Obama Speech to Congress Part 4/6

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama struck a balance between grim economic reality and a more hopeful outlook on Tuesday to try to reassure worried Americans their country will emerge from crisis "stronger than before."

Riding high in opinion polls, Obama was careful to include a sober assessment of the economic emergency in his first speech to Congress, seeking to temper expectations that his administration's rescue efforts would yield quick fixes.

But the politician whose memoir was called "The Audacity of Hope" and who won the White House in last November's election amid chants of "yes, we can" was also back in stride, telling recession-weary Americans to expect better days ahead.

"While our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken, though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover," Obama said in the televised speech.

"And the United States of America will emerge stronger than before," he told a chamber packed with lawmakers, cabinet members and invited guests.

The Democratic president also leveled a barrage of indirect criticism at his Republican predecessor George W. Bush for the country's economic plight and bloated debt, warning that the "day of reckoning" had arrived.

Five weeks after taking office, Obama pressed the case for his economic plans while laying out a broad agenda, including a much-anticipated push for a healthcare overhaul and energy independence, to help build momentum for his young presidency.

The primetime State of the Union-style address to a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives came against a backdrop of growing anxiety across the country in the face of the worst financial meltdown in decades.

While his public support is strong, Wall Street remains skeptical of his economic remedies.

Jittery investors sent U.S. stocks to a 12-year low on Monday, but the markets rallied on Tuesday on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's assurances that the country's troubled banks should be able to weather the downturn without being nationalized.

Trying to show he would make good on his promise of fiscal responsibility, Obama said he had identified $2 trillion in budget cuts over the next decade.

Obama, who rolls out his first budget proposal on Thursday, has vowed to halve the annual deficit by the end of his term.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• OBAMA
• ECONOMY
• SPEECH
• CONGRESS
• BUDGET

[cameron120587]

I think we might have person who, in the eyes of history, will be judged on the level of Thomas Jefferson, FDR, Kennedy, and Bil Clinton.

[Tobbe767]

It's important to understand that refusing to stand by while those that are less fortunate than yourself perish is not socialism - its humanism. As for Socialism - it is not synonymous with Communism. Socialism is about equal opportunities and making sure no one fall through the cracks of society.

[LearnerChess]

@cameron120587 I agreed with you right up to FDR

[RRRRRFONG]

FRANCISCO LA O BORROMEO LAHUG CEBU MASTER CROOK THIEF SON OF ELOISA BORROMEO WHORE FROM CEBU

[gamesmaster35]

@HandyMan101 Yes some of that goes on but to sit there and not acknowledge that it helps a great many more than those that fall between the cracks is dishonest.Not saying that education can't use improvement but to get rid of it altogether would be equal to suicide as far as this country is concerned.Plus I argue whether it's all the schools fault.People have to get engaged in their kids education.I see far too many that don't care.

[gamesmaster35]

I like him because he's a truthful man.He didn't spare you from the enormity of the problem but at the same time he didn't leave you feeling hopeless either.He explained what was going on, how it would affect you and what they were going to do about it and if anything, what you could do to help yourself.But yet so many treat him like a liar.He's more truthful than anyone else in politics.

[gamesmaster35]

@robs2500 no .He means that instead of paper documents which have to retyped and maintained with considerable time and expense that we switch to a electronic system where medical information can be accessed by computer.Far less space will be involved.Corrections to your file will be instaneous and besides the initial setup not as much time will have to spent on maintaining them.And theoretically would be able to be accessed Nationawide.

[Repsol52]

This man is a moron who will only serve one term and be looked back on in discuss buy future generations.

[ReggieBegins]

lol this is america we dont do whats easy :L

[zerizzie]

Jimmy carter increased our money supply by 13%

In order to stop inflation, the fed had to increase interest rates to 20%

Obama has increased the money supply by 120%.. ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY PERCENT. What will the interest rates have to be to combat inflation??

It is not possible.

It is called the Cloward and Piven strategy.

CHECK OUT MY POLITICAL RAPS ON MY PAGE

I go over Cloward and Piven and Saul Alinsky and more..