U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday stressed the importance for the nation to invest on new-generation of high-speed wireless and rail, his latest move to promote U.S. global competitiveness put forth in his State of the Union address last month.
"In a world that's more connected and more competitive, other nations look at this as their moment, their turn to win the jobs and industries of our time. I see things differently. I see this as America's moment to win the future," Obama said in Marquette, Michigan.
He held that to attract the best jobs and newest industries in the world, the United States had to out-innovate, out-educate, out-build and out-hustle the rest of the world, echoing the theme of the State of the Union address, adding that the best thing the nation could do is to speed up economic growth to make sure families and businesses had more money to spend. "That means investing in cutting-edge research and technology. It means investing in the skills and training of our people. It means investing in transportation and communication networks that move goods and information as fast as possible," he added.
Obama said in his address at the Northern Michigan University that the U.S. government had to start doing what American families do every day, namely to "live within our means", but the nation also had a responsibility to invest in those areas that would have the biggest impact on the future-- innovation, education, and infrastructure.
Obama stressed that if the nation intended to have new jobs and businesses, it must be equipped with the best transportation and communication networks in the world.
"Today, more than 90 percent of homes in South Korea subscribe to high-speed broadband. Meanwhile, in America, the nation that created the Internet, only 65 percent of households can say the same," he said, calling high-speed wireless service the next train station for U.S. families and businesses.
Obama intended to make high-speed wireless services available to at least 98 percent of Americans.
Economists believed that the world's largest economy needed more government-backed infrastructure projects to bolster its nascent economic recovery and slackening job market in the short run, while the newly empowered Republicans was aimed at slashing billions of government spending for improving the nation's long- term fiscal sustainability. But his infrastructure plans needed to get funding support from the Congress.
Although the U.S. economy has struggled to recover from the recent recession, the nation still faces daunting economic and budgetary challenges, Douglas Elmendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), said on Thursday.
Elmendorf pointed out that for the 2011 fiscal year, if current laws remain unchanged, the federal budget deficit will rise to an even alarming figure of nearly 1.5 trillion dollars, or 9.8 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP).
"In a world that's more connected and more competitive, other nations look at this as their moment, their turn to win the jobs and industries of our time. I see things differently. I see this as America's moment to win the future," Obama said in Marquette, Michigan.
He held that to attract the best jobs and newest industries in the world, the United States had to out-innovate, out-educate, out-build and out-hustle the rest of the world, echoing the theme of the State of the Union address, adding that the best thing the nation could do is to speed up economic growth to make sure families and businesses had more money to spend. "That means investing in cutting-edge research and technology. It means investing in the skills and training of our people. It means investing in transportation and communication networks that move goods and information as fast as possible," he added.
Obama said in his address at the Northern Michigan University that the U.S. government had to start doing what American families do every day, namely to "live within our means", but the nation also had a responsibility to invest in those areas that would have the biggest impact on the future-- innovation, education, and infrastructure.
Obama stressed that if the nation intended to have new jobs and businesses, it must be equipped with the best transportation and communication networks in the world.
"Today, more than 90 percent of homes in South Korea subscribe to high-speed broadband. Meanwhile, in America, the nation that created the Internet, only 65 percent of households can say the same," he said, calling high-speed wireless service the next train station for U.S. families and businesses.
Obama intended to make high-speed wireless services available to at least 98 percent of Americans.
Economists believed that the world's largest economy needed more government-backed infrastructure projects to bolster its nascent economic recovery and slackening job market in the short run, while the newly empowered Republicans was aimed at slashing billions of government spending for improving the nation's long- term fiscal sustainability. But his infrastructure plans needed to get funding support from the Congress.
Although the U.S. economy has struggled to recover from the recent recession, the nation still faces daunting economic and budgetary challenges, Douglas Elmendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), said on Thursday.
Elmendorf pointed out that for the 2011 fiscal year, if current laws remain unchanged, the federal budget deficit will rise to an even alarming figure of nearly 1.5 trillion dollars, or 9.8 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP).
