Previewing Obama's "State Of The Economy"

By: Mark Knoller
Topics: White House

(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

By appearing before a Joint Session of Congress this evening, President Obama assures himself a far larger audience than if he gave the exact same speech to the Chamber of Commerce in Omaha.

That explains why he's doing it.

The White House isn't calling this a State of the Union Address, but that's what it amounts to: the state of the economy – which is grim.

"I think what you'll hear tonight is the President talk about the tough times that we're in, the path that we have to take to put this economy back on track and get people back to work," says White House spokesman Robert Gibbs .

Nothing is more presidential than the elegant ceremony of a Joint Session of Congress. It's always a dramatic moment when the Sergeant-at-Arms enters the House chamber and bellows: "Madame Speaker – the President of the United States."

Even unpopular presidents receive what sounds like a thunderous ovation. So for a new president doing a Joint Session for the first time, before a Congress solidly in the hands of his own party, and still enjoying the benefits of a honeymoon period, Mr. Obama's reception will be deafening.

He needs to appear as a strong and confident leader as he lays out his strategy to slow the recession and turn it back toward economic growth.

"He'll talk about the recovery plan that's now in law and is already beginning to save and create jobs in this country," said Gibbs in a CBS News interview this morning with Maggie Rodriquez of The Early Show.

"He'll talk extensively about a financial stability plan that will get banks lending to families and small businesses again; a home foreclosure plan that helps responsible homeowners avoid foreclosure as well as a plan to re-regulate the financial industry so that we don't find ourselves facing this situation ever again," Gibbs said.

The President will also be previewing his strategy for the federal budget for the 2010 fiscal year that begins October 1. Monday, he pledged to cut the deficit in half by the end of his term in office.

"This will not be easy," he told his fiscal responsibility summit. "It will require us to make difficult decisions and face challenges we've long neglected."

Further, he's vowing to be fully open and honest about the government's spending practices and the magnitude of the deficit – a practice he made clear has been in short supply in the past..

"For too long, our budget process in Washington has been an exercise in deception," said Mr. Obama. Without naming names, he said the budgets that have gone before amount to "a series of accounting tricks to hide the extent of our spending and the shortfalls in our revenue" fabricated in the hope "the American people wont notice."

He knows there is no sure or quick path to economic recovery. But he needs to exude confidence. And despite republican opposition to his approach on bailouts and spending, Congress as a whole will follow his lead because it isn't sure of the way out either.

Tonight's overriding goal for Mr. Obama is to secure the confidence of the American people that his strategy is the right way to go.

And he starts out three-quarters of the way there. The CBS News – New York Times poll out yesterday shows that 76% of those surveyed are "somewhat" or "very confident" that Mr. Obama will make the right decisions on the economy. And the survey shows a majority are willing to give him at least two years to produce results.

Mark Knoller is a CBS News White House correspondent.

Mark Knoller
Mark Knoller is a CBS News White House correspondent.
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by cydygitt1 February 24, 2009 8:26 PM EST: Lord knows that the bush republiCONS were the kings of BORROW and SPEND, and just continued the "ronnie the rat" raygun saying that "deficits don't matter."

Posted by cydygitt1
=============

Those days are over.

Now it's OBAMA'S WATCH.

When a speech by Ben Bernanke makes the stock market go UP, you KNOW you're in trouble...

Posted by sndkzyaa
=============

Exactly! So let's have the republiCONS stop with their hypocritical rhetoric, and give Obama a chance to turn things around from the bush/cheney depression.

Bernanke merely said that things will get worse until at least the second half of the year, and then possibly we will see an uptick in the economy. If the second half of the year shows any sign of improvement, the republiCONS -- the party of NO new ideas -- will be in exile for quite some time, since Obama's stimulus plan will have worked!; Reply to this comment


by sndkzyaa February 24, 2009 8:12 PM EST: The time is now 8:12 pm Eastern time.

Is the time correct on posts?; Reply to this comment


by sndkzyaa February 24, 2009 7:43 PM EST: Lord knows that the bush republiCONS were the kings of BORROW and SPEND, and just continued the "ronnie the rat" raygun saying that "deficits don't matter."
Posted by cydygitt1 at 4:27 PM : Feb 24, 2009

Those days are over.

Now it's OBAMA'S WATCH.

Time to stop looking at the past. Now is the time to see WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW.

So far, it's been an unmitigated disaster.

When a speech by Ben Bernanke makes the stock market go UP, you KNOW you're in trouble...; Reply to this comment


by cydygitt1 February 24, 2009 7:27 PM EST: Oh, wait. I know. He will WHINE, WHINE WHINE and then borrow another trillion of our own money from China...

Posted by sndkzyaa
=============

HA! HA! Too funny! After watching Obama for the last few years, I've never seen him whine, and he always seems like the coolest one in the room -- NO DRAMA, OBAMA.

BTW, if it's "our OWN money," why do we need to borrow it from the Chinese?

Lord knows that the bush republiCONS were the kings of BORROW and SPEND, and just continued the "ronnie the rat" raygun saying that "deficits don't matter."; Reply to this comment


by sndkzyaa February 24, 2009 7:13 PM EST: It was the busheviks that installed all the political hacks into all the federal agencies like FEMA, FDA, EPA, OSHA etc., to give BIG BIZ all the rights over the workers, and the republiCONS have always hated worker's standards.
Posted by cydygitt1 at 3:25 PM : Feb 24, 2009

So is Obama going to FIX IT? Or will he ABOLISH all these agencies to make us more competitive in the global economy?

Oh, wait. I know. He will WHINE, WHINE WHINE and then borrow another trillion of our own money from China...; Reply to this comment


by cydygitt1 February 24, 2009 7:01 PM EST: So tell me, if bush was so terrible, why did the depression which you said started in December 2007, happen AFTER democrats came into congress

Posted by THEILDJ
=============

Simply because of the same CONServatoid ideology we've been forced to follow for almost 30 years now, where "trickle-down" insanity gave the wealthy and corporate elite the laissez faire climate to offshore all our "liveable wage" jobs and destroy the middle class, while keeping regulatiion and oversight to a minimum.
Clinton did us no favors by signing both NAFTA and the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act -- both CONServatoid legislation for the wealthy and corporate America! It just took awhile for the GREED to overrun the mortgage/banking/wall street crowd as they were allowed to do exactly what they pleased for the almighty American dollar........and voilla......the bush/cheney depression!

What drastic economic changes have the obstructionist republiCON congresscritters allowed the Dems to do since 2007? NONE in either 2007 or 2008.; Reply to this comment


by THEILDJ February 24, 2009 6:37 PM EST: Thanks busheviks for the "trickle-down" -- "supply-side" insanity that gave us the bush/cheney DEPRESSION.
Posted by cydygitt1

So tell me, if bush was so terrible, why did the depression which you said started in December 2007, happen AFTER democrats came into congress; Reply to this comment


by cydygitt1 February 24, 2009 6:25 PM EST: do you REALLY think they'll willingly give up the workplace safety standards the workers struggled for 100 years to get????

Posted by sndkzyaa
============

You've got to be kidding.

It was the busheviks that installed all the political hacks into all the federal agencies like FEMA, FDA, EPA, OSHA etc., to give BIG BIZ all the rights over the workers, and the republiCONS have always hated worker's standards.

You republiCONS sure have short memories when you want to try the usual history revision.; Reply to this comment


by cydygitt1 February 24, 2009 6:16 PM EST: The stock market is in the toilet.

Posted by roystoll2
============

Yep, a huge correction which makes the DOT.COM bubble burst look tame now, but something I've been predicting since 2005 when greenspan said the real estate market was frothing.

You must certainly be glad that the Dems protected our Social Security from the bush republiCON privatization plan they tried for the banking/wall street gang, or else tens of million of Americans would be on the streets!; Reply to this comment


by cydygitt1 February 24, 2009 6:08 PM EST: There were a lot more people working than under Obama, and HE HAS ONLY BEEN IN OFFICE 30 DAYS!
Posted by roystoll2
=============

NEWSFLASH "roystoll2"........Apparently YOU were sleeping the last year of bushworld, but the current bush/cheney depression started in December 2007 as the bush monkey finally was able to say a year later, after 3.6 Million jobs were LOST in 2008!

Everyone including President Obama is saying that it will get worse before it gets better, and a possibility of another loss of 3 million jobs this year too!

Even Fed Chairman Bernanke said today that our economy will continue to tank at least through the first half of 2009, before we can hope for an uptick.

Thanks busheviks for the "trickle-down" -- "supply-side" insanity that gave us the bush/cheney DEPRESSION.; Reply to this comment