Obama's Radio Address 01-10-09

We start this new year in the midst of an economic crisis unlike any we have seen in our lifetime. We learned yesterday that in the past month alone, we lost more than half a million jobs a total of nearly 2.6 million in the year 2008. Another 3.4 million Americans who want and need full-time work have had to settle for part-time jobs. And families across America are feeling the pinch as they watch debts mount, bills pile up and savings disappear.

These numbers are a stark reminder that we simply cannot continue on our current path. If nothing is done, economists from across the spectrum tell us that this recession could linger for years and the unemployment rate could reach double digits and they warn that our nation could lose the competitive edge that has served as a foundation for our strength and standing in the world.

Its not too late to change course but only if we take immediate and dramatic action. Our first job is to put people back to work and get our economy working again. This is an extraordinary challenge, which is why Ive taken the extraordinary step of working even before I take office with my economic team and leaders of both parties on an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that will call for major investments to revive our economy, create jobs, and lay a solid foundation for future growth.

I asked my nominee for Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Dr. Christina Romer, and the Vice President-Elects Chief Economic Adviser, Dr. Jared Bernstein, to conduct a rigorous analysis of this plan and come up with projections of how many jobs it will create and what kind of jobs they will be. Today, I am releasing a report of their findings so that the American people can see exactly what this plan will mean for their families, their communities, and our economy.

The report confirms that our plan will likely save or create three to four million jobs. 90 percent of these jobs will be created in the private sector the remaining 10 percent are mainly public sector jobs we save, like the teachers, police officers, firefighters and others who provide vital services in our communities.

The jobs we create will be in businesses large and small across a wide range of industries. And theyll be the kind of jobs that dont just put people to work in the short term, but position our economy to lead the world in the long-term.

Well create nearly half a million jobs by investing in clean energy by committing to double the production of alternative energy in the next three years, and by modernizing more than 75% of federal buildings and improving the energy efficiency of two million American homes. These made-in-America jobs building solar panels and wind turbines, developing fuel-efficient cars and new energy technologies pay well, and they cant be outsourced.

Well create hundreds of thousands of jobs by improving health care transitioning to a nationwide system of computerized medical records that wont just save money, but save lives by preventing deadly medical errors. And well create hundreds of thousands more jobs in education, equipping tens of thousands of schools with 21st century classrooms, labs and computers to help our kids compete with any worker in the world for any job.

Well put nearly 400,000 people to work by repairing our infrastructure our crumbling roads, bridges and schools. And well build the new infrastructure we need to succeed in this new century, investing in science and technology, and laying down miles of new broadband l

ines so that businesses across our nation can compete with their counterparts around the world.

Finally, we wont just create jobs, well also provide help for those whove lost theirs, and for states and families whove been hardest-hit by this recession. That means bi-partisan extensions of unemployment insurance and health care coverage; a $1,000 tax cut for 95 percent of working families; and assistance to help states avoid harmful budget cuts in essential services like police, fire, education and health care.

Now, given the magnitude of the challenges we face, none of this will come easy. Recovery wont happen overnight, and its likely that things will get worse before they get better.

But we have come through moments like this before. We are the nation that has faced down war, depression and fear itself each time, refusing to yield; each time, refusing to accept a lesser fate. That is the spirit that has always sustained us that belief that our destiny is not written for us, but by us; that our success is not a matter of chance, but of our own courage and determination. Our resources may be finite, but our will is infinite. And I am confident that if we come together and summon that great American spirit once again, we will meet the challenges of our time and write the next great chapter in our American story

Category:

News & Politics

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• Barack
• Weekly
• Radio
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• President-Elect
• 01-10-09

[tivopro]

If you haven't done so already, start your own garden indoors for spring, your going to need it. Lots of info on youtube hot to do it.

Obama is warning you already, it's going to get worse before it gets better. Food crisis is coming!

[tivopro]

WoW! I hope he comes through with his big promises. California governor is offering IOU's to state-workers until they balance the budget. My wife's a teacher and IOU's don't pay the bills or put food on our table.

Let's hope he's for real on this.

[fivestarmichael]

You are completely missing the point, there are myriad jobs in America. However, they are low-paying jobs that don't contribute to economic growth or individual prosperity.

We will not recover from this recession by creating more government bureaucracy. In two years we will still be in a recession and a lot more people will be sleeping in the streets.

[Didntsaythat]

Sooooo It's been a year where are these new jobs? Funny at 50 seconds he said unemployment could reach 10% if he didn't act. Well it's over 10% now after he did a whole lot of acting over the last year. I'm unemployed for the first time in 30 years. Where's the Jobs Obama? He thought about everything but small business. That's where his game failed. He didn't realize small business creates 60% of all jobs. Now a lot of those companies aren't even in business anymore to help us recover. Fail

[avrilsdream]

@tonyfla1 Let's not forget, 9 dismal years, the last being the worst. How do you propose that the people "take the country back" when this tyrannical administration is choking the life out of the private sector and the middle-class taxpayers; the things that once made this country the best? I mean, I'm all for it, but we've essentially conceded power to the government for the next 3 years, who talks a great game while choosing to sit the bench. Corporations MADE this country. Corruption ruins it

[avrilsdream]

I'm so glad Obama saved our economy. If it weren't for him, we would all be living in squaller, starving to death, and our entire universe would have collapsed upon itself. Just ask him! Hell, he fixed the financial sector. All is well. Not a mistake presidency at all.

[bamageddrain]

Exactly fivestarmichael! How right history has proved you! Give yourself a pat on the back. but it only took one year not two. Haahaa! He spent a year messing with healthcare and forgot about small business. Are you planning on running for prez michael? You got my vote

[Pozelanore]

Medical records sent for computerisation to India up for sale

from: 19 Oct 2009, 0341 hrs IST, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: In a development that is certain to lead to a hardening of stance on the outsourcing industry by the western world, investigations

conducted by a British TV channel have come up with the stunning revelation that confidential medical records sent to India for computerisation are being offered for sale, triggering heightened concerns about breach of data security here.

[kuyarick]

America used to be the place where you could create your own pie, not have somebody elses piece of the pie.

[kuyarick]

nigger this is not the dust bowl stfu

[perry80s]

is there a new Unemployment Compensation Extension for 2009?

[lisilein2]

pushing paper around, as unpleasand as it might be is still better than sleepin in the street...