President Obama pledged U.S. financial support Tuesday to help Greece contend with its mounting debt crisis and to prevent default. Obama, whose political prospects for 2012 are coming into question due to persistently high unemployment rates destroying the middle class and ballooning U.S. debt, sees Europe’s debt as a major factor.
After a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Obama stressed that Germany should take a leading role in the economic issue. “I’m confident that Germany’s leadership, along with other key actors in Europe, will help us arrive at a path for Greece to return to growth, for this debt to become more manageable,” Obama said. “But it’s going to require some patience and some time. And we have pledged to cooperate fully in working through these issues, both on a bilateral basis but also through international and financial institutions like the IMF.”
“America’s economic growth depends on a sensible resolution of this issue,” he added. “It would be disastrous for us to see an uncontrolled spiral and default in Europe because that could trigger a whole range of other events.”
President Obama sees the economic meltdown in Europe as the cause of America’s own financial woes.