TORRANCE, California (AFP) — President George W. Bush pointed Wednesday to a startling slowdown in US growth as he urged passage of a stimulus package and free trade pacts with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.
Backed by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bush preached confidence in the face of downbeat new data showing that US Gross Domestic Product grew at an 0.6 percent annual crawl in the fourth quarter of 2007.
"I hope you're confident about our economy. I am. We've got some short-term issues to deal with. Fourth-quarter growth slowed to 0.6 percent. In other words, there's signs that our economy is slowing," he said.
"But in the long-run, you've got to be confident about your economy," Bush said as he toured the Robinson Helicopter Company, which boasts of being the world's top producer of civilian helicopters.
The stimulus package, agreed to by the House of Representatives and the White House, has stalled as the US Senate mulls expanding it. And the free trade pacts face opposition from Bush's Democratic foes, who run the Congress.
"If you're truly interested in dealing with the slowdown of the economy, the Senate ought to accept the House package, pass it, and get it to my desk as soon as possible," said the president.
On trade, the unpopular president faced an uphill battle: Democrats have expressed a wide range of objections to the trade deals on human rights, labor rights, and environmental grounds.
They have resisted the treaty with Colombia amid charges that Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's government tolerates crimes and human rights abuses by right-wing paramilitary groups.
On South Korea, leading Democrats have complained that the US ally still blocks US beef imports -- which, while not technically part of the agreement, are a major irritant.
"Free trade means good-paying jobs for Americans, and so Congress needs to pass these agreements, for the sake of economic vitality," said Bush, who acknowledged "a tough vote" ahead but mounted a defense of Uribe.
"He inherited a tough deal, a tough situation, where he's fighting off drug lords, drug traffickers, people who are manufacturing drugs that come and pollute our kids, and he's taking the fight to this enemy, and he's an ally, and he wants this free trade agreement passed," said Bush.
"If we turn down this free trade agreement, it'll hurt our relations in South America," he added, warning that rejection would embolden messengers of "false populism" -- a reference to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
"We need more trade," agreed Schwarzenegger, who declared that the three accords "will strengthen our economy, and create jobs and help the workers."
Ports in California, which has been hard-hit by the housing slump, handle roughly 43 percent of total US container activity, and there are more than two million trade-related jobs in the state, according to the governor's office.
With nine months before the November US elections, the president also used the first day of a four-state swing to raise millions of dollars for Republican candidates, hoping to help his party hold the White House and retake Congress.
Bush, vastly unpopular with the US public, nonetheless expected to scoop up roughly five million dollars through California, Nevada, Colorado and Missouri, before returning to Washington on Friday.
The trip included the president's first overnight stay in the glittering gambling paradise of Las Vegas since he took office in January 2001 -- he has raised money there before, but never bunked down in "Sin City."
Hosted by Google
Copyright © 2008 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)