President Hits on Areas Important to Agriculture in State of the Union
Energy, credit, and trade all addressed in speech.
Compiled by staff
Published: Jan 28, 2010
Along with acknowledging rural communities have been hit especially hard by the economic recession, President Obama touched on a number of issues important to the nation's farmers and ranchers during his State of the Union address Wednesday night. Spending a great deal of time on the economy and the need for job creation, the President outlined a plan to help small businesses get the credit they need to stay afloat, and expressed a need to encourage innovation including the area of energy.
According to President Obama investments in clean energy are paying off, but to create even more jobs more production, more efficiency and more incentives are needed. He said that means making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development, continued investment in advanced biofuels, and passing a comprehensive energy and climate bill.
In the area of trade the President called for exporting more of our goods and he set a new goal to double our exports over the next five years. To help meet the goal he announced the launch of a National Export Initiative that will help farmers and small businesses increase their exports. He also expressed the importance of seeking new markets aggressively and said the Administration will continue to shape a Doha trade agreement that opens global markets and strengthen trade relations with key partners like South Korea, Panama and Colombia.
President Obama called on Members of Congress to take another look at the health insurance reform proposed and asked them not to walk away from it. He said the nation still needs it. He invited members from either party to let him know if they had a better approach to bring down premiums and the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare and stop insurance company abuses.
And as expected the President did announce a plan to freeze government spending for three years and called for a bipartisan fiscal commission modeled on the proposal by Senators Judd Gregg, R-N.H., and Kent Conrad, D-N.D., a measure that was blocked in the Senate this week. President Obama said he would issue an executive order that will allow it to go forward. It is not yet known how the budget freeze will impact ag programs.
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Tagged: insurance, biofuels
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