Occupied by Government!



"The big problem with the honest Left

is their absolute and obstinate refusal

to learn the most basic economic

principles."

By Rod Rojas

 

I have to say that I share most — if not all — the goals of the honest Left, which would be embodied in a constantly rising standard of living for the lowest economic classes. I often find myself watching Democracy Now for its antiwar, free-speech, and anti-death-penalty stances. But the big problem with the honest Left is their absolute and obstinate refusal to learn the most basic economic principles. The "Occupy Wall Street" movement is no different, and it is a real pity that all this energy and frustration can't be put to use toward achieving their goal.

 

Many demands are being made, but sadly, if these were ever implemented, they would make problems worse by lowering the standard of living for all — especially for the poor! I will proceed to address some of the demands in plain English, hoping to reach out to them.

 

Raise the Minimum Wage to $20

If this were a solution, why not raise the legal minimum to $50 an hour, or maybe to $1,000 an hour? If this were a real solution, why not go to a poor country and legislate a minimum wage of $1,000 an hour and let the wealth flow!

 

Hong Kong, which enjoys one of the highest standards of living with almost no unemployment, didn't have a minimum-wage law until 2010, and it was passed because of pressure from the Communist government in Beijing. Switzerland has a very… (Read more)

 

Source: Mises.org

VIDEO: Tea Party to Obama: Stop Policing the World!

By Chris

See the VIDEO here.

This is a message from the “Godfather” of the Tea Party to Obama. Now that we have captured Osama Bin Laden it is time to end the wars and stop policing the world.

A little bit of history: the Tea Party movement started when Ron Paul raised a record $6 million in 24 hours on the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party in December 2007. Here is the USAToday article on that event.

This talk is called “Imagine” and it was given by Ron Paul on March 11, 2009. The original text of the talk is below:

“Imagine for a moment that somewhere in the middle of Texas there was a large foreign military base, say Chinese or Russian. Imagine that thousands of armed foreign troops were constantly patrolling American streets in military vehicles. Imagine they were here under the auspices of “keeping us safe” or “promoting democracy” or “protecting their strategic interests.”

Imagine that they operated outside of US law, and that the Constitution did not apply to them. Imagine that every now and then they made mistakes or acted on bad information and accidentally killed or terrorized innocent Americans, including women and children, most of the time with little to no repercussions or consequences. Imagine that they set up checkpoints on our soil and routinely searched and ransacked entire neighborhoods of homes. Imagine if Americans were fearful of these foreign troops, and overwhelmingly thought America would be better off without their presence.

Imagine if some Americans were so angry about them being in Texas that they actually joined together to fight them off, in defense of our soil and sovereignty, because leadership in government refused or were unable to do so. Imagine that those Americans were labeled terrorists or insurgents for their defensive actions, and routinely killed, or captured and tortured by the foreign troops on our land. Imagine that the occupiers’ attitude was that if they just killed enough Americans, the resistance would stop, but instead, for every American killed, ten more would take up arms against them, resulting in perpetual bloodshed. Imagine if most of the citizens of the foreign land also wanted these troops to return home. Imagine if they elected a leader who promised to bring them home and put an end to this horror.

Imagine if that leader changed his mind once he took office.

The reality is that our military presence on foreign soil is as offensive to the people that live there as armed Chinese troops would be if they were stationed in Texas. We would not stand for it here, but we have had a globe-straddling empire and a very intrusive foreign policy for decades that incites a lot of hatred and resentment towards us.

According to our own CIA, our meddling in the Middle East was the prime motivation for the horrific attacks on 9/11. But instead of re-evaluating our foreign policy, we have simply escalated it. We had a right to go after those responsible for 9/11, to be sure, but why do so many Americans feel as if we have a right to a military presence in some 160 countries when we wouldn’t stand for even one foreign base on our soil, for any reason? These are not embassies, mind you, these are military installations. The new administration is not materially changing anything about this. Shuffling troops around and playing with semantics does not accomplish the goals of the American people, who simply want our men and women to come home. 50,000 troops left behind in Iraq is not conducive to peace any more than 50,000 Russian soldiers would be in the United States.

Shutting down military bases and ceasing to deal with other nations with threats and violence is not isolationism. It is the opposite. Opening ourselves up to friendship, honest trade and diplomacy is the foreign policy of peace and prosperity. It is the only foreign policy that will not bankrupt us in short order, as our current actions most definitely will. I share the disappointment of the American people in the foreign policy rhetoric coming from the administration. The sad thing is, our foreign policy WILL change eventually, as Rome’s did, when all budgetary and monetary tricks to fund it are exhausted.”

CREDITS:

Voice and Music was done by Jeremy Hoop
Video animation was done by Nicholas Bozman and MysteryBox. http://mysterybox.us

Source: Revolution Super PAC. Video was included in original press release.

“Buy American Only?” A Letter From a Concerned Citizen

By Zach Foster

This excellent article was also featured on Only the Money! Blog

Dear [friend], thank you so much for writing to me with your concerns.  I happen to share your deep concern for the fate of working class America, especially since the recession (which I justifiably call the Second Great Depression) has fallen the hardest on the backs of the working poor and the middle classes.

I'm also concerned with the fact that so many of our products come from China and other overseas producers.  Unfortunately, this is not necessarily the fault of American producers but rather that of government intervention in the economy.

What I'm about to say to you might seem a little crazy, but I urge you to bear with me.

The Myth of Protecting American Industry

Buying American products alone will do nothing to restore our economy, nor will it bring production and jobs back to the country.  Instead, what this does is actually raise prices and diminish the quality of domestic products, since producers now know that they have American buyers captive and no longer need to make the best products; they know that the law is on their side.

When I say that I'm all for free market capitalism, it means that the market needs to be truly free and unrestrained in order for consumer sovereignty to take place.  By consumer sovereignty, I refer to the old notion that "the consumer is king" or "the customer is always right", and according to this ideology, producers who want to get rich know that the only HONEST way to do this is to produce the BEST QUALITY goods at the LOWEST COST and sell them at the lowest possible price.  This is how hard-working Americans have been getting rich for centuries.

Unfortunately, there are those who have found easy ways to get rich through the evils of government intervention.  I’ll explain this momentarily.

There have been periods in American history where there were high tariffs on imported goods (and some of these taxes still exist) which were meant to improve conditions for American businesses and consumers, but instead made things worse.  The free market is all about competition, and tariffs are essentially meant to kill competition.  Not only do tariffs on imports cause many American producers to lose their incentive to produce high quality goods at low prices (because without the competition they know they have their consumers by the throat), but often times foreign countries retaliate.  Because our high taxes make it harder for them to sell their countries’ products in America, they in turn set super high tariffs to punish American producers.  Therefore, the quality of goods produced at home goes down, the prices of those low-quality goods goes up, and the quality of foreign goods which are often good quality is now super high.

Interventionism

This happened during the Great Depression, and both the Hoover and Roosevelt administrations have blood on their hands.  Both administrations, among many other anti-free market crimes, dramatically raised tariffs on foreign goods under the myth that it would boost American industry.  They also set minimum wage laws that were meant to protect incomes.  Well, guess what the tariffs DIDN’T do for our economy and job creation, and guess how foreign countries reacted to them.  Regarding the minimum wage laws, they made production more expensive and unmaintainable for producers, so instead of only having some pay cuts, they ended up having to lay off workers or just went under completely, thus laying off all workers.  Furthermore, small and medium-sized employers were no longer able to afford to hire people because they couldn’t pay X dollars per hour.  Removing the regulations and interventionist measures that strangle industry will ultimately make it less expensive to create jobs in America, and jobs will migrate back from the third world.

Because of the government stepping in to be the hero, business growth is stunted, and that stunted growth also stunted job creation, and things are more expensive for everyone.  Many big businesses will send lobbyists to the federal government because most of this is EXACTLY what they want.  They want to be able to charge higher prices for cheaply produced goods, and they want no foreign competition, especially not from foreigners who are probably making things better and selling them cheaper.  The one thing these greedy businesses DON’T see is that, while they’ll make a profit from their captive consumers in the short run, everyone gets poor in the long run and these businesses fail and end up having to be bailed out by the federal government. This is not what the free market ever intended.

For more on the evils of regulation, you can check out Frederic Bastiat’s book The Law, which talks about how government intervention and regulation empowers the two main forms of plunder: stupid greed and false philanthropy.  The producers getting lazy on the quality of their products because people can only afford to buy American falls under stupid greed.  The regulations and minimum wage laws and “job creation” bills, “consumer protection” bills, etc., fall under false philanthropy.  You can also see chapter 18 of Jeffery Tucker’s book Bourbon For Breakfast (chapter titled “How Free is the Free Market?”).  I also HIGHLY recommend chapters 1 and 2 of Kel Kelly’s book The Case For Legalizing Capitalism, which fully explain the consequences of government intervention on stateside producers as well as international trade (and this book is a lot of fun to read and easy to understand).  All three books can be downloaded in full and for free at Mises.org/books.

Continued in part 2: Bailouts, the Federal Reserve, and the Contender

VIDEO: West Wing Week: Dispatches from Asia

By Colleen Curtis

Welcome to West Wing Week, your guide to everything that happens at 1600 Pennslyvania Avenue. This week we are broadcasting dispatches from Vice President Joe Biden's trip through China, Mongolia and Japan.

In between meeting with world leaders and speaking with locals, the Vice President took in the sights, sounds and culture of the far east. Join the Vice President as he opens new channels of communication with China, gets to know Mongolian leaders and culture at a traditional Naadam festival and visits Japanese communities recovering from the March earthquake and tsunami before speaking to US troops in Tokyo and Hawaii.

Barack Obama and Hu Jintao

By Zach Foster

Many are puzzled and astonished by the flurry of information and rumors surrounding the President’s visits with Hu Jintao, President of the People’s Republic of China.  Democrats seem to be openly praising the President as a peace maker, while Republicans are very wary of this political courtship.  Some may evenly be using the President’s cross-visits with Hu Jintao as yet another convenient building block to further support their theory that the President is a Marxist-Leninist.

People are wary that Obama and Hu are trading military technologies and other sorts of things that make pacifists and gung-ho nationalists alike cringe.  However, no one seems to be taking in the big picture.  The President’s dialogue with the PRC continues a tradition dating back to President Nixon’s visit to Red China in 1972.  If Americans can manage to look past the ludicrous episode that was the Watergate scandal, they can remember that Nixon had some of the best foreign policy in American history.  The re-establishment of relations with Red China ensured that there would not be any further armed conflict between the United States and the PRC (Remember the U.S. had fought them in the Korean War, and Mao’s willingness to send his troops into the meat grinder is the only reason North Korea exists today).  It also further isolated the Soviet Union in the charade of Communist Internationalism, helping to bring about the eventual demise of the evil empire.

Yet, let us go back to those two words guaranteed to raise emotions: North Korea.  Yes, it’s old news that they sank the South Korean ship; yes, it’s old news that they shelled Yeonpyong Island and killed two ROK Marines and civilians.  Yes, it’s old news that the Red Dynasty in Korea has introduced its new leader Kim Jong Un.  This may come as a surprise to some, but alas, the North Korean leaders are thugs!  Though they are small, like an angry Chihuahua that keeps biting fingers and hands, they are a rabid dog that can cause damage even to the bigger dog that destroys it.  If we can look back to 1950-1953 and put two and two together to make four, we can come to the conclusion that the PRC hold’s North Korea’s leash.  The North Koreans know that if they lose the Chinese, they lose any assurance of survival.  Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un know they have the friendship of Hu Jintao, but now, so does Barack Obama.  If the President can get the Chinese to continue holding North Korea’s leash, then by all means, let the President carry on in the tradition of Nixonian foreign policy.

Is the Cold War Back On?

By Darrell Castle

Constitution Party Vice-Chairman

This is the week of the 50th anniversary of President Eisenhower’s famous speech in which he warned the nation to beware of what he called “the military industrial complex.” He was talking about the military leaders joining with leaders of the arms industry for the purpose of expanding their budgets in order to line their own pockets and greatly expand their power over American foreign policy.

President Eisenhower probably remembered the end of WWII, just 15 years before his speech, when the United States stood at the top of world power as no nation had ever stood before. With 12 million men under arms, the only nation with nuclear weapons and a proven disposition to use them, with Europe in ruins and the Soviet Union with millions of dead, who could challenge the United States?

But challenged we were: just five years later we were at war again in Korea, and the Soviet Union also had nuclear weapons. By the time of President Eisenhower’s speech in 1960, we were in a life or death struggle with the Soviet Union for global supremacy. Those of us who lived through that time remember the “missile gap” and the constant stories of how much better Soviet weapons were than ours and how if we didn’t fund, fund, fund, and build, build, build, our civilization would be dead, dead, dead. The entire “free world” depended on the American taxpayer.

The Soviet Union remained a faithful partner in the game until it finally imploded in 1989, but as luck would have it, Islamic fundamentalism was there to pick up the ball and carry it. Twenty years of fighting Islamic fundamentalism have certainly been rewarding for the players, but fighting a bunch of primitive people who live in caves and hovels makes it hard to justify building very many $350 million dollar plus (research and development factored in) F-22 Raptors, especially when the nation is bankrupt. The F-22 production line was, therefore, shut down after 187 were built.

Permanent war fighting has its own set of rewards, but it just doesn’t create the same zeal as a real big iron showdown against a legitimate technologically advanced country. For a short time it looked as if the players of “the great game,” as Zbigniew Brzezinski called it, would have to adjust to only permanent war against Islamic fundamentalism, but they are clever and resourceful.

Lo and behold, along comes China with the J-20 stealth fighter. We are told that China got its stealth technology from Russia which got it from us, but we are also told that most Russian technological systems are junk right now from lack of funding. China debuted its new fighter aircraft just in time for the summit between Chinese President Hu Jintao and U.S. President Barack Obama and at about the same time that China announced it was moving troops into North Korea. Oh how lucky can one group of people get! Look for the F-22 line to start up any day now, and, in addition, we have the Chinese in Korea again just like 50 years ago.

Well, it will be extremely interesting to see how President Obama handles the summit with China. I am confident that he will handle it as well as he did the START talks with the Russians. The “great game” goes on, but if the dollar loses its reserve status, as now appears inevitable, the players will have to find a way to pay for all their big iron.

Source: Constitution Party

Remarks by the First Lady at her “100K strong” State Visit Event

Howard University

Washington, D.C.

MRS. OBAMA:  Well, it is wonderful to be here.  Thank you.  Thank you so much.  I am very excited.

I want to start by thanking President Ribeau for that very kind introduction but more importantly for his leadership here at one of my favorite universities.  (Applause.)  

And I also want to acknowledge my counterpart here at Howard, your First Lady -- (applause) -- Dr. Paula Whetsel-Ribeau.  It is always nice to see her.  And she’s looking pretty good today, too, I might add.  (Laughter and applause.)

I also want to recognize Ambassador Chen and thank her for those wonderful remarks, the history of educational exchange between our countries.  It’s important to know. 

And I'd also like to acknowledge Mary Kaye Huntsman, the wife of our Ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman, for taking the time to join us here today.  Let’s give them both a wonderful round of applause.  (Applause.)

And finally, I want to thank all the folks here from the Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center -- (applause) -- for all their work to promote international study and exchange here at Howard.  So thank you all for the work you’re doing.  You’re setting a tremendous example.

So we’ve had a pretty busy morning at the White House.  As you know, we welcomed President Hu, the President of China, for an official state visit.  We are so very pleased to have this chance to return the hospitality that President Hu showed my husband during his trip to China a little over a year ago. 

Visits like these provide an important opportunity to strengthen ties, and to deepen bonds of understanding between our countries and our leaders.  But as you all know, that work doesn’t just happen at the White House or within the walls of the U.N.  It isn’t just about relationships between our governments and our presidents.  It’s also about relationships between our people –- between our business leaders, and our scientists, our educators, and particularly between our young people. 

That’s why, when we travel abroad, my husband and I just don’t visit palaces and parliaments.  We always visit schools and universities and we meet with students just like all of you -- (applause) -- because we believe strongly that young people like you can play a vital role in strengthening ties between people and nations all around the world. 

So the topic of today’s panel –- which is the importance of studying abroad, particularly in China –- you have to understand is a key component of this administration’s foreign policy agenda. 

Through the wonders of modern technology, our world has grown increasingly interconnected.  Ideas can cross oceans with the click of a button.  We can speak, and text, and email, and Skype, and all that other stuff you guys do with people in every corner of the globe.  Companies here in America can do business –- and compete with –- companies all over the world. 

And as a consequence, studying abroad isn’t just an important part of a well-rounded educational experience.  It’s also becoming increasingly important for success in the modern global economy.  Getting ahead in today’s workplaces isn’t just about the skills you bring from the classroom.  It’s also about the experience you have with the world beyond our borders -- with people, and languages, and cultures that are very different from our own. 

But let’s be clear: studying in countries like China is about so much more than just improving your own prospects in the global market.

The fact is, with every friendship you make, and every bond of trust you establish, you are shaping the image of America projected to the rest of the world.  That is so important.  So when you study abroad, you’re actually helping to make America stronger.

And these experiences also set the stage for young people all over the world to come together and work together to make our world stronger, because make no mistake about it, whether it’s climate change or terrorism, economic recovery or the spread of nuclear weapons, for the U.S. and China, the defining challenges of our time are shared challenges.  Neither of our countries can confront these alone.  The only way forward, the only way to solve these problems, is by working together. 

That’s why it is so important for more of our young people to live and study in each other’s countries.  That’s how, student by student, we develop that habit of cooperation, by immersing yourself in someone else’s culture, by sharing your stories and letting them share theirs, by taking the time to get past the stereotypes and misperceptions that too often divide us. 

That’s how you build that familiarity that melts away mistrust.  That’s how you begin to see yourselves in one another and realize how much we all share, no matter where we live. 

So the question today is, how do we provide that opportunity for more of our young people?   

Now, the good news is that we are headed in the right direction.  In recent years, we’ve seen a 50 percent increase in students studying in China.  And today, the highest number of exchange students in the U.S. are in China -- are from China.

But still, there are too many students here in the United States who don’t have that chance.  And some that do are reluctant to seize it.  Maybe they may feel like study abroad is something that only rich kids do, or maybe kids who go to certain colleges; they’re the only ones who do that.  They may hear those voices of doubt in their heads -- you know, the ones that say that, “Kids like me don’t do things like that,” or “How will this really be relevant in my life?”

Now, I say this because I understand these feelings.  I felt that same way back when I was in college.  I grew up in a blue-collar neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, and the idea of spending time abroad just never registered with me.  My brother and I were among the first in our families to go to college.  So, trust me, we were way more focused on getting in, getting through, and getting out -- (laughter and applause) -- than we were with finding opportunities that would broaden our horizons.   

And the truth is, with the high cost of college these days, many young people are struggling just to afford a regular semester of school -- (applause) -- let alone pay for the airline tickets and the living expenses to go halfway around the world.  

So we know that it’s not enough for us to simply encourage more people to study abroad.  We also need to make sure that they can actually afford it.

And that’s why, during this visit -- his visit to China, my husband announced the 100,000 Strong Initiative.  This is a new initiative to increase both the number -- and the diversity -- of young people from the U.S. studying in China.  And, today, we’re pleased to announce a series of new efforts that will bring us even closer to that goal. 

To start, Secretary Clinton, who’s been a tireless champion for this program, has just launched a “Double the Numbers Challenge.”  She’s asking college and university presidents to double the number of students who study in China.  And we’re placing a special emphasis on reaching Hispanic Serving Institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities like Howard.  (Applause.)  

To make it easier for students to meet this challenge, we’re launching a new Community College Mini-mester program, providing shorter-term, more affordable study abroad opportunities.  And the Chinese government is offering -- listen to this -- 10,000 scholarships to cover all in-country costs for American students and teachers who study in China.  (Applause.)   

To give more high school students the opportunity, right here the DC Center of Global Education and Leadership is creating weekend and after-school Mandarin classes for DC public school students, and they’ll be offering new opportunities for these same students to study in China during the summer.  That’s wonderful.  (Applause.)   

And, finally, to help oversee all these new programs and all these wonderful outreach efforts, the State Department has created a high-level federal advisory committee composed of prominent China experts and leaders in business, academic, and the non-profit worlds. 

So, we’re making some very good progress.  And I am proud of what we’re doing here because I know, I know, because of what I missed, the impact an opportunity like this can have on a young person’s life.  I know the growth it can spur, the passion it can spark, the sense of direction and purpose it can provide.

When reflecting on his time in China, Jason Williams, a graduate of Seattle Pacific University, said -- and this is a quote -- “I’ve come to understand the world as more complex, more interconnected, and more beautiful than I ever could have imagined.”

Nina Robinson, who attended School without Walls right here in D.C., described the sense of independence she gained from learning a new language and navigating a new city all on her own.  As she concluded simply -- and this is her quote -- “Not only was this trip an educational experience, but it was [a] life experience.”

And I can guarantee all of you that when you study abroad, you won’t just change your own life.  You’ll change the lives of every single person you come in contact with. 

President Kennedy once said about young people who come to study in the U.S. -- he said, “I think they teach more than they learn.”  And I think that’s true as well for young Americans who study abroad. 

As my husband once put it, “America has no better ambassadors to offer than our young people.”  You all are America’s true face to the world.  You show the world our energy and our optimism.  You show the world our decency and our openness and our compassion. 

So, we need you.  We need you out there taking some risks and doing some really hard things.  And that’s certainly true for the four ambassadors that we have on today’s panel.  These impressive young people have each spent time studying in China, and they have generously agreed to share their experiences with us today. 

So, with that, I will happily turn things over to Ann Stock, our Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, who will be leading our discussion. 

So I want to thank you all, as always.  I love coming to Howard.  (Applause.)  I love seeing you all.  (Applause.)  I am proud of every single one of you who have stepped outside of this comfort zone into another country.  Keep it up. 

I want to thank our panelists for joining us.  And I look forward to seeing many of you follow in their footsteps in the years ahead.  So, keep working hard.  Thank you all so much.  (Applause.)  

END

A Visit From His Excellency Hu Jintao, President of the People’s Republic of China

Today President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will welcome His Excellency Hu Jintao, President of the People’s Republic of China, for a state visit. Portions of the visit including the arrival ceremony, a joint press conference with President Obama and President Hu, and President Obama and President Hu's toasts at the State Dinner will be live streamed on the WhiteHouse.gov/live. 

President Barack Obama and President Hu Jintao of China begin their working dinner in the Old Family Dining Room of the White House, Jan. 18, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Remarks With Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi Before Their Meeting

SECRETARY CLINTON: Good afternoon. It’s once again a great pleasure for me to welcome the foreign minister. I’ve had the honor of working with him on a very regular basis ever since I became Secretary of State. We are preparing diligently for the upcoming state visit by President Hu Jintao. It’s very much anticipated and looked forward to. And both the minister and I feel a great sense of responsibility to ensure that it continues the positive, cooperative, comprehensive relationship between our two countries.

So again, Minster Yang, welcome.

FOREIGN MINISTER YANG: Thank you. Thank you, Madam Secretary, for your very warm remarks and very sincere remarks as well. And we would like to thank President Obama, thank Secretary Clinton, and thank all my American colleagues for working so hard with the Chinese side for the preparation of the state visit to be paid by President Hu Jintao to the United States later this month. This visit will occur against the ever-evolving international situation and it will happen during the first year of the second decade of this great new century and will happen on the 40th anniversary of the opening of China-U.S. relationship.

I think China-U.S. relationship is on the right track. We are confronted with common challenges and we are enjoying common opportunities. It is in the best interests of China and the United States and the world for us to continue to work better so that our relationship will bring more benefits to both our two peoples and to the people of the world.

I believe that the preparation is proceeding very well, and my job here is to do my little part for a successful visit. And I thank the American Government, particularly the President and Madam Secretary and Mr. Donilon for their warm hospitality, and let’s all work hard for an even more beautiful tomorrow of China-U.S. relationship.

Thank you, Madam Secretary.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you very much, Minister. Thank you all very much.

Readout of the President’s Call with President Hu of China

Tonight (December 5), the President called China’s President Hu Jintao to discuss North Korea.  The two Presidents discussed our common interest in peace and stability in Northeast Asia and the priority of ensuring the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.  They agreed on the importance of the United States and China working together toward these shared goals.  The President emphasized the need for North Korea to halt its provocative behavior and to meet its international obligations, including its commitments in the 2005 Six Party Joint Declaration.  The President condemned the North Korean shelling of a South Korean island on November 23 and its pursuit of a uranium enrichment program in defiance of its obligations.  He urged China to work with us and others to send a clear message to North Korea that its provocations are unacceptable.  The President also highlighted the American commitment to the security of our allies in the region.

President Obama also raised Iran.  He stressed the importance of P5+1 unity in order to address Iran's nuclear program.