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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2010 > February > 16 > Entry
Obama-Brown exchange
President Barack Obama’s high-profile meeting with House Republicans wasn’t the only recent event like that. He had one with Senate Democrats. Here’s one exhange:
SENATOR REID: The (next) question is going to come from the only person that’s a member of the United States Senate who has a spouse that’s won a Pulitzer Prize - Sherrod Brown from Ohio. (Laughter.)
SENATOR BROWN: Thank you for joining us. Thank you for your visit to Lorain County, Ohio, a week and a half ago; first presidential visit to that county of 300,000 since Harry Truman in 1948.
THE PRESIDENT: It was a great visit. We had a great time.
SENATOR BROWN: It was terrific. Ten miles from there, Oberlin College, one of the great private institutions of higher learning in this country - at Oberlin College, there was a building built there seven or eight years ago, fully powered by solar panels. It’s the only - it’s the largest building on any college campus in America like that. Those solar panels were bought in Germany and Japan, not surprisingly - Germany, a country that has both an energy policy and a manufacturing policy. Seventy-five miles west of there is Toledo, Ohio, where you’ve been several times, and Toledo has more solar energy manufacturing - solar manufacturing jobs than any city in America.
It begs the question of two things in terms of manufacturing policy and energy policy. We have all kinds of things in so many of our states - manufacturing wind turbine components and solar panel components - but we’re the only major industrial country in the world without a manufacturing policy. And every rich country in the world has one. We don’t.
I know what you’re doing with Ron Bloom in the White House and other things, but how do we get there? How do we - when we read these articles in the paper that China is just exploding in terms of wind turbine manufacturing and solar panel manufacturing - how do we rebuild our manufacturing sector with a manufacturing policy, combined with an energy policy that gets us there?
THE PRESIDENT: I hope people had a chance to read that article that was in The New York Times I guess last Sunday, talking about how China is not waiting, it is moving. And already the anticipation is, is that they will lap us when it comes to clean energy.
Now, they’re not a democracy and so they don’t debate. (Laughter.) And there are no filibuster rules. And so obviously over the long term a system that allows for robust debate and exchange of ideas is going to produce a better result. I believe that. But we have to understand that when it comes to some key issues like energy, we are at risk of falling behind.
We’ve already fallen behind, but it’s not irrevocable because we still have the best research, we still have potentially the best technology, we’ve got the best universities, the best scientists, and as I said, we’ve got the most productive workers in the world. But we’ve got to bring all those things together into a coherent whole.
Now, I think there are a couple of elements to this. One, in terms of manufacturing generally - you just mentioned Ron Bloom, who we put in charge of a manufacturing task force, is just issuing now a report to me about the direction we need to go to have some coordination when it comes to manufacturing.
Now, this is not some big bureaucratic top-down industrial policy; it is figuring out how do we coordinate businesses, universities, government, to start looking at where are our strategic opportunities, and then making those investments, filling holes that exist so that we can be competitive with what China is doing or what Germany is doing or what Spain is doing.
And my hope is, is that during the course of this year we’re going to be able to work with all 50 senators, because all of you have a stake in this, to just see where are our manufacturing opportunities and where can we fill - plug some holes in order to make sure that we’re competitive internationally.
Specifically on clean energy, we know that’s an opportunity. I continue to believe, and I’m not alone in this, that the country that figures out most rapidly new forms of energy and can commercialize new ideas is going to lead the 21st century economy. I think that is our growth model. (Applause.)
Permalink | Comments (10) | Post your comment | Categories: Blog entry only, Energy, Locals in national affairs, National Politics, National government
Comments
By joe_mamma
February 16, 2010 2:52 PM | Link to this
China being a leader in manufacturing solar panels and wind turbines is hardly bad for America. If the ultimate goal is for us to use clean energy, then that will be sped up by lower prices. Cheaper sources of energy then allow us to focus more on producing the goods and services that we produce more effectively.
By Concerned
February 16, 2010 6:24 PM | Link to this
What do we have that China does not? EPA & Labor Unions. Mr. President, 50 Senators? And your best of list? Where was private company ownership? If you truly want America to be prosperous, then get out of the way. Let America’s entrepreneurs do what they do best.
By Concerned
February 16, 2010 6:28 PM | Link to this
And Mr. President, while we are on the subject of bureaucratic policy, turn the water back on to the farmers of California. Stop being an idiot.
By drunken orangetree
February 16, 2010 6:55 PM | Link to this
So, everyone, here’s Concerned’s solution for our problems: lower wages, fewer benefits, and more pollution.
By Concerned
February 17, 2010 3:21 AM | Link to this
To intoxicated citrus, A job is better than No job, some benefits are better than No benefits, and CO2 is not a pollutant. Possibly when you exit your inebriated state, you will realize the comparison was between the US and China and some of the reasons why we currently operate at a disadvantage. And your solutions are? Further, we are still waiting to hear the President’s plan to double our exports.
By Stephen Lahanas
February 17, 2010 10:40 AM | Link to this
It’s time we stopped letting China drive our economy and stopped using them as a competitive example. China is a Communist Dictatorship wherein anyone who disagrees is jailed, tortured or killed. That’s why their people work cheap and why there are no regulations safeguarding them or their environment. They are NOT a model to emulate…
By EAB
February 17, 2010 11:29 AM | Link to this
Do what American Entrepreneurs do best? They are already doing that. Moving jobs to countries like China rather than create jobs here. That’s how we got into this mess.
By joe_mamma
February 17, 2010 2:33 PM | Link to this
Why would you write something that is so blatantly false? Small business from 1993-2008 has created 64% of the NET new jobs. Obviously, some of those jobs have gone away with the recent recession, but they will return once they get their feet under them again. http://www.sba.gov/advo/stats/sbfaq.pdf Also, please name for me one small business entrepreneur that helped create the financial crisis.
By drunken orangetree
February 17, 2010 7:06 PM | Link to this
Concerned, I don’t know why you thought I was disagreeing with you. Let’s please have a race to the bottom.
By mojo
February 24, 2010 10:01 AM | Link to this
Concerned, stop being an idiot. What is with you people who cry for the downfall of established rule?? Please cease to exist, government; this would be a utopian society if only the other three hundred million people and I could each decide the best way to do everything, on an individual basis. You are an anarchist, and that’s something to be concerned about.