Obama says budget includes more money for water systems

The tour gives Obama the chance to highlight the industry’s remarkable turnaround over the past seven years, and to remind the public that his administration came to the industry’s rescue at a time when most Americans opposed any further financial assistance for Chrysler and General Motors.

“Critics said it was a “road to socialism” or a disaster waiting to happen”, Obama said this month. “I placed my bet on you”.

In the HuffPost poll, 50 percent of all respondents said the US has become weaker internationally under Mr. Obama, while 19 percent said the country is stronger on the world stage.

The president joked he will be looking for a new vehicle next year after he’s out of office, and there’s no place better to browse for one than the Detroit auto show.

Obama’s visit to Detroit did not include a stop in nearby Flint, which is in the throes of a water contamination crisis that has forced the state’s Republican governor to apologize amid calls for his resignation. The senator’s office says it will be up to the state to direct the funding.

The auto industry has bounced back, adding 646,000 jobs and boasting a record level of auto sales in the USA of 17.4 million units since 2009, according to the White House. Advocates inside and outside the White House believe the executive order would prompt some companies to spend less, by exposing their donations to public scrutiny. “But that’s not stopping this president and the administration from doing what they can”. Lead poisoning can produce lifelong health effects, and developing children who are exposed to lead even at low levels are at risk of brain damage, behavioral problems and learning disabilities.

President Obama will begin his trip at Cobo Center taking in the auto show. The White House says the lead problems plaguing Flint’s drinking water did not meet the legal definition of a major disaster.

Obama did send an official for his team to Flint while he was scheduled to appear at the Auto Show.

Speaking to the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, Obama noted that earlier this week he met with Flint Mayor Karen Weaver “to talk about what has been an inexcusable situation with respect to drinking water there”. “That’s not something that we should accept”, Obama told the mayors.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, while saying it was reviewing its handling of the crisis and could have acted faster to inform the state of what measures it should take, also blamed the state on Tuesday.

He also took time to check out the redesigned 2017 Chrysler Pacifica, which may end up replacing Obama’s armored Cadillac as his primary mode of transportation.

“What is true of Detroit is true of the country”, he said.

The Obama administration provided an additional $57 billion in taxpayer support and assembled an automotive task forced that helped to shepherd the two automakers through Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The companies shuttered plants, laid-off workers and cut ties with thousands of dealerships.

“Dear President Obama, I am 13 years old and I am anxious about my family’s future in MI”, the daughter of a laid-off worker within the automobile industry wrote six years ago.