Obama Economic Speech Transcript
8 January 2009
Below are Mr. Obama's full remarks as prepared for delivery and released by the
transition team.
I am not picking on Barrack but it's recent news and most transcripts are hard
to find. I will put "Blahs" and red and
important points in green. The condensed
version of this speech in attached. Here we go! Remember you are the manager and
this employee of yours is giving you an update.
The Transcript:
Throughout America’s history, there have been some years that simply rolled into
the next without much notice or fanfare. (Blah#1)
Then there are the years that come along once in a generation – the kind that
mark a clean break from a troubled past, and set a new course for our nation. (Blah#2)
This is one of those years. (Blah#3)
We start 2009 in the midst of a crisis unlike any we have seen in our lifetime –
a crisis that has only deepened over the last few weeks. (Blah#4)
Nearly two million jobs have now been lost (during what
time? Blah#5), and on Friday we are likely to learn that we lost more
jobs last year than at any time since World War II. Just
in the past year, another 2.8 million Americans
who want and need full-time work have had to settle
for part-time jobs. Manufacturing has hit a twenty-eight year low. Many
businesses cannot borrow or make payroll. (Because as
you just said manufacturing has hit a low. Blah#6) Many families cannot
pay their bills or their mortgage. (Blah#7) Many
workers are watching their life savings disappear. (Blah#8)
And many, many Americans are both anxious and uncertain of what the future will
hold. (Blah#9)
I don’t believe it’s too late to change course, but it will be if we don’t take
dramatic action as soon as possible. (It's good you
think we can change course because as you said it is troubled times and the
citizen expect you to take action as you think appropriate. Blah #10)
If nothing is done, this recession could
linger for years. (Blah#11) The unemployment
rate could reach double digits. (Blah#12) Our
economy could fall $1 trillion short of its full capacity, which translates into
more than $12,000 in lost income for a family of four. (Blah#13)
We could lose a generation of potential and promise, as more young Americans are
forced to forgo dreams of college or the chance to train for the jobs of the
future. (Blah#14) And our nation could lose the
competitive edge that has served as a foundation for our strength and standing
in the world. (Blah#15)
In short, a bad situation could become dramatically worse. (Blah#16)
This crisis did not happen solely by some accident of history or normal turn of
the business cycle, and we won’t get out of it by simply waiting for a better
day to come, or relying on the worn-out dogmas of the past. (Blah#17)
We arrived at this point due to an era of profound irresponsibility that
stretched from corporate boardrooms to the halls of power in Washington, DC. (Isn't
this obvious to us. What else could it be unless you want to blame the citizens
also. Blah#18) For years, too many Wall Street executives made imprudent
and dangerous decisions, seeking profits with too little regard for risk, too
little regulatory scrutiny, and too little accountability. (Blah#19)
Banks made loans without concern for whether borrowers could repay them, and
some borrowers took advantage of cheap credit to take on debt they couldn’t
afford. Politicians spent taxpayer money without wisdom or discipline, and too
often focused on scoring political points instead of the problems they were sent
here to solve.(Blah #20) The result has been a
devastating loss of trust and confidence in our economy, our financial markets,
and our government. (Blah #21)
Now, the very fact that this crisis is largely of our own making means that it
is not beyond our ability to solve. (Blah #22)
Our problems are rooted in past mistakes, not our capacity for future greatness.
(Blah #23) It will take time, perhaps many
years, but we can rebuild that lost trust and confidence. (Blah
#24) We can restore opportunity and prosperity. (Blah
#25) We should never forget that our workers are still more productive
than any on Earth. (Maybe true but I thought you were
going to talk about what you will be doing to fix with the economy. Blah #26)
Our universities are still the envy of the world. (Blah
#27) We are still home to the most brilliant minds, the most creative
entrepreneurs, and the most advanced technology and innovation that history has
ever known. (Blah #28) And we are still the
nation that has overcome great fears and improbable odds. (Blah
#29) If we act with the urgency and seriousness that this moment
requires, I know that we can do it again. (Blah #30)
That is why I have moved quickly to work with my economic team and leaders of
both parties on an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that will immediately
jumpstart job creation and long-term growth. (We
have a plan called An American Recovery and Investment Plan.)
It’s a plan that represents not just new policy, but a whole new approach to
meeting our most urgent challenges. (Blah #31)
For if we hope to end this crisis, we must end the culture of anything goes that
helped create it – and this change must begin in Washington. (Blah
#32)
It is time to trade old habits for a new spirit of responsibility. (Blah
#33) It is time to finally change the ways of Washington so that we can
set a new and better course for America. (Blah #34)
There is no doubt that the cost of this plan will
be considerable. It will certainly add to
the budget deficit in the short-term. But equally certain are the
consequences of doing too little or nothing at all, for that will lead to an
even greater deficit of jobs, incomes, and confidence in our economy. (Blah
#35) It is true that we cannot depend on government alone to create jobs
or long-term growth, but at this particular moment, only government can provide
the short-term boost necessary to lift us from a recession this deep and severe.
(Blah #36) Only government can break the vicious
cycles that are crippling our economy – where a lack of spending leads to lost
jobs which leads to even less spending; where an inability to lend and borrow
stops growth and leads to even less credit. (Blah #37)
That is why we need to act boldly and act now to reverse these cycles. (Blah
#38) That’s why we need to put money in the
pockets of the American people, create new jobs, and invest in our future.
That’s why we need to re-start the flow of credit and restore the rules of the
road that will ensure a crisis like this never happens again. (Blah
#39)
That work begins with this plan – a plan I am confident will save or create at
least three million jobs over the next few years. (If
you are going to use "save", it's not measurable Blah#40) It is not just
another public works program. (Blah #41) It’s a
plan that recognizes both the paradox and the promise of this moment – the fact
that there are millions of Americans trying to find work, even as, all around
the country, there is so much work to be done. (Blah
#42) That’s why
we’ll invest in priorities like energy and
education; health care and a new infrastructure that are necessary to
keep us strong and competitive in the 21st century. That’s why
the overwhelming majority of the jobs
created will be in the private sector, while our plan will save the public
sector jobs of teachers, cops, firefighters and others who provide vital
services.
To finally spark the creation of a clean energy economy,
we will double the production of alternative energy
in the next three years. We will modernize more than 75% of federal
buildings and improve the energy efficiency of two million American homes,
saving consumers and taxpayers billions on our energy bills. In the process, we
will put Americans to work in new jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced –
jobs building solar panels and wind turbines;
constructing fuel-efficient cars and buildings; and developing the new energy
technologies that will lead to even more jobs, more savings, and a
cleaner, safer planet in the bargain.
To improve the quality of our health care while lowering its cost,
we will make the immediate investments necessary to
ensure that within five years, all of America’s medical records are computerized.
This will cut waste, eliminate red tape, and reduce the need to repeat expensive
medical tests. (Blah#43) But it just won’t save
billions of dollars and thousands of jobs – it will save lives by reducing the
deadly but preventable medical errors that pervade our health care system. (Blah
#44)
To give our children the chance to live out their dreams in a world that’s never
been more competitive, we will equip tens of
thousands of schools, community colleges, and public universities with 21st
century classrooms, labs, and libraries. We’ll provide new computers, new
technology, and new training for teachers so that students in Chicago and Boston
can compete with kids in Beijing for the high-tech, high-wage jobs of the
future. (Blah#45)
To build an economy that can lead this future, we will begin to rebuild America.
(Blah #46)
Yes, we’ll put people to work repairing crumbling
roads, bridges, and schools by eliminating the backlog of well-planned, worthy
and needed infrastructure projects. But we’ll also do more to retrofit
America for a global economy. (Blah #47) That
means updating the way we get our electricity by
starting to build a new smart grid that will save us money, protect our power
sources from blackout or attack, and deliver clean, alternative forms of energy
to every corner of our nation. It means expanding broadband lines across America,
so that a small business in a rural town can connect and compete with their
counterparts anywhere in the world. And it means
investing in the science, research, and technology that will lead to new medical
breakthroughs, new discoveries, and entire new industries.
Finally, this recovery and reinvestment plan will provide immediate relief to
states, workers, and families who are bearing the brunt of this recession.
To get people spending again, 95% of working
families will receive a $1,000 tax cut – the first stage of a
middle-class tax cut that I promised during the campaign and will include in our
next budget. To help Americans who have lost their
jobs and can’t find new ones, we’ll continue the bipartisan extensions of
unemployment insurance and health care coverage to help them through this crisis.
Government at every level will have to tighten its belt, but we’ll help
struggling states avoid harmful budget cuts, as long as they take responsibility
and use the money to maintain essential services like police, fire, education,
and health care. (Blah #48)
I understand that some might be skeptical of this plan. (Blah
#49) Our government has already spent a good deal of money, but we
haven’t yet seen that translate into more jobs or higher incomes or renewed
confidence in our economy. (Blah #50)That’s why
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan won’t just throw money at our
problems – we’ll invest in what works. (Blah #51)
The true test of the policies we’ll pursue won’t be whether they’re Democratic
or Republican ideas, but whether they create jobs, grow our economy, and put the
American Dream within reach of the American people. (Blah
#52)
Instead of politicians doling out money behind a veil of secrecy, decisions
about where we invest will be made transparently, and informed by independent
experts wherever possible. (Blah #53)
Every American will be able to hold Washington
accountable for these decisions by going online to see how and where their tax
dollars are being spent. And as I announced yesterday, we will launch an
unprecedented effort to eliminate unwise and unnecessary spending that has never
been more unaffordable for our nation and our children’s future than it is right
now. (Blah #54)
We have to make tough choices and smart investments today so that as the economy
recovers, the deficit starts to come down. (Blah #55)
We cannot have a solid recovery if our people and our businesses don’t have
confidence that we’re getting our fiscal house in order. (Blah
#56) That’s why our goal is not to create a slew of new government
programs, but a foundation for long-term economic growth. (Blah
#57)
That also means an economic recovery plan that is
free from earmarks and pet projects. I understand that every member of
Congress has ideas on how to spend money. (Blah #58)
Many of these projects are worthy, and benefit local communities. (Blah
#59) But this emergency legislation must not be the vehicle for those
aspirations. (Blah #60) This must be a time when
leaders in both parties put the urgent needs of our nation above our own narrow
interests. (Blah #61)
Now, this recovery plan alone will not solve all
the problems that led us into this crisis. We must also work with the
same sense of urgency to stabilize and repair the financial system we all depend
on. (Blah #62) That means using our full arsenal
of tools to get credit flowing again to families and business, while restoring
confidence in our markets (Blah #63).
It means launching a sweeping effort to address the
foreclosure crisis so that we can keep
responsible families in their homes. It means
preventing the catastrophic failure of financial institutions whose
collapse could endanger the entire economy, but only with maximum protections
for taxpayers and a clear understanding that government support for any company
is an extraordinary action that must come with significant restrictions on the
firms that receive support. And it means reforming
a weak and outdated regulatory system so that we can better withstand
financial shocks and better protect consumers, investors, and businesses from
the reckless greed and risk-taking that must never endanger our prosperity
again.
No longer can we allow Wall Street wrongdoers to slip through regulatory cracks.
(Blah #64) No longer can we allow special
interests to put their thumbs on the economic scales. (Blah
#65) No longer can we allow the unscrupulous lending and borrowing that
leads only to destructive cycles of bubble and bust. (Blah
#66)
It is time to set a new course for this economy, and that change must begin now.
(Blah #67) We should have an open and honest
discussion about this recovery plan in the days ahead, but I urge Congress to
move as quickly as possible on behalf of the American people. (Blah
#68) For every day we wait or point fingers or drag our feet, more
Americans will lose their jobs. (Blah #69) More
families will lose their savings. (Blah #70)
More dreams will be deferred and denied. (Blah #71)
And our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be
able to reverse. (Blah #72)
That is not the country I know, and it is not a future I will accept as
President of the United States. (Blah #73) A
world that depends on the strength of our economy is now watching and waiting
for America to lead once more. (Blah #74) And
that is what we will do. (Blah #75)
It will not come easy or happen overnight, and it is altogether likely that
things may get worse before they get better. (Blah #76)
But that is all the more reason for Congress to act without delay. (Blah
#77) I know the scale of this plan is unprecedented, but so is the
severity of our situation. (Blah #78) We have
already tried the wait-and-see approach to our problems, and it is the same
approach that helped lead us to this day of reckoning. (Blah
#79)
That is why the time has come to build a 21st century economy in which hard work
and responsibility are once again rewarded. (Blah #80)
That’s why I’m asking Congress to work with me and my team day and night, on
weekends if necessary, to get the plan passed in the next few weeks. (Blah
#81) That’s why I’m calling on all Americans – Democrats and Republicans
– to put good ideas ahead of the old ideological battles; a sense of common
purpose above the same narrow partisanship; and insist that the first question
each of us asks isn’t “What’s good for me?” but “What’s good for the country my
children will inherit?” (Blah #82)
More than any program or policy, it is this spirit that will enable us to
confront this challenge with the same spirit that has led previous generations
to face down war, depression, and fear itself. (Blah
#83) And if we do – if we are able to summon that spirit again; if are
able to look out for one another, and listen to one another, and do our part for
our nation and for posterity, then I have no doubt that years from now, we will
look back on 2009 as one of those years that marked another new and hopeful
beginning for the United States of America. (Blah #84)
Thank you, God Bless You, and may God Bless America. (Blah
#85)