Urgent steps needed to rein in mounting public debt: Obama
Friday, 20 November 2009
From Fazle Rashid
NEW YORK, Nov 19: President Barack Obama now on last leg in his eight day Asian trip sounded grim warning about the US economy slipping into what he said "double dip recession" unless urgent steps are taken to rein in mounting public debt.
President Obama dispatched on an emergency his secretary of state Hillary Clinton to Afghanistan to clearly spell out to Hamid Karzai Washington's growing concern and unease over poor governance and corruption. Hillary Clinton did some tough talking with Karzai telling him point blank that future flow of civilian aid would depend on how his government performed in developing an effective army and curbing cronyism.
The White House is developing a "clear targets" for both Afghanistan and Pakistan with possibly specific timelines as a way to signal that the American military presence will not last indefinitely, the New York Times in a report said.
And on US economy President Obama said that his team is doing its best to try to set up a pathway long term for deficit reduction". The analysts are warning that the President is preparing the public for a tough budget coming in February. A White House budget officer said the US will have to bring down its deficit to 3.0 per cent of GDP within six years.
President Obama also delivered stern warnings to North Korea and Iran that they risk tough sanctions and isolation if they do not wrap up their nuclear projects.
President Obama has been able to win the support of the Russian president but China is stating that diplomacy should be given more chances to settle the problem.
On US-China ties president Obama said "a relationship that used to be focused just on economy and trade is now expanding to deal with a whole host of global issues in which US-China cooperation is critical" This leaves little doubt in anybody's mind that Washington treats Beijing as the second most important nation in the world. Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao responding to the words of Barack Obama said "we are really on the cusp moving forward with this relationship". As Barack Obama has said several times this week there are few global problems that can be solved with agreement between the US and China.
NEW YORK, Nov 19: President Barack Obama now on last leg in his eight day Asian trip sounded grim warning about the US economy slipping into what he said "double dip recession" unless urgent steps are taken to rein in mounting public debt.
President Obama dispatched on an emergency his secretary of state Hillary Clinton to Afghanistan to clearly spell out to Hamid Karzai Washington's growing concern and unease over poor governance and corruption. Hillary Clinton did some tough talking with Karzai telling him point blank that future flow of civilian aid would depend on how his government performed in developing an effective army and curbing cronyism.
The White House is developing a "clear targets" for both Afghanistan and Pakistan with possibly specific timelines as a way to signal that the American military presence will not last indefinitely, the New York Times in a report said.
And on US economy President Obama said that his team is doing its best to try to set up a pathway long term for deficit reduction". The analysts are warning that the President is preparing the public for a tough budget coming in February. A White House budget officer said the US will have to bring down its deficit to 3.0 per cent of GDP within six years.
President Obama also delivered stern warnings to North Korea and Iran that they risk tough sanctions and isolation if they do not wrap up their nuclear projects.
President Obama has been able to win the support of the Russian president but China is stating that diplomacy should be given more chances to settle the problem.
On US-China ties president Obama said "a relationship that used to be focused just on economy and trade is now expanding to deal with a whole host of global issues in which US-China cooperation is critical" This leaves little doubt in anybody's mind that Washington treats Beijing as the second most important nation in the world. Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao responding to the words of Barack Obama said "we are really on the cusp moving forward with this relationship". As Barack Obama has said several times this week there are few global problems that can be solved with agreement between the US and China.