In a televised speech Tuesday night, President Barack Obama declared an end to the war in Iraq and tried to switch focus to America's economic problems. There is mixed reaction from residents and local political analysts on whether it is time to pull our troops out of Iraq and whether the president will be able to fix our struggling economy.
Residents say they are happy to hear that the war is finally coming to an end. David Newton says, "I'm very glad that we're coming home from Iraq. I think that we've done all that we can do there and it's good to see that they're coming home." Lynn Campbell says, "I'm really glad that they're pulling out of the war. I have two sons that were involved and I'm glad the troops are coming home."
But Cathy Abernathy, a political analyst for 17 News says bringing the troops home does not mean an end to the violence in Iraq. " I have real trouble thinking that the right way to handle the major strides we've made in the Mideast is to pull everybody out at a certain date," says Abernathy.
But political analyst Gene Tackett say it is time to focus on our own problems here at home. "It's good for Iraq, it's good for us. We have our own financial challenges that cost a trillion dollars, a million and a half Americans have served there and 4,400 people have died," says Tackett.
President Obama says he will now work toward restoring the nation's fragile economy, calling it "our most urgent task." Republicans say the only way to do that is to cut taxes and spending in Washington. Abernathy says, "Get the money back where it needs to be to generate jobs, and jobs of course well generate tax revenue." Democrats say Republicans should be working with President Obama to rekindle the recovery. "He's having a difficult time getting money out of congress to stimulate the economy," says Tackett.
Residents now want to know what steps President Obama will take to help put millions of people who lost their jobs back to work. "I don't think if he continues his policies that it's going to get any better. I think that you can't spend money to buy jobs and that's basically what they're doing." Other folks 17 News spoke with say they understand the challenges the president faces in turning the economy around and we're going to have to be patient.
