Obama // Current

Obama hails phony stimulus jobs as faux [Humor]

Scott Ott's Examiner Scrappleface: GDP boon: Obama hails phony stimulus jobs as faux

By: Scott Ott
Examiner Columnist
November 20, 2009

News fairly unbalanced. We report. You decipher.

President Obama on Friday hailed the "amazing growth" in phony stimulus jobs, especially from nonexistent congressional districts, as a "sure sign that we're seeing a make-believe recovery and an encouraging spurt in faux GDP."
Faux gross domestic product usually trails other false economic indicators, the president said, but with projected unemployment plummeting, the federal government's top alleged experts predict ill-founded consumer confidence will bounce back "before the end of the year at the latest, and quite possibly before supper time tonight."

While Republicans and other skeptics have slammed the Obama administration's use of erroneous data to buttress its claims of an economic turnaround, the president said, "It's exactly this kind of data that the American people need to lift their spirits and to divert their attention from the looming collapse of our capitalist system ... which is, of course, not going to happen, as our latest reports demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt."

The president criticized his predecessor, George W. Bush, for "offering false hope without the fictitious numbers to back it up."

"My administration provides genuine false hope," Obama said, "and we've offered dubious supporting statistics, giving it a patina of credibility that has an intoxicating effect on those with a cursory knowledge of economics."

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has cautioned against "irrational exuberance about performing due diligence analysis on the administration's numbers," noting that "precision can mitigate against optimism and set up a kind of domino effect, with accuracy leading to caution, thus freezing markets and ultimately hindering the salutary effect that spurious figures can have on Wall Street."

Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress have reacted to the revelation that millions in stimulus cash reportedly generated thousands of jobs in congressional districts that don't exist, by noting that "those congressional districts don't exist ... yet," in the words of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. "That doesn't mean they'll never exist. We Democrats see the glass as half full."Scott Ott's Examiner Scrappleface: GDP boon: Obama hails phony stimulus jobs as faux... more

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Obama's dialogue with a Cuban blogger

Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez has developed quite a following in the US for her blog Generacion Y. Apparently now she can count President Obama among her fans. Sanchez managed to submit seven question to the President, which he answered this week and she posted on her blog. Obama congratulated her on her work:
"Your blog provides the world a unique window into the realities of daily life in Cuba. It is telling that the Internet has provided you and other courageous Cuban bloggers with an outlet to express yourself so freely, and I applaud your collective efforts to empower fellow Cubans to express themselves through the use of technology. The government and people of the United States join all of you in looking forward to the day all Cubans can freely express themselves in public without fear and without reprisals."

The questions focused on US-Cuba relations and the possibility of future dialogue. Obama kept the door open to dialogue with Cuba's government but said it would have to come with the chance to "create opportunities to advance the interests of the United States and the cause of freedom for the Cuban people." Sanchez also asked him specifically about the role of the internet in Cuban lives.

"QUESTION 6: YOU STRONGLY SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES. BUT, CUBANS CONTINUE TO HAVE LIMITED ACCESS TO THE INTERNET. HOW MUCH OF THIS IS DUE TO THE U.S. EMBARGO AND HOW MUCH OF IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT?

My administration has taken important steps to promote the free flow of information to and from the Cuban people particularly through new technologies. We have made possible greater telecommunications links to advance interaction between Cuban citizens and the outside world. This will increase the means through which Cubans on the island can communicate with each other and with persons outside of Cuba, for example, by expanding opportunities for fiber optic and satellite transmissions to and from Cuba. This will not happen overnight. Nor will it have its full effect without positive actions by the Cuban government. I understand the Cuban government has announced a plan to provide Cubans greater access to the Internet at post offices. I am following this development with interest and urge the government to allow its people to enjoy unrestricted access to the internet and to information. In addition, we welcome suggestions regarding areas in which we can further support the free flow of information within, from, and to Cuba."

FROM THE BLOG: http://blogs.current.com/news/2009/11/20/obamas-dialogue-with-a-cuban-blogger/

Vanguard's Adrian Baschuk was in Cuba earlier this year and though he was unable to meet with Yoani Sanchez, found that internet access for her, possibly Cuba's best-known blogger, was achieved by sneaking into hotels and uploading her posts.
http://current.com/groups/vanguard-cuba-revolution/

SOURCES:
http://www.desdecuba.com/generationy/?p=1179
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/11/19/obama_replies_to_cuban_bloggerCuban blogger Yoani Sanchez has developed quite a following in the US for her blog... more

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President Obama’s Responses to Yoani Sanchez’s Questions

[President Obama responds to 7 questions posed to him by Yoani Sanchez from her blog in Cuba]
http://www.desdecuba.com/generationy/?p=1179

Thank you for this opportunity to exchange views with you and your readers in Cuba and around the world and congratulations on receiving the Maria Moore Cabot Prize award from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism for coverage of Latin America that furthers inter-American understanding. You richly deserve the award. I was disappointed you were denied the ability to travel to receive the award in person.

Your blog provides the world a unique window into the realities of daily life in Cuba. It is telling that the Internet has provided you and other courageous Cuban bloggers with an outlet to express yourself so freely, and I applaud your collective efforts to empower fellow Cubans to express themselves through the use of technology. The government and people of the United States join all of you in looking forward to the day all Cubans can freely express themselves in public without fear and without reprisals.

QUESTION #1. FOR YEARS, CUBA HAS BEEN A U.S. FOREIGN POLICY ISSUE AS WELL AS A DOMESTIC ONE, IN PARTICULAR BECAUSE OF THE LARGE CUBAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY. FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, IN WHICH OF THE TWO CATEGORIES SHOULD THE CUBAN ISSUE FIT?

All foreign policy issues involve domestic components, especially issues concerning neighbors like Cuba from which the United States has a large immigrant population and with which we have a long history of relations. Our commitment to protect and support free speech, human rights, and democratic governance at home and around the world also cuts across the foreign policy/domestic policy divide. Also, many of the challenges shared by our two countries, including migration, drug trafficking, and economic issues, involve traditional domestic and foreign policy concerns. Thus, U.S. relations with Cuba are rightly seen in both a foreign and domestic policy context.

QUESTION 2: SHOULD YOUR ADMINISTRATION BE WILLING TO PUT AN END TO THIS DISPUTE, WOULD IT RECOGNIZE THE LEGITIMACY OF THE RAUL CASTRO GOVERNMENT AS THE ONLY VALID INTERLOCUTOR IN THE EVENTUAL TALKS?

As I have said before, I am prepared to have my administration engage with the Cuban government on a range of issues of mutual interest as we have already done in the migration and direct mail talks. It is also my intent to facilitate greater contact with the Cuban people, especially among divided Cuban families, which I have done by removing U.S. restrictions on family visits and remittances.

We seek to engage with Cubans outside of government as we do elsewhere around the world, as the government, of course, is not the only voice that matters in Cuba. We take every opportunity to interact with the full range of Cuban society and look forward to the day when the government reflects the freely expressed will of the Cuban people.

QUESTION 3: HAS THE U.S. GOVERNMENT RENOUNCED THE USE OF MILITARY FORCE AS THE WAY TO END THE DISPUTE?

The United States has no intention of using military force in Cuba. The United States supports increased respect for human rights and for political and economic freedoms in Cuba, and hopes that the Cuban government will respond to the desire of the Cuban people to enjoy the benefits of democracy and be able to freely determine Cuba’s future. Only the Cuban people can bring about positive change in Cuba and it is our hope that they will soon be able to exercise their full potential.

[rest of questions provided below][President Obama responds to 7 questions posed to him by Yoani Sanchez from her blog... more