President: Obamacare will boost exports

President Obama told a group of corporate leaders on Thursday that his healthcare overhaul would create more exports for U.S. companies, continuing his economic push in the face of the broader Washington budget debate.

Addressing his Export Council, Obama didn’t directly mention a standoff with Republicans over avoiding a government shutdown and increasing the debt limit — before reporters left the room — but touted his administration’s economic progress.

Amid GOP efforts to defund Obamacare, the president defended his signature legislative achievement.

“The cost of healthcare is now growing at the slowest rate in 50 years,” Obama said Thursday. “If the current trends hold … we’re going to see a continuing slowing of healthcare costs. That’s going to boost our exports.”

The White House is seeking to frame the overlapping debt-ceiling and government-funding debates in economic terms, arguing that the GOP will hurt American families still recovering from the Great Recession.

“It turns out actually a lot of what we've done is starting to bear real fruit,” the president insisted about his healthcare overhaul.

Republicans on Thursday pressed ahead with their campaign to gut the law.

“It is a train wreck; it has to go,” Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters Thursday morning.

Obama’s remarks to his Export Council are the latest in a series of economic events this week.

He addressed the Business Roundtable on Wednesday and will travel to a Kansas City Ford plant Friday to tout his administration’s bailout of the auto industry.

Addressing the group of business leaders Thursday, Obama said their work had helped spur a rebounding economy.

“This is not a bunch of show horses here,” he joked. “These are work horses."

Via: Washington Examiner

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THE BIG FAIL: Third Quarter GDP Report Indicates The New Obama Normal: Stagnation

THE THIRD QUARTER GDP REPORT CONFIRMS AN ANEMIC RECOVERY UNDER OBAMA

The First Of Three Estimates Of Growth For The July-September Quarter Sketched A Picture That’s Been Familiar All Year: The Economy Is Growing At A Tepid Rate…” “The first of three estimates of growth for the July-September quarter sketched a picture that’s been familiar all year: The economy is growing at a tepid rate, slowed by high unemployment and corporate anxiety over an unresolved budget crisis and a slowing global economy.” (“US Economic Growth Improves To 2 Percent Rate In Q3 On Higher Defense, Consumer Spending,” The Associated Press , 10/26/12)

National GDP Grew By 2 Percent In The Third Quarter. “Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States — increased at an annual rate of 2.0 percent in the third quarter of 2012 (that is, from the second quarter to the third quarter), according to the “advance” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.” (Press Release, “National Income And Product Accounts – Gross Domestic Product: Third Quarter 2012 (Advance Estimate),” Bureau Of Economic Analysis, 10/26/12)

The Average GDP Growth For 2012 Thus Far In The Year Trails That Of 2011. “And the 1.74 percent rate for 2012 trails last year’s 1.8 percent growth, a point GOP nominee Mitt Romney will emphasize.” (Christopher S. Rugaber, “US Economic Growth Improves To 2 Pct. Rate In Q3,” The Associated Press , 10/26/12)

• “Growth Was Held Back By The First Drop In Exports In More Than Three Years And Flat Business Investment In Equipment And Software.” (Christopher S. Rugaber, “US Economic Growth Improves To 2 Pct. Rate In Q3,” The Associated Press , 10/26/12)

• “Growth Was Held Back By The First Drop In Exports In More Than Three Years And Flat Business Investment In Equipment And Software.” (“US Economic Growth Improves to 2 Percent Rate In Q3 On Higher Defense, Consumer Spending,” The Associated Press , 10/26/12)

• Sectors That Previously Drove Growth In The Economy “Are Now Fading.” “While growth remains modest, the factors supporting the economy have changed. Exports and business investment drove growth for most of the recovery, but are now fading. Meanwhile, consumer spending has ticked up. And housing is adding to growth after a six-year slump.” (“U.S. Economic Growth Improves To 2 Percent Rate In Q3 On Higher Defense, Consumer Spending,” The Associated Press , 10/26/12)

• “Weaker Business Investment Held Back Growth…” “Weaker business investment held back growth in the third quarter, a sign that companies are hesitant to spend amid broad uncertainty over policies in Washington and slowing demand from abroad. Nonresidential fixed investment, a category that includes business spending on structures and equipment, fell 1.3% during the third quarter, compared with a 3.6% gain the prior period.” (Jeffrey Sparshott and Eric Morath, “GDP Rises 2%, Helped By Consumers,” The Wall Street Journal, 10/26/12)

• “Since The Recovery From The Great Recession Began In June 2009, The U.S. Economy Has Grown At The Slowest Rate Of Any Recovery In The Post-World War II Period.” (“US Economic Growth Improves To 2 Percent Rate In Q3 On Higher Defense, Consumer Spending,” The Associated Press , 10/26/12)

Via: GOP.com

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Obama thinking of tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Because nothing is worse in an election season than rising gas prices.

The White House is "dusting off old plans" for a potential release of oil reserves to dampen prices and prevent high energy costs from undermining sanctions against Iran, a source with knowledge of the situation said on Thursday.

U.S. officials will monitor market conditions over the next few weeks, watching whether gasoline prices fall after the September 3 Labor Day holiday, as they historically do, the source said.

It was too early to detail the size of any release from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve and other international stockpiles if a decision to proceed was taken, the source said.

Oil prices have surged in recent weeks, with Brent crude prices closing in on $120 a barrel, up sharply from below $90 a barrel in June. The United States and other Group of Eight countries studied a potential oil release in the spring but shelved the plans when prices dropped.

As prices rise again, U.S. officials were now collecting information from the market about potential needs and studying futures, production numbers and data on Iranian oil exports.

"The driving force in this is both impact on the economy and impact on the Iran sanctions policy," the source said, noting that Washington did not want rising oil prices to create a windfall for Iran while international sanctions were having an effective impact on its crude exports and revenues.

Via: American Thinker

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