Video of Obama Meeting With Calderon

Obama met with Mexico's Calderon Monday. Obama discusses what they talked about:

Obama Praises Calderon in Meeting Today

President-elect Barack Obama said President Felipe Calderon of Mexico is “moving his country in a direction that is unprecedented” on energy policy and said the U.S. relationship with its southern neighbor is “critical” to the economy.
The “friendship between the U.S. and Mexico has been strong,” Obama told reporters today after meeting with Calderon at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington. “I believe it can be even stronger.”
Calderon said he looks forward to stronger ties with the U.S.
“The more secure Mexico is, the more secure the U.S. will be,” he said.

They didn't talk of NAFTA, the trade agreement that Obama suggested he might want to restructure - but:

Three Obama advisers, speaking on condition of anonymity last month, said he will order a study on Nafta and then seek longer-term negotiations with Mexico and Canada on how to change it.
Mexico is the third-largest U.S. trading partner, exchanging about $347 billion in goods last year. Bloomberg

O Canada

Obama is heading to Canada, his first many international trips. Likely topics: trade, climate change and Afghanistan.

CTV: U.S. president-elect Barack Obama will visit Canada for his first foreign visit after his inauguration later this month.

"We're honoured and thrilled he has chosen Canada," Peter Kent, Canada's minister of state for foreign affairs of the Americas, said.

The planned trip will continue a longstanding tradition of new American presidents choosing Canada for their first official state visit.

The tradition was broken by President George Bush after his election when he visited Mexico instead.

The fact that Obama has revived the tradition of earlier presidents bodes well for Canada, CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife said.

"This has got to please the government and please Canadians, in general," he told Newsnet.

This "clearly shows that Barack Obama understands that Canada is an important player," he said.

Details of the trip are still emerging, but Fife said Canada and the U.S. have a variety of bilateral issues to discuss.

"There was a concern that with the American economy in such dire straits -- and the fact that there are so many global problems facing the Americans -- that he (would) not come to Canada right away," Fife said.

"(But) clearly, if the economy is going to be a major issue for (Canadian and U.S. leaders) they will probably want to work as closely as possible."

Obama could ask Canada to keep troops in Afghanistan:

Canada.com: The meeting between Harper and Obama is certain to focus heavily on several key topics - the war in Afghanistan, climate change and the impact the global recession is having on the North American auto industry and Canada-U.S. bilateral trade.
Since the U.S. presidential election, Obama has made clear his immediate foreign policy priority is to beef up the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan.
It's expected between 20,000 to 30,000 additional U.S. troops will be deployed to Afghanistan over the next year.
During the presidential campaign, Obama said he would not ask America's NATO allies to send more troops to Afghanistan until the U.S. first increased the size of its force.
But since the election, U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates - who will remain in that post under Obama - hinted the new administration would like to see Canada keep troops in Afghanistan past the current 2011 withdrawal deadline.
"The longer we can have Canadian soldiers as our partners, the better it is," Gates said during a trip to Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan last November.
Ottawa insists the Afghanistan deadline is firm.
Canadian officials say one of Ottawa's first priorities in bilateral relations with Obama is to forge close co-operation on climate change initiatives, part of a broader plan to ward off any potential threat to Canada's energy exports to the U.S.

Strained relationship? Remember Nafta-gate?

There's been concern in Ottawa, however, over the new U.S. administration's policy toward oil from Alberta - an Obama aide referred during the presidential campaign to opposing "dirty oil" from Canada.
The Conservative government has signalled a potential Canada-U.S. climate-change pact would protect oilsands exports and include a carbon emissions trading system.
The Obama-Harper meeting, more than anything, will be a precious opportunity to put relations between the two men on solid footing after a strained beginning.
Obama's campaign was furious last March over the leak of a confidential Canadian diplomatic memo which claimed the Democratic candidate's tough primary campaign talk about unilaterally withdrawing from the North American Free Trade Agreement was little more than political rhetoric.

Obama To Go to Mexico in September

That's according to an interview on NPR today.
John McCain's reversal on immigration reform hasn't gone unnoticed in Mexico. However, they consider McCain a friend to Mexico, according to the interview.
Mexico is also concerned about Obama's stance on NAFTA, so his visit will be interesting.
The war on drugs is another big concern for Mexico.

Obama on NAFTA and Mexico

at obama's second town hall in north carolina a resident asked what was the link between NAFTA and mexico. here is what obama said (paraphrased):
when the u.s. passed nafta no one thought that our agriculture system would flood mexico with cheap food. their farmers were destroyed. huge numbers of mexican farmers were displaced. they came here. you can't blame them. i understand the anger about immigration. but employers are purposely hiring undocumented workers to avoid paying living wages to american workers.
these folks from mexico are just trying to survive and eat. we're not going to send everyone back. in my hometown, we have polish immigrants and irish immigrants who aren't necessarily legal. the money we spend rounding up people, locking them up and sending them out is not going to happen.
to remedy the problem: have undocumented workers register to work, pay a fine, learn english, pay back taxes, go to the back of the line for legal residency, give them a pathway to legal status. we've got to work with mexico to so that they're doing right by their workers. a guy name slim from mexico is the second richest man in the world. the income inequality is greater there than it is here. a lot of them would rather live there if there were living wages.

Obama Talks Business

obama appeared on "the closing bell" with business journalist maria bartiromo talking about small business, the economy and nafta and of course, one question on the famous pastor.

he made his position clear on nafta. he believes in free trade. he just wants to establish certain protections. i had been really confused on where he stood because of all the spin.

he's got a really good grasp of business and the economy. this man is widely underestimated, in my opinion, because he has the big picture understanding of how everything is interconnected.
the whole transcript is here.

BARTIROMO: Why potentially impact the one area of the economy that's actually doing very well, exports and trading, and opening up markets for American companies?

Sen. OBAMA: Well, look, I believe in trade and I've said it repeatedly. And, you know, I have voted for trade agreements. I voted for the Peru Trade Agreement, much to the chagrin or some people who objected about it. I voted for the Oman trade deal. It is true that I voted against CAFTA and I voted--and I am concerned about NAFTA because they don't have the environmental and labor protections written into this legislation that ensure some basic standards, make sure that child labor laws aren't being circumvented, making sure that you don't have forced labor. I think it is important in our dealings with China to make sure that we are tougher bargainers. My problem with our trade agreements right now is not that I feel we can't compete in the global economy. I think we've got the best workers on earth. I think the problem is is that we're not very good bargainers. We--our trade mentality dates back to the '60s and the early '70s when we were so dominant in the world economy that basically if people sent their goods into this country without reciprocity, it wasn't really going to have a dent on our economy. Well, the fact is China, Brazil, Korea, you know, they're not your dad's China, Brazil or Korea. They are now major competitors of ours. We should want real trade with them, but it's got to be on a reciprocal basis. And we should put some pressure on them to improve how they treat workers, to deal with issues of environmental standards, to deal with safety standards. And part of the problem that we've got right now in our trade agreements is that US companies may move over there, get out from under basic safety standards that are important to US consumers, then the goods get shipped back into the United States and suddenly we've got toys with lead paint on them.

That is not good for US consumers and I don't think it's good for business long term. But, you know, one notion I want to dispel is the notion that somehow I'm opposed to free trade. I think it is important for us to have a trade regime. And I think it's good that China and India are growing. Ultimately they may be markets of ours and, you know what, there's just a human element to wanting to see billions of people scratch their way out of poverty. That is in our long-term interest.

BARTIROMO: What happens if the Mexicans and Canadians say, `We don't want to renegotiate.' Do we go back to the policy in place before NAFTA?

Sen. OBAMA: Well, I think that, you know, let me have those conversations with the president and the prime minister and see if we can negotiate something that makes sense for all sides. I mean, keep in mind, Mexico has some of these similar problems, you know, some of the promises that were made about the improvements in the standard of living for Mexico. Workers have not been borne out as a consequence of NAFTA. Part of the problem we're having with immigration right now has to do with a much more efficient US agricultural and agrobusiness operations going into Mexico and decimating Mexican farmers. They have been displaced first to Mexico City and other urban areas, and increasingly they come into the United States.

And so, again, the principle that I have in general when it comes to economic policies: a belief in free markets, a belief in opportunity, a belief in trade, but wanting to make sure that in all these areas that somebody's thinking about the little guy; that somebody is making sure that the economy is working for everybody and not just some people. And that, I think, is a basic difference between myself and George Bush and increasingly, it appears, John McCain, as well.

BARTIROMO: But you want to put pressure on the companies and the people that are actually creating jobs, during a recession.

Sen. OBAMA: Well, you know, I think part of my argument is part of the reason we're in a recession is because we have an unbalanced economy. Look, you know, Henry Ford was the first one to say, `If I don't pay my workers enough to buy my cars, my business isn't going to be around for a long time.' Part of the genius of America has always been that we have a shared prosperity and a broad-based middle class, and that we make investments in roads and bridges and other infrastructure that allows the market to work efficiently. And we've got a regulatory system so that investors can trust the market and don't feel like insiders are going to be taking advantage of them. That's what makes the market run. And when we lose that balance, what ends up happening is in the short term you've got some people who make out like bandits. And the only reason that we haven't seen some of these problems in the US economy previously is because consumers had been driving this, even though their wages and incomes haven't been going up, because they've been able to use their credit cards and home equity lines as an ATM. That's gone away. And so the question now is who's going to drive the economy, if not consumers? And the only way that we can make sure that consumers are able to drive that economy is if in fact they've got some money in their pockets. And right now they don't, because they are getting squeezed hard.

on tax rate:

BARTIROMO: So what about the top marginal rate for ordinary income? Who ought to pay more and who should pay less?

Sen. OBAMA: Well, you know, what I've said is that we should go back to probably a top marginal rate of 39 percent what it was before the Bush tax cuts. So I would roll back those Bush tax cuts, I would not increase taxes for middle class Americans and in fact I want to provide a tax cut for people who are making $75,000 a year or less. For those folks, I want an offset on the payroll tax that would be worth as much as $1,000 for a family. Senior citizens who are bringing in less than $50,000 a year in income, I don't want them to have to pay income tax on their Social Security. And as part of my overall approach to housing, I actually want to provide an additional 10 percent mortgage deduction, a credit, mortgage interest credit, for those who currently don't itemize. Because if you live in a house that's pretty expensive, like I do, and I itemize, I get a pretty big break from Uncle Sam. If you own a $100,000 house and you're making 65, $75,000 a year, you're not getting that same deduction. I think that they deserve a break as well. That will actually help relieve some of the pressure on homeowners.

i'm not a wide-eyed liberal

BARTIROMO: Why raise taxes at all in an economic slowdown? Isn't that going to put a further strain on people?

Sen. OBAMA: Well, look, there's no doubt that anything I do is going to be premised on what the economic situation is when I take office. I'm going to be sworn in in January, we don't know what the economy's going to look like at that point. And, you know, the thing you can--you can be assured of is that I'm not going to making these decisions based on ideology. I'm not a dogmatist. I know that some, you know, my opponents to the right would like to paint me as this wooly-eyed, you know, liberal or wild-eyed...

BARTIROMO: You're not a liberal?

Sen. OBAMA: The--but my attitude is that I believe in the market, I believe in entrepreneurship, I believe in opportunity, I believe in capitalism and I want to do what works. But what I want to make sure of is it works for all America and not just a small sliver of America. And if it turns out--if somebody can make a persuasive argument to me that, you know what, what we need at this juncture, at this particular point in time is a different set of policies than some of the ones that I've proposed, I'm always going to listen to people. Because I think one of the problems, in fact, with the Bush administration has been its rigidness when it comes to economic policy. I mean, you ask them any question, they'll say tax cuts. It doesn't matter what the problem is, if it's, you know, our trade deficit: tax cuts. If it's, you know, slowdown in manufacturing: tax cuts. You know, at a certain point, you know, if you've only got one arrow in the quiver, then you're going to have problems.

there's plenty of government waste to cut

BARTIROMO: Let's talk about spending. You've got a $400-plus billion deficit. How do you plan to pay for the new health, education, you mentioned green technology, social programs...

Sen. OBAMA: Right.

BARTIROMO: ...in the middle of a recession?

Sen. OBAMA: Well, I tell you what...

BARTIROMO: Away from tax cuts?

Sen. OBAMA: Right. The two points I would make. Number one, as I said, I'm going to have to take a look at what revenues are coming in when I take office because, you know, I'm not ideological and I think it is very important for us to stick to a principle of pay as you go. If I'm going to cut taxes for the middle class, as I've proposed, that means that I've got to either end some tax breaks elsewhere or cut spending. And if I want to increase spending, then I've got to find offsetting revenues or cut programs that aren't working. That's a principle that I believe in strongly and I will run on and implement when I'm president.

What's interesting, though, is The Wall Street Journal, I think--actually a columnist looked, in The Wall Street Journal, at does Obama's policies in fact add up? Do the numbers add up? And the conclusion was, yes. Because not only have I called for an end to the war in Iraq, which would not provide all the money that's being spent there--some of that's going to have to go to resetting our military, dealing with veterans and so forth--but there will be some money that we can use for other things.

Number two is the rollback of the Bush tax cuts on the top 1 and 2 percent. That will in fact create additional revenue. And the third thing is the cap and trade system that I've proposed to deal with climate change and to increase energy independence. That potentially generates billions of dollars that we can reinvest in solar, wind, biodiesel, creating jobs here in America that can't be exported. And so when you tally it all up, all my proposals pay for themselves.

Now, as I said before, it could be that revenues are so short in a year's time that we've got to make some assessments. And I am not going to initiate programs that can't be paid for.

BARTIROMO: So name three spending programs you would cut to balance the budget.

Sen. OBAMA: Oh, you know, there are probably some weapons programs that I think are not serving our national security interests that need to be examined, and we've got to do an audit there. There are reforms that need to be made in our purchasing processes, where--simple things, you know. If we actually made sure that every government employee had a single, you know, debit card or credit card, then negotiated with large purchasers to get the discounts that any other large purchaser would get, we could lop off 10 percent of some of our major purchases by the federal government. Our travel allowances and expenses are a major problem. We could save several billion dollars just in how we set up government travel. So there are a whole bunch of areas where we can make some significant savings.

I will tell you, though, that historically when--you know, the fact is that the federal government primarily spends its money on Social Security, on Medicare and Medicaid, and on defense. And that's the bulk of our spending.

The biggest thing we've got to do is get control of our health care spending, and that's why the health care plan that I've proposed, although costing some money in the front end--we've got to help rural hospitals invest in, you know, health IT. We've got to make sure that we are bringing people into coverage so that they're not going to the emergency room. Short term, that will cost us some money. Long term, the more we emphasize prevention, the less likely we are to pay huge bills down the road. That's the only way we're going to get control of health care inflation. And if you talk to any executive, as well as any actuary who's looking at government spending, our biggest crisis looming in the horizon has to do with our health care costs. And the only way to really solve it long term is to make sure that we are making for a healthier America and improving the quality of care so that we get more bang for our health care dollar.

Canada Admits NAFTA Meddling; Apologizes

update march 7: canada prime minister stephen harper to figure out who did the meddling: But in increasingly tough tones this week, Harper has said someone will pay a price for the leak of sensitive diplomatic discussions, adding yesterday it was "extremely unfair" to Obama's campaign.

march 6: more
it seems NAFTA has been misinterpreted by mostly everyone. in the case of canada's government, it was intentional.

the canadian government (which has been characterized as right wing) tried to sway the vote here in the u.s. by lying.

canadian officials said that the obama camp was simply posturing on NAFTA to get votes. when you think about it, it's a pretty underhanded trick and they picked a great time to do it-- the eve of the big vote.

here is a recap and canada's admission of "misrepresenting" obama's adviser. canada has apologized to the obama camp.

i think what both candidates are trying to say on NAFTA is that there should also be incentives to inspire u.s. companies to keep their business and jobs local. i don't think either candidate is altogether opposing free trade.

some say NAFTA hasn't hurt ohio or other states at all.

we could all use some more learning on this issue because i haven't read one story that casts it in a proper light, that is without some sort of political agenda.

How Much Does Experience Matter?

obama has experience. just not a lot of washington experience.
but how much does experience matter anway? after all, roosevelt was called inexperienced. frankly, i'm not voting for obama based on nafta or healthcare. i'm not sure i agree with him completely on nafta and healthcare will be tough to make happen.
what obama has is the ability to lead, not to be underestimated (as it has been during this campaign).
i agree with his philosophy that change can only happen from the bottom up. if we want to cut back on oil consumption, it has to be the average american who stops to think before they purchase a gas guzzler or who decides to ride a bike more often. sure, government can play a role, demand automakers to increase fuel efficiency, for example. but change happens at the grassroots level and obama has proven masterful at grassroots organization.
he's also offering something that no president in recent history has offered: access. we will have access to an obama administration.
we'll be better informed of what's going on and what we can do.
his campaign has also been positive, not for the cynical, for sure. it has confounded the people who think politics can never be anything other than sleazy.
i also believe him. no, i don't think he's going to make all my dreams come true but he's going to try and do things differently and see if he can get better results.

here's a story on this topic:

There's something egglike about the concept of experience as a qualification for the highest office. At first blush, the idea appears to be something you can get your hands around. Presidential experience means a familiarity with the levers and dials of government, knowing how to cajole the Congress, understanding when to rely on the Joint Chiefs of Staff and when to call on the National Security Council — that sort of thing. But bear down even slightly, and the notion of experience is liable to crack and run all over. If knowing the system is so useful, then second-term presidencies should be more successful than first-term. Instead, many Presidents lose effectiveness as they go along. Lyndon Johnson, for example: his experience as a master legislator no doubt helped as he steered his historic civil rights and welfare agenda to passage. By the end of two years as President, however, "he was out of gas," recalls Johnson aide Harry McPherson. The longer Johnson was in the Oval Office, the more feckless his presidency became.

Was it Franklin Roosevelt's experience as governor of New York that gave him the power to inspire in some of the nation's darkest hours? Or was that gift a distillate of his dauntless battle with polio? To a keen student of human nature, all of life offers lessons in how to lead, inspire and endure. Lincoln's ability to apply useful lessons from his motley experiences was among his most striking traits. When Ulysses Grant explained his grand strategy to defeat Lee by attacking on multiple fronts, Lincoln immediately thought of a lesson in joint operations learned years earlier on the farm. "Those not skinning can hold a leg," he said approvingly. For other temperaments, no amount of schooling, no matter how specific, will do. Richard Nixon served as a Congressman, Senator and Vice President; he watched from the front row as Eisenhower assembled one of the best-organized administrations in history. When Nixon's turn came, though, his core character — insecure, insincere, conspiratorial — led him to create a White House doomed by its own dysfunction. time

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Obama's Economic Remarks in Ohio

from realclearpolitics: LORAIN, OH - Our economy has been struggling for some time now. And as I've traveled across Ohio, I've seen the face of this economy - a mother who told me she can't afford health care for her sick child; a father who's worried he won't be able to send his children to college; and seniors who've seen their pensions disappear because the companies they gave their lives to went bankrupt.

I don't have to tell you about this. Folks around here have been directly impacted by the changes in our economy - whether it was the loss of steel jobs over the past few decades, or the closing of the Ford plant that was here for so long. And folks in this area are still worried about whether they're going to lose their jobs and how they're going to make ends meet if that happens.

Now, if we're honest with ourselves, we'll acknowledge that we can't stop globalization in its tracks and that some of these jobs aren't coming back. But what I refuse to accept is that we have to stand idly by while workers watch their jobs get shipped overseas. We need a president who's working as hard for you as you're working for your families. And that's the kind of President I intend to be.

I've proposed a job-creation agenda that starts with making sure trade works for American workers. We can't keep passing unfair trade deals like NAFTA that put special interests over workers' interests.more RealClearPolitics