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| U.S. President Barack Obama speaks on the economy and job creation after touring Manor New Technology High School in Manor, Texas, on May 9, 2013. |
President Barack Obama’s campaign-style, jobs-focused swing through
the Texas technology core on Thursday was notable mainly for what it
left out—any plan for putting his proposals into law.
In less than six hours on the ground in the Austin area, Obama spoke
with a high school robotics team, then the full high school. He lunched
with a roundtable of residents over barbecue, and followed that with a
three-part tour and listening session at Capital Factory, a downtown
Austin tech start-up incubator and co-working space. He took a factory
tour of a company that makes industrial equipment for the technology
sector, and delivered a speech to employees at the plant.
“I’ve sent Congress proposals on a wide range of ideas,” Obama told
the students at Manor New Technology High School. “But some of them have
been blocked in Congress for, frankly, political reasons. I’m going to
keep on trying.”
Ostensibly Obama flew to a Democratic enclave in the deep-red state
to pitch his previously announced plan for 15 nationwide manufacturing
innovation institutes and to highlight a new open-data initiative to
make government releases “machine-readable.” But his remarks touched on
everything from universal pre-kindergarten to more resources for
manufacturing. He was mostly silent on the Washington stalemate he left
behind before boarding Air Force One. The cable networks largely ignored
the two speeches, which focused on a litany of previously announced
proposals.
There is no new active jobs program in Washington. And the evidence
is clear that since the last election the actions of the U.S. Congress
have on net hurt job creation in the short term. The specter of
sequestration likely slowed growth at the start of the year, as did the
$85 billion in spending cuts that is expected to shave about a half
point of gross domestic product growth this year. The tax increases that
started 2013 took spending money out of the economy, reducing growth as
well. Obama has some programs in the works—an infrastructure bank and
efforts to speed refinances among them—but there has been no visible
movement on the $1 billion he needs from Congress for his innovation
centers, nor the dozens of other economic proposals he’s pitched and
re-pitched. So he gives speeches.
“Every once in a while I’m going to need your help to lean on your
elected representatives and say, hey, let’s do something about this,” he
told the students.
White House officials said the visit wasn’t tied to any specific
legislative push beyond the two executive actions taken Thursday, but
they admitted that Obama was enjoying his time among the science fair
projects and industrial machines. The fist-bumps he gave high school
students, the tour of the company that helped make the machines that
made the iPad and the look at the technology behind his Situation Room
weather map all seemed to put a spring in the presidential step. He
gushed about a custom-designed car for wheelchair users, and a cheaper
3-D camera to speed 3-D printing.
Capping off a day of chatting and touring with educators and
innovators, Obama appeared reinvigorated, even if his agenda was not.
Idle curiosity? Campaign withdrawal? Or just a chance to get away from
Washington? Meeting with investors at Capital Factory, Obama lamented
the mood in Washington, and praised work that’s happening on the ground
here and around the country.
“One of the reasons to do this trip … If you watch the news, if you
are based in Washington, sometimes you just sense doom and gloom,” Obama
said, contrasting that to the legions who are “out there hustling every
single day.” He heralded the job creators and the inventors — falling
behind schedule taking questions from angel investors and boosting the
engineers.
Just weeks ago Obama angrily complained about lawmakers rejecting his
background check proposals, calling it a “pretty shameful day for
Washington.” Earlier this week he decried cynicism in a commencement
address at The Ohio State University, saying of the nation’s capital:
“let me put this charitably: I think it’s fair to say our democracy
isn’t working as well as we know it can.”
Frustrated, with his agenda stonewalled in Washington, the President
was able Thursday to get away. And outside of the U.S. Capital he was
able to find clear signs of hope.
Sources :
http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/10/on-jobs-tour-in-texas-obama-offers-little-new-hope-for-jobs-progress-in-washington/?iid=sl-main-lead
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