Washington:
He talks tough when it comes to rescuing the US economy from its current mess, saying CEOs should forget their 'fancy drapes' and budget papers would stop looking like laundry lists, but President Barack Obama may need to brush up his knowledge of History.
In his first address to joint session of the US Congress on Tuesday, the President blurted out that America was the nation that invented the automobile industry, although the US Library of Congress feels Karl Benz of Germany should get the credit.
"The nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it," Obama roared, while promising all the genuine help to struggling carmakers.
The Library of Congress, which serves as the research arm for the Congress and is the world's largest library, believes there was no "straightforward answer" to the question of who invented the automobile. "If we had to give credit to one inventor, it would probably be Karl Benz from Germany."
While Benz is credited with creating the first true automobile in 1885/1886, Americans can only get credit for mass production of cars, according to various information available on automotive invention.
However, except for the apparently erroneous remarks about automotive invention, observers believe Obama has made largely a scathing attack on the way the affairs are being conducted in the various parts of the US economy.
Even for the auto makers, Obama said that "We should not, and will not, protect them from their own bad practices", although he promised all the help to bring the glory back to the industry as millions of jobs depend on it.
While his predecessor George Bush often left people in splits with his remarks like the one on 'war on terror' where he said a country was either with the US or against it, Obama gave the people something to think about.
"If you have not been personally affected by this recession, you probably know someone who has," he said. For crisis-hit banks he said, they would be held fully accountable for assistance they receive and "this time, CEOs won't be able to use tax-payer money to pad their paychecks or buy fancy drapes or disappear on a private jet. Those days are over."
He vowed to not "spend a single penny for the purpose of rewarding a single Wall Street executive." On the government assistance for troubled banks, Obama said: "I know how unpopular it is to be seen as helping banks right now... (but) It is not about helping banks -- it is
about helping people."
Taking note of critical debates and difficult decisions having been previously put off for some other time on some other day, Obama said: "Well that day of reckoning has arrived, and the time to take charge of our future is here."
