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Obama Meets the Press; China, the World's New Civil Engineer?
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Obama Meets the Press; China, the World's New Civil Engineer?

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With Republicans claiming he's not doing enough to reduce the deficit, President Obama struck back today. We hear excerpts from his first White House press conference in three months. In the second half of our program, the San Francisco Bay Bridge is being rebuilt in part in China, by Chinese workers using advanced technology. What about the President's call for infrastructure construction to bolster America's economy? Is the US falling behind in global competitiveness?

Banner image: Aerial view of San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge retrofit project, © California Department of Transportation

Making News

President Obama Chides Republicans ()

At today's White House news conference, President Obama said that to reduce the deficit, he'll make spending cuts that hurt his political base. He chided Republicans for their reluctance to increase taxes on the rich. The President said failing to raise the debt limit by August 2 will force choices between paying interest on bonds or social security and veterans' benefits. He also talked about Libya, Afghanistan and infrastructure rebuilding to jump- start the economy. We hear excerpts from his first White House press conference in three months.

 

 

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Main Topic

Is China Becoming the World's New Civil Engineer? ()

Once again today, President Obama insisted that infrastructure, especially high-speed rail, will be essential to getting the US economy back on track. But an essential part of America's transportation infrastructure, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, is already being rebuilt by Chinese workers using Chinese technology. In a Shanghai manufacturing complex, workers are assembling two dozen giant steel modules, each with a roadbed segment half the size of a football field. Giant ships then take them 6500 miles to California, where American workers fit them into the eastern span of the new bridge. Can the US compete on US soil and in the rest of the world?

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