Politics & Government

Obama Lands in Los Angeles for Jay Leno Appearance, Overnight Stay

Some traffic delays are expected as President Barack Obama visits Los Angeles.

By John Schreiber and City News Service

President Barack Obama and Air Force One touched down at Los Angeles International Airport shortly before 3:30 p.m. Tuesday to kick off an overnight stay that includes an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. 

Obama was greeted on the tarmac by new Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti, who snapped a cell phone camera of the Obama. The two briefly spoke in front of Air Force One before Obama boarded a helicopter for Burbank. 

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Following the meeting Garcetti told Patch that it was nice to meet with the president, however brief. 

"I thanked him for taking a helicopter instead of clogging up traffic," Garcetti said. "I have always encouraged him in the past to do all these meetings at the airport so he doesn't snarl traffic," he joked. 

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Garcetti also said he spoke with the President on the tarmac about immigration reform, the housing market and how they relate to Los Angeles. 

"We have certainly taken our friendship with the President and made sure he is focused on L.A.," Garcetti said.

Obama is expected to discuss his proposals to simplify the tax code for businesses and increase federal spending on infrastructure and community colleges during the afternoon taping of the late-night talk show.

What Obama last Tuesday called a "grand bargain" with Republicans would eliminate provisions of the tax code he said encourages companies to shift jobs overseas; establishes a top corporate tax rate of 28 percent, down from 35 percent; provides incentives for businesses to invest in new plants by allowing them to expense up to $1 million for investments; and includes a minimum tax on foreign earnings to discourage locating production overseas or shifting profits abroad.

The changes to the tax code would be revenue neutral over the long term but also create one-time revenues that would be used to reduce deferred maintenance on highways, bridges, transit systems and airports; create a National Infrastructure Bank and bonds program encouraging private investments; establish up to 45 manufacturing innovation institutes and fund training at community colleges for jobs in high-growth and high-demand industries.

"We should be doing everything we can as a country to create more good jobs that pay good wages," Obama said in a speech last Tuesday at the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Ryan Mahoney, a regional press secretary for the Republican National Committee, said Obama "is simply regurgitating and repackaging dated proposals that haven't put the economy back on track."

"If President Obama really wants to get the economy moving again, he'd be better off working toward bipartisan solutions rather than giving speeches that offer nothing new," Mahoney told City News Service.

A Los Angeles Times editorial said Obama "would be better off presenting new ideas than just repackaging old ones and hoping for a groundswell of public support to change GOP minds."

"Although the combination was novel, Obama had floated all of those proposals over the last two yeas and they seem unlikely to receive a more positive response this time," said the editorial published Wednesday.

"Frankly, the leaders of Congress' tax-writing committees are far ahead of the president in pursuing bipartisan, comprehensive tax reform, not just for corporations, but for all taxpayers."

Edward Leamer, a professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, called the infrastructure and community college elements of Obama's proposal "very welcome" and overdue.

"There is an ongoing debate about what kind of medicine we need in order to get this recovery going," Leamer said. "There are fiscal policy champions and monetary policy champions. There are very few champions of Main Street issues, which are workforce development. The infrastructure and community colleges are much more oriented toward Main Street than fiscal or monetary policy."

Leamer also praised the proposed changes to the tax code, but said all the elements of the "grand bargain" would not significantly reduce unemployment "in the foreseeable future."

"As a nation we just have to sort of suck it up and realize that we've got a big problem in workforce development and it doesn't have a speedy cure," Leamer said. "We're going to have make some serious changes in the way that we get our kids going to school and what happens inside those schools in order to have a workforce that's going to be employed."

The "Tonight Show" appearance is part of a three-city, two-day western trip that will begin today in Arizona, where  Obama will tour a construction company and deliver a speech the White House described as laying out a plan to restore security to home ownership.

The trip will conclude Wednesday with a visit to Camp Pendleton in northern San Diego County, where Obama will visit with military families and deliver a speech to troops.

The "Tonight Show" appearance will be Obama's fourth as president. He is the only sitting president to have appeared on the NBC late-night talk show, which premiered in 1954.

This will be Obama's 15th trip to the Los Angeles area since taking office and just the third that does not include a speech at a political fundraiser. He has made 10 trips to the region solely for fundraising. 

Traffic Delays and Road Closures

Officials never provide specific details about routes or security operations surrounding presidential visits, but the Los Angeles Police Department provided a list of areas motorists should avoid during the visit. According to the LAPD, motorists should avoid the following areas between 2:30 and 6:30 p.m.:

  • Hollywood Way and San Fernando Road
  • Hollywood Way and Burbank Boulevard
  • Hollywood Way and Alameda Avenue
  • West Olive Avenue and Buena Vista
  • Sherman Way and Hayvenhurst Avenue
  • Victory Boulevard and Canoga Avenue
  • Canoga Avenue and Burbank Boulevard

Because Obama will be spending the night in the Southland before flying to Camp Pendleton in San Diego County, police advised motorists to avoid the following areas between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. Wednesday morning:

  • Sherman Way and Hayvenhurst Avenue
  • Victory Boulevard and Canoga Avenue
  • Canoga Avenue and Burbank Boulevard


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