White House adviser Valerie Jarrett defended President Obama’s accomplishments during his first year in office on Meet the Press on Sunday. On the economy, health care reform, foreign relations, and terrorism, she said he has been consistent with his campaign promises.
Interviewer David Gregory asked, “The president came into office promising change. In his first year what has he changed?”
Jarrett said President Obama has made “a dramatic difference in terms of how the United States is perceived around the world. I think that the president has been able to travel across the world and to establish relationships with world leaders that lay a foundation for keeping America safe.”
She added that he is building relationships with other countries “so that we can tackle challenges collectively with other world leaders.”
Jarrett also said the president pulled the economy back from the brink of disaster. “The Recovery Act saved thousands and thousands of jobs. There are schoolteachers and firemen and teachers all across our country, policemen, who have jobs today because of that recovery act.”
When Gregory asked what the president will do this year to create jobs, Jarrett said he will lay out his priorities in his first State of the Union Address this Wednesday. He will focus on helping the middle class, she said.
The stimulus is investing in infrastructure and in education, said Jarrett. It is also investing in renewable resources to lessen America’s dependence on foreign oil, she said. The economic issues will need long term solutions, and the administration is thinking and planning for the long term.
Gregory asked about campaign manager David Plouffe returning to work for Obama, implying that it meant the president was in campaign mode, trying to recover from political setbacks. She dismissed that idea, saying Plouffe wrote a book, was now done with the book, and is a talented man. Obama is always looking for talent, even among Republicans, according to Jarrett.
On the future of health care reform, Jarrett downplayed questions over the recent election of Republican Scott Brown to Ted Kennedy’s former Senate seat in Massachusetts, saying Massachusetts already has health reform, and Brown voted for it. Brown’s election tipped the balance in the Senate, so that Democrats no longer have a majority of 60. Republicans have harshly criticized the health care reform bills written by the Senate and Congress. The process of developing the legislation has been bitterly fought, with very little agreement between the two parties.
She said the president has tried to be bipartisan from the beginning, just as he promised.
Gregory asked about the ostensible recent Bin Laden tape. The tape promised renewed attacks on the United States. Jarrett said it is not yet confirmed that the tape is in Bin Laden’s voice, nor is it clear that Bin Laden is still in charge of al-Qaeda. But the president is committed to going against al-Qaeda, and to bringing Bin Laden to justice for his many murders, she said.
Obama is “going to fight for the American people,” said Jarrett.
Interviewer David Gregory asked, “The president came into office promising change. In his first year what has he changed?”
Jarrett said President Obama has made “a dramatic difference in terms of how the United States is perceived around the world. I think that the president has been able to travel across the world and to establish relationships with world leaders that lay a foundation for keeping America safe.”
She added that he is building relationships with other countries “so that we can tackle challenges collectively with other world leaders.”
Jarrett also said the president pulled the economy back from the brink of disaster. “The Recovery Act saved thousands and thousands of jobs. There are schoolteachers and firemen and teachers all across our country, policemen, who have jobs today because of that recovery act.”
When Gregory asked what the president will do this year to create jobs, Jarrett said he will lay out his priorities in his first State of the Union Address this Wednesday. He will focus on helping the middle class, she said.
The stimulus is investing in infrastructure and in education, said Jarrett. It is also investing in renewable resources to lessen America’s dependence on foreign oil, she said. The economic issues will need long term solutions, and the administration is thinking and planning for the long term.
Gregory asked about campaign manager David Plouffe returning to work for Obama, implying that it meant the president was in campaign mode, trying to recover from political setbacks. She dismissed that idea, saying Plouffe wrote a book, was now done with the book, and is a talented man. Obama is always looking for talent, even among Republicans, according to Jarrett.
On the future of health care reform, Jarrett downplayed questions over the recent election of Republican Scott Brown to Ted Kennedy’s former Senate seat in Massachusetts, saying Massachusetts already has health reform, and Brown voted for it. Brown’s election tipped the balance in the Senate, so that Democrats no longer have a majority of 60. Republicans have harshly criticized the health care reform bills written by the Senate and Congress. The process of developing the legislation has been bitterly fought, with very little agreement between the two parties.
She said the president has tried to be bipartisan from the beginning, just as he promised.
Gregory asked about the ostensible recent Bin Laden tape. The tape promised renewed attacks on the United States. Jarrett said it is not yet confirmed that the tape is in Bin Laden’s voice, nor is it clear that Bin Laden is still in charge of al-Qaeda. But the president is committed to going against al-Qaeda, and to bringing Bin Laden to justice for his many murders, she said.
Obama is “going to fight for the American people,” said Jarrett.
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