President Obama on Keystone

American politicians must focus on voters’ ambitions, says President Obama

“What stands out to me is that the American people sent a message – one that they have sent for several elections. They expect the people they elect to work as hard as they do. They expect us to focus on their ambitions and not ours. They want us to get the job done – all of us in both parties have a responsibility to address that sentiment.” This message was echoed by U.S. President Barak Obama following Tuesday’s mid-term elections in the U.S. It is a warning that Canadian politicians should heed.

Despite the recapture of Congress by the Republican Party President Obama acknowledged his unique responsibility to try and make parliament work. “So to everyone who voted I want you to know that I hear you. To the two third voters who chose not to participate in the process yesterday I hear you too,” the president announced in his post-election press conference. He was adamant that all politicians have to give more Americans a reason to feel like the ground is stable beneath their feet, that the future is secure, that there is a path for young people to succeed and that folks in Washington are concerned about them. He promised to spend every moment of the next two plus years doing his job, the best he can to keep America safe and to make sure that more Americans share in the country’s prosperity.

  He reminded Americans and the world that his country has made real progress since the crisis six years ago. “The fact is more Americans are working; unemployment has come down; more Americans have health insurance; manufacturing has grown; our deficits have shrunk; our dependence on foreign oil is down as our gas prices; our graduation rates are up,” he enumerated to members of the news media assembled to hear from him. As American businesses are creating jobs, the President acknowledged that the country’s economy is up pacing most of the world. “But we just got to keep at it until every American feels the gains of the growing economy where it matters most, that’s in their own lives,” he continued. Emphasizing the importance for action from Congress to ensure positive developments occur, President Obama concluded “I am eager to work with the new Congress to make the next two years as productive as possible”.

  Obama emphasized his commitment to making sure that he measures ideas not by whether they are from Democrats or Republicans but whether they work for the American people. That does not guarantee there won’t be disagreement on some issues politicians are passionate about. “Congress will pass some bill I cannot sign. I am pretty sure I’ll take some actions that some in Congress will not like. That’s natural. That’s how our democracy works. But we can surely find ways to work together on issues where there is broad agreement among the American people. So I look forward to Republicans putting forward their governing agenda. I will offer my ideas on areas where I think we can move together to respond to people’s economic needs,” he President continued.

  With respect to the Keystone pipeline project --one small aspect of a broader trend -- the President reminded the world that there is an independent process moving forward and he is going to let that process play out. He will gather up the facts. Recalling  some parameters he has given on the matter, President Obama’s concerns include whether ultimately, Keystone is going to be good for the American people; is it going to be good for the pocketbook? Is it actually going to create jobs? Is it actually going to reduce gas prices that have been coming down? And is it going to be something that doesn’t increase climate change that Americans are going to have to grapple with?

He reminded the gathering of journalists on Capitol Hill while this debate about Canadian oil has been raging America has seen some of the biggest increases in its oil and gas production in the country’s history. America is closer to energy independence it has ever been before or at least in decades, Obama reported. “We are importing less foreign oil than we produce for the first time in a very long time,” the President remarked.

  In his determination to satisfy the needs of the American people, the President said the things that motivate him and his staff every single day aren’t going to change. There is going to be a consistent focus on how they deliver more opportunity to more people in the country. How to grow the economy faster and put more people back to work and, are at the top of his list of priorities. “I maybe have a

naïve confidence that if we continue to focus on the American people and not on our own ambitions or image or various concerns like that, at the end of the day when I look back I am going to be able to say that the American people are better off than they were before I was President.”

So the world now awaits action from Congress. Will president Obama and his Democrats get Republicans to work reasonably and in the best interest of their people? Only time will tell.