Video and Transcript: Obama Says US Economy Bouncing Back

Last Saturday, President Obama devoted his Weekly Address to the economic crisis. The President stated that, thanks to the Recovery Act, business investment is showing signs of stability, providing jobs to unemployed Americans.



Obama said that this economic crisis would pass and, indeed, there would not be another one if the US built "a new foundation strong enough to withstand future economic storms and support lasting prosperity”. There would be no return to an economy where “the growth is based on inflated profits and maxed-out credit cards”.

OBAMA: Today, I'd like to talk with you about a subject that I know is on everyone's mind, and that's the state of our economy. Yesterday, we received a report on our Gross Domestic Product. That's a measure of our overall economic performance. The report showed that in the first few months of this year, the recession we faced when I took office was even deeper than anyone thought at the time. It told us how close we were to the edge.

But it also revealed that in the last few months, the economy has done measurably better than expected. And many economists suggest that part of this progress is directly attributable to the Recovery Act. This and the other difficult but important steps that we have taken over the last six months have helped put the brakes on this recession.

We took unprecedented action to stem the spread of foreclosures by helping responsible homeowners stay in their homes and pay their mortgages. We helped revive the credit markets and open up loans for families and small businesses. And we enacted a Recovery Act that put tax cuts directly into the pockets of middle-class families and small businesses; extended unemployment insurance and health insurance for folks who have lost jobs; provided relief to struggling states to prevent layoffs of teachers and police officers; and made investments that are putting people back to work rebuilding and renovating roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals.

Now, I realize that none of this is much comfort for Americans who are still out of work or struggling to make ends meet. And when we receive our monthly job report next week, it is likely to show that we are continuing to lose far too many jobs in this country. As far as I'm concerned, we will not have a recovery as long as we keep losing jobs. And I won't rest until every American who wants a job can find one.

But history shows that you need to have economic growth before you have job growth. And the report yesterday on our economy is an important sign that we're headed in the right direction. Business investment, which had been plummeting in the past few months, is showing signs of stabilizing. This means that eventually, businesses will start growing and hiring again. And that's when it will really feel like a recovery to the American people.

This won't happen overnight. As I've said before, it will take many more months to fully dig ourselves out of a recession – a recession that we've now learned was even deeper than anyone thought. But I'll continue to work every day, and take every step necessary, to make sure that happens. I also want to make sure that we don't return to an economy where our growth is based on inflated profits and maxed-out credit cards – because that doesn't create a lot of jobs. Even as we rescue this economy, we must work to rebuild it stronger than before. We've got to build a new foundation strong enough to withstand future economic storms and support lasting prosperity.

Next week, I'll be talking about that new foundation when I head to Elkhart County in Indiana – a city hard hit not only by the economic crisis of recent months but by the broader economic changes of recent decades. For communities like Elkhart to thrive, we need to recapture the spirit of innovation that has always moved America forward.

That means once again having the best-educated, highest skilled workforce in the world. That means a health care system that makes it possible for entrepreneurs to innovate and businesses to compete without being saddled with skyrocketing insurance costs. That means leading the world in building a new clean energy economy with the potential to unleash a wave of innovation – and economic growth – while ending our dependence on foreign oil. And that means investing in the research and development that will produce the technologies of the future – which in turn will help create the industries and jobs of the future.

Innovation has been essential to our prosperity in the past, and it will be essential to our prosperity in the future. But it is only by building a new foundation that we will once again harness that incredible generative capacity of the American people. All it takes are the policies to tap that potential – to ignite that spark of creativity and ingenuity – which has always been at the heart of who we are and how we succeed. At a time when folks are experiencing real hardship, after years in which we have seen so many fail to take responsibility for our collective future, it's important to keep our eyes fixed on that horizon.

Every day, I hear from Americans who are feeling firsthand the pain of this recession; these are folks who share their stories with me in letters and at town hall meetings; folks who remain in my mind and on my agenda each and every day. I know that there are countless families and businesses struggling to just hang on until this storm passes. But I also know that if we do the things we know we must, this storm will pass. And it will yield to a brighter day.

The Latest from Iran (5 August): The Inauguration

NEW Video: The Inauguration Protests (5 August)
Translation: Ayatollah Montazeri’s Response to Tehran Trials
Iran’s American Detainee: The Case of Kian Tajbakhsh
The Latest from Iran (4 August): A Day Between Protests

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2300 GMT: Ayatollahs Sanei and Bayat Zanjani have echoed Ayatollah Montazeri's statements denouncing the trials held last Saturday.

2200 GMT: A third journalist working for the Etemade Melli newspaper has been arrested. Mehdi Yazdani Khorram, the editor of the literature and art section, was arrested by plainsclothes officers at 2030 GMT.

2130 GMT: An important clarrification. Although Rafsanjani is scheduled to deliver a sermon at next week's Friday prayers, it is far from clear that he will take up this opportunity. It should be remembered that Rafsanjani turned down several opportunities to speak at Friday prayers before his last appearance on June 17.

1725 GMT: The resumption of the Tehran trials, scheduled for tomorrow, has been delayed until Saturday. The reason is unclear.

1715 GMT: Even the choice of Ayatollah Emami Kashani, a "conservative" cleric, to lead this Friday's prayers is far from a firm guarantee of support for the President and the regime. In  a sermon at Jamkaran Mosque, the ayatollah admitted, "The brightness of velayat-e-faqih (supreme leadership) has diminished....[Since the supreme leadership can not solve the problems of the country] may you [Mahdi, the 12'th Imam] reemerge and solve the country's problems."

1700 GMT: Friday's prayers will be led by Ayatollah Mohammad Emami-Kashani. That, however, is just a preliminary to the big news:  next week's will be led by Hashemi Rafsanjani.

1450 GMT: A summary of today before we return to our vacation. Riz Khan of Al Jazeera posted a question which, for Riz Khan, is remarkably ill-phrased: "As Mahmoud Ahmadinejad takes his oath, Will Iran again spiral into another cycle of violent demonstrations?"

The issue, as demonstrated again today, is not another ominous spiral into violence. Gatherings today, which persisted despite the state's attempt to close down visible opposition to the inauguration, continue to express clear concerns and demands (and, notably, without violence). Ahmadinejad's speech, which has already faded into a lack of significance, does nothing to check those concerns.

So the inauguration in fact becomes a sideshow, one boycotted by some politicians and attended by others with ill humour. With the Tehran trial resuming tomorrow, and more importantly with opposition politicians and clerics renewing their challenge, we'll get back to serious business.

1448 GMT: Mir Hossein Mousavi has posted a statement on his website declaring:

These hectic trials just reflect the deep problem which exists in our country. It is definitely not a source of pride to publicly expose such personalities in a mass trial. We made a [Islamic revolution in 1979] revolution so that trials were against criminals. We wanted trials with lawyers, trials with rights for the defendants, trials where the judge acts independently and trials which make the people feel justice prevailing.

Mousavi again denied any links between the opposition and foreign countries, asserting that the problem was an attempt to limit political views: "We have to learn to face other standpoints, listen to what they say, elaborate our own viewpoints and pay attention to their elaborations as well."

1445 GMT: The Islamic society of  engineers, of which Ahmadinejad is a former member, has sent a letter to Ayatollah Rafsanjani. The head of the society, Seyyed Hasan Sobhani-nia, commented that "This letter asks about recent events and Ayatollah Rafsanjani's position regarding them. This letter also states the concerns and worries that this society has regarding the future of individuals attached to the revolution who have played a crucial role in its formation. The society has requested Mr. Rafsanjani to clarify his position regarding these recent events."  The society had previously sent a letter to Ahmadinejad, which Enduring America also posted, asking for his own clarrification.

1440 GMT: A Twitter activist has created a Google map showing the locations of protests across the capital today.

1430 GMT: Gooya. com are reporting that "tens of thousands" of security forces were out on Tehran streets today, especially near Parliament building. Shops in the area were closed.

1415 GMT: The lawyer for detained politicians Behzad Nabavi, Mostafa Tajzadeh, and Mohsen Mirdamadi says he will not attend tomorrow's trial because it is illegal.

1355 GMT: Another Arrested Journalist. In addition to last night's seizure of Mir Hamid Hassanzadeh, the head of Ghalam News, Reza Nourbakhsh, the chief editor of the newspaper Farhikhtegan, was arrested. His office was searched, and some material was taken. 

1330 GMT: Reports that women's rights activist Haleh Sahabiwas arrested in Baharestan Square today.

0800 GMT: BBC World is leading with the story of Ahmadinejad's inauguration. The footage is telling: there is a distinct lack of enthusiasm amongst members of Parliament.

The BBC also has some images of protest outside the Parliament building.

The analysis is not as useful. Jon Leyne, expelled from Iran earlier in the crisis, is saying, somewhat bizarrely, that "most" of the President's speech was directed "at the outside world".

0645 GMT: It appears that the pattern of protest will be repeated today. Instead of a mass gathering, which will be disrupted if not prevented by security forces, there will be a number of "flash" gatherings across Tehran. We'll be back later to give a full assessment.

0627 GMT: More on the "boycott" in Parliament (see 0612). Parleman News revises its report: 57 of the 70 members of the Imam Khomeini Line walked out as Ahmadinejad started his speech.

0616 GMT: Mehdi Karroubi, in an interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais says that he and Mousavi will never work with Ahmadinejad's Cabinet and that protests will continue. Karroubi said:

We do not want to destroy the government; however, we criticise the actions of the government and we have no intention to help this government....The reality is that the majority of the people do not accept the methodologies and language of Mr. Ahmadinejad. We consider this government to be illegitimate.

0615 GMT: Kazem Jalali, the head of the special Parliamentary committee investigating the conditions of detainees, has resigned, and there are reports that other committee members have quit. No official reasons for the resignations have been given, but there is speculation that the lack of cooperation from judiciary and security officals may be a key factor.

0612 GMT: Parleman News reports only 242 of the 290 members of Parliament attended the inauguration. This suggests that all 46 "reformist" MPs stayed away.

0608 GMT: There is heavy Twitter chatter of protesters demonstrating at the main Tehran Bazaar, effectively trying to shut it down. Cellphone service has reportedly been cut off in central Tehran.

0600 GMT: Even as Ahmadinejad was speaking, the text scroll on the screen announced the next battle within the Establishment. The President has two weeks to assemble the names of proposed Cabinet Ministers and put them before Parliament. Given the furour over his recent choice of First Vice President Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai and his effective takeover of the Ministry of Intelligence, that will not be an easy process.

0555 GMT: Live coverage by Press TV English is available. They are assessing Ahmadinejad's speech, which made claims to "social justice".

0545 GMT: Opposition activists are pointing to images inside the Parliament of empty seats, which would indicate that (as on Monday, when the Supreme Leader confirmed Ahmadinejad) many have stayed away from the ceremony, and of growing demonstrations elsewhere in Tehran.

Morning Update (0535 GMT): Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been inaugurated as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran for a second term, despite a disputed election result almost eight weeks ago.

The President was not deterred by such questions in his acceptance speech, claiming the mandate of 25 million votes (even the suspect official tally gave him "only" 23 million).

Reuters is reporting a demonstration of "hundreds" in Baharestan Square in front of the Iranian Parliament building.

Text: Ayatollah Montazeri's Response to the Tehran Trials

The Latest from Iran (5 August): The Inauguration

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Enduring America has received a translation of Ayatollah Montazeri's response to the recent mass trials. Montazeri remains one of the most senior religious figures in Iran and has been a consistent critic of the Islamic Republic's policies since the late 1980s.

"It is with great surprise and sorrow that our dear and long-suffering people are incredulously witnessing the anti-religious and illegal broadcasting of interviews with their beloved captives held in prison; beloved captives that have been held for 40 days and some of whom have also been killed. I have reminded all in previous messages: These coerced confessions, that unfortunately have become the norm in the Islamic Republic, have been extracted in illegal prisons and under abnormal conditions, by deceiving the prisoners and severing their connections to the outside world and by applying a myriad of psychological and physical pressures upon them.

These confessions absolutely lack any legal or religious sanction and are equivalent to any mortal sin and from the same standpoint [the extraction of these confessions] should be considered to be a major felony and crime. Therefore those who order these confessions to be taken and those that extract them must be tried in court, consequently no reputable court should not and must not use these confession to convict or try or sentence anyone.....[shia tradition] has therefore led all Islamic jurist to state that coerced confessions extracted by force and threats under abnormal conditions are inadmissible......

In addition, sullying the reputations of individuals that have had a great effect both in the development of Islamic revolution and in setting up the establishment, using unsubstantiated and dastardly pretexts and allegations is another mortal sin; a sin that will have the effect of  being more detrimental to the people who are responsible for the propagation of these allegations [rather than the ones accused]: the people will ask themselves what kind of an establishment  accuses it's own high level officials of high treason, officials that served previous governments and parliaments and played a crucial role in setting up the establishment themselves.

I [as a devout muslim] have a ritual and religious duty to advise you to good works and admonish you for your transgressions, in the is regard I am reiterating my previous reminder to those who are in charge of the affairs of society: I request that you do something that the disregarded rights of the people regarding this election are restored to them and the lost confidence of the people in the system is regained and that you try to satisfy the populace. What you have done instead-namely, suppressing people and detaining hundreds of protesters; imprisoning prominent individuals who have spent years serving the establishment in key roles; forcing these individuals to make public statements and confessions according to the pleasure of the rulers, statements that are totally contradictory with the opinions and thoughts of the prisoners; forcing these individuals to confess to sins, crimes and treason that has nothing to do with them-is something that no reasonable person would believe or accept."

Saudi Arabia to US: It is Israel's Move (However You Report It)

For the Associated Press, Saudi Arabia's rejection of a  US request that it establish ties with Israel was pretty cold-blooded. 
 
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said "bluntly" that his Government was "not interested" until Israel withdrew to 1967 borders, while SoS Hillary Clinton "looked on" during the joint news conference.

Mina Al Orabi offers a much different framing in the Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat. Saud al Faisal "was keen to express Saudi Arabia’s 'thanks and appreciation to President Obama and to Secretary Clinton for their early  and robust focus on trying to bring peace to the Middle East'.... However, he  also indicated that 'Israel must decide if it wants real peace, which is at hand, or if it wants to continue obstructing and, as a result, leading the region towards instability and violence.'"

Saud got to the heart of the preference of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks on specific economic and security matters rather than a broad two-state settlement: “Today, Israel is trying to distract by shifting attention from the core issue – an end to the occupation that began in 1967 and the establishment of a Palestinian state --- towards incidental issues such as academic conferences and civil aviation matters. This is not the way to peace.”

For Saud, “The question is not what the Arab world will offer....The question really is: what will Israel give in exchange for this comprehensive offer?"

Asharq al-Awsat also made clear that Secretary of State Clinton was far from mute. She diplomatically restated that the Obama Administration “is committed to comprehensive peace in the region,” and expressed thanks to “the Prince for the leadership that King Abdullah and his government has shown by championing the Arab Peace Initiative".

The Associated Press may want to portray the Saudis as the intransigent obstacles to peace. After all, more than 200 US Congressmen/women have signed a letter to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah "calling for precisely the measures that Saud rejected and chastising the country for its stance". 

The fact beyond the framing remains, however, that all movement is suspended without a substantive response from Tel Aviv. And if the rumoured White House spin is true --- President Obama will announce a "Middle East plan" after his meeting with Egypt's Hosni Mubarak on 17 August --- that response better come soon.

War on Terror Reminder: Torture is Also a British Thing

 

In recent weeks, we've paid close attentions to allegations of abuse by Iranian authorities in the post-election conflict. Perhaps as a timely reminder, Duncan Gardham writes in The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday that "torture" is not the exclusive practice of Tehran:

 

[Britain's] Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights said the structures for supervision were woefully deficient and accused ministers of refusing to give adequate answers to its detailed questions about torture.

It said "ministers are determined to avoid Parliamentary scrutiny and accountability" over allegations of complicity in torture, and concluded: "In view of the large number of unanswered questions... there is now no other way to restore public confidence in the intelligence services than by setting up an independent inquiry."

The committee urged ministers to publish the instructions given to security service officers on the detention and interviewing of detainees overseas.

Ministers have refused to give oral evidence to the committee on allegations of torture or have given only general answers to detailed questions about the treatment of individual detainees.

Seven former Guantanamo detainees, including Binyam Mohamed, are suing MI5, MI6, the Attorney General, the Foreign Office and the Home Office over their treatment.

The BBC, freed from its caution by the Parliamentary report, is adding a claim by Craig Murray, the former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan: he was told in March 2003 that Britain had accepted torture as part of its campaign in the War on Terror.