/ NEWS / WEDNESDAY, JULY 14, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
POLITICS
President visits Kansas City
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
Speech focuses on projects and green technology
BY TIM DWYER
tdwyer@kansan.com
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Barack Obama stepped out from behind a barricade, white shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows and lavender tie loosened just a bit around his neck, and told the 50 employees of Smith Electric Vehicles he was sorry.
President Barack Obama visited Smith Electric Vehicles in Kansas City,Mo., Thursday afternoon. The president toured the company's plant and gave remarks on the American economy.
It was no grand-scale apology —
he simply didn't hit the right cue for the musical fanfare that typically accompanies his entrance and walked to the stage in silence - but the apologetic tone lingered briefly as he talked about the current state of the American economy.
Obama also acknowledged the difficulties some families faced with "stagnant" incomes and rising tuition costs.
"We've gone through as bad an economic situation as we've had since the Great Depression," he said. "This recession was the culmination of a decade of irresponsibility, a decade that fell like a sledgehammer on middle class families."
His speech centered, however, on projects like Smith Electric Vehicles, which benefited from a $32 million dollar government grant and is now on pace to double its work force by the end of the year.
"Our goal has never been to create
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