WASHINGTON (CNN) – President Barack Obama said Tuesday that he'll soon be laying out specifics on how to win the war in Afghanistan and responsibly end the one in Iraq.
"We are now carefully reviewing our policies in both wars, and I will soon announce a way forward in Iraq that leaves Iraq to its people and responsibly ends this war," he told a joint session of Congress.
Meanwhile, he said, both Afghanistan and its border with Pakistan will remain a key focus.
"With our friends and allies, we will forge a new and comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan to defeat al Qaeda and combat extremism," Obama said. "Because I will not allow terrorists to plot against the American people from safe havens half a world away."
He said his budget will pay for more soldiers and Marines, increase their pay and improve veterans' benefits.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – President Obama said Tuesday that his administration has identified $2 trillion in government spending cuts that can be made over the next decade.
Speaking in his first address to a joint session of Congress, Obama said the cuts were identified as his staff has gone "line by line" over the federal budget, with a goal of cutting the federal deficit in half by the end of his first term.
"In this budget, we will end education programs that don't work and end direct payments to large agribusinesses that don't need them," Obama said.
Watch: Obama lays out budget goals
"We'll eliminate the no-bid contracts that have wasted billions in Iraq, and reform our defense budget so that we're not paying for Cold War-era weapons systems we don't use."
He also said he will target waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare system and "restore fairness and balance" to the tax code.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Theater: when President Obama said we have to do something about the deficit so we don’t pass it on to our children, the Republicans responded with their heartiest cheer yet - so much so it made the president laugh. Next sentence, he talked about the debt “we inherited,” and all the Democrats lept to their feet to cheer with gusto.
(CNN) - President Obama has made his priorities very clear: health care, energy and education. The speech is more like a standard State of the Union address - with an added element of extreme urgency, given the fiscal crisis.
If it somehow seems that we have heard this before from Obama, it's because we have. Which raises the question: have we been seeing him too much?
My answer is no. We know where he stands and what he intends to do. Now voters can hold him to his promises.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – President Barack Obama on Tuesday called for all Americans to commit to at least one year of higher education or career training.
"This can be community college or a four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship," he said in his address to a joint session of Congress.
"But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma."
He touted the billions for education - from early childhood education expansion to college-loan programs - in his recently approved economic stimulus package and set a goal of having the highest college graduation rate in the world by 2020.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Saying the United States can no longer afford to put health-care reform on hold, President Barack Obama said his budget proposal will include a "historic commitment" to it.
Watch: "Health care cannot wait," says Obama
"I suffer no illusions that this will be an easy process. It will be hard," Obama said in his first address to a joint session of Congress. "But I also know that nearly a century after Teddy Roosevelt first called for reform, the cost of our health care has weighed down our economy and the conscience of our nation long enough."
Obama said he will be assembling representatives of business, labor, doctors and healthcare providers next week to begin discussing the reforms.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Interesting line, sounds like major aid for the auto industry is on the way: “…I believe the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it."
WASHINGTON (CNN) - The speech is clearly aimed well beyond the House chamber. He is going step by step through why the banks need to be bailed out, and how it will help middle class families. Seems to me some of this is pushback against Americans grown weary of bailing out “big banks” or “Wall Street.” Thus the tough talk - “those days are over,” a likely reference to excessive spending of companies taking federal help - and the reassurances of his mission: “It’s not about helping banks - it’s about helping people.”
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Making sure the nation's lending industry is strong is crucial to jumpstarting its economy, President Barack Obama said Tuesday, even as he acknowledged anger over the government banking bailout Congress approved last year.
"I know how unpopular it is to be seen as helping banks right now, especially when everyone is suffering in part from their bad decisions. I promise you - I get it," Obama said in his first address to a joint session of Congress. "But I also know that in a time of crisis, we cannot afford to govern out of anger, or yield to the politics of the moment.
Watch: President Obama vows oversight
He said he plans a new lending fund to provide college, auto and small-business loans and a housing plan that will help struggling families refinance and pay smaller mortgages. He said he wants to continue propping up the nation's largest banks when they're in danger, but will hold them accountable for how the money is spent.
"This time, CEOs won't be able to use taxpayer money to pad their paychecks or buy fancy drapes or disappear on a private jet," Obama said.
"Those days are over."
WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday described the nation's financial woes as a "reckoning" for poor decisions made by both government and individuals.
"A surplus became an excuse to transfer wealth to the wealthy instead of an opportunity to invest in our future," Obama said in his first speech to a joint session of Congress. "Regulations were gutted for the sake of a quick profit at the expense of a healthy market.
"People bought homes they knew they couldn't afford from banks and lenders who pushed those bad loans anyway. And all the while, critical debates and difficult decisions were put off for some other time on some other day."
Watch: "We will recover," Obama says
He said his economic agenda - which includes money to jumpstart job-creation and invest in green energy, health care and education - is a first step to turn things around.
"Now is the time to act boldly and wisely - to not only revive this economy, but to build a new foundation for lasting prosperity," Obama said.
From CNN Politics
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Work for us | Help
Recent Comments