Remarks by the President on Preventing Gun Violence in Minneapolis, MN

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

Special Operations Center
Minneapolis Police Department
Minneapolis, Minnesota

1:46 P.M. CST

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody.  Please have a seat.  Have a seat. 

Well, it is good to be back in Minnesota.  (Applause.)  It is good to be back.  Although I was commenting that they don't really have winter in Washington, D.C.  (Laughter.)  So I’ve gotten soft over these last four years.  When I was in Chicago, this was nothing.  Now it’s something.  (Laughter.)  But I’m grateful for all of you being here today.  I want to thank Chief Harteau and the entire Minneapolis Police Department for having me here today. 

There are a number of other people that I just want to acknowledge here.  First of all, a wonderful man and one of America’s greatest public servants is here -- Walter Mondale, former Vice President.  (Applause.)  Your outstanding Governor, Mark Dayton, is here.  (Applause.)  Two great Mayors -- Mayor R.T. Rybak of Minneapolis, and Mayor Chris Coleman of St. Paul.  (Applause.)  And your outstanding congressional delegation -- Senator Amy Klobuchar -- (applause) -- Senator Al Franken --  (applause) -- Representative Keith Ellison -- (applause) -- and Representative Betty McCullough.  (Applause.) 

And I should acknowledge my outstanding Attorney General -- what’s your name again?  (Laughter.)  He does a great job every single day, and I could not be prouder of Eric Holder for his leadership on this issue in particular.  (Applause.)

Now, I just had a chance to sit down with some local police officers but also community leaders, as well as folks who themselves had been victims or whose families had been victims of gun violence, to hear their ideas about how we can protect our kids and address the broader epidemic of gun violence in this country.  Because if we’re serious about preventing the kinds of tragedies that happened in Newtown, or the tragedies that happen every day in places like Chicago or Philadelphia or Minneapolis, then law enforcement and other community leaders must have a seat at the table. 

All the folks standing here behind me today, they’re the ones on the front line of this fight.  They see the awful consequences -- the lives lost, the families shattered.  They know what works, they know what doesn’t work, and they know how to get things done without regard for politics.

So we've had a very productive discussion.  And one of the things that struck me was that even though those who were sitting around that table represented very different communities, from big cities to small towns, they all believe it’s time to take some basic, common-sense steps to reduce gun violence.  We may not be able to prevent every massacre or random shooting.  No law or set of laws can keep our children completely safe.  But if there’s even one thing we can do, if there's just one life we can save, we've got an obligation to try.

That’s been the philosophy here in Minneapolis.  A few years back, you suffered a spike in violent crime involving young people.  So this city came together.  You launched a series of youth initiatives that have reduced the number of young people injured by guns by 40 percent -- 40 percent.  So when it comes to protecting our children from gun violence, you’ve shown that progress is possible.  We've still got to deal with the 60 percent that remains, but that 40 percent means lives saved -- parents whose hearts aren't broken, communities that aren't terrorized and afraid.  

We don’t have to agree on everything to agree it’s time to do something.  (Applause.)  That's my main message here today.

And each of us has a role to play.  A few weeks ago, I took action on my own to strengthen background checks, to help schools get more resource officers if they want them, and to direct the Centers for Disease Control to study the causes of violence.  Because for a long time, even looking at the evidence was considered somehow tough politics.  And so Congress had taken the approach that, we don't want to know.  Well, that's never the answer to a problem -- is not wanting to know what is going on. 

So we've been able to take some steps through administrative action.  But while these steps are important, real and lasting change also requires Congress to do its part and to do it soon, not to wait.  The good news is that we’re starting to see a consensus emerge about the action Congress needs to take. 

The vast majority of Americans -- including a majority of gun owners -- support requiring criminal background checks for anyone trying to buy a gun.  (Applause.)  So right now, Democrats and Republicans in the Senate are working on a bill that would ban anyone from selling a gun to somebody legally prohibited from owning one.  That’s common sense.  There’s no reason we can’t get that done.  That is not a liberal idea or a conservative idea; it's not a Democratic or Republican idea -- that is a smart idea. We want to keep those guns out of hands of folks who shouldn’t have them.

Senators from both parties have also come together and proposed a bill that would crack down on people who buy guns only to turn them around and sell them to criminals.  It’s a bill that would keep more guns off the street and out of the hands of people with the intent of doing harm.  (Applause.) 

And, by the way, in addition to reducing violence on the streets, it would also make life a lot easier and a lot safer for the people standing behind me here today.  (Applause.) 

We shouldn’t stop there.  We should restore the ban on military-style assault weapons and a 10-round limit for magazines.  (Applause.)  And that deserves a vote in Congress -- because weapons of war have no place on our streets, or in our schools, or threatening our law enforcement officers.  Our law enforcement officers should never be out-gunned on the streets.  (Applause.) 

But we also know that if we're going to solve the problem of gun violence, then we've got to look at root causes as well.  That means we should make it easier for young people to get access to mental health treatment.  (Applause.)  We should help communities like this one keep more cops on the beat.  (Applause.)  And since Congress hasn't confirmed a director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in six years, they should confirm your U.S. Attorney from Minnesota, Todd Jones, who is here today and who I've nominated for this post.  (Applause.)

These are common-sense measures supported by Democrats, Republicans and independents, and many of them are responsible gun owners.  And we’re seeing members of Congress from both parties put aside their differences and work together to make many of them a reality. 

But if there’s one thing that I’ve learned over the last four years, it’s that you can’t count on anything in Washington until it’s done.  And nothing is done yet.  There’s been a lot of talk, a lot of conversation, a lot of publicity, but we haven't actually taken concrete steps yet. 

Last week, the Senate held its first hearing since Newtown on the need to address gun violence and the best way to move forward, and the first people to offer testimony were Gabby Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly.  They talked about how a complex problem like this has no single solution, but if we still had a 10-round limit on magazines, for example, the gunman who shot Gabby may never have been able to inflict 33 gunshot wounds in 15 seconds.  Fifteen seconds, 33 rounds fired.  Some of the six people who lost their lives that day in Tucson might still be with us. 

Now, changing the status quo is never easy.  This will be no exception.  The only way we can reduce gun violence in this country is if the American people decide it’s important.  If you decide it’s important.  If parents and teachers, police officers and pastors, hunters and sportsmen, Americans of every background stand up and say this time it’s got to be different -- we’ve suffered too much pain to stand by and do nothing. 

And by the way, it’s really important for us to engage with folks who don’t agree with us on everything, because we hope that we can find some areas where we do agree.  And we have to recognize that there are going to be regional differences and geographic differences.  The experience that people have of guns in an urban neighborhood may not be the same as in a rural community. 

But we know, for example, from polling that universal background checks are universally supported just about, by gun owners.  The majority of gun owners, overwhelming majority of gun owners think that’s a good idea.  So if we’ve got lobbyists in Washington claiming to speak for gun owners saying something different, we need to go to the source and reach out to people directly.  We can’t allow those filters to get in the way of common sense. 

That’s why I need everybody who’s listening to keep the pressure on your member of Congress to do the right thing.  Ask them if they support common-sense reforms like requiring universal background checks, or restoring the ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.  Tell them there’s no legislation to eliminate all guns; there’s no legislation being proposed to subvert the Second Amendment.  Tell them specifically what we’re talking about -- things that the majority of Americans, when they’re asked, support. 

And tell them now is the time for action.  That we’re not going to wait until the next Newtown or the next Aurora.  We’re not going to wait until after we lose more innocent Americans on street corners all across the country.  We’re not going to wait until somebody else’s father or son are murdered.
Some of the officers here today know what it’s like to look into the eyes of a parent or a grandparent, a brother or a sister who has just lost a loved one to an act of violence; to see the pain and the heartbreak from wondering why this precious life, this piece of your heart was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  It changes you.  You’re not the same afterwards. 

And obviously whatever that experience is like is nothing compared to the experience that those families are actually going through.  And it makes you realize that if there’s even one thing we can do to keep our children and our community safe, if there’s just one step we can take to prevent more families from feeling what they feel after they’ve lost a loved one, we’ve got an obligation to take that step.  We’ve got an obligation to give our police officers and our communities the tools they need to make some of the same progress that’s been made here in Minneapolis. 

There won’t be perfect solutions.  We’re not going to save every life.  But we can make a difference.  And that’s our responsibility as Americans.  And that’s what I’ll do every single day as long I’ve got the honor of serving as your President.   

So thank you.  God bless you.  God bless these United States of America.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  (Applause.)

END 
2:02 P.M. CST

President Obama explains that while our economy is headed in the right direction, looming automatic budget cuts will cost jobs and slow down our recovery.

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4 Things The New Congressional Budget Office Projections Show Us About The Economy

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its latest budget projections today, which show that the U.S. has made substantial progress towards getting its deficit and debt under control. However, the flip side of that reality is that CBO projects economic growth will be sluggish for the next several years, meaning that unemployment will only come down slowly. Here are the four biggest takeaways from the report:

1. The deficit has been reduced by a lot. As Center for American Progress Director of Tax and Budget Policy Michael Linden noted, in August 2010, CBO’s “alternative fiscal scenario” projected a deficit in 2020 of 7.8 percent of GDP. Now it projects that deficit will be 4.7 percent of GDP. The difference between the projected 2013-2020 deficit in 2010 and that same projection today adds up to $4.5 trillion in deficit reduction.

2. The debt is stabilized. Thanks to the fiscal cliff deal and previous budget agreements, most of the country’s debt problem is solved. The CBO’s report shows debt will now peak at 77.7 percent of GDP in 2014, then drop to 73.1 percent in 2018, then rise back to 76 percent in 2022. (See graph below.) According to the Economic Policy Institute, flattening out that second rise from 2018 to 2022 will only require $670 billion in additional deficit reduction — $580 billion in actual policy savings, plus $90 billion in resulting interest savings. That’s less than half the $1.5 trillion in additional deficit reduction President Obama is calling for.

3. Austerity is killing the recovery. The CBO anticipates that economic growth will be slow this year, which “reflects a combination of ongoing improvement in underlying economic factors and fiscal tightening that has already begun or is scheduled to occur — including the expiration of a 2 percentage-point cut in the Social Security payroll tax, an increase in tax rates on income above certain thresholds, and scheduled automatic reductions in federal spending.” Large austerity efforts in Europe have been stifling economic growth and causing continued economic contractions.

4. Jobs aren’t coming back fast. Due to a pronounced output gap — the gap between what the economy is producing and what it could be producing (shown below) — unemployment will remain elevated for several years. CBO projects that the unemployment rate “falls from 8.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013 to 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015 and then declines gradually to 5.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018.”

The report clearly shows that, despite the ongoing deficit hysteria in Washington, the far more pressing problem is growth and jobs.

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DAY'S END ROUNDUP

FROM THE BLOGS:

Drones targeting Americans abroad raises questions
Hot Air's Ed Morrissey highlights an Obama administration memo arguing the legal case for drone strikes on Americans.

Obama will never please the 'Skeeters'
CNN contributor LZ Granderson says President Obama should stop trying to appease his critics with photographic evidence.

Fixing US foreign relations
Right Turn's Jennifer Rubin writes an open letter to Secretary of State John Kerry: "Republicans are rooting for you."

GOP Senators obstruct CFPB
Pat Garofalo of Think Progress notes that 43 senators signed a letter vowing opposition to any new nominee to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

OTHER NEWS SOURCES

White House playing defense
The Hill's Amie Parnes reports on White House press secretary Jay Carney's defense of the targeting of Americans with drone strikes as "fully consistent" with the Constitution.

Pentagon extends benefits to same-sex couples
The Pentagon will announce later this week that military same-sex spouses will receive some additional benefits. The Hill's Justin Sink reports.

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Remarks by the President

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

1:16 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon, everybody. 

I wanted to say a few words about the looming deadlines and decisions that we face on our budget and on our deficit -- and these are decisions that will have real and lasting impacts on the strength and pace of our recovery.

Economists and business leaders from across the spectrum have said that our economy is poised for progress in 2013.  And we’ve seen signs of this progress over the last several weeks. Home prices continue to climb.  Car sales are at a five-year high.  Manufacturing has been strong.  And we’ve created more than six million jobs in the last 35 months. 

But we’ve also seen the effects that political dysfunction can have on our economic progress.  The drawn-out process for resolving the fiscal cliff hurt consumer confidence.  The threat of massive automatic cuts have already started to affect business decisions.  So we’ve been reminded that while it’s critical for us to cut wasteful spending, we can’t just cut our way to prosperity.  Deep, indiscriminate cuts to things like education and training, energy and national security will cost us jobs, and it will slow down our recovery.  It’s not the right thing to do for the economy; it’s not the right thing for folks who are out there still looking for work. 

And the good news is this doesn’t have to happen.  For all the drama and disagreements that we’ve had over the past few years, Democrats and Republicans have still been able to come together and cut the deficit by more than $2.5 trillion through a mix of spending cuts and higher rates on taxes for the wealthy.  A balanced approach has achieved more than $2.5 trillion in deficit reduction.  That’s more than halfway towards the $4 trillion in deficit reduction that economists and elected officials from both parties believe is required to stabilize our debt.  So we've made progress.  And I still believe that we can finish the job with a balanced mix of spending cuts and more tax reform. 

The proposals that I put forward during the fiscal cliff negotiations in discussions with Speaker Boehner and others are still very much on the table.  I just want to repeat:  The deals that I put forward, the balanced approach of spending cuts and entitlement reform and tax reform that I put forward are still on the table.   

I’ve offered sensible reforms to Medicare and other entitlements, and my health care proposals achieve the same amount of savings by the beginning of the next decade as the reforms that have been proposed by the bipartisan Bowles-Simpson fiscal commission.  These reforms would reduce our government’s bill -- (laughter.)  What’s up, cameraman?  (Laughter.)  Come on, guys.  (Laughter.)  They’re breaking my flow all the time.  (Laughter.) 
These reforms would reduce our government’s bills by reducing the cost of health care, not shifting all those costs on to middle-class seniors, or the working poor, or children with disabilities, but nevertheless, achieving the kinds of savings that we're looking for. 

But in order to achieve the full $4 trillion in deficit reductions that is the stated goal of economists and our elected leaders, these modest reforms in our social insurance programs have to go hand-in-hand with a process of tax reform, so that the wealthiest individuals and corporations can’t take advantage of loopholes and deductions that aren’t available to most Americans. 
Leaders in both parties have already identified the need to get rid of these loopholes and deductions.  There’s no reason why we should keep them at a time when we’re trying to cut down on our deficit.  And if we are going to close these loopholes, then there’s no reason we should use the savings that we obtain and turn around and spend that on new tax breaks for the wealthiest or for corporations.  If we’re serious about paying down the deficit, the savings we achieve from tax reform should be used to pay down the deficit, and potentially to make our businesses more competitive. 

Now, I think this balanced mix of spending cuts and tax reform is the best way to finish the job of deficit reduction.  The overwhelming majority of the American people -- Democrats and Republicans, as well as independents -- have the same view.  And both the House and the Senate are working towards budget proposals that I hope reflect this balanced approach.  Having said that, I know that a full budget may not be finished before March 1st, and, unfortunately, that's the date when a series of harmful automatic cuts to job-creating investments and defense spending -- also known as the sequester -- are scheduled to take effect.

So if Congress can’t act immediately on a bigger package, if they can't get a bigger package done by the time the sequester is scheduled to go into effect, then I believe that they should at least pass a smaller package of spending cuts and tax reforms that would delay the economically damaging effects of the sequester for a few more months until Congress finds a way to replace these cuts with a smarter solution. 

There is no reason that the jobs of thousands of Americans who work in national security or education or clean energy, not to mention the growth of the entire economy should be put in jeopardy just because folks in Washington couldn’t come together to eliminate a few special interest tax loopholes or government programs that we agree need some reform.

Congress is already working towards a budget that would permanently replace the sequester.  At the very least, we should give them the chance to come up with this budget instead of making indiscriminate cuts now that will cost us jobs and significantly slow down our recovery.   

So let me just repeat:  Our economy right now is headed in the right direction and it will stay that way as long as there aren’t any more self-inflicted wounds coming out of Washington.  So let’s keep on chipping away at this problem together, as Democrats and Republicans, to give our workers and our businesses the support that they need to thrive in the weeks and months ahead. 

Thanks very much.  And I know that you're going to have a whole bunch of other questions.  And that's why I hired this guy, Jay Carney -- (laughter) -- to take those questions. 

Thank you, everybody.

END               
1:23 P.M. EST

President Obama explains that while our economy is headed in the right direction, looming automatic budget cuts will cost jobs and slow down our recovery.

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Statement by the President on United States Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan

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For Immediate Release February 01, 2013 Statement by the President on United States Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan

I want to thank Mark Sullivan for nearly 30 years of service to our nation at the United States Secret Service, a tenure that saw the agency protect five first families including my own.  Mark started out in the Detroit Field Office before joining the Presidential Protective Division.  And since 2006, as Director, Mark has led the Agency with  incredible dedication and integrity.  The Secret Service is best known for protecting our nation’s leaders, but every day they also protect the American people.  From securing large events such as Presidential Inaugurations to safeguarding our financial system, the men and women of the agency perform their mission with professionalism and dedication.  That is a testament to Mark and his steadfast leadership, which will be missed.  Michelle and I wish him all the best.

Blog posts on this issue February 05, 2013 3:00 PM ESTPresident Obama Makes a Statement on the Sequester

President Obama explains that while our economy is headed in the right direction, looming automatic budget cuts will cost jobs and slow down our recovery.

February 05, 2013 12:48 PM ESTAnnouncing the State of the Union White House Social

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February 05, 2013 10:58 AM ESTAnnouncing We the People 2.0 and a White House Hackathon

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Gallup: Key immigration-reform proposals hold broad support

Two immigration reform proposals — a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants and increased border security spending — have strong support among the public, a Gallup survey found Tuesday.

Seventy-two percent of those surveyed said illegal immigrants presently living in the U.S. should have an opportunity to acquire citizenship if they meet certain requirements, and 25 percent said they should not.

Sixty-eight percent also supported increased government spending on border security, while only 29 percent were opposed.

While there is some variation between Republicans and Democrats surveyed, both proposals enjoyed majority support from members of both parties.

Fifty-nine percent of Republicans said they supported a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, versus 90 percent among Democrats. And on the question of increased spending on border security, 79 percent of Republicans said they supported the idea, compared to 64 percent of Democrats.

A bipartisan group of Senate lawmakers have proposed a framework that entails increased security measures at the border and a path to citizenship that doesn’t allow illegal immigrants to leapfrog immigrants who have already applied to come to the U.S. legally.

GOP leaders, including Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), have said they hope to act on immigration reform, but rank-and-file House Republicans are skeptical of proposals to grant citizenship, which they call “amnesty."

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President Wants 'Smart Spending Reductions'

 Highlight transcript below to create clipTranscript:  Print  |  Email Go  Click text to jump within videoMon 04 Feb 13 | 04:10 PM ET Former Sen. Judd Gregg, (R-NH), explains what is a "smart" spending cut. Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, weighs in.

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President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individual to a key Administration post:

• Janet L. LaBreck – Commissioner, Rehabilitation Services Administration, Department of Education

President Obama also announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key Administration posts:

• Jonathan Safran Foer – Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council
• Robert Listenbee, Jr. – Administrator, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Department of Justice
• James Stock – Member, Council of Economic Advisors

President Obama said, “I am pleased to announce that these experienced and committed individuals have agreed to join this Administration, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”

President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individual to a key Administration post:

Janet L. LaBreck, Nominee for Commissioner, Rehabilitation Services Administration, Department of Education
Janet L. LaBreck is the Commissioner of the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind (MCB), a position she has held since 2007.  Ms. LaBreck joined the MCB in 1985 as Consumer Advocate.  She has served in a number of positions at the MCB since then, including Independent Living Coordinator, Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, and Regional Director of Central Massachusetts.  Since 2005, she has worked as an Adjunct Professor at Assumption College, where she teaches courses in rehabilitation of the blind and case management in rehabilitation.  She was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the New England College of Optometry.  She received a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts and an M.Ed. from Springfield College.

President Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key Administration posts:

Jonathan Safran Foer, Appointee for Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council
Jonathan Safran Foer is a professor in the Graduate Creative Writing Program at New York University.  He is also an author of numerous publications, including the New York Times bestsellers Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Everything is Illuminated, which received the National Jewish Book Award and the Guardian First Book Award.  He was a visiting professor at Yale University in 2008, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Farm Forward.  In 2010, he was selected as one of The New Yorker’s “20 Under 40” writers to watch.  Mr. Foer received a B.A. from Princeton University.

Robert Listenbee, Jr., Appointee for Administrator, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Department of Justice
Robert Listenbee,  Jr. is Chief of the Juvenile Unit of the Defender Association of Philadelphia, a position he has held since 1997.  He has also been a trial lawyer at the Defender Association of Philadelphia since 1986.  Previously, from 1991 to 1997, Mr. Listenbee was Assistant Chief of the Juvenile Unit.  He is a member of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Committee of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, which advises the Governor of Pennsylvania on juvenile justice policy.  Mr. Listenbee serves on the policy committees of the National Legal Aid & Defender Association and the National Center for Juvenile Justice. He serves on the advisory board of the National Juvenile Defender Center and is a board member and former President of the Juvenile Defenders Association of Pennsylvania.  Mr. Listenbee received a B.A. from Harvard University and a J.D. from the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. James Stock, Appointee for Member, Council of Economic Advisers
Dr. James Stock is the Chief Economist for the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), a position he has held since 2012.  Before joining CEA, he worked at Harvard University, where he has held a number of positions since 1983, including service as the Harold Hitchings Burbank Professor of Political Economy with a dual appointment in the Kennedy School of Government.  In addition, Dr. Stock chaired the Harvard Economics Department from 2006 to 2009.  He is formerly a member of the Academic Advisory Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the National Bureau of Economic Research Business Cycle Dating Committee, and the Massachusetts Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors.  He received a B.S. from Yale University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

President Obama explains that while our economy is headed in the right direction, looming automatic budget cuts will cost jobs and slow down our recovery.

February 05, 2013 12:48 PM EST

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IMF Chief: ‘Unless We Take Action On Climate Change, Future Generations Will Be Roasted, Toasted, Fried And Grilled’

Another day, another icon of the global financial system becomes a climate hawk.

You may recall World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said of the climate crisis: “If there is no action soon, the future will become bleak.”

Turns out IMF managing director Christine Lagarde is also a climate hawk — and she’s the former conservative finance minister of France.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, she said, “the real wild card in the pack” of economic pivot points is “Increasing vulnerability from resource scarcity and climate change, with the potential for major social and economic disruption.” She called climate change “the greatest economic challenge of the 21st century.”

Ms. Lagarde concluded with a call for a new kind of economic growth. “So we need growth, but we also need green growth that respects environmental sustainability. Good ecology is good economics. This is one reason why getting carbon pricing right and removing fossil fuel subsidies are so important.”

In response to a question from the audience, she said: “Unless we take action on climate change, future generations will be roasted, toasted, fried and grilled.”

Perhaps the IMF can release an analysis as blunt as the stunning World Bank Climate Report from November that concluded: “A 4°C [7°F] world can, and must, be avoided” to avert “devastating” impacts. Its 2012 release, “Fiscal Policy to Mitigate Climate Change: A Guide for Policymakers,” was kind of a yawner.

Then we need to see the IMF actually focus on environmentally sustainable growth, as opposed to say, our currently unsustainable trajectory, which will roast, toast, fry and grill countless future generations.

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