Presidential Weekly Address February 21 2009

SATURDAY, February 21, 2009

WEEKLY ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE NATION

The full text of the speech is below the video.

Earlier this week, I signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act -- the most sweeping economic recovery plan in history. Because of this plan, 3.5 million Americans will now go to work doing the work that America needs done.

I'm grateful to Congress, governors and mayors across the country, and to all of you whose support made this critical step possible.

Because of what we did together, there will now be shovels in the ground, cranes in the air, and workers rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, and repairing our faulty levees and dams.

Because of what we did, companies -- large and small -- that produce renewable energy can now apply for loan guarantees and tax credits and find ways to grow, instead of laying people off; and families can lower their energy bills by weatherizing their homes.

Because of what we did, our children can now graduate from 21st century schools and millions more can do what was unaffordable just last week -- and get their college degree.

Because of what we did, lives will be saved and health care costs will be cut with new computerized medical records.

Because of what we did, there will now be police on the beat, firefighters on the job, and teachers preparing lesson plans who thought they would not be able to continue pursuing their critical missions. And ensure that all of this is done with an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability, I have assigned a team of managers to make sure that precious tax dollars are invested wisely and well.

Because of what we did, 95 percent of all working families will get a tax cut -- in keeping with a promise I made on the campaign. And I'm pleased to announce that this morning, the Treasury Department began directing employers to reduce the amount of taxes withheld from paychecks -- meaning that by April 1st, a typical family will begin taking home at least $65 more every month. Never before in our history has a tax cut taken effect faster or gone to so many hardworking Americans.

But as important as it was that I was able to sign this plan into law, it is only a first step on the road to economic recovery. And we can't fail to complete the journey. That will require stemming the spread of foreclosures and falling home values, and doing all we can to help responsible homeowners stay in their homes, which is exactly what the housing plan I announced last week will help us do.

It will require stabilizing and repairing our banking system, and getting credit flowing again to families and businesses. It will require reforming the broken regulatory system that made this crisis possible, and recognizing that it's only by setting and enforcing 21st century rules of the road that we can build a thriving economy.

And it will require doing all we can to get exploding deficits under control as our economy begins to recover. That work begins on Monday, when I will convene a fiscal summit of independent experts and unions, advocacy groups and members of Congress, to discuss how we can cut the trillion-dollar deficit that we've inherited. On Tuesday, I will speak to the nation about our urgent national priorities. And on Thursday, I'll release a budget that's sober in its assessments, honest in its accounting, and lays out in detail my strategy for investing in what we need, cutting what we don't, and restoring fiscal discipline.

No single piece of this broad economic recovery can, by itself, meet the demands that have been placed on us. We can't help people find work or pay their bills unless we unlock credit for families and businesses. We can't solve our housing crisis unless we help people find work so that they can make payments on their homes. We can't produce shared prosperity without firm rules of the road, and we can't generate sustained growth without getting our deficits under control. In short, we cannot successfully address any of our problems without addressing them all. And that is exactly what the strategy we are pursuing is designed to do.

None of this will be easy. The road ahead will be long and full of hazards. But I am confident that we, as a people, have the strength and wisdom to carry out this strategy and overcome this crisis. And if we do, our economy -- and our country -- will be better and stronger for it.

Thank you.

The Weekly WTF?!

We at 1461 Days have a sense of humor and a sense of gravity. If you join the two together you can end up looking at the world in a whole new light. That is how we wound up with the idea for "the Weekly WTF?!"

The Weekly WTF?! will not only be about the President and his direct staff, but it will look at all the major political players in the United States Political Machine. Yes, we said all.

We are looking at the whole Political Machine for the ability to find the best WTF?! moment through out a week. Unfortunately it is only covering the U. S. Political Machine. The inclusion of some of the major international political players could add some major comedy factors but this is an American story.

The commentary is not going to be confined to one Political Party.

The Weekly WTF?! Will be compiled at the end of a month into the WTF?! of the Month.

At the end of the month the Weekly WTF?! will have a vote for the WTF?! of the Month. The winner of the WTF?! of the month will all be moved forward to the WTF?! of the Year. At the end of the year there will be another vote to decide the WTF?! of the Year.

Sound like a mess of Political folly? The American Political Machine is full of things that make you wonder. Things that make you sit back and scratch your head. I am sure we would all rather not have this type of moment in our lives as citizens, but we know it is an unavoidable situation.

It should be fun and should be looked at as such.

We are also going to take suggestions from the 1461 community for the weekly WTF?!

If you have an idea for the WTF?! post your thought in the comments section for this post or in response to the current Weekly WTF?!. We are sure to many choices for the Weekly Winner of the WTF?! but we will only be able to have one Weekly WTF?!

Currently the Weekly WTF?! will be provided by 1461 Days writer T. M. X.

President Obama's Stimulus Package signing speech February 17 2009

Today, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, what is commonly known as the economic stimulus package into law while in Denver Colorado.

The full text is below:

It is great to be in Denver. I was here last summer to accept the
nomination of my party and to make a promise to people of all parties - that I
would do all I could to give every American the chance to make of their lives
what they will and see their children climb higher than they did. I am back
today to say that we have begun the difficult work of keeping that promise. We
have begun the essential work of keeping the American dream alive in our time.

Today does not mark the end of our economic troubles. Nor does it
constitute all of what we must do to turn our economy around. But it does mark
the beginning of the end - the beginning of what we need to do to create jobs
for Americans scrambling in the wake of layoffs; to provide relief for families
worried they won't be able to pay next month's bills; and to set our economy on
a firmer foundation, paving the way to long-term growth and prosperity.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that I will sign today - a plan
that meets the principles I laid out in January - is the most sweeping economic
recovery package in our history. It is the product of broad consultations - and
the recipient of broad support - from business leaders, unions, and public
interest groups, the Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of
Manufacturers, Democrats and Republicans, mayors as well as governors. It is a
rare thing in Washington for people with such different viewpoints to come
together and support the same bill, and on behalf of our nation, I thank them
for it, including your two outstanding new Senators, Michael Bennet and Mark
Udall.

I also want to thank my Vice President Joe Biden for working behind the
scenes from the very start to make this recovery act possible. I want to thank
Speaker Pelosi and Harry Reid for acting so quickly and proving that Congress
could step up to this challenge. I want to thank Max Baucus, Chairman of the
Finance Committee, without whom none of this would have happened. And I want to
thank all the Committee Chairs and members of Congress for coming up with a plan
that is both bold and balanced enough to meet the demands of this moment. The
American people were looking to them for leadership, and that is what they
provided.

What makes this recovery plan so important is not just that it will create
or save three and a half million jobs over the next two years, including nearly
60,000 in Colorado. It's that we are putting Americans to work doing the work
that America needs done in critical areas that have been neglected for too long
- work that will bring real and lasting change for generations to come.

Because we know we can't build our economic future on the transportation
and information networks of the past, we are remaking the American landscape
with the largest new investment in our nation's infrastructure since Eisenhower
built an interstate highway system in the 1950s. Because of this investment,
nearly 400,000 men and women will go to work rebuilding our crumbling roads and
bridges, repairing our faulty dams and levees, bringing critical broadband
connections to businesses and homes in nearly every community in America,
upgrading mass transit, and building high-speed rail lines that will improve
travel and commerce throughout the nation.

Because we know America can't out-compete the world tomorrow if our
children are being out educated today, we are making the largest investment in
education in our nation's history. It's an investment that will create jobs
building 21st century classrooms, libraries, and labs for millions of children
across America. It will provide funds to train a new generation of math and
science teachers, while giving aid to states and school districts to stop
teachers from being laid off and education programs from being cut. In New York
City alone, 14,000 teachers who were set to be let go may now be able to
continue pursuing their critical mission. It's an investment that will create a
new $2,500 annual tax credit to put the dream of a college degree within reach
for middle class families and make college affordable for seven million
students, helping more of our sons and daughters aim higher, reach farther, and
fulfill their God-given potential.

Because we know that spiraling health care costs are crushing families and
businesses alike, we are taking the most meaningful steps in years towards
modernizing our health care system. It's an investment that will take the long
overdue step of computerizing America's medical records - to reduce the
duplication and waste that costs billions of health care dollars and the medical
errors that every year cost thousands of lives. Further, thanks to the action we
have taken, seven million Americans who lost their health care along with their
jobs will continue to get the coverage they need, and roughly 20 million more
can breathe a little easier, knowing that their health care won't be cut due to
a state budget shortfall. And an historic commitment to wellness initiatives
will keep millions of Americans from setting foot in the doctor's office for
purely preventable diseases.

Taken together with the enactment earlier this month of a long-delayed law
to extend health care to millions more children of working families, we have
done more in 30 days to advance the cause of health reform than this country has
done in a decade.

Because we know we can't power America's future on energy that's controlled
by foreign dictators, we are taking a big step down the road to energy
independence, and laying the groundwork for a new, green energy economy that can
create countless well-paying jobs. It's an investment that will double the
amount of renewable energy produced over the next three years, and provide tax
credits and loan guarantees to companies like Namaste Solar, a company that will
be expanding, instead of laying people off, as a result of the plan I am
signing.

In the process, we will transform the way we use energy. Today, the
electricity we use is carried along a grid of lines and wires that dates back to
Thomas Edison - a grid that can't support the demands of clean energy. This
means we're using 19th and 20th century technologies to battle 21st century
problems like climate change and energy security. It also means that places like
North Dakota can produce a lot of wind energy, but can't deliver it to
communities that want it, leading to a gap between how much clean energy we are
using and how much we could be using.

The investment we are making today will create a newer, smarter electric
grid that will allow for the broader use of alternative energy. We will build on
the work that's being done in places like Boulder, Colorado - a community that
is on pace to be the world's first Smart Grid city. This investment will place
Smart Meters in homes to make our energy bills lower, make outages less likely,
and make it easier to use clean energy. It's an investment that will save
taxpayers over one billion dollars by slashing energy costs in our federal
buildings by 25% and save working families hundreds of dollars a year on their
energy bills by weatherizing over one million homes. And it's an investment that
takes the important first step towards a nationwide transmission superhighway
that will connect our cities to the windy plains of the Dakotas and the sunny
deserts of the Southwest.

Even beyond energy, from the National Institutes of Health to the National
Science Foundation, this recovery act represents the biggest increase in basic
research funding in the long history of America's noble endeavor to better
understand our world. Just as President Kennedy sparked an explosion of
innovation when he set America's sights on the moon, I hope this investment will
ignite our imagination once more, spurring new discoveries and breakthroughs
that will make our economy stronger, our nation more secure, and our planet
safer for our children.

While this package is mostly composed of critical investments, it also
includes aid to state and local governments to prevent layoffs of firefighters
or police recruits - recruits like the ones in Columbus, Ohio who were told that
instead of being sworn-in as officers, they would be let go. It includes help
for those hardest hit by our economic crisis like the nearly 18 million
Americans who will get larger unemployment checks in the mail. And about a third
of this package comes in the form of tax cuts - the most progressive in our
history - not only spurring job-creation, but putting money in the pockets of
95% of all hardworking families. Unlike tax cuts we've seen in recent years, the
vast majority of these tax benefits will go not to the wealthiest Americans but
to the middle class - with those workers who make the least benefiting the most.
And it's a plan that rewards responsibility, lifting two million Americans from
poverty by ensuring that anyone who works hard does not have to raise a child
below the poverty line. As a whole, this plan will help poor and working
Americans pull themselves into the middle class in a way we haven't seen in
nearly fifty years.

What I am signing, then, is a balanced plan with a mix of tax cuts and
investments. It is a plan that's been put together without earmarks or the usual
pork barrel spending. And it is a plan that will be implemented with an
unprecedented level of transparency and accountability. With a recovery package
of this scale comes a responsibility to assure every taxpayer that we are being
careful with the money they work so hard to earn. That's why I am assigning a
team of managers to ensure that the precious dollars we have invested are being
spent wisely and well. We will hold the governors and local officials who
receive money to the same high standards. And we expect you, the American
people, to hold us accountable for the results. That is why we have created
Recovery.gov - so every American can go online and see how their money is being
spent.

As important as the step we take today is, this legislation represents only
the first part of the broad strategy we need to address our economic crisis. In
the coming days and weeks, I will be launching other aspects of the plan. We
will need to stabilize, repair, and reform our banking system, and get credit
flowing again to families and businesses. We will need to end a culture where we
ignore problems until they become full-blown crises instead of recognizing that
the only way to build a thriving economy is to set and enforce firm rules of the
road. We must stem the spread of foreclosures and falling home values for all
Americans, and do everything we can to help responsible homeowners stay in their
homes, something I will talk more about tomorrow. And while we need to do
everything in the short-term to get our economy moving again, we must recognize
that having inherited a trillion-dollar deficit, we need to begin restoring
fiscal discipline and taming our exploding deficits over the long-term.

None of this will be easy. The road to recovery will not be straight and
true. It will demand courage and discipline, and a new sense of responsibility
that has been missing - from Wall Street to Washington. There will be hazards
and reverses along the way. But I have every confidence that if we are willing
to continue doing the difficult work that must be done - by each of us and by
all of us - then we will leave this struggling economy behind us, and come out
on the other side, more prosperous as a people.

For our American story is not - and has never been - about things coming
easy. It's about rising to the moment when the moment is hard, converting crisis
into opportunity, and seeing to it that we emerge from whatever trials we face
stronger than we were before. It's about rejecting the notion that our fate is
somehow written for us, and instead laying claim to a destiny of our own making.
That is what earlier generations of Americans have done, and that is what we are
doing today.

Thank you.

Tomorrow President Obama will unveil his plans to combat the Mortgage crisis while he is in Arizona, his electoral opponent's home state. John McCain remains one of the Presidents most vocal opponents. The symbolism in this gesture is easily visible.

Where do we go from here?
What will tomorrow bring?
Is this package to little, to late or is it to large in scale and to unfocused to help?

Any thoughts?

the Downsizing of the American Dream

The American Dream can mean many different things to the many different people who inhabit the United States of America and to those who look towards the shores of America as the place of opportunity. As of late however, those dreams are shrinking. Hopes and aspirations that once danced in the minds of those motivated individuals who could see a future carved by there own hands are now more occupied with clutching tightly to what they have at this moment in time. Looking towards a bright and fertile future seems to have been replaced by fighting to survive in the shadows of the wasteland that has been carved out by our current economic woes.

Today, at 2:40 Eastern Time President Obama will sign the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law. He will sign the $787 Billion bill in Denver Colorado. The location is symbolic in a couple of ways.

First, it has long been considered the epicenter of the green movement. Green energy and environmental matters play a key role in the Presidents Stimulus package and his administrations overall agenda. Many of the items contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act revolve around spending aimed at generating a greening of America. Though the road and costs to get there may not be fully realized by the American citizens yet, the costs and perils of not moving in that direction were evident a few short months ago as gasoline reached the $4 a gallon mark. Currently our budgetary strain as citizens is not felt as tightly as is had been. The current price at the pump has slipped and is around the $2 mark for the most part. Many have noted that the price is beginning to rise at the pump once again. Some have speculated that the price will be closer to the $3 a gallon mark by summer time.

Second, Denver is a Republican territory. Traditionally Republican territory is a focus for President Obama, as he intends to travel to his election rivals home state of Arizona on Wednesday to announce his plans to deal with the national mortgage crises. As the Republicans of the house and Senate have stood in opposition to the Democratic Presidents package, this may be seen as a reminder to them of who is in control and that the blockade they attempted to put in place was of little to no consequence in the end. This may also be an attempt at crossing party lines to reach out to Republican voters and show that the new administration is working swiftly to stem the blood loss by the economic crisis. With the mid-term elections coming up, Democrats may also be eyeing the next big prize. If the Stimulus package stops the current economic downward trend or even slows it significantly the Republicans may shed even more control.

Where do we go from here?

Unfortunately there is still some room to travel deeper into the well of economic despair. The Stimulus package is designed to put a solid floor under the feet of the U S Economy and allow it to regain its footing.

It is not going to be a magic bullet.

It will not cure the economy.

It will most likely be accompanied in the near future by one or two smaller stimulus packages designed to put spending money directly in the hands of the American consumer.

For now we will have to settle for the added $13 a week in the check of those who still have a job.

Day 27 February 16 2009

No Instant Miracle Cure from the $787 Billion

The White House is trying to reduce the expectations for the infusion of $787 Billion into the economy. The stimulus will not change the economy over night. It will improve the economy, eventually. At least that's what the White House is saying. David Axelrod has been quoted as saying, "The President has said it's likely to get worse before it gets better."

As I have said before, I would expect no less.

The Republicans are still standing against this bill and maintaining a high profile presence in doing so. John McCain is leading them in the vocal assault. While on CNN's "State of the Union" McCain said of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act or Stimulus package - "This bill was not bipartisan. It is incredibly expensive. It has hundreds of billions of dollars in projects which will not yield jobs"

Obviously there will be limited support for the progress of this package in the future.

Is the Republican Party cutting it's own throat by standing it's ground to make a point?

What if the package starts to gain momentum in the near future?

What if the stimulus package work?

Does the Republican Party have an exit strategy that will not cut even more Republican seats in the Mid-Term elections?

Day 26 of the 1461 days - February 15 2009

President Obama to Sign the Stimulus Bill into Law on Tuesday

The President of the United States has made many bold gestures and promises. Some of if not the majority of them have to do with changing the face of the government. Making the government more transparent in the way it does business and involving the citizens of this country in the way our country is run. The open review process is one of those promises.

An open review of pending bills for 5 days prior to them being signed into law. Even this stimulus plan being a "emergency" package should be stuck into the 5 day review. That is not going to happen. However the American Recovery and Revitalisation Act does call for the ability to have the 1100 page document available for download to the public for 48 hours prior to the bill being signed into law.

Now we know why the bill is sitting until Tuesday before being signed into law. The bill will be signed into law in Denver Colorado. Despite Republican opposition, the bill passed both the House and the Senate and Conservatives in the House and Senate both sited wasteful spending and non stimulative budgetary items being littered through out the bill, but in the end Obama's center piece legislation has moved forward.

I still can not find a viable download link for the bill. I would like to post the link here on the site. If any of you have a link please leave it in a comment at the bottom.

"I think it's safe to say that things have not yet bottomed out," press secretary Robert Gibbs said. "They are probably going to get worse before they improve. But this is a big step forward toward making that improvement and putting people back to work."

How much of an improvement and how far down it is to the bottom remains to be seen.


Secretary of State leaves for Asian tour

On her first journey abroad as the Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton will pay visits to Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and China. Her first stop will be in Japan. During her visit there she is expected to sign a deal that will remove 8,000 US troops from hew mainland of Japan and move them to Guam. The goal is to ease tension between the US and Japan over troop levels in the island country's mainland.

Clinton's Asian tour will last one week.


The home mortgage foreclosure crisis

We are led to believe this is one of the Three legs of the stool that President Obama talks about in his economic plans. It is at the heart of the current economic crisis that faces the nation.

The symbolism of signing the American Reinvestment and Revitalisation Act into law in Denver can be seen. It is the part of the country at the heart of the Green movement. They are on the forefront of the Green wave. The $787 billion bill is designed to stimulate growth and investment in the Green movement.

What is the role in the mortgage crises for Denver? I don't see a direct roll for the residents of Denver other than aiding President Obama in taking his economic message to the American people. By maintaining a public face in this crisis, the citizens of the United States are giving him high marks for the handling the economic crisis.


Commerce Department About Face

Senator Greg first accepted the nomination and then this past Thursday decided to decline the nomination. The timing was in question and the idea that he had not thought through the position and what it would entail of him begs to question if he had the for site to be in the government in the first place. Some hail him as a hero for making a decision to move away fro the Obama administration while others wonder why he made a decision to join forces and later to distance himself in the manor that he has while still proclaiming Obama to be what this country needs at this crossroad in history. One might think the Senator had something he didn't want aired that was about to come to the front during his confirmation hearing. In the end there is no indication that that is fact, but it does raise questions.

the 1461 Days Tee's are here!

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