OSAWATOMIE, Kan. (AP) -- President Barack Obama plans to head to the Republican stronghold of Kansas next week to deliver an economic speech about how he considers this a "make-or-break moment" for the middle class, the White House announced Saturday.
Obama is scheduled to speak Tuesday at the high school in Osawatomie, the city where a century ago, former President Teddy Roosevelt delivered a speech calling for a "New Nationalism." Roosevelt's speech, given after he left the White House, extolled the government's role in promoting social justice and regulating the economy to help the underprivileged. He criticized some fellow Republicans for refusing to tackle the economic power of the wealthy.
Obama will "lay out the choice we face between a country in which too few do well while too many struggle to get by, and one where we're all in it together -- where everyone engages in fair play, everyone does their fair share, and everyone gets a fair shot," the White House said.
In 2010, Republicans won every statewide and congressional office on the ballot in Kansas. Gov. Sam Brownback, who took office in January, is a GOP conservative. Kansas also has voted for every Republican presidential nominee since 1964, including Obama's 2008 opponent, Arizona Sen. John McCain. Obama's 42 percent of the vote, however, was the best showing by any Democratic nominee in 20 years.
Amanda Adkins, chair of the Kansas Republican Party, said in an email that Kansas residents "expect clarity on a path to job creation, competitiveness and effectiveness," and that it's being delivered by Brownback.
Joan Wagnon, chairwoman of the Kansas Democratic Party, said Obama's message would likely resonate in the state and she planned to attend the speech in Osawatomie, a town of about 4,400 residents some 50 miles southwest of Kansas City.
"I think Kansans are very concerned about the deepening divide between the wealthy and those that are not," Wagnon said.
F6, Australia has BIG fingers crossed for your economy, hoping that in spite of the nononono obstructionist 'get Obama at any cost' Republicans your economy can turn the corner before the election. Both the OWS focus to foreclosure and President Obama's Kansas were on my Sydney radio this morning.
A huge HOPE on European leaders to settle their problems, of course, also, as you guys would have.
From: AAP December 07, 2011 11:25AM 1 comment
BOOM: Australia's mining boom has fueled strong economic growth, September quarter GDP figures show.
AUSTRALIA'S economy grew robustly for a second consecutive quarter of as the booming mining sector fuels business investment, figures show.
Gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 1 per cent in the September quarter, after an upwardly revised 1.4 per cent rise in the June quarter.
The economy contracted in the March quarter after floods and cyclones in Queensland disrupted coal exports by shutting mines and cutting railways.
Over the year to September, GDP grew by 2.5 per cent, seasonally adjusted in chain volume terms, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said today.
Economists were expecting GDP to rise by 1.0 per cent in the September quarter for an annual rate of 2.1 per cent, according to an AAP survey of 16 economists conducted on Friday.
Balance of payments, government spending and business inventory data, released earlier this week, suggested that earlier forecasts may have been optimistic.
Household final consumption expenditure rose 1.2 per cent in the September quarter and was up 3.8 per cent over the year to September, adjusted.
Total investment in dwellings rose 1.9 per cent in the quarter to be down 2.9 per cent in the year to September.
Total gross fixed capital formation rose 6.0 per cent in the quarter and was up 8.7 per cent over the year.
Domestic final demand rose 2.1 per cent in the quarter and was up 4.6 per cent over the year.
GDP chain volume measures, percentage change past four quarters
The seasonally adjusted GDP implicit price deflator, the broadest measure of price changes in the economy, was up 0.6 per cent in the September quarter, compared to a rise of 1.5 per cent in the June quarter, to be up 3.5 per cent over the year.
The seasonally adjusted implicit price deflator for household final consumption rose 0.3 per cent in the September quarter, from a rise of 0.5 per cent in the previous quarter, and was up 2.2 per cent over the year.
Farm GDP, in chain volume measures, fell 8.6 per cent in the September quarter to be down 29.0 per cent in the year to September.
The Australian dollar rose by a 0.3 of a US cent after the release of strong Australian gross domestic product figures.
At 1132 AEDT, the currency was at US102.73c, up from US102.43c just before the release of the GDP figures.
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