President Elect Obama: Saturday Radio Address 11.08.08

Transcript:
On Tuesday, Americans stood in lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen. It didnt matter who they were or where they came from; what they looked like or what party they belonged to they came out and cast their ballot because they believed that in this country, our destiny is not written for us, but by us. We should all take pride in the fact that we once again displayed for the world the power of our democracy, and reaffirmed the great American ideal that this is a nation where anything is possible.

This week, I spoke with President Bush, who graciously offered his full support and assistance in this period of transition. Michelle and I look forward to meeting with him and the First Lady on Monday to begin that process. This speaks to a fundamental recognition that here in America we can compete vigorously in elections and challenge each others ideas, yet come together in service of a common purpose once the voting is done. And that is particularly important at a moment when we face the most serious challenges of our lifetime.

Yesterday, we woke to more sobering news about the state of our economy. The 240,000 jobs lost in October marks the 10th consecutive month that our economy has shed jobs. In total, weve lost nearly 1.2 million jobs this year, and more than 10 million Americans are now unemployed. Tens of millions of families are struggling to figure out how to pay the bills and stay in their homes. Their stories are an urgent reminder that we are facing the greatest economic challenge of our lifetime, and we must act swiftly to resolve them.

In the wake of these disturbing reports, I met with members of my Transition Economic Advisory Board, who will help guide the work of my transition team in developing a strong set of policies to respond to this crisis. While we must recognize that we only have one President at a time and that President Bush is the leader of our government, I want to ensure that we hit the ground running on January 20th because we dont have a moment to lose.

We discussed several of the most immediate challenges facing our economy and key priorities on which to focus in the days and weeks ahead to ease the credit crisis, help hardworking families, and restore growth and prosperity.

First, we need a rescue plan for the middle class that invests in immediate efforts to create jobs and provides relief to families that are watching their paychecks shrink and their life savings disappear.

Then, well address the spreading impact of the financial crisis on other sectors of our economy, and ensure that the rescue plan that passed Congress is working to stabilize financial markets while protecting taxpayers, helping homeowners, and not unduly rewarding the management of financial firms that are receiving government assistance.

Finally, we will move forward with a set of policies that will grow our middle-class and strengthen our economy in the long-term. We cant afford to wait on moving forward on the key priorities that I identified during the campaign, including clean energy, health care, education and tax relief for middle class families.

Let me close by saying I do not underestimate the enormity of the task that lies ahead. Weve taken some major actions to date, and we will need further actions during this transition and subsequent months. Some of those choices will be difficult, but America is a strong and resilient country. I know that we will succeed if we put aside partisanship and work together as one nation. And that is what I intend to do.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• President
• Elect
• Obama
• saturday
• radio
• address
• november
• 2008

[bapyou]

"This is trickle-up poverty."

That's exactly what we've had under a whacko conservative government. Whatever wealth is avialable has been trickling up to the wealthy for the past eight years. You're not for "spreading the wealth"? In fact you are. As long as "the wealth" is going in one direction: Toward the rich and to no one else.

[bapyou]

"You can't turn this country prosperous--in the name of fairness--by taxing the most productive"

The idea that the wealthy or near-wealthy are the only "productive" members of our ecomony is the same lie/fallacy that's been proferred by you right wing whackos ever since the Reagan years. No one - and I do mean NO ONE - is buying your bullshit any longer. NO ONE! With Obama's election, the American public rescinded any claim that you conservative whack-nuts had on them.

[dutboku]

Finally an intelligent articulate President able to form his own opinions and not just read a text giving to him by his puppet masters! His intellect, his education, his record on behalf of the neediest, his dignity, his campaign management (he has a surplus of millions) his choice of a great Vice President, the people that support him and that now surround him with their advise should be more than enough

reasons for any intelligent, pragmatic person to be proud to have a President like Obama.

[bjohnson9993]

A peek of the White House 2 weeks after the Obama's get in-

1) 10 broken down cars on the front lawn

2) Garden overflowing with Watermelons

3) Chicken bone's on the ground

4) 15 of his family members sitting on chairs in front of the white house playing cards

5) Flavored blunt wrappers on the sidewalk

[larskieB81romblon]

US election is over and American people vote for Barack Obama but still people are not convinced what Pres. Elect Obama promised them...of course will see and wait till he takes over the job from Pres. Bush...still lots of bickering in here....guess some of you watch the interview of Gov. Arnold Scwarzeneger of California, a Republican! he is an immigrant and he said a lot of good things for your country guys....think lots of you have CRAB MENTALITY..lol

[Chengduyu]

Babyou.. Q.E.D.! You have proven my point. Thank you! :)

[Chengduyu]

WSM. It's sad how "progressives" are seemingly threatened by others with contrary opinions. You can't turn this country prosperous--in the name of fairness--by taxing the most productive, reinvigorating corrupt labor unions which have bankrupted, e.g. the auto industry,or pouring money into social engineering. I spent 5 yrs on the bd of a welfare-to-work group fixing the effects of the Great Society. I'm in intl. biz & I know where the smart money is going--and it's not here.

[winsome1235]

Stop reading something into nothing. He's speaking of growing the economy which will automatically grow the middle class, you twit! The campaign is over. Let it rest.

[Chengduyu]

Did I hear this right? "I will expand the middle class" and "give tax breaks to the middle class." Of course, he will expand the middle class by taxing the upper middle class (the so-called "rich, but not really"), thus taking them down a notch. The conservative pundits are right. This is trickle-up poverty.