Transcript: President Barack Obama Townhall, Arnold, Missouri – 100 Days
April 29, 2009
(Source: White House Press Office)10:25 A.M. CDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much. Thank you. Everybody please have a seat. Have a seat. Thank you so much. What a wonderful introduction. It’s good to be out of Washington, good to be back in the Midwest.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love you!
THE PRESIDENT: Love you back. (Applause.)
Let me, first of all, ask everybody to give a huge round of applause to Linda for the great introduction and everything that she’s been doing in the community. Thank you so much. (Applause.)
I’ve got a few other friends who are here — you may know them, I want to make sure that I acknowledge them. One of, I think, the finest members of Congress that we have and somebody who’s just been a great friend of mine, she is somebody you want in the foxhole with you when you got a tough fight — please give a huge round of applause to Claire McCaskill. (Applause.)
We’ve got one of the finest new governors in the country, Jay Nixon. (Applause.) Where did Jay go? There he is. An outstanding Secretary of State and somebody who I think may turn out to be pretty good in Washington if she just so decides — Robin Carnahan. (Applause.) We’ve got Attorney General Chris Koster here. (Applause.) State Treasurer Clint Zweifel. (Applause.) A great friend who was with me from the start — Susan Montee, your State Auditor. (Applause.) We have our outstanding host today, Mayor Ron Counts, of Arnold. (Applause.)
We’ve got Congressman Russ Carnahan, who is voting on the budget today, but I want everybody to give him a big round of applause anyway. (Applause.)
I want to thank everybody here at Fox High School for their hospitality. (Applause.) I want to thank your lovely school superintendent, who is just doing an outstanding job. Please stand up. (Applause.) I want to thank the Warriors for the basketball jersey — (applause) — which I will wear with pride — yeah! (Applause.) If I ever get to play basketball again — (laughter) — they’ve been keeping me a little busy.
It is great to be back in the middle of America, where common sense often reigns. (Applause.) And this reminds me of why I like to get out of Washington now and again.
The last time I was in Missouri was just under six months ago, at a high school a lot like this one. We were in Springfield; it was two days before the election, and I was making my final case to the American people. And it was just an unbelievable crowd, bigger than anything anybody had expected. And so we’re here in Missouri to — we were here in Missouri at the end of a long journey to the White House, and so now I want to come back and speak to you at the beginning of another long journey. Today marks 100 days since I took the oath of office to be your President. (Applause.) One hundred days. It’s a good thing. Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.)
Now, back in November, some folks were surprised that we showed up in Springfield at the end of our campaign. But then again, some folks were surprised that we even started our campaign in the first place. (Laughter.) They didn’t give us much of a chance. They didn’t think we could do things differently. They didn’t know if this country was ready to move in a new direction.
With Failure of Missouri Bank, U.S. One Failure Away from 2008 Tally
The twenty-fourth U.S. bank failure of 2009 occurred this evening when the American Sterling Bank, Sugar Creek, Missouri was seized by federal regulators.
Metcalf Bank of Lee’s Summit, Missouri will assume the deposits and former American Sterling offices will begin reopening on Saturday as Metcalf Bank branches.
According to a press release by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the government agency which insures depositors for up to $250,000 and regulates member institutions, the Metcalf Bank acquisition of American Sterling was the least cost option. The estimated cost to the FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund is $42 million.
In 2008, the number of failed U.S. banks hit 25, the highest number in any year since the Failed Bank List began to be posted on the Internet. Since the current recession began, 49 banks have failed. Sixty-four percent of banks which have failed since October 2000 have failed during this recession.
