“Obama in RV manufacturing center - Union” plus 4 more |
- Obama in RV manufacturing center - Union
- In Indiana, Obama declares stimulus is working - Los Angeles Times
- Obama takes recovery plan to Midwest - The Washington Times
- Obama Ventures to RV Plant in Indiana in Defense of Stimulus - FOX News
- In Indiana, Obama Touts $2.4B For Electric Cars - CBS 13/CW31 Sacramento
| Obama in RV manufacturing center - Union Posted: 05 Aug 2009 04:39 PM PDT
Still, few counties in the United States have experienced as dramatic a reversal of fortune in the past year as Elkhart County, which ranked No. 7 in greatest year-to-year change for the worse in June, according to The Associated Press' Economic Stress Index. Elkhart County's AP Stress score was 9.04 in June 2008. A year later, it stood at 19.4. The AP calculates a score from 1 to 100 based on each county's unemployment, foreclosure and bankruptcy rates. The higher the score, the higher the economic stress. The county's jobless rate also soared to 16.8 percent in June — up 10 percent from the previous year — after manufacturing jobs were slashed. At times over the past year, nearly one in five people in the area have been looking for work, Obama said. Donna Sharp was one of them. The Jimtown resident was laid off from her job painting stripes on recreational vehicles at Monaco in December. With no job in sight, she went back to school, earning her GED credential and enrolled at a community college to become a medical assistant. But in May, her former boss called to say Navistar was hiring back 21 former Monaco workers in the paint department and did she want her job back? "I never thought I'd be back here," said Sharp, 45, whose husband was laid off from his railroad job in the spring. Sharp, who attended Obama's speech Wednesday, said she is optimistic about the area's future but acknowledges things might never be the same. She's doing the same job as before but is making $7 an hour less. With a salary of $362 a week, she can't afford health insurance, which costs $224 a week. Dawn Bechtel, a 48-year-old sales clerk at Jeanette's Fabric Boutique, said people are trying to be upbeat. "I think there's still a lot of wait-and-see what the winter brings," Bechtel said. "I think we're going to have to get through the winter to really feel that we're headed on an upswing. I really think that's going to make a difference." ooo Associated Press writer Mike Schneider in Orlando, Fla. contributed to this story.
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| In Indiana, Obama declares stimulus is working - Los Angeles Times Posted: 05 Aug 2009 07:17 PM PDT |
| Obama takes recovery plan to Midwest - The Washington Times Posted: 05 Aug 2009 04:39 PM PDT President Obama traveled Wednesday to northern Indiana to tell employees of a recreational-vehicle manufacturer that the hard-hit Midwest has not been overlooked in his economic-recovery plan. "People say the only way to recover is to forget Elkhart County," he told employees at the Monaco RV plant in Wakarusa, Ind. "But you and I know the truth is exactly the opposite. I believe our ability to recover and prosper as a nation depends on what happens in communities just like this." Mr. Obama said the plant owner --Navistar International Corp. -- would receive $39 million from $2.4 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants to help produce next-generation cars. The money to Navistar will go toward building battery-operated cars. The county is a hub for RV manufacturing and has an unemployment rate of 16.8 percent -- 10 percent more than last year. "I don't want to import a hybrid car," Mr. Obama said. "I want to build one right here." The visit was part of Mr. Obama's larger plan to send top administration officials around the country Wednesday to award grant money to regions still struggling in the 21-month-long recession. The president told the workers that federal recovery money already has helped extended unemployment benefits for laid-off co-workers and has kept area teachers and police officers on the job. He also used the visit to tout his larger-scale agenda that includes health-care reform and improving education. "I want to pass health-care reform that keeps down costs," the president said. "I promise you, we will pass health-care reform because the American people need it." Mr. Obama appealed to the workers to support his recovery efforts by affirming their Midwestern values and hard-work ethic. "The battle will be fought and won in towns across America and across the Midwest -- the backbone of the middle class," he said. Administration officials traveled around the country as members of Congress left Washington for their August recess and went home to talk to Americans about health-care reform. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was in Detroit to announce more than $1 billion in grants to companies and universities based in Michigan, which is reeling from jobs lost in the decline of the automotive industry. Energy Secretary Steven Chu visited Charlotte, N.C., to announce a $49 million grant for the Celgard company to meet the expected demand for lithium-ion batteries from domestic manufacturers. EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson was in St. Petersburg, Fla., to announce a $95.5 million grant for Saft America Inc. to build a new plant in Jacksonville, Fla., to manufacture lithium-ion cells, modules and battery packs for military, industrial and agricultural vehicles. John Porcari, deputy secretary of the Transportation Department, went to Lyon Station, Pa., to award the East Penn Manufacturing Co. a $32.5 million grant to increase production capacity for next-generation batteries for hybrid cars. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke visited Kansas City, Mo., to announce a round of grants, including $10 million for the Smith Electric Co. to build and deploy as many as 100 electric vehicles.
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| Obama Ventures to RV Plant in Indiana in Defense of Stimulus - FOX News Posted: 05 Aug 2009 08:47 AM PDT WASHINGTON - President Obama is promising that Washington will succeed in passing his overhaul of the nation's health care system before the year ends. Obama on Wednesday visited hard-hit Indiana to announce $2.4 billion in taxpayer grants to create electric cars and tens of thousands of jobs. But he also pledged action on an ambitious health care overhaul that he argues would help stabilize the nation's fiscal health. Obama said: "I promise you, we will pass reform by the end of this year because the American people need it." The House and Senate have proposed a handful of bills that move toward Obama's goal. The White House previously said it wants to sign those changes into law by the end of the year. Obama also said Indiana factories "are coming back to life," earning cheers as he returned to an economically struggling region to sell his costly stimulus plan. Obama announced Wednesday in Indiana that the stimulus is now providing $2.4 billion in taxpayer grants to create electric cars -- and tens of thousands of jobs. He said Indiana is the second-largest recipient of these grants. He spoke from the factory floor of Monaco RV, purchased in June by Navistar International Corp. after its previous owner went bankrupt because of the collapse in the recreational vehicle industry. Indiana's Elkhart-Goshen area had an unemployment rate of 16.8 percent in June. That's up 10 percentage points from last year. It's also higher than it was when Obama visited in February. As Congress breaks for the summer, the public message war is on. Obama wants to persuade Americans that his economic agenda is working but also that it will take time to produce the number that people really want: more jobs. White House blog: Administration's Battery Sale That matters immensely in the Elkhart-Goshen area, a capital of RV manufacturing. The industry has been crushed by the recession. Indiana's Elkhart-Goshen area had an unemployment rate of 16.8 percent in June. That's up 10 percentage points from last year. It's also higher than it was when Obama visited in February, although the jobless rate has at least come down from 17.5 percent in May. This is the same region where Obama made his first bolt outside the Washington beltway as president, three weeks on the job. He was lobbying for the stimulus. The resulting $787 billion legislation included $2.4 billion to support a new generation of electric cars. The competition for the money is completed, giving Obama something concrete to offer in his return visit. The money will be split among nearly 50 projects in 25 states, with the biggest shares going to Indiana and Michigan to create job opportunities in the automotive sector. Obama's trip comes as signs of an economic recovery have started to emerge in key areas such as housing and manufacturing. But jobs are the key to success -- for individuals, for families, for politicians -- and those haven't been returning yet. Overall, unemployment in the United States hit 9.5 percent in June, the highest level in 26 years. New monthly numbers come out Friday, and the White House has been trying for weeks to set expectations that joblessness will worsen before it gets better. Obama previewed the next jobs report this way: "It's likely to show that we're still continuing to lose far too many jobs. As far as I'm concerned, we won't have a recovery until every American who wants a job can find one. But history does show that you need to have economic growth before you have job growth." And on that front, there is some positive news. The economy shrank at a 1 percent rate in the April-to-June second quarter, new figures show -- another contraction, but a sharp upgrade from the 6.4 percent slumps in the first quarter and a 5.4 percent decline in the fourth quarter of 2008. The president says the progress is due in part to the stimulus effort. Republicans have taken whacks at the stimulus for weeks, contending that it was not worth the cost and has not produced results as the nation keeps shedding jobs each month. The American public is still uneasy. A total of 79 percent of people describe the economy as "poor," according to an AP-GfK Poll. And Obama's approval rating on the economy is now at 50 percent, the same poll found, down from 58 percent in April. The last time Obama was in the Elkhart area, he said, "Recovery will likely be measured in years, not weeks or months." Still, the White House is sensitive to the fact that people measure progress in terms of their daily lives. Obama's spokesman, Robert Gibbs, was asked whether Obama expects a warm reception in Indiana given the continued economic downslide in the region. "Well, look, I hope that the people there and the people across the country believe that the president is working hard every day to get the economy back on track," Gibbs said last week. "But he understands their anger and frustration. He's angry and frustrated too." Of the new grants, $1.5 billion will go to the production of batteries and their components; $500 million will go for other components needed for the cars, like electric motors; and $400 million will go toward plug-in hybrid cars, training for technicians and related costs.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| In Indiana, Obama Touts $2.4B For Electric Cars - CBS 13/CW31 Sacramento Posted: 05 Aug 2009 04:25 PM PDT In Indiana, Obama Touts $2.4B For Electric CarsPresident Promotes Stimulus, Says America's Future Will Be 'Fought and Won' in Places Like Elkhart
"We know that, even in the hardest times, against the toughest odds, we have never surrendered. We don't give up," Obama told employees on the steamy factory floor of an RV maker in northern Indiana, a region suffering from one of the worst unemployment surges in the nation. "We don't surrender our fates to chance. We have always endured. We have worked hard, and we have fought for our future." Obama's comments mixed a pep talk with a defense of his economic agenda. In the heart of small-community America, he relied heavily on a pro-America spirit. "I'm committed to a strategy that ensures that America leads," said Obama, promoting a $2.4 billion program of grants to build up electric-car manufacturing, from batteries to motors. Venturing back to a region reeling from deep unemployment, Obama's latest mission in Indiana is to show that the costly stimulus plan he lobbied for is producing tangible help — in the form of tens of thousands of jobs. He spoke near the border region of Michigan and Indiana, the two states that will benefit the most from the grants. The money is part of a $787 billion stimulus program approved by Congress at Obama's urging — one he defended Wednesday amid criticism the plan has been slow to kick in. For his backdrop, he chose Monaco RV, purchased in June by Navistar International Corp. after its previous owner went bankrupt because of the collapse in the recreational vehicle industry. Indiana's Elkhart-Goshen area had an unemployment rate of 16.8 percent in June. That's up 10 percentage points from last year. In an interview, Obama said it was fair for his presidency's economic performance to be judged on Elkhart's. "Our whole goal is to first of all rescue the economy from the brink," he told MSNBC. "But the most important thing we're going to have to do is help Elkhart reinvent itself." The grants Obama announced Wednesday will be split among nearly 50 projects in 25 states, with the biggest shares going to Indiana and Michigan to create job opportunities in the automotive industry. Grant recipients include Johnson Controls Inc., of Milwaukee, $299 million to build battery packs and cells for hybrid vehicles at a facility in Holland, Mich.; General Motors Co., $241 million to produce battery packs and the develop electric drive vehicles in Michigan and Maryland; and Ford Motor Co., $92.7 million for electric drive components at plants in Michigan and Missouri. As Obama tries to convince Americans that his economic policy is working, at stake is the kind of public support that could influence his success on related matters, such as health care legislation, as Republican criticism mounts and public skepticism of the stimulus looms. Signs of economic recovery have started to emerge in key areas such as housing and manufacturing. But jobs are the key to success — for individuals, for families, for politicians — and those haven't begun returning yet. Overall, U.S. unemployment hit 9.5 percent in June, the highest level in 26 years. New monthly numbers come out Friday, and the White House has been trying for weeks to set expectations that joblessness will worsen before it gets better. The American public is still uneasy. A total of 79 percent of people describe the economy as "poor," according to an AP-GfK Poll. And Obama's approval rating on the economy is now at 50 percent, the same poll found, down from 58 percent in April. (© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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