Your Weekly Address Feb. 28, 2009
From The White House Blog:
Keeping Promises
In the Weekly Address this morning, President Obama explains how the budget he sent to Congress will fulfill the promises he made as a candidate. On fiscal responsibility, a fair tax code, a clean energy economy, real health care reform, and education, this budget sets out a new vision for our country.
But having put his priorities on paper and having stood behind them, the President recognizes that there are those who will fight against change every step of the way.
Two years ago, we set out on a journey to change the way that Washington works.
We sought a government that served not the interests of powerful lobbyists or the wealthiest few, but the middle-class Americans I met every day in every community along the campaign trail – responsible men and women who are working harder than ever, worrying about their jobs, and struggling to raise their families. In so many town halls and backyards, they spoke of their hopes for a government that finally confronts the challenges that their families face every day; a government that treats their tax dollars as responsibly as they treat their own hard-earned paychecks.
That is the change I promised as a candidate for president. It is the change the American people voted for in November. And it is the change represented by the budget I sent to Congress this week.
During the campaign, I promised a fair and balanced tax code that would cut taxes for 95% of working Americans, roll back the tax breaks for those making over $250,000 a year, and end the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas. This budget does that.
I promised an economy run on clean, renewable energy that will create new American jobs, new American industries, and free us from the dangerous grip of foreign oil. This budget puts us on that path, through a market-based cap on carbon pollution that will make renewable energy the profitable kind of energy; through investments in wind power and solar power; advanced biofuels, clean coal, and more fuel-efficient American cars and American trucks.
I promised to bring down the crushing cost of health care – a cost that bankrupts one American every thirty seconds, forces small businesses to close their doors, and saddles our government with more debt. This budget keeps that promise, with a historic commitment to reform that will lead to lower costs and quality, affordable health care for every American.
I promised an education system that will prepare every American to compete, so Americans can win in a global economy. This budget will help us meet that goal, with new incentives for teacher performance and pathways for advancement; new tax credits that will make college more affordable for all who want to go; and new support to ensure that those who do go finish their degree.
This budget also reflects the stark reality of what we’ve inherited – a trillion dollar deficit, a financial crisis, and a costly recession. Given this reality, we’ll have to be more vigilant than ever in eliminating the programs we don’t need in order to make room for the investments we do need. I promised to do this by going through the federal budget page by page, and line by line. That is a process we have already begun, and I am pleased to say that we’ve already identified two trillion dollars worth of deficit-reductions over the next decade. We’ve also restored a sense of honesty and transparency to our budget, which is why this one accounts for spending that was hidden or left out under the old rules.
I realize that passing this budget won’t be easy. Because it represents real and dramatic change, it also represents a threat to the status quo in Washington. I know that the insurance industry won’t like the idea that they’ll have to bid competitively to continue offering Medicare coverage, but that’s how we’ll help preserve and protect Medicare and lower health care costs for American families. I know that banks and big student lenders won’t like the idea that we’re ending their huge taxpayer subsidies, but that’s how we’ll save taxpayers nearly $50 billion and make college more affordable. I know that oil and gas companies won’t like us ending nearly $30 billion in tax breaks, but that’s how we’ll help fund a renewable energy economy that will create new jobs and new industries. In other words, I know these steps won’t sit well with the special interests and lobbyists who are invested in the old way of doing business, and I know they’re gearing up for a fight as we speak. My message to them is this:
So am I.
The system we have now might work for the powerful and well-connected interests that have run Washington for far too long, but I don’t. I work for the American people. I didn’t come here to do the same thing we’ve been doing or to take small steps forward, I came to provide the sweeping change that this country demanded when it went to the polls in November. That is the change this budget starts to make, and that is the change I’ll be fighting for in the weeks ahead – change that will grow our economy, expand our middle-class, and keep the American Dream alive for all those men and women who have believed in this journey from the day it began.
Thanks for listening.
To try and prove that Obama is not backing his promisses with actions. In 100 days he has done more to reverse the destructive policies from the previous administration and enact more beneficial legislation than anyone else ever in office, even Clinton, whom I am a huge admirer. Things are not 100% perfect, as we also have to deal with the vitriol and hatred from conservatives towards everyday Americans. But in the process he also kept his promisse to be bipartisan and that can be verified by polls that give him credit for it too. The republicans rejected bipartisanship that came in form of good policies (and that's their problem), but Obama hasn't rejected that we need to make things better.
The President has done things in a through workman like manner that makes me feel good about America again.
That was an excellent speech. He identified a huge part of the problem: lobbyists and special interests, corporate interests.
CNBC is going to flip.
"He identified a huge part of the problem: lobbyists and special interests, corporate interests"
Sounds like his new cabinet.
Good point. I should have known that. I have shamed myself.
a new tax code, clean renewable energy, affordable health care, "competitive" education for Americans, and bailing out our many failing financial institutions and industries all at the same time is ....impossible in itself...
...never mind trying to do all that and...
be the worlds policeman by spending more than the rest of the world combined on military.
Obama didnt say anything about cutting military spending...again.
did he? (maybe I missed)
audit-prosecute-incarcerate
Milquetoast.
Very well stated. Obama claims that his budget "represents real and dramatic change." As long as Obama keeps the insurance companies in his health care plan, his statement is an empty boast. Rejecting single-payer health care would mean that lower and working class families must still be covered by health insurance. How does Obama propose that these people pay for his insurance plan when they can barely scrape by in this economy to put enough food on the table and pay for the mortgage? With a government-run health care plan the basic needs of the people would be more than met.
When Obama gathered his experts around him to come up with a health care plan, he never deemed it necessary to consult with hospital administrators in Canada, for example, where Canadians have complete freedom to choose their physicians. That seems to be a fact that Obama does not want Americans to know despite his boast that he will be effecting "real and dramatic change."
One most viable way to cut down, as Obama says, on a trillion dollar deficit, the financial crisis and the costly recession would be to immediately stop funding the war in Afghanistan and the occupation in Iraq as well as drastically cutting the military budget which enables the bogus GWOT.
That would certainly produce real change. But the chances of Obama, the [alleged] agent of change, doing those things, are nonexistent.
Cutting military spending is implied into his deadline to pull out of Iraq. I don't believe that is good politics to mention it while we still have soldiers deployed in Iraq, because it gives the impression that we will stop funding protection and needed material to keep our troops safe until then. The GOP hacks would pounce on it.
Obama knows that they play dirty and will not givem a chance.
I saw this earlier today. I really liked it.
So far, so good, I say. He's been keeping his promises, and I'm hopeful he'll keep doing so. But I'm still going to watch him like a hawk. I've seen the democrats screw off and cave in far too many times over the past 20 years to give them a blank check now.
is necessary to get his message out to all of us because we know the Sunday morning bobbleheads willhave their spin on it tomorrow not to mention the rest of the week.
our money back the thieves stole the past 8 years.
President Obama I am so thankful that that other one wasn't elected. He may not be perfect but he is light years ahead of those grumpy old white men stuck in the 1950s.
And, as an old lady, I guess it is ok to say he gives my old heart a flutter whenever I see him. ; > )
Nothing wrong with that.
I thank my lucky stars the grumpy old white man didn't win.
Now, I must go back to putting the finishing touches on my protest sign for an upcoming event in town, the dubya visit ...
He'd be useful as road salt.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Oh no ! How can this be ? Class warfare ! God forbid ! The same MSM didn't seem to mind at all what has without question been war on the middle and lower tiers of society and the vast majority of the people for the last twenty plus years ! All this is is an attempt to correct the wrongs and injustices that began courtesy of the Republican God Reagan and accelerated under Bush . God forbid that the playing field be leveled a bit ! Cry me a river Republicans ! LMAO !
Insanity , it is what it is , there is no understanding it .
Make it as painful and excruciating as possible for the Repubs I like that.
The CPAC convention's keynote speaker today was a well known draft dodging narcotics addict who railed against the media and attempted to sell himself and other conservatives a people loving, freedom loving patriots.
It was carried in it's entirety by his(he said PEOPLE loving) enemy, CNN.
"Someday somebody related to some of these sufferers, these victims, these collaterally damaged souls, may try to kill you. And I have to tell you, I think you’ll have it coming." - Christopher Cooper
The GOP is DEAD. George Bush killed it. The remaining scum is pissed off and that's a good sign. It means it hurts. The national networks are now saying the "red party" is in dissaray and confused. Steele is saying they're the "hip hop" party (give me a break) and Obama is the real deal....God bless us and him. Stand behind him. This is gonna be tough, but it's gonna work right for America! George Bush killed the republican party....Burn it to save from disease.
Elvis
Republicans in congress, house and pundits are quick to blame Bush for acting against conservatism. The fact is that these are the same people who supported him all the way in all of his decisions and proudly voted for it. Bush didn't kill the GOP, conservatism did it. What's happening right now is a result of reagonomics and conservatism when put into practice. It's not only destructive, but it's also proof that progressives have been right all along.
Conservatism failed, that's the message!
and enjoy life for a change. It should be obvious by now unsustainable consumption produces mass pain and dissapointment.
Who would have thunk it, a politician that keeps his word? Ending tax breaks for corporations that send our jobs overseas(1:04), was a huge promise he made while campaigning, and something I believe we desperately need to restore our economy.
It is time to roll back the Reagan tax cuts. That's when this entire mess started. We must stand together and be there with President Obama and bring this country back, for our future.
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. ~ Abraham Lincoln
Playboy, of all things, has an interesting article online that alleges that Rick Santelli's rant, far from being a spontaneous, impromptu venting of righteous indignation, may in fact be part of a tightly-choreographed and long-planned astroturfing campaign funded primarily by the superwealthy Koch family to fight Obama's tax policies.
http://www.playboy.com/blog/2009/02/backstabb...
The President has yet to go back on anything he campaigned on. He's been quite the opposite. I never thought a time like this would ever come. He is methodically moving forward on his plan for the USA. God bless him.
It'll never happen. Health care is as ancient as the wheel and will never be reformed because of the powers involved. To much money involved. There will always be a need for health care and always a profit to be made. It's like a funeral home director. Do you know how much money those people make? If it is to be reformed it must be done behind closed doors. There is one way though, a super majority. Until then the interest of the people will be beaten back by the GOP and the interest of Blue Cross/UPMC/Health America etc. They'll keep scaring people by yelling socialized medicine. Doesn't matter that the best run health care program in this country is socialized medicine, Medicare, they'll scare us from any passage of reform by using a label.
is intended to be a factual statement
That label doesn't scare me and it shouldn't scare anyone who understands what socialism really means. I learned back in high school that McCarthyism ended in the freaking 50's.
Politics is for the present, but an equation is for eternity. Albert Einstein
This fight has to do with states rights and twelve states have already signed on the latest being New Hampshire. No wonder Bobby Jindal didn't want to accept federal funds from the bail out and it seems to be catching on.
http://www.jonasclark.com/blog/tag/states-see...
STATES DRAFT BILLS REGARDING STATE SOVEREIGNTY
Friday, February 6th, 2009 | Breaking News,
States including Washington, Arizona, Montana, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, Hawaii and New Hampshire have drafted bills reminding the Federal Government of their voluntary submission under the Tenth Amendment. Representatives in the State of New Hampshire, for example, fired a warning shot across the bow of the USS Federal Government with the introduction of HCR6. In this Bill they are reminding the Federal Government that the States have given rights to the Federal… Keep Reading.....
I think there is a greater fight going on here as I wondered why now a number of southern states are now looking into opening a dialog about legalizing marijuana. Imagine the taxes that states could reap if legalized and in turn telling the federal government, thanks but no thanks for the federal handout.
...and all the others I've read that read almost exactly the same?
They don't address the facts that those bills have been introduced by right wing loons, many in the minority of the minority parties in their respective chambers, and that the bills have no chance of passing.
These people don't give a fuck about nullifying drug laws. RThe only thing they aim to do is make it hard for Democrats to pull the nation out of a depression.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
Think about this $1.273trillion in dicretionary spending and approximately another $1.1trillion
for more bailouts on top of approximately $1.2trillion
for agency budgets, more than half of which is for defense. Never in my life have I witnessed such irresponsible government. It gives a new meaning to PORK. In Obama's words "there is no PORK", well if it's not pork what is it. Our kids future is getting sold down the road. I voted for him and I am sorry I did. No where else in the world does a country borrow from one (China) then double the amount it gives away
in foreign aid. The rest of the world must think we Americans are just plain stupid. Obama must think were stupid. We tried, he lied, then America died.
Bill Clinton was a great President. We had a good economy and a surplus. The republicans blew it and now the democrats figure it's their turn at the trough. They are bought and paid for just like the republicans were by big business. We mean nothing.
...but how you spend it.
Our kids' future- and in the shorter term, ours- is going to be tough whether or not we try to jump-start the economy. But if you want to get fiscally austere today, you'll make sure that any recovery will last much longer.
Do yourself a favor and read this.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Wasn't it Clinton that allowed Glass-Stegal to be killed off giving us the problems we now have today?
...when everything started going haywire?
This is the stuff Elliot Spitzer, when he was still the AG of New York, was trying to crack down on, but Bushco invoked the powers of some office, little-known since the Civil War, to strip jurisdiction from Spitzer.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
Kids future?? What about this country's PRESENT future?? Get your head out of your ass and THINK for once. You sound exactly like the rightwing nutjobs at CPAC.
Evidently you're also blind to the fact that the World is OK with President Obama. And WTF did he lie about??? GOD I can't stand negative assholes like you!
an invisible man in the sky at the end---how refreshing!
am rather surprised at the low number of comments here.
I had friends call me yesterday to ask if I heard the address live (I didn't), but after listening to it, I have to say that I think that this was perhaps the best radio address I've heard in decades.
Taking names and kicking in heads--they way it SHOULD be. Way to go!
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
"I know these steps won’t sit well with the special interests and lobbyists who are invested in the old way of doing business, and I know they’re gearing up for a fight as we speak. My message to them is this:
So am I."
This as as close to Give 'Em Hell Harry Truman as we've come in a long time. This is what I've waited for since Newt Gingrich declared his Contract On the American middle class and poor. And, I like the setting - we should call them the Library Chats; much like FDR's Fireside Chats inspired the nation in the midst of it's worst times.
Stick it into the Republicans, twist it and break it off in them.
Never surrender. Never give up. Hoo-Rah!
Democratic Party progressive, Vietnam veteran and proud Union member for 41 years
Yes, they are just words, not yet actions (though the past month hasn't been bad...). But so many of us here, me included, have bemoaned the pussiness of the Dems in recent years. How about a little more enthusiasm folks?! You know some of Obama's advisers read this blog.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
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