Will Obama's "Sputnik" Take Off?
October 6 1957 photo of the front page of the Sovietic newspaper Pravda after the launch of the Sputnik.
/ AFP/Getty Images"Half a century ago, when the Soviets beat us into space with the launch of a satellite called Sputnik, we had no idea how we'd beat them to the moon. The science wasn't there yet. NASA didn't even exist. But after investing in better research and education, we didn't just surpass the Soviets; we unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industries and millions of new jobs. This is our generation's Sputnik moment."
-- President Obama, State of the Union, Jan. 25, 2011
The unmanned Sputnik 1 was launched on Oct. 4, 1957 by the Soviet Union, touching off an intense space race with the U.S. This technological achievement by the Soviets spurred the U.S. into action, culminating in the first men, Americans, standing on the moon just 12 years later.
More than 50 years later, the innovation engine and the U.S. economy have been through many cycles of growth and decline. In this latest post-recession phase, the economy isn't running at full throttle, especially in the area of job creation. Countries such as China and India are outpacing the U.S. economy in growth and seriously competing on the education and innovation fronts.
Full Obama Speech Text
CBSNews.com Special Coverage: State of the Union 2011
The International Monetary Fund projects that the U.S. economy will grow at around 3 percent in 2011. China's economy is expected to grow at 9.6 percent and India at 8.4 percent for 2011, according to the IMF. The U.S. outspends competitors on research and development, but China and India are making innovation a cornerstone of their economies going forward.
Less than half of U.S. students are proficient in science, according to a recent Education Department report. "The results released today show that our nation's students aren't learning at a rate that will maintain America's role as an international leader in the sciences," said Education Secretary Arne Duncan.
In his State of the Union speech, Mr. Obama called for investments in education, infrastructure, research and innovation. He contends that improving the education system, stimulating more math and science graduates, pioneering new industries, investing in R&D and encouraging entrepreneurship will put the U.S. back on the fast track in the world economy.
He said, "We know what it takes to compete for the jobs and industries of our time. We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world."
The economy is supposedly poised for a comeback in the first half of 2011, corporate profits are up and the Dow Jones average is hovering near 12,000.
But will those green shoots of U.S. economic vitality help create a renaissance of innovation, education and manufacturing, and bring the jobless number significantly down from 9.4 percent?
President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011.
/ AP Photo/Pablo Martinez MonsivaisIn a climate in which the Congress wants to cut back on government spending, government investments in innovation are a harder sell. Private industry has the incentive to innovate, hire the smartest people and out-build competitors.
But the DNA of a global corporation is profits, not job creation in the U.S. After a few years of retrenching and cost cutting, U.S. corporations are sitting on an estimated $2 trillion.
The president said in his speech that he would help businesses compete more effectively for global dollars by attempting to simplify the tax code, double exports by 2014, enforce trade agreements and eliminate government regulations that put an unnecessary burden on corporations.
Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and CEO of GE and the new chair the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, wrote in a Washington Post op-ed that "we must set as our highest economic priority not just increasing our exports, as the president has pledged, but also making the United States the world's leading exporter in the 21st century."
He added that "a sound and competitive tax system and a partnership between business and government on education and innovation in areas where America can lead, such as clean energy, are essential to sustainable growth."
President Obama will have to convince Immelt, other global giants and Congress to help create a culture with the will to launch the next Sputnik. Without that collective will from both the public and private sectors to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world, and the incentives, legislation and sacrifices necessary to fuel the transformation in a complex, global economy, the new Sputnik will flame out on launch.
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Here Barack tried to move to the center by proposing a leftist idea with rightie terms like "investment" and "winning". And then he made an appeal for bipartisanship of shared blame and resorted to double-talk of adding that he's also for tax cuts too.
A triangulator would have opened up off-shore drilling to the max - with heavy oversight to ensure that safety regulations are actually adhered to. That would lower the trade deficit, which would also lessen the need for budget deficits to maintain GDP. It's also got geo-political implications. The triangulator would have then used the proceeds to invest in green technology development and innovation for the long-term, as well as possibly safe nuclear technology.
The big picture theme is energy independence, the added bonuses are that it's a trade deficit and budget deficit fighter, and it's an investment in the future as well.
It's really upsetting that Barack packaged himself as a wonk, and he's not at all. Which winds up creating a lot of needless tension between the left and the right ...
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the innovation was a by-product of a response to fear ... fear of the big bad communist boogy man.
come up w/ a way to use the response to the fear of terrorism ... or the fear of our loss in economic and diplomatic dominance in the world ... and maybe you can muster another 'sputnik moment'.
instead of using these things to garner greater control over the populace ... it should be used to motivate a common effort toward making us more capable in a competitive global environment. these things are being done ... and it's not clear how that's going to change.
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In watching his speech, I got the definite impression that this is part of what Mr. Obama was attempting to do. Instead of working with our president toward this end, the Republicans are only concerned with making him look bad (thereby, staying true to their pledge to make him a one-term president no matter the cost to the people or the nation).
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the dow just passed 12,000 ... from a low around 7,000 at the end of the bush admin.
gas is still cheaper than it's peak in 2007/2008.
housing issues are remnants of a housing bubble ... one that evolved over a decade or more.
didn't spending just increase because of tax breaks for the richest americans ... forwarded by the republicans ... threatening to fillibuster anything that didn't include the top 2% ... just after campaigning on cutting the deficit?
many of the lost jobs will never return ... and will have to be replaced by opportunities in other sectors ... which is most likely going to take a long time to occur.
it could be worse ... it could be just as it was at the end of 2008.
Is that what you expected from Mr. Obama? Really? You really expect that ANYONE, regardless of party, could simply walk into the White House and wave a magic wand and make everything all better? After eight years of heading toward Hell in a hand-basket? With all facets of the economy in free-fall at the end of 2008? With the opposition party doing everything in their power to thwart every attempt to put the country back on track? And you expect that ANYONE could make it all better in less than 2 years???!!! Tell us, Mr. crazyname, if you were president, what precisely would YOU do to make it all better?? Hmmmm?
already have with a propane fired steam-driven car from the 1900's.
We could use the recycled plastics of tire/wheel which does not require inflation. UNDER weight innercity-commuter car and bicycle/segways only zoning would help alieviate traffic and and construction requirements for roads with lighter weight vehicles.
The HOV is a joke and requires the same HIGH grade construction whereas lighter vehicles would dictate cheaper roadbeds and lower speeds, i.e. SAFETY as well as efficiency and LOWER COSTS.
Oh, that's right in Alaska, what a bunch of fools we are. You could employ about 100,000 men and women to build a pipeline from ANWR to the Bay. That would help solve un-employement and give us a line of income as well.
Sorry, I guess that makes too much sense, and it is just easier to kill trees to print more money.
To re-energize manufacturing in this country, you must take Corporate America out of China......and frankly, that isn't going to happen.
No.
Not if the "republicans" have anything to say about it. They've been telling us for over 2 years now that their "top priority" is to make Mr. Obama a one-term president (at any and all costs!). So far, they've been doing a pretty good job of it and they haven't let a little thing like tearing the country apart stand in their way. They seem intent on "saving" the country even if they have to destroy it in the process. Thanks, but no thanks!
Not with the delivery he gave, and the reception by the Congress crowd! He might as well erase this line from his memory and forget he ever said it. I give it a thumbs down in another regard. Not all Americans think that space exploration is important at this moment. And not all Americans think that America HAS to be the one on top is space exploration. Let some other country spend the money. Why is it necessary for us to be first in space when we are coming up short on Earth?
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HA HA HA HA, did you even read the article? What a dolt; I can never take any of your posts seriously again. Try reading the article, ******. It is an analogy of our race for global innovation, not to get out to the moon again. Jeesh.