Secretary of Ag says economy has “turned the corner” during campaign stop
Ron Rordam (left) and Tom Vilsack at a news conference today at Virginia Tech. Photo by Mike Gangloff | The Roaonke Times
BLACKSBURG – The U.S. economy has “obviously turned the corner” and is improving, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said this morning in Blacksburg as he kicked off a media tour to praise the Obama administration’s assustance to rural areas.
Staffers emphasized that Vilsack was campaigning as a former governor of Iowa rather than in his current federal role.
He and Blacksburg Mayor Ron Rordam highlighted a number of areas where they said the Obama administration had helped rural localities, including funding expansion of broadband and supporting conservation and recreation efforts.
Standing in front of the still-in-construction Phase II of the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center, Rordam said $2 million in federal money had helped pay for an expansion he termed “such a vital part of the Blacksburg economy.”
Rordam said he also appreciated Obama’s support for conservation easements to protect air and water quality. He noted that he and his wife put an easement on rural property they own ro preserve it from development.
“We appreciate everything the Obama administration has done … to make rural America go,” Rordam said.
In response to the campaign stop this morning, U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke County, held a conference call this afternoon on behalf of the Republican National Committee to discuss how Obama’s policies have failed Virginia.
“The president has forgotten about small-town America and sending in surrogates is not going to help,” Goodlatte said.
He scoffed at assertions that the economy is strengthening and said that Republican Mitt Romney, not Barack Obama, was the best leader to guide the way to prosperity.
Goodlatte predicted that Romney will campaign across Western Virginia as the election gets closer, saying “Mitt Romney will never forget Americans living in small towns.”
The Obama campaign’s rural Virginia swing continues Wednesday and Thursday with former Congressman Tom Perriello scheduled to stop in Martinsvile, Rustburg, Chatham, Raphine and Lovingston. On Friday, the campaign has scheduled a policy roundtable in Blacksburg, and on Saturday, Anne Holton, wife of Senate candidate and former Gov. Tim Kaine, are scheduled to join the opening of an Obama campaign headquarters in Blacksburg at 712 N. Main Street.
June 19, 2012 - 2:35 PM
What a joke. Guess Mr. Vilsack didn’t hear about Montgomery County’s current financial situation that caused it to significantly increase property taxes.
Building 2 high schools and a courthouse in a recession. Not sure we can pin that on anyone outside of Montgomery County.
Does anyone still believe this garbage? Please tell me people are smarter than this. This is the third summer where I’ve had to hear about how the American economy has “obviously” turned a corner. At some point things actually have to improve in order to continue saying the same hollow statements over and over, or you just sound clueless, Secretary Vilsack.
jay
That will probably turn out to be a smoo5h move for several reasons.
1. The construction jobs should help keep down unemployment and boost the local economy.
2. During a recession, the county is likely to have gotten bids for these construction projects at much better prices than they would during a time of booming construction.
3. The cost of money is at an all time low so the overall cost of paying for these forward looking projects should end up being much less.
4. That’s the type of forward vision that more local governing bodies should be having during this time of recession.
#1 And of course the situation localities find themselves in has absolutely nothing at all to do with the enormous unfunded costs that the Republican-run General Assembly has dropping on them so that the legislators can claim to balance the budget with no tax increase, eh, citizenofmontgomerycounty?
Nah, of course not.
Yeah, Yeah, we get it. It should only be doom and gloom until Romney is elected and then looking on the bright side and even lying about the economy (and everything else) will be a good idea again.
For anyone willing to pay attention and look at the numbers objectively, we are in a slow recovery. For anyone silly enough to think 30 years of digging did not take a toll and expecting the economy of the US or the world to bounce back in a couple quarters, no not so much. Wonderland is not where we really live, but the sky is still not falling.
@ gdad – Really, the national economy has no bearing on a local economy? That position seems unreasonable. Of course the national economy is intertwined with the local economy. Obama had a trillion dollars at his disposal to influence the national and local economy. The trillion dollars doesn’t even count the occurrence of quantitative. And with all of those tools at his disposal, our brilliant and persuasive President is a failure. Romney might not do better, but he deserves a chance.
#7 Now let’s imagine things without that trillion dollars. Really, really dismal.