Obama: Full Recovery "A Ways Off"

At End of G8 Summit, President Says Leaders Made Significant Steps to Address Economy, Environment and Security

(AP)  Updated 10:18 a.m. ET

Lasting worldwide recovery "is still a ways off," President Barack Obama declared Friday, but he also said at the conclusion of a global summit that a disastrous economic collapse apparently has been averted.

Mr. Obama said world leaders had taken significant measures to address economic, environmental and global security issues.

"Reckless actions by a few have fueled a recession that spans the globe," Mr. Obama said of the meltdown that began in the United States with a tumble in housing prices and drastic slowing of business lending. The downturn now threatens superpowers and emerging nations alike.

Mr. Obama urged national leaders to unite behind a global recovery plan that includes stricter financial regulation and sustained stimulus spending.

"The only way forward is through shared and persistent effort to combat threats to our peace, our peace, our prosperity and our common humanity wherever they may exist. None of this will be easy," Mr. Obama told a news conference at the end of the Group of Eight summit of major economic powers.

The president rejected suggestions that the summit fell short of expectations by failing to call for tough new sanctions on Iran for its crackdown on democracy advocates after its disputed presidential election.

"What we wanted is exactly what we got - a statement of unity and strong condemnation," Mr. Obama said. He said the leaders' declaration was even more significant because it included Russia, "which doesn't make statements like that lightly."

Mr. Obama said world leaders will reevaluate their posture toward Iran at a meeting in Pittsburgh in September of the world's 20 major industrial and developing economies.

He cited "the appalling events of Iran's presidential election" and said the world would "take stock of Iran's progress" and watch its behavior.

Leaders have made clear that for Iran to take its "rightful place" in the world, the country must adhere to international standards and behave responsibility, Mr. Obama said. (Read more on his statements about Iran and international affairs)

The president was next turning to more photogenic events: a meeting with the pope and a stop in Africa.

Mr. Obama, his wife and daughters were to meet Pope Benedict XVI shortly before leaving Italy late Friday for Ghana. The two men have spoken by phone but have not met before.

It is Mr. Obama's first trip to sub-Saharan Africa as president, but second visit to Africa. He gave a speech in Egypt last month.

On a pressing issue back home, Mr. Obama acknowledged that his top legislative priority - health care overhaul - had encountered rocky going in Congress during his overseas trip, with opposition building among both Republicans and economically conservative Democrats.

But he said he still was confident of getting the measure passed before Congress begins its August recess.

Asked if that timetable was "do or die," Mr. Obama responded: "I never believe anything is do or die. But I want to get it done by the August recess."

On the world economy, Mr. Obama said that rising food prices mean millions more are falling into desperate poverty "and right now, at this defining moment, we face a choice. We can either shape our future or let events shape it for us."

"While our markets are improving and we appear to have averted global collapse, we know that too many people are still struggling. So we agree that full recovery is still a ways off." He said the world leaders felt "it would be premature to begin winding down our stimulus plans."

Earlier in the week, the 186-nation International Monetary Fund released an updated economic forecast, predicting that the global economy will shrink 1.4 percent this year, the worst performance in the post-World War II period. That forecast was slightly worse than the 1.3 percent decline the IMF predicted in April.

The international lending agency did see prospects improving for next year with global growth forecast to climb to 2.5 percent, up from an April projection of 1.9 percent.

Leaders at Friday's meetings also committed themselves to a $20 billion initiative to help farmers in poor countries boost production. (Read more about the plan.)

Asked about his appeal to fellow leaders for the aid, Mr. Obama said he talked about his father, who was born in Kenya.

"The telling point is when my father traveled to the United States from Kenya to study ... the per capita income of Kenya was higher than South Korea's."

Now, Mr. Obama said, South Korea is industrialized and relatively wealthy while Kenya, as well as much of Africa, is still struggling economically.

"There is no reason why African countries can't do the same" and rise out of poverty with modern and open institutions, Mr. Obama said.

On nuclear weapons, Mr. Obama said the U.S. and Russia must show they're "fulfilling their commitments" to lead global efforts to curb the spread. If the two superpowers show they can limit or eliminate these weapons, it would strengthen their moral authority to speak to other potential nuclear nations such as North Korea and Iran.

Mr. Obama said there is a need to build "a system of international norms" for nuclear weapons. With respect to North Korea and Iran, he said, "It's not a matter of singling them out ... but a standard that everybody can live by."

Six months in office, Mr. Obama said he supports a streamlining of summits - the G-8, G-20 and NATO - and attending fewer of those meetings. He said the United Nations is in need of reform, but international summits fill a gap left by a U.N. structure that doesn't leverage its power as effectively as it could.

[JohnBMal]

Why is it that the press does not want to challenge whatever Obama says? Any High School student should be able to tell why South Korea is ahead of Kenya. The reason is simple - South Korea is very important to America and the west for security reasons. Americans have real interests in that country and the aid and assistance is quite substantial.


When will the press in America learn to scutinize Obama's comments?

[ibsteve2u]

Man...the comments of the right are always such horrible advertising for the platform of the right; they cannot seem to stop themselves from exuding both their greed and their hate.

I doubt that they realize that they are their own worst enemies as well as America's.

[cwdfreedom]

we will abosolutly never recover if obama's higher tax proposals go through. obama will kill the american family business with his crazy high taxes to pay for waste. no sane american should put up with his crap to raise taxes. we need to fight back and not allow him to force his will of poverty upon all of us. I pray to God our senator's have better sense then him and will not pass his higher tax bills

[whitemale08]

Obama ran his campaign on being a 'pragmatic' person of sound judgement and yet he, like Bush, can't see that bailing out Goldman Sucks and JP Morgan was a swindle and will never ever ever lead to a 'recovery'.

Obama, who is a smart politician, is the worse president this country will ever have to endure because of his stupid stupid advisors Larry Summers and Tim Geitner.

Obama is an abyssmal failure!

YOU DON'T CROWD OUT FUTURE INVESTMENTS IN REBUILDING AMERICA BY BAILING OUT 1.4 QUADRILLION IN ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY WORTHLESS DERIVATIVES AND CREDIT-DEFAULT SWAPS!!!

ANY IDIOT OR 2-YEAR-OLD COULD TELL YOU THAT!

GOLDMAN SUCKS AND JP MORGAN ARE THE ENEMIES OF THE REPUBLIC AND WE'RE THE SUCKERS FOR BAILING OUT THEIR KRAP!!!!!!!

GOOD LUCK AMERICA!

IT'S NEO-FUEDALISM TIME!

LIVE LIKE THE SERF YOU ARE....SUCKER!!!!!!

[hclinton2012]

Everyone that believed in this LOSER of a President Barack Obama are "waking up" from the koolaid and are NOW seeing what this JOKE of a President won't solve the ecomonic meltdown within his first term or beyond? What a WASTE this JOKE of a LOSER of a President Barack Obama is?

[ibsteve2u]

Republicans are like crackheads; junkies, one and all.

The only difference is that their addiction is to money, and just like with all of the other kinds of junkies, they care not what they have to destroy to feed their addiction.

So even as America lies bleeding from the their policies of inequitable free trade, trickle down economics, deregulation, and an energy policy whose strategic goal appears to be the utter destruction of the United States of America, all that the Republicans can think of is protecting their stash from the cost of saving America.

[ibsteve2u]

Technically, this is an error:

"Oh, I see...the only way you can make people appreciate what they have is to hurt them really, really bad?

Take that idea, throw in a dedicated focus on self-enrichment, and Voila! You have a Republican."

To be absolutely correct, and have my words match reality, I should have said:

"Oh, I see...the only way that you can make people appreciate what little you are willing to pay them is to hurt them really, really bad?

Take that idea, throw in a dedicated focus on self-enrichment, and Voila! You have a Republican."

[creeper00]

Maybe if he'd stay home for longer than a week at a time and do the work he was elected to do the nation and the world would recover sooner.

On second thought, scratch that. Given the damage he's already done, the last thing we need is more Obamanomics.

Stay there, Barry.

[rplat]

How long is the pandering media going to let him get away with this charade? There's no news media anymore . . . there's nothing but an enormous gaggle of "C" average journalist majors that respond to Obama like obedient dogs and rats in a Skinner box.

[DaVicar5]

"How long is the pandering media going to let him get away with this charade?"
- Since it was the "pandering media" that got him elected in the first place, it will probably be a while! I'm pretty sure that Obama is planning on running against George W. Bush again in 2012!
. . . Push lever, get treat...Push lever, get treat...Push lever, get treat...Push lever, get treat...Push lever, get treat...

[ibsteve2u]

"C" average journalist majors?

lollll...shouldn't you be studying? Or do "Young Republicans" get a pass at your university?

[the74blaster]

Yeah. I really liked how the media refused to question the evidence Bush was providing to justify the invasion of Iraq. Fox news was the worst when they ran off and started broadcasting possible findings of WMDs,when in fat nothing was found to justify the invasion.

Then the media sat back and did not aggressively pursue the Bush administratons lame justification that the invasion was still justified since it removed Saddam from power.

In fact where are the investigations into the collase of the investment banks, the deregulations that caused it and what could hav been done t avoid it last year before the collapse. In fact what actions should the Bush administration have taken rather than letting the problem grow, hoping that the banks could hold out until after the election.

The media has left us down and I would hope that it would learn from its mistakes during the Bush administraton.

[the74blaster]

Yeah. I really liked how the media refused to question the evidence Bush was providing to justify the invasion of Iraq. Fox news was the worst when they ran off and started broadcasting possible findings of WMDs,when in fat nothing was found to justify the invasion.

Then the media sat back and did not aggressively pursue the Bush administratons lame justification that the invasion was still justified since it removed Saddam from power.

In fact where are the investigations into the collase of the investment banks, the deregulations that caused it and what could hav been done t avoid it last year before the collapse. In fact what actions should the Bush administration have taken rather than letting the problem grow, hoping that the banks could hold out until after the election.

The media has left us down and I would hope that it would learn from its mistakes during the Bush administraton.

[the74blaster]

Lies about the Bus administration?

Come on! Stop trying to rewrite history.

The fact is the democrats did drop the ball when it came to questioning he supportig evidence for justifying an invasion of Iraq. In short they were afaid of the political fallout that would have occured by questioning a then popular president.

Its called stating the facts.

If you are so brainwashed by the conservative propaganda,do you care to explain why we ended up invading Iraq without UN involvement?

If our WMDs and alledged alliance with OBL claims were so solid why did the international community refuse to back us up with funding and troops?