and you have proven yourself in the job market.
"Based on what you are telling," the president said, "what you are facing has less to do with the fact you are a felon, than that the job market is really tight right now."
Obama pledged to work for comprehensive immigration reform but said it "would not be a free ride" for those here illegally. He said successful reform would entail better control of the border -- an issue he said he intends to work on with President Felipe Calderón of Mexico in a visit there next month -- and a process that would allow "those who have been here for a long time to come out of the shadows" and become citizens.
His administration also announced that it will endorse a French-sponsored U.N. General Assembly declaration calling for the decriminalization of homosexuality. The Bush administration withheld U.S. support for the declaration last year.
At nearly every opportunity, Obama used the questions to highlight the short-term benefits of his recently passed $787 billion stimulus package and the longer-range plans embedded in his budget. Republican congressional leaders have criticized the proposal, saying it is too large in light of the country's poor economy, huge debt burden and $1.2 trillion deficit.
By coming to Southern California, the popular president is selling those ideas in a region looking hard for remedies. Orange County, a hub of manufacturing and agriculture before housing developments replaced the acres of citrus groves, has been pummeled by the economic downturn. The housing bubble popped with devastating effect here, undermining public finances and private-sector employment.
More than 700 foreclosures were recorded in the county last month, an improvement from a year ago but a sign the economy is moving in the wrong direction. The county unemployment rate stands at 7.5 percent, and the labor force continues to shed thousands of jobs a month.
Obama said some of the programs that would benefit from the stimulus plan include a highway-expansion project in Orange County. But only through the longer-range changes proposed in his budget, he said, would the country avoid the "bubble to bust" cycles of the past.
"I can't do it without you. That's why I am here today," he said. "It will take all of us talking, working together to get us through this."