Obama promises help to Isaac victims

  by BEN FELLERLaPLACE, La. -- President Barack Obama insisted on Monday that the federal government can help Americans in crisis, whether they're autoworkers fearful that their company will disappear or Gulf Coast residents picking up the pieces after the devastation of Hurricane Isaac.

In separate appearances in Ohio and Louisiana, the Democratic incumbent delivered a forceful defense of government involvement to counter the oft-repeated Republican argument that business and free enterprise are the main drivers of U.S success. Obama has said the election between himself and Republican Mitt Romney is a clear choice of the competing visions about the role and reach of government.

"What I've pledged to these folks is we're going to make sure at the federal level we are getting on the case very quickly about figuring out what exactly happened here and what can do to make sure it doesn't happen again and expedite some of the decisions that may need to be made," Obama told reporters after touring hard-hit St. John the Baptist Parish, 30 miles outside of New Orleans.

Joined by Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal and members of Louisiana's congressional delegation, Obama walked through a neighborhood of brick homes and front yards that were a painful reminder of last week's hurricane. Orderly piles of water-logged debris - bedding, insulation, furniture and toys - filled the yards.

The president shook hands with residents in La Place, where several neighborhoods were inundated by water and some residents were rescued from rooftops by boats.

"How y'all doing?" he asked.

"Better now," one man shouted back.

In the sticky heat, the president walked from house to house, asking residents about what happened and posing for photos. There was debris but no signs of lingering water.

"We're here to help," the president said at another home.

Obama praised the coordination of federal, state and local officials and pointed out that his administration issued disaster declarations well in advance to ensure officials "weren't behind the eight ball." In highlighting the work, Obama was drawing a contrast with President George W. Bush's widely criticized response to Hurricane Katrina seven years ago.

Hours earlier in Ohio, Obama spoke to members of the United Auto Workers and United Steelworkers, and noted his decision to rescue automakers General Motors and Chrysler in 2009, a move that Romney opposed.

"If America had thrown in the towel like that, GM and Chrysler wouldn't exist today," Obama said. "The suppliers and the distributors that get their business from these companies would have died off, too. Then even Ford could have gone down as well."

The recoveries of GM and Chrysler have been recurrent themes in Obama's re-election campaign, particularly in states such as Michigan and the battleground of Ohio.

"These jobs are worth more than just a paycheck. They're a source of pride. They're a ticket into middle-class life. These companies are worth more than just the cars that they build. They're a symbol of America's innovation," Obama said. "They're a source of our manufacturing might. If that is not worth fighting for, than what is?"

Prior to his visit to Louisiana, Obama's remarks about the storm have focused on what money and resources the federal government can marshal to help. Romney used his trip Friday to emphasize the need for charitable donations to help people recover.

On the flight from Ohio, White House press secretary Jay Carney said natural disasters are "apolitical," but he jabbed at the Republican presidential ticket and the candidates' stand on the government's role in aiding the victims.

"It is worth noting that last year there was an effort to underfund the money that's used to provide relief to Americans when they've been hit by disasters," Carney said. "That effort was led by congressman Paul Ryan, who is now running to be vice president."

Ryan spokesman Brendan Buck said the chairman of the House Budget Committee "believes providing aid to victims of natural disasters is a critical obligation and should be treated as a high priority within a fiscally responsible budget."

Since the storm hit last week, Democrats have been using the disaster issue to hammer Romney and his running mate, whose budget had proposed eliminating $10 billion a year in disaster spending and requiring Congress to pay for emergencies by cutting from elsewhere in the budget. GOP leaders blocked that proposal, and Romney hasn't said whether he agreed with Ryan's proposed cuts.

Residents of LaPlace spent Monday cleaning their homes, dragging out waterlogged carpets and furniture, using brooms to push out mud and debris and relying on water and bleach to clean what was left.

"It's gross," said Barbara Melton, 60, who has lived in her home for 23 years and never experienced flooding. "It's hot, it stinks, but I'm trying to get all this mud and stuff out of my house."

Melton, broom in hand, smiled when talking about Obama visiting the area.

"Having him here and seeing the situation really helps people be able to cope with what's going on, what's happened here."

Both Romney's team and the president's insist that their visits are not aimed at political gain. But the specter of Hurricane Katrina helps explain why both men sought to tour Isaac's damage. Presidents, and would-be presidents, can't afford to get panned the way Bush did in the days after Katrina crippled New Orleans and the Mississippi and Alabama coasts in 2005, killing more than 1,800.

Throughout his visit, Romney was confronted with reminders that locals were most concerned about extending flood protection - paid for by the federal government - far enough to protect their community. In New Orleans, $14 billion in federal aid was set aside to build a complex flood protection system of sea walls and levees after the devastation of Katrina in 2005.

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Hunt reported from Wolfeboro, N.H. Associated Press writers Stacey Plaisance in LaPlace, La., Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, La., Ken Thomas in Charlotte, N.C., and Brian Schwaner in New Orleans contributed to this report.

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Obama '08 promises still work inpProgress

When candidate Barack Obama addressed the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials four years ago, he pledged to be a president NALEO members could come to view as a "partner in the White House."

"You know about the families all across this country who are out of work, or uninsured or struggling to pay rising costs for everything from a tank of gas to a bag of groceries," he told the group of state and local leaders at the time. "And that's why you know that we need change in this country."

The change Obama promised NALEO and Latinos was at once sweeping and bold, from "ending the housing crisis" to creating "millions of new jobs" and expanding minority enrollment in health insurance plans. He called immigration reform "a priority I will pursue from my very first day."

Now at a critical juncture in his bid for a second term, Obama returns to the group with many of those goals still works in progress, a source of frustration and disillusionment for some of his ardent Latino supporters. He'll make the case that the country is moving forward despite an uncooperative GOP, and that he needs more time.

The collapse of the housing market and a foreclosure wave continues to hit Latino homeowners disproportionately hard, studies find, with market recovery still struggling to take hold. On health care, roughly three times as many Latinos are uninsured than are non-Hispanic whites. And Latino unemployment is on the rise, at 11 percent in May, up from 10.3 percent in April and March, according to the Labor Department, which is higher than the national average.

"Latinos in our polling have told us they feel Hispanics have been hit harder than other groups by the recession, and many Latinos say that the recession has hit them hardest when it comes to unemployment, home ownership and their neighborhoods," said Mark Hugo Lopez, an associate director at the Pew Hispanic Center.

Comprehensive immigration reform legislation remains a rough blueprint, having received little "priority" treatment from Obama to advance it on Capitol Hill despite two years of a Democrat-controlled Congress. Meanwhile, the administration raised deportations to record highs while illegal border crossings slumped to new lows.

President Obama did make a concerted push for the Dream Act in late 2010, but it failed in the Senate with five Democrats joining a majority of Republicans in voting "no." Under pressure from advocates to take executive action to enact the spirit of the bill, Obama demurred, even suggesting it was beyond his authority. Then, last week he reversed course, ordering an end to deportation for some young illegal immigrants, and offering work permits under certain circumstances.

The move catapulted his approval rating with Hispanics in the polls, though most saw it as more motivated by politics than principle.

"Still, the support for the president among Hispanics remains strong in a horse race against Mitt Romney," said Lopez. Obama won the demographic by a 2 to 1 margin in 2008 -- a margin that appears to hold or grow in early 2012 polls.

The key for both sides in the 2012 presidential race, Lopez said, will be registering and mobilizing Hispanic supporters to get them to the polls. Turnout and enthusiasm among Hispanics on the margins in swing states could make all the difference in a close race.

In Florida, where Obama makes his fourth visit of the year today, a new Quinnipiac University poll finds Obama with a narrow 46 to 42 percent lead over Mitt Romney. Among Hispanics, Obama leads the presumptive GOP nominee by 10 points, 49 to 39 percent, the poll finds. It has a margin of error of 2.4 points.

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