Obama Calls for Second 'Sputnik Moment' in Speech

[ProSense]

Source: National Journal

The future will bring a global economy, and the U.S. isn’t quite ready, President Obama said today while trying to rally the country by invoking a second “Sputnik moment.”

The reference to the Russian satellite, which was the first to orbit the Earth, harkens back to John F. Kennedy’s famous 1962 speech, when he used a global competitive spirit to launch the space race as he called on Americans to commit to increasing the country’s education and infrastructure.

Obama spoke today to a crowd of students, teachers, and local business owners at Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, N.C., where he told the audience that the jobs the U.S. has lost aren’t coming back and that the country needs to look to the future to successfully compete in the global economy.

“The winners of this competition will be the countries that have the most educated workers, a serious commitment to research and technology, and access to quality infrastructure like roads and airports and high-speed rail, high-speed Internet. Those are the seeds of economic growth in the 21st century,” Obama told the crowd. And in the race for the future, he said, America is in danger of falling behind.



Read more: http://www.nationaljournal.com/whitehouse/obama-calls-for-second-sputnik-moment-in-speech-20101206

[Joanne98]

1. That's pathetic

[Angry Dragon]

4. Obama's statements or that we are falling behind??

[pattmarty]

16. Both.

[YvonneCa]

20. It was a good speech. Many have been asking for 'the vision'...

...and he spelled it out in this speech. It is worth watching, if you haven't already done so:

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/296914-1

[saigon68]

24. I saw it it was ridiculous

[YvonneCa]

31. I'd be interested in what you...

...mean, specifically. :)

[saigon68]

39. The naive notion below

The president focused on rallying the country around the bipartisan goals of bettering education and infrastructure. “If our objective is not simply winning elections, but winning the future,” he said in closing, “then we should be able to get our act together here because we are all Americans, and we are in this race together.”

He is clueless with his statement "the bipartisan goals of bettering education and infrastructure"

He doesn't yet realize that the Pukes and their Brown Shirt allies the Tea Pukes are out to create a new Feudal society. Tax cuts for the richest 2% are believed to be the salvation by millions of racist, homophobic Jesus loving sheep.

He is going to get rolled in 2012 and I for one have no sorrow for this nit-wit

[EmilyKent]

2. Obama is absolutely right.

I hope people listen, because it's vital.

[Xenotime]

19. Agreed.

[MannyGoldstein]

3. 'jobs the U.S. has lost aren’t coming back'

Marvelous. That'll rally the troops. Add to that the coming cuts in Social Security, and everyone should be feeling real good about the future.

Without tariffs, we're fucked. We cannot compete with $2-a-day labor without tariffs.

Our incredibly overpriced health care system is also kills our international competitiveness.

[Larkspur]

14. So I guess the high tech jobs that were outsourced to India are not coming back?

My job went there. Thanks Obama, for selling me out. I should have just voted Republican. At least they are more honest than you about screwing the American Middle Class.

[Javaman]

22. That jumped out at me too.

I have no problem with a dose of reality, but when that same reality has been co-opted by the corpora tons off shoring those same jobs, well, then, I usually call bullshit.

[Octafish]

45. And my nephew's borrowing abou $40k/year to go to kolledge.

Sorry to sound so childish, but we are sooooo fucked.

[rayofreason]

46. $40K/yr????????

Why?

Even with an engineering degree he would be strapped down tight with a $160K loan to pay back (assuming 4 years).

It has to be a private school. State tuition and fees (annual) range from $7K to $13K. Books and stuff like parking for the year $2K. Dorms for the academic year are typically $9K, but if you are careful with food, and room with other students to rent an apartment or house, and you learn how to cook (stretch a $5 chicken and $5 of rice, carrots, potatoes, etc into 6-7 dinners) you can get to $900/mo for expenses.

So it is possible to go to a good state school for $20K/yr, $25K max. Even if you borrow 100% to do that, it is way under $40K/yr. And if you need to borrow everything odds are that you are eligible for need based-scholarships to cover some or even all of the costs. If you take all of the general distribution courses at a community college you can save even more by not paying high tuition the first 2 years and living at home.

The bottom line is that there is a higher ed bubble and it is going to pop. $160K in debt for education cannot be justified under any circumstances, and you can get as good an undergrad education at a state school (and not even the top ones at that) as you can get from a fancy private school. You should advise your nephew to make other plans rather to go down the path to high debt that he will deeply regret for the rest of his life.

[MrTriumph]

5. And growth in the Chinese economy hasn't been?

Obama may be too young to remember, but the launch of Sputnik was important because it was clear the US was behind. Now why the rapid growth in the Chinese economy has not been viewed the same, well, says a lot about.

Of course, Sec. Clinton says the rise of the Chinese economy is in our national interest. I would like to hear her explain why she and the US gov't feels that way.

[SkyDaddy7]

13. It has...Obama has been saying this since mid-late 2009.

[GodlessBiker]

6. We've already had it: Our "What the fuck is that?" moment with him.

[MineralMan]

7. I believe he's right, too.

Some of the things he said are hard to accept, but they are the truth. We're not going to be shoemaker or clothing maker to the world ever again. We have to create new products and services if we're going to create the jobs we need. The old stuff is gone for good.

[CreekDog]

28. new products that will be outsourced?

and the servicing of said products, also likewise outsourced?

[XemaSab]

34. And 15 years ago we were going to sell IT to the world

That worked out real well, didn't it? :P

[onehandle]

8. Russia just lost three satellites in the Pacific in a botched launch.

Ah, timing.

[elmerdem]

9. too bad

he just caved on 700 billion of taxes which could be invested in R&D and infrastructure over the next 10 years. It will be hard to do with the republicans bleeding the government dry. If it is so important he should have fought against the extension to the wealthiest 2 percent. 60 billion a year would have went a long way in the areas he mentioned.

[jaxx]

10. Do you really think the repubs would have passed bills to spend that money?

Where is that bridge everyone is trying to buy?

[Iowa]

30. +1.

[Cassandra]

11. What are we going to do for money...

if he gives it all to the top 1%?

[highplainsdem]

12. He'd have the money for better education, research, and infrastructure if he'd shown the leadership

and strength to fight the Republicans over the tax cuts for the rich, instead of caving again and blaming himself for not reaching out enough to the people who've announced their main goal is making him a one-term president, with lots of reactionary goals pushing us back decades if not centuries right after that one.

All the glorious rhetorical flourishes in the world can't undo his failure to lead and fight.

[defendandprotect]

51. Obama is pushing Charter schools ....

and he and Arne Duncan are busy attacking public education --

[pattmarty]

15. No Mr President, what we needed was a "second FDR moment".............

.............what you gave us was shit, and you're about to "cave" AGAIN on the tax cuts for the wealthy.

[mbperrin]

17. Who cares about Sputnik? Now that we've abandoned space,

it made the whole space race moot. Now we will rent rocket space from the Russians.

By extension, this sputnik moment means that we will see other countries with the jobs.

[YvonneCa]

21. "Sputnik Moment' is not about space. It's a wake-up call. n/t

[mbperrin]

23. The reference relates to what happened after Sputnik.

Ultimately, surrender.

Ergo, I expect similar results from THIS sputnik moment. We have no interest in making education better, roads better, and so on, because those things would cost money, and all we care about sending money to is billionaire bailout bankers and crybaby millionaires.

[Retrograde]

26. I was thinking of the increased focus on science and engineering training

My education was funded in part with low-interest National Defense loans, intended to get more students into technology. I'd like to see us get back to that - but first we have to improve science and math teaching in secondary schools.

IIRC - I was very young at the time, but I do remember the fuss Sputnik caused in the US - the "Sputnik moment" was the realization that the US had been resting on its laurels and just coasting along, whereas the Soviet Union was making noticeable leaps in technology. Sort of like the situation with India and China today.

[YvonneCa]

33. I was young, too. Young enough to remember...

...NDEA Math. :7

[Igel]

35. Mine was partly funded by Title VI.

Language training to produce cadres trained in other languages and cultures to provide support to government, intelligence, business, and society. Most of my friends got at least some Title VI funding.

However, the general view was that if you intended to use your language abilities in an applied way you were being vaguely traitorous. If you went into literary translation, cultural exchange, or some kinds of public service, well, okay. But if you went into business, tech translation, translation of crap literature, or (shudder) intelligence work then it was a waste of money. The only *really* proper use for the money was to train scholars who would have students who needed the money.

(In Near Eastern it was a bit different--there social work and social activism counted for a lot, too, but intelligence and US government work was even more soundly decried.)

[YvonneCa]

32. Or we could work for what COULD...

...happen if we set expectations high, learn the lessons and work together. Maybe this time...no surrender. ;)

[madrchsod]

18. he has`t a clue.....

we`ve become a nation of baggers

[whosinpower]

25. Good grief

Those things like quality infrastructure, high speed rail, decent roadways etc....are PAID FOR by everyday joe-the-plumber jobs. That is how it used to be....but now, it is different, for one reason only....wage inequity. That is right - wage inequity. It is cheaper to get chinese workers to sew bluejeans than Americans. Does that help build roads?

This erosion, which somehow, we, as a society, are supposed to swallow happily, hook, line and sinker as we go about shopping at the Walmarts of the world, directly affects our ability to PAY for things like quality infrastructure.

But, okayyy - let us somehow swallow our disbelief and say, ok -I give up my job sewing American bluejeans for Americans, and I will make, build, create something new, exciting different that those exact same chinese workers want.....at a cost that they could afford, so I could still, at the very least buy their bluejeans.......because if we are a part of the GLOBAL ECONOMY, and we want to compete, then we must do it on their terms - at the lowest possible cost ever. WHAT WOULD THAT BE?

There is nothing. And the mantra we were sold 10 or 20 years ago about the "global economy" was at the behest of the financial institutions, and multinational corporations. The ones who desperately wanted to exploit slave equivalent workers and export those goods and products for nothing more than obscene profits. Nothing more. And those same financial institutions profit handsomely for nothing at all - vapourware, speculation, mob mentality. Would they even loan you, as a brilliant inventor of something that will slingshot society into the 22 century.....probably not unless you had it made in China. And that is the total sad pathetic truth.

And, after 20 years of this, what does America have to show for it? Great infrastructure? Nope. How about fantastic healthcare - nope. You have a government verging on financial collapse, because no one wants to pay their fair share of taxes, you have millions, literally millions of hardworking creative smart intelligent bright workers who are losing their homes to predatory loans, or the loss of their job, or both.....and President Barack Obama, whom I trully admire, has the temerity to say.....make something new, because those old jobs are never coming back.

Work harder, faster, smarter, swifter in the global race to the bottom. A sputnik moment indeed. You don't need a sputnik moment. You need an FDR leader. You need a NEW DEAL.

[ProSense]

27. Wow,

this thread is a mess. The President's speech was excellent and well-received.

[displacedvermoter]

47. And the man was dreamy while he made the speech, wasn't he?

[TheWatcher]

52. People simply don't swallow Propaganda as easily as you do.

Less and less people are buying what you promote.

This must be a stressful time for you.

Hopefully, it will get worse.

[Donnachaidh]

29. well the FDR posing didn't last, so now it's a Kennedy reference?

political karaoke seems to be a favorite theme :eyes:

Too bad the actions don't fit the pose.

[PSPS]

36. Wow! Obama gives another meaningless speech! Wow!

[and-justice-for-all]

37. Well, first thing they need to do is end our middle east occupations

and close some overseas bases....then we should have the funds for such things.

[and-justice-for-all]

38. Everything Europe has already achived...

because they are not empire building!

“The winners of this competition will be the countries that have the most educated workers, a serious commitment to research and technology, and access to quality infrastructure like roads and airports and high-speed rail, high-speed Internet."

[TheLastMohican]

40. Obama doesn't have a clue

You don't pour billions of dollars into banks and hope that R&D can drag itself out of the gutter.

[saigon68]

41. The Obama-Bush War marches on

"Bring Em ON" shouted the AWOL Chimpanzee

[Dash87]

42. It won't be us.

By a long shot. Our educational system is in shambles. The dropout rate in some High Schools is 50%.

But nobody cares about that. :(

[Billy Burnett]

43. On the Mr Obama's Sputnik Moment.

The Soviets had their German rocket scientists, and the US had their German rocket scientists.
Most were wanted at Nuremberg for war crimes.

At first the Soviet/German rocket scientist war criminals were better than the US/German rocket scientist war criminals.

But, in the end, OUR German rocket scientist war criminals were better than the Soviet's German rocket scientist war criminals.

In these Wikileak times, I think it is an interesting pick of wake up moments that Mr Obama used for the way to "move forward".

Made possible by murderous war criminals.

:puke:

[Javaman]

44. I think it even more odd that he chooses Sputnik as his example.

If I recall correctly, putting Sputnik orbit was the satellite that beat the US in the race to space.

There had to be a better metaphor.

[muriel_volestrangler]

49. It's a 1957 reference

In 1957, just before this college opened, the Soviet Union beat us into space by launching a satellite known as Sputnik. And that was a wake-up call that caused the United States to boost our investment in innovation and education -– particularly in math and science. And as a result, once we put our minds to it, once we got focused, once we got unified, not only did we surpass the Soviets, we developed new American technologies, industries, and jobs.

So 50 years later, our generation’s Sputnik moment is back. This is our moment. If the recession has taught us anything, it’s that we cannot go back to an economy that's driven by too much spending, too much borrowing, running up credit cards, taking out a lot of home equity loans, paper profits that are built on financial speculation. We’ve got to rebuild on a new and stronger foundation for economic growth.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/12/06/remarks-president-economy-winston-salem-north-carolina

The point is that Sputnik shocked the US into taking science and technological education a bit more seriously. And so, by the end of the 60s, the US beat the USSR to the moon, and invented a few useful things like silicon chips along the way.

[defendandprotect]

53. Scared the crap out of our MIC ....

and they used it to help scare the American public --

In fact, Kennedy called for cooperation between US and Russia in space -- a joint effort --

after they killed him that idea was quickly shut down!!

[martymar64]

48. Like his predecessor, I have no interest in what this president has to say anymore.

His whole rap has been bullshit from the start.

[defendandprotect]

54. +1 --

[defendandprotect]

50. Education? Did Obama forget he and Arne are attacking public education ....

teachers and their unions -- ??

And replacing it all with charter schools?

Was this a Sputnik moment or a moment of denial?

"Sputnik" -- ????