Tagged: President Obama

The following is a summary of a previously recorded interview. To hear the complete segment, click the audio above.

Today, President Barack Obama delivered his second inaugural address.

According to Gleaves Whitney, many second addresses are somber and straightforward.

Whitney directs the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies at Grand Valley State University, and he spoke with Cyndy about the history of inaugural addresses.

“I think that Eisenhower was the first and only president to write his  prayer into the inaugural address,” said Whitney.

George Washington’s second inaugural speech was the shortest in history, said Whitney.

“Second inaugural addresses usually occur after the president has been chastened by experience. The lofty optimism that often characterizes first inaugural addresses is missing," he continued.

For the entire interview, listen to the above audio.

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President Obama made a broad, impassioned case for his re-election in Metro Detroit Wednesday.

The President resurrected the “change” theme of his 2008 campaign.

He said change is a slow process. But he touted some milestones of his first term, including health care reform and the resurgence of the US auto industry.

“If we work on behalf of our higher ideals…we will finish what we started in 2008,” the President told a crowd of enthusiastic supporters.

The President also paid homage to his surroundings—the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. He said it shows that “part of what makes us great is making stuff.”

“That’s what this museum reminds us of," Mr. Obama said. "Of what it means to build. It’s time we start taking the money we’re spending on war, use half of it to pay down our debt, and use half of it to build our nation here at home.”

The President contrasted that with what he called Republicans’ “you’re on your own economics.”

“Their philosophy is that we’re better off if a few are doing well at the top, and everybody else is fending for themselves," Mr. Obama said. "And they’re wrong.”

The Henry Ford  hosted the first of two Metro Detroit fundraisers for the President. He then moved on to a private fundraiser at the Bingham Farms home of businesswoman Denise Ilitch.

The top price for a ticket there: $40,000.

President Obama spoke at the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus today.

He spoke about his concerns over the cost of higher education and called for a college affordability report card.

The Center for Michigan's Bridge Magazine published its own report card with the affordability rankings for every Michigan university.

Michigan Radio's Jennifer White spoke to Ron French, Bridge Magazine's Senior Writer.

Well, the week is over, and it’s time for a little quiz. First of all, who said last night: “It’s time to stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy.“

Not surprisingly, that was President Obama, in his nationally televised speech on jobs. Okay, now, who said this a few minutes later: “We are in a crisis, and cannot afford to waste time on unproductive political posturing and partisan fighting.

“It’s time to make the tough decisions needed to reinvent the United States.” This time, that wasn‘t the president, but our own Republican governor, Rick Snyder. His response to the president’s speech sounded much more cooperative than confrontational.

And that attitude might just contain a tiny sliver of hope. Now, I know that Rick Snyder is not Speaker of the House John Boehner.

Nor does every Michigan Republican think the same.

Speaking to union members and supporters at a Labor Day rally in Detroit, President Obama says his biggest concern is to “fully restore” the country’s middle class.

The President will outline a jobs agenda to Congress on Thursday. He drew a disbelieving groan from the crowd when he said he still believes “both parties can work together.”

But Mr. Obama also said he “won’t wait around for” Republicans in Congress.

Michigan Senator Carl Levin wants all sides to give up trying to tie increasing the federal debt ceiling to a major cut in federal spending. The budget talks have stalled as President Obama and Congressional Republicans have been unable to agree on closing tax loopholes.

Levin says tying budget cuts to increasing the debt ceiling has been a bad idea.  

“Frankly never should have been combined.  We have no choice but to raise the debt ceiling.  We ought to reduce the deficit.  And we will.   But, whether we can do that in time to avoid a real calamity here which will occur if out debt ceiling is not raised is just anybody’s guess.”  

Congress has until August 2nd to agree to increase the federal government’s debt ceiling. After that, the government could possibly risk going into default.

Michigan is playing a starring role in a new federal initiative designed to spark the creation of new manufacturing jobs as part of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership. The federal government will spend $500 million to jumpstart manufacturing research and development projects.

President Obama says the government played an important role initially in projects that led to the creation of the internet, cell phones, and companies like Google.  He says this investment can do the same for manufacturing.

President Barack Obama will visit a Chrysler plant in Toledo, Ohio, next week to discuss the car maker's repayment of a federal loan that saved the company from financial disaster two years ago.

The White House says Obama will visit the auto plant on June 3.

Chrysler announced Tuesday the repayment of $5.9 billion in U.S. loans and $1.7 billion in loans from the governments of Canada and Ontario. It covers most of the federal bailout money that saved the company after it nearly ran out of cash in 2009 and went through a government-led bankruptcy.

The company recently posted its first profit in five years and has bolstered its lineup of Jeeps and cars.

Less than 24 hours remain for President Obama and Congressional leaders to avert a government shutdown. A deal to fund the federal government through September must be reached by midnight tonight to keep the government fully operating. President Obama and legislative leaders met again last night to narrow their differences over how much to cut the federal budget but no agreement was made.

• NPR: GOP, Democrats Shift Blame As Shutdown Looms
• The New York Times: No Accord in Budget Talks as Policy Fights Hamper Deal
• The Washington Post: Budget Deal Continues to Elude Congress
• Wall Street Journal: Dickering on Budget Goes Down to the Wire
• Politico: White House Meeting Narrows Differences, But Still No Budget Deal
• TheHill.com: Obama Cites Progress But 'No Wild Optimism' Ahead of Deadline