Full Text Obama Presidency March 7, 2012: President Barack Obama’s Speech at the Business Roundtable Quarterly Meeting at the Newseum

POLITICAL SPEECHES & DOCUMENTS

OBAMA PRESIDENCY & THE 112TH CONGRESS:

President Obama Meets with the Business Roundtable

Source: WH, 3-7-12

President Barack Obama at the Business Roundtable Quarterly Meeting

President Barack Obama takes questions following the Business Roundtable Quarterly Meeting held at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., March 6, 2012. BRT Chairman James McNerney is seated with the President. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama met with top business leaders on Tuesday night and he talked about the need to focus on our core strengths in order to grow the American economy: American manufacturing; American energy; American innovation; and ensuring American workers have the best skills and education.

The association, whose members include top executives from some of the largest corporations in the country, gathered in Washington, DC to discuss a report it is releasing today called “Taking Action for America: A CEO Plan for Jobs and Economic Growth.” It had been two years since the President last met with the group, and he highlighted many of the gains the economy has made in that time, including the addition of more than 3.7 million new jobs in the private sector and the resurgence of the American auto industry. President Obama also discussed the need to do more than restore our economy to pre-crisis levels — we need to position ourselves to be competitive in this 21st century economy over the long term and create an economy built to last:

We’re also going to have to make significant investments in American energy.  I am very proud of the fact that American energy output is reaching record levels.  We are seeing the highest oil production in the last eight years.  At the same time, because so many of your companies have become more efficient, we’re actually seeing a reduction in imports — in fact, below 50 percent for the first time back in 2010, the first time in a decade.

But we’ve got more work to do, and it’s going to require an all-of-the-above strategy.  Obviously, folks are getting killed right now with gas prices.  And that has an impact on all of your companies, because consumers are more price sensitive when it comes to filling up their gas tank than just about anything else.  That means, yes, we’ve got to produce more oil and more natural gas, and we are game for that.  It also means, though, we’ve got to invest in the energy sources of the future.

POLITICAL QUOTES & SPEECHES

Remarks by the President at Business Roundtable

Newseum
Washington, D.C.

7:06 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you very much, everybody.  It is good to see all of you.  Jim, thank you for the introduction.  It is a privilege to be with the men and women of the Business Roundtable.  Over the past three years, we’ve worked together on a number of issues, and we’ve found common ground on an awful lot of them.

Some of you have dedicated your time and energy and expertise to serving on my Jobs Council or my Export Council.  Others have hosted me or Cabinet members at your companies, at your plants, at your distribution centers.  And this engagement has been incredibly productive for us.  It’s helped to shape our collective work and to get this economy growing again.  So I just wanted to say thank you for that.

Tonight, I want to keep that engagement going, so I’m going to keep my remarks at the top relatively brief.  I’m looking forward to hearing about your new “Taking Action for America” report.  And I’m going to hopefully spend as much time listening as I do talking.

But the last time I addressed this group was just over two years ago, when we were still working to clear away the wreckage from what turned out to be the worst economic crisis that we’ve seen since the Great Depression.  And obviously we’ve got a long way to go.  We’ve still got millions of people who are out of work.  We still have a lot of folks whose homes are underwater.  There are enormous economic challenges that lie ahead, and we’re going to have to think strategically and systematically about how we restore a sense of middle-class security for Americans who are doing the right thing, working hard, looking to support their families.

The good news is, over the last two years, businesses like yours have created over 3.7 million new jobs.  The American auto industry has come back.  Companies are bringing jobs back to America.  Manufacturers are adding new jobs for the first time since the 1990s.

And I’ve seen it firsthand in many of your companies.  Most recently, I went to the Boeing plant, out in Washington State.  And Jim informed me that last year, orders for commercial aircraft rose by more than 50 percent, and they had to hire 13,000 workers all across America just to keep up.  And I have to say that given the number of planes that I’ve been selling around the world, I expect a gold watch upon my retirement.  (Laughter.)

So the economy is getting stronger, and the recovery is speeding up.  And the question now is, how do we make sure that it keeps going?

I’ve been talking a lot recently about how we can do that — how we can help companies like yours hire more workers, bring more jobs back to America; how we can leave an economy that’s not just restored to pre-crisis levels, but positions ourselves to be competitive in this 21st century economy over the long term -– an economy built to last.

I think we have to focus on our core strengths:  American manufacturing; American energy; American innovation; the best skills and education for American workers.

Right now, on the manufacturing front, I think we’ve got a huge opportunity.  What’s happened in the auto industry can happen in other areas, and we’ve got to make sure that we understand even though manufacturing will not be the same percentage of our economy as it once was, it still remains this incredible multiplier for services and consumers and prosperity all across America.  That’s why I want to thank Andrew Liveris — where’s Andrew?  There he is.  Andrew is helping us to do some terrific work as part of our Advanced Manufacturing Partnership.  And obviously part of our job as the federal government is to make sure that the R&D, the basic research is continuing to be done, and figuring out how we commercialize that, create products here in America, and sell them all around the world is going to be absolutely critical.

Thanks to new bipartisan trade agreements that I’ve signed with Panama, Colombia, and, most significantly, South Korea, we’re on track to meet our goal of doubling American exports over the next five years.  And I know the BRT was very helpful in making sure that that happened.

I think I’ve shown that I will go anywhere in the world to open new markets for American goods.  That’s why we worked so hard to secure Russia’s invitation into the WTO.  That’s why I have asked Congress to repeal Jackson-Vanik, to make sure that all your companies and American companies all across the country can take advantage of it.  And that’s something that we’re going to need some help on.

This is about creating a level, rules-based playing field in the growing Russian market.  Because when it comes to competing for the jobs and the industries of tomorrow, no foreign company should have an advantage over American companies.  When the playing field is level, American companies will win, American workers will win, and this country will win.

And one of the most important things Congress can do right now for companies like yours, to sell your ideas and your products and your services around the world, is to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank at the appropriate funding level.  This is something that we’re going to be focused on in the coming weeks and months.

During the financial crisis, trade finance dried up all around the world, and the Ex-Im Bank lived up to its mission — it stepped up to fill the void at record levels, and at no cost to taxpayers.  In fact, since 2005, Ex-Im has returned billions back to the U.S. Treasury.  So this is a smart thing to do for American businesses and American jobs.

It is an indispensable resource for our exporters, especially since many of your competitors are getting aggressive financing from their governments.  So I’m asking your help in making sure Congress does the right thing on this front.

I’ve also shown that I won’t stand by when our competitors don’t play by the rules.  A lot of you are expanding into growth markets, in emerging markets in Asia Pacific region.  But many of you, at least privately, have indicated to me that it gets harder and harder to do business there in terms of protecting your intellectual property, competing against indigenous innovation laws.  And so what we are doing is setting up a Trade Enforcement Unit to aggressively investigate and counter unfair trade practices all around the world, including in countries like China.

And if you’re a CEO that’s willing to bring jobs back to America, we want to do everything we can to help you succeed.  That means working together to reform our tax system so that we are rewarding companies that are investing here in the United States, making sure that we are able to cut our tax rate here but also broaden the base.  That is going to be a difficult task.  Anybody who has been involved in tax discussions in any legislature, but especially Congress, knows that it’s like pulling teeth.  But it is the right thing to do for us to become more competitive.

We’re also going to have to make significant investments in American energy.  I am very proud of the fact that American energy output is reaching record levels.  We are seeing the highest oil production in the last eight years.  At the same time, because so many of your companies have become more efficient, we’re actually seeing a reduction in imports — in fact, below 50 percent for the first time back in 2010, the first time in a decade.

But we’ve got more work to do, and it’s going to require an all-of-the-above strategy.  Obviously, folks are getting killed right now with gas prices.  And that has an impact on all of your companies, because consumers are more price sensitive when it comes to filling up their gas tank than just about anything else.  That means, yes, we’ve got to produce more oil and more natural gas, and we are game for that.  It also means, though, we’ve got to invest in the energy sources of the future.

We’ve got to invest in clean energy.  We’ve got to invest in efficiency.  We’ve got to make sure that the advanced batteries for electric cars, for example, are manufactured here in the United States.

And then the final thing we’re going to have to do is make sure that we have the skills and the training for our workers that are unmatched around the world.  There has been a lot of talk about education reform; we’ve actually implemented education reform.  And we’ve been able to get more than 40 states to raise standards, to start looking at best practices to figure out how we can train teachers more effectively; make sure that teachers who aren’t doing a good job are getting the kind of training they need or they’re not in the classroom; but also rewarding those folks who are stepping up to the plate and making sure our kids are prepared.

It also means matching up companies with our community colleges to train people for the jobs that actually exist.  And I know that companies like Siemens and UPS are doing a great job on this front.  We want to continue to push that forward.

Two last points:  One is, I will not give up on the need for us to rebuild America’s infrastructure.  When you think about your own businesses, if you know that you’ve got to make some capital investments and interest rates are historically low and it is a buyer’s market, you act, understanding that you’ve got to project five years out, 10 years out, 20 years out.  Well, that’s the situation our country faces.  I make no apologies for being chauvinistic when it comes to wanting to have the best airports, the best roads, the fastest broadband lines, the best wireless connections here in the United States of America.  And now is the time for us to do it, and we’re going to need BRT’s help.

That will be good for business.  It will allow you to move goods and services more quickly around the world.  It will put people back to work.  It will be a boost for our economy.  And it will increase our productivity and efficiency over the long term.

And the final thing I just want to make mention of is the issue of how we pay for all these things.  There obviously, over the last couple of years, has been an enormous debate about deficits and debt — and I’m sure we’ll have a chance to talk about that more during the Q&A.

The fact of the matter is that we have already made significant cuts when it comes to discretionary spending.  We are pruning this government to make sure the programs that don’t work we eliminate, so that we can invest in the programs that are necessary for our growth.  We’re going to have to make some continued reforms when it comes to, particularly, our health care system, because it is still too expensive and we’ve got an aging population that we’re going to have to take care of.

But we’re also going to have to deal with revenue.  And that’s something that the American people instinctually understand — that if we do this in a balanced way, we can solve our problems.  This is not a situation that is analogous to Greece.  We don’t have to cut by 25 percent and raise taxes by 25 percent.  That’s not the situation we find ourselves in.  These are relatively modest adjustments that can stabilize our economy, give you the kind of business confidence you need to invest, and make sure that America wins for the future.

I’m prepared to be a partner in that process.  But we’re going to have to have everybody pulling together.  The business community is going to have an important voice in how that moves forward.

So with that, I want to thank you again, and I look forward to the questions and the comments.  (Applause.)

END
7:19 P.M. EST

Full Text Obama Presidency March 7, 2012: President Barack Obama’s Speech on Energy Announces $1 Billion Fund to Promote Energy Efficient Vehicles

POLITICAL SPEECHES & DOCUMENTS

OBAMA PRESIDENCY & THE 112TH CONGRESS:

America Built to Last

President Obama announces a new $1 billion National Community Deployment Challenge to help boost the deployment of clean, advanced vehicles all over America.

President Obama discusses energy
Lawrence Jackson, 3/7/12

President Obama Announces $1 Billion Fund to Promote Energy Efficient Vehicles

Source: WH, 3-7-12

President Barack Obama tours a Daimler Trucks North America plant (March 7, 2012)

President Barack Obama tours Daimler Trucks North America Mt. Holly Truck Manufacturing Plant in Mount Holly, North Carolina, March 7, 2012. On this part of the tour the President saw the Chassis Airing Station where multi-colored nylon air lines are installed for the brake system. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Today, President Obama made a trip to a manufacturing plant for Daimler Trucks North America in Mount Holly, North Carolina. He was in the Tar Heel state to discuss more ways his administration is taking an all-of-the-above approach to American energy.

He talked about how his administration is pursuing new domestic energy sources, expanding oil and gas production, and reducing our overall reliance on oil through development of renewable energy.

But at a place where workers are busy assembling trucks that run on natural gas, the President also announced a new $1 billion National Community Deployment Challenge to help boost the deployment of clean, advanced vehicles all over America:

To cities and towns all across the country, what we’re going to say is, if you make a commitment to buy more advanced vehicles for your community — whether they run on electricity or biofuels or natural gas — we’ll help you cut through the red tape and build fueling stations nearby. And we’ll offer tax breaks to families that buy these cars, companies that buy alternative fuel trucks like the ones that are made right here at Mount Holly. So we’re going to give communities across the country more of an incentive to make the shift to more energy-efficient cars.

Have questions about President Obama’s Blueprint for American-Made Energy? Learn more here.

 POLITICAL QUOTES & SPEECHES

Remarks by the President on Energy — Mount Holly, NC

Daimler Truck Manufacturing Plant
Mount Holly, North Carolina

12:50 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, North Carolina!  (Applause.)  Hello, Mount Holly!  (Applause.)  Thank you, Juan, for that introduction.  I did not know he was a preacher.  (Laughter.)  He must be at least a deacon.  (Laughter.)  I was hearing — “Welll” — (Laughter.)  He was starting to get the spirit up here.  I’m going to take Juan on the road to introduce me everywhere.  (Laughter.)  Can I hear an “amen”?

AUDIENCE:  Amen!

THE PRESIDENT:  Amen.

I want to thank Mark Hernandez, Ricky McDowell — (applause) — and Martin Daum for hosting us and being such great tour guides.  Thank you so much, everybody.  Give them a big round of applause.  (Applause.)

We’ve got a few outstanding North Carolinians in the house.  You’ve got your Governor, Bev Perdue, is here.  (Applause.)  Your mayors, Bryan Hough and Anthony Foxx are here.  (Applause.)  Two outstanding Congressmen, Mel Watt and Heath Shuler are here.  (Applause.)  Thank you all for being here.

It is good to be in North Carolina.  Anthony Foxx pointed out that I decided to wear a tie that could be a Tar Heel — (applause) — but it’s got a little Duke color in there, too.

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE PRESIDENT:  I didn’t want to get in trouble with anybody, so I was hedging my bets.  (Laughter.)

I always tell people I am one of the best advertisers for North Carolina.  I love this state.  (Applause.)  Love this state.  Everybody here is so nice, so welcoming.  Even the folks who don’t vote for me, they’re nice to me.  They usually wave five fingers.  (Laughter.)  So it’s just a great pleasure.

And I just had a chance to see some of the folks who are doing the work here today.  I couldn’t be more impressed.  Some people have been here — like Juan — 32 years, 25 years.  Some folks have been here for four months, or six months, have just gotten hired.  But everybody had such pride in their work.

And the Freighterline trucks that you’re making here at this plant run on natural gas, and that makes them quieter, it makes them better for the environment, it makes them cheaper to fill up than they would be with diesel.  I hear you sold your 1,000th natural gas truck last November -– (applause) — the first company to reach that milestone.  And it was made right here in Mount Holly.  (Applause.)  And last year, this plant added more than 1,000 workers, hiring back a lot of folks who were laid off during the recession.  (Applause.)  That is something to be proud of.

Now, here at Daimler, you’re not just building trucks.  You’re building better trucks.

AUDIENCE:  That’s right.

THE PRESIDENT:  You’re building trucks that use less oil.  And you know that’s especially important right now because most of you have probably filled up your gas tank a time or two in the last week, and you’ve seen how quickly the price of gas is going up.  A lot of you may have to drive a distance to work.  Higher gas prices are like a tax straight out of your paycheck.
And for companies that operate a whole fleet of trucks, the higher costs can make a big difference in terms of the profitability of the company.

Now, here’s the thing, though — this is not the first time we’ve seen gas prices spike.  It’s been happening for years.  Every year, about this time, gas starts spiking up, and everybody starts wondering, how high is it going to go?  And every year, politicians start talking when gas prices go up.  They get out on the campaign trail — and you and I both know there are no quick fixes to this problem — but listening to them, you’d think there were.

As a country that has 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves, but uses 20 percent of the world’s oil — I’m going to repeat that — we’ve got 2 percent of the world oil reserves; we use 20 percent.  What that means is, as much as we’re doing to increase oil production, we’re not going to be able to just drill our way out of the problem of high gas prices.  Anybody who tells you otherwise either doesn’t know what they’re talking about or they aren’t telling you the truth.

Here is the truth.  If we are going to control our energy future, then we’ve got to have an all-of-the-above strategy.  We’ve got to develop every source of American energy — not just oil and gas, but wind power and solar power, nuclear power, biofuels.  We need to invest in the technology that will help us use less oil in our cars and our trucks, in our buildings, in our factories.  That’s the only solution to the challenge. Because as we start using less, that lowers the demand, prices come down.  It’s pretty straightforward.  That’s the only solution to this challenge.

And that’s the strategy that we’ve now been pursuing for the last three years.  And I’m proud to say we’ve made progress.
Since I took office, America’s dependence on foreign oil has gone down every single year.  In fact, in 2010, it went under 50 percent for the first time in 13 years.

You wouldn’t know it from listening to some of these folks out here — (laughter) — some of these folks — (laughter) — but a key part of our energy strategy has been to increase safe, responsible oil production here at home.  Under my administration, America is producing more oil today than any time in the last eight years.  Under my administration, we’ve quadrupled the number of operating oilrigs to a record high.  We’ve got more oilrigs operating now than we’ve ever seen.  We’ve opened up millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration.  We’ve approved more than 400 drilling permits that follow new safety standards after we had that mess down in the Gulf.

We’re approving dozens of new pipelines.  We just announced that we’ll do whatever we can to speed up construction of a pipeline in Oklahoma that’s going to relieve a bottleneck and get more oil to the Gulf — to the refineries down there — and that’s going to help create jobs, encourage more production.

So these are the facts on oil production.  If somebody tells you we’re not producing enough oil, they just don’t know the facts.

But how much oil we produce here at home, because we only have 2 percent and we use 20, that’s not going to set the price of gas worldwide, or here in the United States.  Oil is bought and sold on the world market.  And the biggest thing that’s causing the price of oil to rise right now is instability in the Middle East.  You guys have been hearing about what’s happening with Iran; there are other oil producers that are having problems.  And so people have gotten uncertain.  And when uncertainty increases, then sometimes you see speculation on Wall Street that drives up gas prices even more.

But here’s the thing.  Over the long term, the biggest reason oil prices will go up is there’s just growing demand in countries like China and India and Brazil.  There are a lot of people there.  In 2010 alone, China added nearly 10 million cars on its roads.  Think about that — 2010, 10 million new cars.  People in China, folks in India, folks in Brazil — they’re going to want cars, too, as their standard of living goes up, and that means more demand for oil, and that’s going to kick up the price of oil worldwide.  Those numbers are only going to get bigger over time.

So what does that mean for us?  It means we can’t just keep on relying on the old ways of doing business.  We can’t just rely on fossil fuels from the last century.  We’ve got to continually develop new sources of energy.

And that’s why we’ve made investments that have nearly doubled the use of clean, renewable energies in this country.  And thousands of Americans have jobs because of it.  It also means we’ve got to develop the resources that we have that are untapped, like natural gas.  We’re developing a near hundred-year supply of natural gas -– and that’s something that we expect could support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade.

And that’s why we’ve worked with the private sector to develop a high-tech car battery that costs half as much as other batteries and can go up to 300 miles on a single charge.  Think about that.  That will save you some money at the pump.  And that is why we are helping companies like this one right here and plants like this one right here to make more cars and trucks that use less oil.

When I ran for office, I went to Detroit and I gave a speech to automakers where I promised that I was going to raise fuel standards on our cars, so that they’d go further on a gallon of gas.  I said we should do the same thing on trucks.  I have to tell you, when I said it, I didn’t get a lot of applause in the room, because there was a time when automakers were resisting higher fuel standards — because change isn’t easy.  But you know what, after three decades of not doing anything, we got together with the oil companies, we got together with the unions, we got together with folks who usually do not see eye to eye, and we negotiated new fuel economy standards that are going to make sure our cars average nearly 55 miles per gallon by the middle of the next decade.  That’s nearly double what they get today — nearly double.  (Applause.)

Now, because of these new standards for cars and trucks, they’re going to — all going to be able to go further and use less fuel every year.  And that means pretty soon you’ll be able to fill up your car every two weeks instead of every week -– and, over time, that saves you, a typical family, about $8,000 a year.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We like that.

THE PRESIDENT:  You like that, don’t you?

AUDIENCE:  Yes!  (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT:  Eight thousand dollars — that’s no joke.  We can reduce our oil consumption by more than 12 billion barrels.  And thanks to the SuperTruck program that we’ve started with companies like this one, trucks will be able to save more than $15,000 in fuel costs every year.  Think about that, $15,000.

It looks like somebody might have fainted up here.  Have we got some of the EMS, somebody.  Don’t worry about — folks do this all the time in my meetings.  (Laughter.)  You’ve always got to eat before you stand for a long time.  That’s a little tip.  But they’ll be okay.  Just make sure that — give them a little room.  All right, everybody all right?  Okay.

So these trucks can save $15,000 every year.  I want people to think about what that means for businesses, what it means for consumers.  It is real progress.  And it’s happening because of American workers and American know-how.  It’s happening because of you.  It’s happening because of you.

We’re also making it easier for big companies — some of your customers, like UPS and FedEx — to make the shift to fuel-efficient cars and trucks.  We call it the National Clean Fleets Partnership.  And since we announced it last year, the number of companies that are taking part in it has tripled.  And that means more customers for your trucks.  (Applause.)  We’re creating more customers for your trucks.

And I am proud to say that the federal government is leading by example.  One thing the federal government has a lot of is cars and trucks.  We got a lot of cars and we got a lot of trucks.  And so what I did was I directed every department, every agency in the federal government, to make sure that by 2015, 100 percent of the vehicles we buy run on alternative fuels — 100 percent.  (Applause.)

So we’re one of the biggest customers in the world for cars and trucks and we want to set that bar high.  We want to set a standard that says by 2015, 100 percent of cars, alternative fuels.

So we’re making progress, Mount Holly.  But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how much natural gas, or flex-fuel or electric vehicles you have if there’s no place to charge them up or fill them up.  So that’s why I’m announcing today a program that will put our communities on the cutting edge of what clean energy can do.

To cities and towns all across the country, what we’re going to say is, if you make a commitment to buy more advanced vehicles for your community — whether they run on electricity or biofuels or natural gas — we’ll help you cut through the red tape and build fueling stations nearby.  (Applause.)  And we’ll offer tax breaks to families that buy these cars, companies that buy alternative fuel trucks like the ones that are made right here at Mount Holly.  (Applause.)  So we’re going to give communities across the country more of an incentive to make the shift to more energy-efficient cars.

In fact, when I was up in New Hampshire, in Nashua, they had already converted all their dump trucks — they were in a process because of this program — they were converting it to natural gas-driven trucks.

This is something that we did in education — we called it Race to the Top.  We said we’ll put in more money but we want you to reform.  We’re going to give you an incentive to do things in a different way.  And if we do the same thing with clean energy, we can save consumers money and we can make sure the economy is more secure.  So we’ve got to keep investing in American-made energy and we’ve got to keep investing in the vehicles that run on it.  That’s where our future is.

And in order to continue this progress, we’re going to have to make a choice.  We’ve got to decide where our priorities are as a country.  And that’s up to all of you.  And I’ll give you an example.  Right now, $4 billion of your tax dollars goes straight to the oil industry every year — $4 billion in subsidies that other companies don’t get.  Now, keep in mind, these are some of the same companies that are making record profits every time you fill up your gas tank.  We’re giving them extra billions of dollars on top of near-record profits that they’re already making.  Anybody think that’s a good idea?

AUDIENCE  No!

THE PRESIDENT:  Me, neither.  (Laughter.)  It doesn’t make any sense.  The American people have subsidized the oil industry long enough — they don’t need the subsidies.  It’s time to end that taxpayer giveaway to an industry that’s never been more profitable, invest in clean energy that’s never been more promising.  (Applause.)

So I called on Congress, eliminate these subsidies right away.  There’s no excuse to wait any longer.

AUDIENCE:  That’s right!

THE PRESIDENT:  And we should put every member of Congress on record:  They can stand up for the oil companies or they can stand up for the American people and this new energy future.  (Applause.)  We can place our bets on the fuel of the past, or we can place our bets on American know-how and American ingenuity and American workers like the ones here at Daimler.  (Applause.)  That’s the choice we face.  That’s what’s at stake right now.

So, in between shifts, get on the phone or email or send a letter or tweet — (laughter) — your member of Congress; ask them where they stand on this — because it will make a difference.  And you’ll know where I stand on this.  Let’s make sure our voices are heard.  The next time you hear some politician trotting out some 3-point plan for $2 gas — (laughter) — you let them know, we know better.

AUDIENCE:  Yes!

THE PRESIDENT:  Tell them we’re tired of hearing phony election-year promises that never come about.  What we need is a serious, sustained, all-of-the-above strategy for American-made energy, American-made efficiency, American innovation, American fuel-efficient trucks, American fuel-efficient cars.  We may not get there in one term —

AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT:  It’s going to take us a while to wean ourselves off of the old and grab the new.  But we’re going to meet this challenge because we are Americans.  Our destiny is not written for us; it is written by us.  We decide what that next chapter is going to be.

AUDIENCE:  Yes!

THE PRESIDENT:  And I’m confident, working with folks like you, the outstanding working people of Mount Holly, of this plant, of North Carolina, of states all across the country, we can pull together, and remind everybody around the world just why it is that the United States of America is the greatest nation on Earth.

Thank you very much, everybody.  God bless you.  God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)

END
1:11 P.M. EST

Campaign Headlines March 7, 2012: Mitt Romney wins 6 States in Super Tuesday GOP primaries but race continues Rick Santorum & Newt Gingrich vow to continue towards the nomination

CAMPAIGN 2012

CAMPAIGN BUZZ 2012

Romney wins 6 of 10 states on Super Tuesday but Santorum, Gingrich vow to fight on

Source: WaPo, 3-7-12

Video: The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza discusses what the presidential Republican race looks like after Mitt Romney’s win in Ohio on Super Tuesday, and whether the former Massachusetts governor has the nomination sewn up.

Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum each won Republican presidential primaries in multiple states on Tuesday night, with Romney narrowly edging his rival in the key state of Ohio after a battle that highlighted stubborn divisions in their party.

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich won the primary in his home state of Georgia, once again reviving his campaign. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas did surprisingly well in a losing effort in Virginia, indicating that the tumultuous four-way GOP race is likely to rumble on for weeks.

Ohio Primary Results

Results as of 1:25 PM ET  |   0:00

Candidate Votes % Won
Mitt Romney 455,993 37.9%
Rick Santorum 445,690 37.1%
Newt Gingrich 175,352 14.6%
Ron Paul 111,129 9.3%
Other 13,848 1.1%

Romney beat Santorum by just one percentage point in Ohio, a state that is vital to Republican hopes in November’s general election. Romney had trailed badly there in recent weeks, but rebounded as a result of heavy TV advertising and repeated visits to the state. He also won four states where he faced little opposition: Massachusetts, Virginia, Vermont and Idaho. In the Alaska caucuses, he won with 32.6 percent of the vote, compared to 29 percent for Santorum, 24 percent for Paul and 14.2 percent for Gingrich.

Each victory helped Romney add to his lead in delegates, the tally that will ultimately determine the GOP’s nominee. But the former Massachusetts governor, who has struggled to capture the passion of Republican voters, acknowledged that it could be a struggle for him to clinch the nomination before the Republicans’ nominating convention….READ MORE

Campaign Buzz March 6-7, 2012: Super Tuesday GOP / Republican Presidential Primaries Results Recap — 10 States at Stake — Mitt Romney Wins 6, Rick Santorum wins 3, Newt Gingrich wins Georgia

CAMPAIGN 2012

By Bonnie K. Goodman

Ms. Goodman is the Editor of History Musings. She has a BA in History & Art History & a Masters in Library and Information Studies from McGill University, and has done graduate work in history at Concordia University. Ms. Goodman has also contributed the overviews, and chronologies in History of American Presidential Elections, 1789-2008, 4th edition, edited by Gil Troy, Fred L. Israel, and Arthur Meier Schlesinger published by Facts on File, Inc. in late 2011.

CAMPAIGN BUZZ 2012


Mitt Romney greeted supporters in Massachusetts, one of the states he won on Tuesday night.

IN FOCUS: SUPER TUESDAY GOP / REPUBLICAN PRIMARY RESULTS

Super Tuesday represents the biggest day in the race for the Republican nomination so far, with 419 total delegates at stake in 10 states — more delegates than have been awarded in all of the previous nominating contests combined. – CBS News

 

  • Updates on Super Tuesday Races: Mitt Romney picked up early victories in the Republicans’ Super Tuesday primary contests, but Rick Santorum won in Tennessee and Oklahoma and Newt Gingrich took his home state of Georgia…. – NYT, 3-6-12Live blog: Romney wins six Super Tuesday states — Santorum wins three states: We’re live-blogging results from Super Tuesday, where voters in 10 states cast ballots in the GOP presidential race… – USA Today, 3-6-12

    Breaking News: Romney wins Alaska caucuses, AP reports: Mitt Romney won the Alaska Republican presidential caucuses on Tuesday, his sixth victory on Super Tuesday, the Associated Press reported. Ron Paul came in second.
    Earlier, Romney won a narrow victory in Ohio, beating Rick Santorum. Romney also added Massachusetts, Vermont, Virginia and Idaho to his column on the 10-contest night…. – WaPo, 3-6-12

  • Romney takes 6 Super Tuesday states, Santorum nets 3: CBS News projects that Mitt Romney will win Ohio’s key primary contest Tuesday, after a neck-and-neck race with rival Rick Santorum to eke out a victory in the pivotal battleground state.
    With 96 percent reporting in Ohio, Romney has 38 percent support to Santorum’s 37 percent. Newt Gingrich is in third place with 15 percent and Ron Paul follows with 9 percent.
    Mitt Romney has also won primaries in Virginia, Massachusetts and Vermont, as well as the Idaho caucuses. Rick Santorum won primaries in Tennessee and Oklahoma, and in the North Dakota caucuses. In Georgia, Gingrich clinched his first primary victory since South Carolina’s January 21 primary contest.
    Ron Paul did not win any contests on Tuesday, but he did finish second in four states: Vermont, Idaho, North Dakota and Virginia.
    The Associated Press reports that Romney also won Alaska’s Super Tuesday caucuses. According to the AP’s tally, Santorum came in a close second, followed by Ron Paul and then Newt Gingrich. The state’s 24 delegates are allocated proportionally…. – CBS News, 3-7-12Mitt Romney wins Ohio primary: Mitt Romney won Super Tuesday’s grand prize, the Ohio presidential primary, beating out Rick Santorum in a hard-fought battle for the Rust Belt state’s 66 delegates.
    The victory was Romney’s fifth of the night, and promised to give him the lion’s share of delegates overall after 10 states went to the polls Tuesday. The win should cement his status as the man to beat in the Republican presidential contest.
    Santorum’s victories of the night were Oklahoma, North Dakota and Tennessee; Newt Gingrich won his home state of Georgia. Results in the final state that voted on Super Tuesday, Alaska, are due later this morning…. – WaPo, 3-6-12
  • AP, Networks Call Ohio for Romney: Mitt Romney appears to have won the Ohio primary by a razor-thin margin, according to the Associated Press and television networks, barely staving off an embarrassing loss at the hands of his chief rival, Rick Santorum.
    After trailing for much of the night, Mr. Romney moved into the lead in Ohio with a surge of support from the big cities of Cincinnati and Cleveland and their suburbs.
    As night turned to early morning, Mr. Romney extended his lead to more than 12,000 votes, leading the AP to finally call the race at about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday morning…. – NYT, 3-7-12
  • Super Tuesday: Romney starts fast, Santorum hangs tough: Mitt Romney chalked up Super Tuesday wins in Virginia, Vermont and Massachusetts, seeking to fasten his grip on the GOP nomination by dominating the single biggest day of balloting in the hard-fought … – LAT, 3-6-12Super Tuesday: Washington Post covers Republican primary results: … tweeters, columnists and bloggers to help readers make sense of Super Tuesday – the biggest single day in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. More than a half dozen reporters have spread out across the key primary and caucus … – WaPo, 3-6-12
  • Ohio primary results: Too close to call: Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney are headed toward an extremely close finish in the race for the ultimate Super Tuesday battleground, Ohio, after the two candidates divided up Republican primary votes and traded victories in states across the nation…. – WaPo, 3-6-12Mitt Romney takes Idaho, his fourth win of night: Mitt Romney has won the Idaho caucuses, his fourth victory of the night, AP reports.
    Romney was considered the clear favorite, thanks to the state’s heavy Mormon population as well as to the goodwill he earned across the Rocky Mountain region from his work running the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
    The 32 delegates in the state are likely to be awarded winner-takes-all.
    As of 11:45, the only two states that hadn’t picked a winner were Alaska, which didn’t expect results until early morning, and Ohio, which remained locked in a fierce battle between Romney and Rick Santorum. WaPo, 3-6-12

    Santorum claims third win in North Dakota: Rick Santorum has earned his third victory of the night in the North Dakota caucuses, according to the AP.
    Ron Paul had hoped to post his first win in the Republican presidential race with a strong grass-roots effort in the state, but was trailing Santorum in early returns, with Mitt Romney in third place.
    No winner has been declared in Idaho, Alaska or the battleground state of Ohio, where Santorum and Romney were locked in a battle that was still too close to call…. – WaPo, 3-6-12

    Rick Santorum wins GOP primary in Oklahoma: Rick Santorum has won the Republican primary in Oklahoma, according to exit polls, his second victory of the night after Tennessee.
    Oklahoma is a key win over well-funded rival Mitt Romney, signaling that the GOP race is likely to extend long beyond this Super Tuesday. WaPo, 3-6-12

    Rick Santorum wins GOP primary in Tennessee: Rick Santorum has won the Tennessee Republican primary, according to the AP, his first victory of the night.
    The race in this Super Tuesday’s most important battleground state — Ohio — remains too close to call…. – WaPo, 3-6-12

    Mitt Romney wins Massachusetts GOP primary: Mitt Romney has won the Republican primary in Massachusetts, his third victory of this Super Tuesday in the state where he served as governor.
    Romney’s win in Massachusetts, where he has lived for 40 years, followed earlier victories in Virginia and Vermont.
    The only other candidate to win a state so far is former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who won his own home state of Georgia. WaPo, 3-6-12

    Mitt Romney wins GOP primary in Vermont: Mitt Romney has won the Republican primary in Vermont, according to the AP.
    Vermont is the second win of the night for the former Massachusetts governor after he claimed victory in Virginia…. – WaPo, 3-6-12

    Mitt Romney wins GOP primary in Virginia: Mitt Romney has won the Republican primary in Virginia, according to the AP.
    Romney and Texas Rep. Ron Paul were the only candidates on the ballot…. – WaPo, 3-6-12

    Exit polls: Gingrich wins home state of Georgia: Newt Gingrich has won the Georgia primary, taking his home state and winning his second state in the 2012 presidential campaign, according to exit polls.
    Gingrich’s win ends a losing streak that lasted a month and a half. His last and only win came in South Carolina’s primary on Jan. 21…. – WaPo, 3-6-12

  • Romney Appears the Ohio Winner; Santorum Strong: Mitt Romney appeared to pull off a narrow victory in Ohio on Super Tuesday but lost several other states to Rick Santorum, a split verdict that overshadowed Mr. Romney’s claim of collecting the most delegates and all but ensured another round of … – NYT, 3-7-12
  • Romney takes 5 of 10 Super Tuesday contests: Mitt Romney won five of 10 Super Tuesday contests including crucial Ohio, advancing his claim on the Republican presidential nomination without ending questions about the breadth of his appeal within the party…. – USA Today, 3-7-12
  • Super Tuesday: Romney edges Santorum in key Ohio battle: Mitt Romney has won a narrow victory over Rick Santorum in the marquee Super Tuesday battle of Ohio, according to a projection by the Associated Press. Ohio’s primary proved to be the tightest battle of the 2012 Republican … – LAT, 3-7-12
  • Santorum and Romney Split Victories: Mitt Romney extended his lead in delegates on Super Tuesday but voters failed to deliver a decisive victory that could have brought a swift end to the Republican presidential contest…. – WSJ, 3-6-12
  • Super Tuesday impossibly close for Romney, Santorum: Both Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum have three states as they wait for results from Ohio to come in. With 91 percent of the Ohio votes tallied, Romney only has a 5000 vote lead out of the 1.1 million votes that have been counted…. – CS Monitor, 3-6-12
  • Romney adds to delegate lead with Super Tuesday wins; Gingrich, Santorum slip: Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney padded his lead in the race for delegates Tuesday by winning Republican presidential primaries in Virginia, Massachusetts and Vermont. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum added delegates by winning … – WaPo, 3-6-12
  • GOP race takes toll on front-runner Romney: Super Tuesday confirmed anew that Mitt Romney remains the favorite to win the Republican presidential nomination, but his slow, unsteady march is coming at a steep price. As he advances toward victory in the primaries, he is losing ground in the … – WaPo, 3-6-12
  • Romney gains in GOP race, but Ohio still too close: Mitt Romney won five of 10 Super Tuesday contests including crucial Ohio, advancing his claim on the Republican presidential nomination without ending questions about the breadth of his appeal within the party…. – USA Today, 3-6-12
  • Romney vows to clinch the nomination: Though there was no winner yet in the crucial state of Ohio, Mitt Romney took the stage in Boston on Tuesday night to claim his victories, including his home state of Massachusetts. “There are three states now tonight under our belt and … – LAT, 3-6-12
  • Romney and Santorum Locked in Ohio Battle With Much at Stake: Once again Ohio lived up to its reputation as a state of deeply divided political passions. Just a week ago, Rick Santorum had a comfortable lead in the polls here, but a victory by Mitt Romney in Michigan last week seemed to give … – NYT, 3-6-12
  • Santorum: We’re winning across the nation: With at least two Super Tuesday victories under his belt, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum boasted of his campaign’s wide geographical appeal while taking sharp aim at his main GOP rival Mitt Romney.
    “We have won in the West, the Midwest and the South, and we’re ready to win across this country,” Santorum said from Steubenville, Ohio.
    In Tennessee, with 1,733 of 2,141 precincts reporting, Santorum carried 37 percent of the vote, while Romney had 28 percent and Newt Gingrich took 24 percent.
    And with 1,778 of 1,961 precincts reporting in Oklahoma, Santorum is leading with 34 percent while Romney takes 28 percent and Gingrich 27 percent. Later in the evening, Santorum was declared the winner in the North Dakota caucuses…. – CBS News, 3-6-12
  • Newt Gingrich wins Georgia, but will it help?: A resurgent Newt Gingrich, fresh off a resounding win in his home state, touted “the power of large solutions and big ideas” during a victory speech at his primary night headquarters…. – USA Today, 3-6-12
  • Super Tuesday: Newt Gingrich says he’s a survivor: Newt Gingrich, racking up a Super Tuesday win in the state where he launched his extraordinary political rise, predicted he would win the GOP nomination despite opposition from the nation’s elites because “people power” will trump … – LAT, 3-6-12

Campaign Buzz March 7, 2012: Super Tuesday GOP / Republican Presidential Primaries Results — Mitt Romney Wins Alaska Caucuses — 6 Super Tuesday State Wins

CAMPAIGN 2012

CAMPAIGN BUZZ 2012

IN FOCUS: SUPER TUESDAY RESULTS — MITT ROMNEY WINS ALASKA CAUCUSES — 6 SUPER TUESDAY STATE WINS

  • Updates on Super Tuesday Races: Mitt Romney picked up early victories in the Republicans’ Super Tuesday primary contests, but Rick Santorum won in Tennessee and Oklahoma and Newt Gingrich took his home state of Georgia…. – NYT, 3-6-12
  • Live blog: Romney wins four Super Tuesday states — Santorum wins three states: We’re live-blogging results from Super Tuesday, where voters in 10 states cast ballots in the GOP presidential race… – USA Today, 3-6-12 Breaking News: Romney wins Alaska caucuses, AP reports: Mitt Romney won the Alaska Republican presidential caucuses on Tuesday, his sixth victory on Super Tuesday, the Associated Press reported. Ron Paul came in second.
    Earlier, Romney won a narrow victory in Ohio, beating Rick Santorum. Romney also added Massachusetts, Vermont, Virginia and Idaho to his column on the 10-contest night…. – WaPo, 3-6-12

Campaign Buzz March 7, 2012: Super Tuesday GOP / Republican Presidential Primaries Results — Mitt Romney Wins Coveted Ohio Primary after Close Race with Rick Santorum

CAMPAIGN 2012

By Bonnie K. Goodman

Ms. Goodman is the Editor of History Musings. She has a BA in History & Art History & a Masters in Library and Information Studies from McGill University, and has done graduate work in history at Concordia University. Ms. Goodman has also contributed the overviews, and chronologies in History of American Presidential Elections, 1789-2008, 4th edition, edited by Gil Troy, Fred L. Israel, and Arthur Meier Schlesinger published by Facts on File, Inc. in late 2011.

CAMPAIGN BUZZ 2012

IN FOCUS: SUPER TUESDAY RESULTS — MITT ROMNEY WINS COVETED OHIO PRIMARY AFTER CLOSE RACE WITH RICK SANTORUM

Super Tuesday results by state: Alaska | Georgia | Idaho | Massachusetts | North Dakota | Ohio | Oklahoma | Tennessee | Vermont | Virginia

  • Updates on Super Tuesday Races: Mitt Romney picked up early victories in the Republicans’ Super Tuesday primary contests, but Rick Santorum won in Tennessee and Oklahoma and Newt Gingrich took his home state of Georgia…. – NYT, 3-6-12Live blog: Romney wins four Super Tuesday states — Santorum wins three states: We’re live-blogging results from Super Tuesday, where voters in 10 states cast ballots in the GOP presidential race… – USA Today, 3-6-12 
  • Mitt Romney wins Ohio primary: Mitt Romney won Super Tuesday’s grand prize, the Ohio presidential primary, beating out Rick Santorum in a hard-fought battle for the Rust Belt state’s 66 delegates.
    The victory was Romney’s fifth of the night, and promised to give him the lion’s share of delegates overall after 10 states went to the polls Tuesday. The win should cement his status as the man to beat in the Republican presidential contest.
    Santorum’s victories of the night were Oklahoma, North Dakota and Tennessee; Newt Gingrich won his home state of Georgia. Results in the final state that voted on Super Tuesday, Alaska, are due later this morning…. – WaPo, 3-6-12
  • AP, Networks Call Ohio for Romney: Mitt Romney appears to have won the Ohio primary by a razor-thin margin, according to the Associated Press and television networks, barely staving off an embarrassing loss at the hands of his chief rival, Rick Santorum.
    After trailing for much of the night, Mr. Romney moved into the lead in Ohio with a surge of support from the big cities of Cincinnati and Cleveland and their suburbs.
    As night turned to early morning, Mr. Romney extended his lead to more than 12,000 votes, leading the AP to finally call the race at about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday morning…. – NYT, 3-7-12