Obama: "It's Hard to Tell Your Banker That He's Wrong"

By: Maria Gavrilovic
Topics: Barack Obama

(CBS)

From CBS News' Maria Gavrilovic:

MALVERN, PA. -- Barack Obama today said the Bush Administration does not have leverage to pressure China on human rights abuses in Tibet because of the flawed economic ties between the two countries.

"It's very hard to tell your banker that he's wrong, all right?," Obama told voters here. "And if we are running huge deficits and big national debts and we're borrowing money constantly from China, that gives us less leverage. It gives us less leverage to talk about human rights."

Although Obama said he encourages trade between the U.S. and China, he argued that the U.S. should challenge China's policy on Tibet and its support of the Sudanese government. "We have to take a stronger stance and it's got to be more consistent over time," Obama said.

He also argued that there are a host of problems with the U.S.-China trade relations, including copyright issues and currency devaluation, which should be addressed otherwise trade agreements would not be fair.

Obama refrained from outwardly criticizing Hillary Clinton but he was highly critical of John McCain's economic policies. He called McCain a "worthy opponent" but accused him of changing positions on Bush's tax cuts.

"I admired Sen. McCain when he stood up and said that the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans offended his conscience," Obama said. "But he got over that, and now he's all for them, and for continuing to do the same things that have taken us toward recession."

UPDATE, 6:48pm: Obama released this written statement: "If the Chinese do not take steps to help stop the genocide in Darfur and to respect the dignity, security, and human rights of the Tibetan people, then the President should boycott the opening ceremonies. As I have communicated in public and to the President, it is past time for China to respect the human rights of the Tibetan people, to allow foreign journalists and diplomats access to the region, and to engage the Dalai Lama in meaningful talks about the future of Tibet. I am also deeply concerned about China's failure to support efforts to halt the genocide in Darfur. Regarding the Beijing Olympics this summer, a boycott of the opening ceremonies should be firmly on the table, but this decision should be made closer to the Games."

19 Comments Have Your Say
Email Story Send to a Friend
Share This Tell Your Friends
Tweet This Tweet This
More Share It

Add a Comment

See all 19 Comments


by tazmjam April 10, 2008 1:12 PM EDT: Obama%u2019s campaign office called her and demanded her resignation from being a democratic delegate. Why? Because the children were black and she was white. She received a TICKET for disorderly conduct. (see Chicago Sun Times for complete details) Obama, overzealous political correctness and a sign of the future.
Posted by jason_randon

The original Sun Times article:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/883120,CST-NWS-trustee08.article

Since then the Obama camp has said it was a misunderstanding and that she will remain a delegate. It would have been nice if the Obama camp heard all the facts before calling her monkey remark divisive.; Reply to this comment


by jason_randon April 10, 2008 11:08 AM EDT: White people keep your mouth shut!

%u201CA delegate from Chicago talked to her neighbour%u2019s children who were climbing in a large tree in their front yard with no parent to be seen. She called to them and asked them to quit playing in the tree like %u201Clittle monkeys%u201D. The children%u2019s mother called the police on her. Obama%u2019s campaign office called her and demanded her resignation from being a democratic delegate. Why? Because the children were black and she was white. She received a TICKET for disorderly conduct. (see Chicago Sun Times for complete details) Obama, overzealous political correctness and a sign of the future. Be black or keep your mouth shut.

if you want race relations to go backward elect Hussein Obama

if you want this country on the right track again elect Hillary; Reply to this comment


by jason_randon April 10, 2008 11:07 AM EDT: White people keep your mouth shut!

%u201CA delegate from Chicago talked to her neighbour%u2019s children who were climbing in a large tree in their front yard with no parent to be seen. She called to them and asked them to quit playing in the tree like %u201Clittle monkeys%u201D. The children%u2019s mother called the police on her. Obama%u2019s campaign office called her and demanded her resignation from being a democratic delegate. Why? Because the children were black and she was white. She received a TICKET for disorderly conduct. (see Chicago Sun Times for complete details) Obama, overzealous political correctness and a sign of the future. Be black or keep your mouth shut.

if you want race relations to go backward elect Hussein Obama

if you want this country on the right track again elect Hillary; Reply to this comment


by lottobee April 10, 2008 3:45 AM EDT: You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. by Abraham Lincoln. Another fellow from Illinois was obviously preparing us for Obama, the great story teller. It''s amazing to see just how gullible the American voters can be. We''ve got to do something about our education system in this country because it has never been more apparent than now that Americans are easily fooled.; Reply to this comment


by ouronlyhope April 10, 2008 2:31 AM EDT: Obama, as usual, is showing his unique ability to get at the heart of a matter. He is SOOOO RIGHT! We MUST show diplomacy to get our behinds out of the mess Bush has gotten us into.

Hillary, as usual, says, "my way or the highway"...with her in command China would devastate our our banks (and economy) by pulling all their money out (some 1.7+ Trillion dollars) all at once. As a nation, they would take a hit...but nothing compared to the black hole of a depression we would be in.; Reply to this comment


by dnsallday April 10, 2008 12:47 AM EDT: Some of you are really stretching it in order to create something negative to write about Senator Obama.
Is anybody interested in having me list the phrases and ideas that were ''lifted'' from Obama by Clinton as well as McCain? Oh, I guess I can''t as comments are limited to 1500 characters.; Reply to this comment


by dnsallday April 10, 2008 12:44 AM EDT: elevando: please re-read it for better comprehension. Sometimes if we are emotional about a subject we see and hear what we want to and not what is really there.; Reply to this comment


by elevando April 10, 2008 12:25 AM EDT: Obama''s initial remarks on the topic were pro-China with their humanitarian abuses, essentially saying there was nothing America can do. This is diplomacy? This inspires the American people?

Leave the race, Obama. America will be stronger without you.; Reply to this comment


by kanobi11 April 10, 2008 12:02 AM EDT: I understand all your points of view, but this is a blog on BO position on the Olympics.

I think this guy BO is a "voice of reasoning". Remember, Obama is not recommending a **bycott**, like Clinton and some others, he is actually suggesting for us to think ahead as we make decisions. He is saying - Hey... we are someday going to be vying for this thing, so we should tackle it carefully, in a way that will get the chinese to recognize free press, human rights, etc, but at the same not blow our changes of hosting the world in 2016.

Just for the records, last week, Obama said, "I''m hesitant to make the Olympics a site of political protest because I think it''s partly about bringing the world together" and Monday in a statement did not address the proposal to boycott the opening ceremony. If the Chinese government did not work "toward meaningful autonomy for Tibet," Obama said, "there should be consequences."

Chicago 2016 spokesman Patrick Sandusky said, "If we are fortunate enough to be chosen as a candidate city, we would be honored to attend the Beijing Games."

Ed Hula, who edits around therings.com, which covers the Olympics'' business side, said a U.S. boycott "would kill the bid" for Chicago.

So you can see some sound level headiness and calm reasoning and this I think is what is expected of a leader -; Reply to this comment


by greenfun April 9, 2008 11:49 PM EDT: Counterpunch:
Obama has a way of ducking hard votes or explaining away his bad votes by trying to blame poorly-written statutes. Case in point: an amendment he voted on as part of a recent bankruptcy bill before the US Senate would have capped credit card interest rates at 30 percent. Inexplicably, Obama voted against it, although it would have been the beginning of setting these predatory lending rates under federal control. Even Senator Hillary Clinton supported it.

Now Obama explains his vote by saying the amendment was poorly written or set the ceiling too high. His explanation isn''t credible as Obama offered no lower number as an alternative, and didn''t put forward his own amendment clarifying whatever language he found objectionable.

Why wouldn''t Obama have voted to create the first federal ceiling on predatory credit card interest rates, particularly as he calls himself a champion of the poor and middle classes? Perhaps he was signaling to the corporate establishment that they need not fear him. For all of his dynamic rhetoric about lifting up the masses, it seems Obama has little intention of doing anything concrete to reverse the cycle of poverty many struggle to overcome.; Reply to this comment