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ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENTTO THE NATION January 31, 2009
 This morning I'd like to talk about some good news and some badnews as we confront our economic crisis. The bad news is well known to Americans across our country aswe continue to struggle through unprecedented economic turmoil. Yesterday we learned that our economy shrank by nearly 4percent from October through December. That decline was thelargest in over a quarter century, and it underscores theseriousness of the economic crisis that my administration foundwhen we took office.Already the slowdown has cost us tens of thousands of jobs in January alone. And the picture is likely to get worse before it getsbetter.Make no mistake, these are not just numbers. Behind everystatistic there's a story. Many Americans have seen their livesturned upside down. Families have been forced to make painfulchoices. Parents are struggling to pay the bills. Patients can'tafford care. Students can't keep pace with tuition. And workersdon't know whether their retirement will be dignified and secure. The good news is that we are moving forward with a sense of urgency equal to the challenge. This week the House passed theAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, which will save orcreate more than 3 million jobs over the next few years. It puts atax cut into the pockets of working families, and places a downpayment on America's future by investing in energyindependence and education, affordable health care, andAmerican infrastructure.Now this recovery plan moves to the Senate. I will continueworking with both parties so that the strongest possible bill getsto my desk. With the stakes so high we simply cannot afford thesame old gridlock and partisan posturing in Washington. It's timeto move in a new direction.
 
Americans know that our economic recovery will take years -- notmonths. But they will have little patience if we allow politics to getin the way of action, and our economy continues to slide. That'swhy I am calling on the Senate to pass this plan, so that we canput people back to work and begin the long, hard work of liftingour economy out of this crisis. No one bill, no matter howcomprehensive, can cure what ails our economy. So just as we jumpstart job creation, we must also ensure that markets arestable, credit is flowing, and families can stay in their homes.Last year Congress passed a plan to rescue the financial system.While the package helped avoid a financial collapse, many arefrustrated by the results -- and rightfully so. Too often taxpayerdollars have been spent without transparency or accountability.Banks have been extended a hand, but homeowners, students,and small businesses that need loans have been left to fend ontheir own.And adding to this outrage, we learned this week that even asthey petitioned for taxpayer assistance, Wall Street firmsshamefully paid out nearly $20 billion in bonuses for 2008. WhileI'm committed to doing what it takes to maintain the flow of credit, the American people will not excuse or tolerate sucharrogance and greed. The road to recovery demands that we allact responsibly, from Main Street to Washington to Wall Street.Soon my Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, will announce a newstrategy for reviving our financial system that gets credit flowingto businesses and families. We'll help lower mortgage costs andextend loans to small businesses so they can create jobs. We'llensure that CEOs are not draining funds that should be advancingour recovery. And we will insist on unprecedented transparency,rigorous oversight, and clear accountability -- so taxpayers knowhow their money is being spent and whether it is achievingresults.Rarely in history has our country faced economic problems asdevastating as this crisis. But the strength of the American peoplecompels us to come together. The road ahead will be long, but Ipromise you that every day that I go to work in the Oval Office I
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bleon6644

One issue not addressed by the President is that the protectionist provisions of the proposed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act would breach the commitment made by the United States of America just weeks ago, in November, that it would not impose protectionist measures in the following 12 months. This commitment is the G-20 pledge made in Washington by 20 nations. The relevant paragraph of the G-20 joint declaration read as follows: 13. We underscore the critical importance of rejecting protectionism and not turning inward in times of financial uncertainty. In this regard, within the next 12 months, we will refrain from raising new barriers to investment or to trade in goods and services, imposing new export restrictions, or implementing World Trade Organization (WTO) inconsistent measures to stimulate exports. The House bill passed this past week would bar virtually all foreign iron and steel from the $820-billion stimulus package's infrastructure projects. The Senate version of the bill goes further by extending the U.S.-only requirement to all goods and services paid for with government stimulus money. The G-20 commitment was not ultruistic. It was a recognition of the critical importance of rejecting protectionism and not turning inward because doing so would be bad economic policy for the country doing so, and would serve to prolong or even worsen the global crisis. Were each country to act only with a short term and politically expedient mindset, seeking to create economic activity or employment only for itself in isolation, the synergies of international trade and investment will be lost for all countries. A critical lesson of this economic crisis is the the world's economies are interconnected and interdependent. The world's hope is that President Obama will have the wisdom and courage to truly recognize that lesson, and to invest some of the huge reserve of political goodwill that he now enjoys to articulate these realities to Congress and the American people. He has the opportunity right now -- on this issue -- to bring to the way America deals with the rest of the world the new ways of doing things that he brings to America, and the new spirit of cooperation that he brings to solving problems. Doing so will better serve the American economy , Americica's greater interests and American's relationships with the rest of the world than will a breach of America's G-20 commitment, and a caving in to narrow-minded and old-style political thinking. The world is watching carefully on this issue to see if President Obama will bring change to out-dated and ineffective protectionist attitudes that still exist in parts of the United States, and among some members of Congress.

reply01 / 31 / 2009
beyondgreen

There could be no better investment in America than to invest in America becoming energy independent. The high cost of fuel this past year did serious damage to our economy and society. After a brief reprieve gas prices are inching back up again. Our nation should not allow other nations to have such power over us and our economy . We have so much available to us in the way of technology and free sources of energy. WE seriously need to get on with becoming an energy independent nation. We are spending billions upon billions in bail out dollars. Why not spend some of those billions in getting alternative energy projects set up. We could create clean cheap energy, millions of badly needed new green jobs and lessen our dependence on foreign oil all in one fell swoop. I just read an eye opening book by Jeff Wilson called The Manhattan Project of 2009. It would cost the equivalent of 60 cents per gallon to drive and charge an electric car.If all gasoline cars, trucks, and SUV's instead had plug-in electric drive trains, the amount of electricity needed to replace gasoline is about equal to the estimated wind energy potential of the state of North Dakota. Why don't we use some of the billions in bail out money to bail us out of our dependence on foreign oil? This past year the high cost of fuel so seriously damaged our economy and society that the ripple effects will be felt for years to come. www.themanhattanprojectof2009.com

reply01 / 31 / 2009
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