Tag Archives: Economy

The Chairman’s Weekly Radio Address: February 21, 2009

Barack Obama’s Weekly Radio Address

February 21, 2009

Earlier this week, I signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — the most sweeping

Sweeping is a word.  Not the one I would have picked, but, hey, who am I?

economic recovery plan in history.  Because of this plan, 3.5 million Americans

How do you know?  Where did you get this number?  3.5 million…..

will now go to work

This is tricky of you Mr. Chairman!  Very very tricky.  You make it sound like these 3.5 million, of which 3.5 million are unemployed, will go to work.  Now.  Gotta hand it to ya sparky, sure got the Chicago style down pat, dont’cha?

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.

Lot less of them that ya thought, though, huh?  All this hope and change?  Yeah, me either.

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.

Those things, those things should have been being done ANYWAY!!!

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.

Blink.  Blink.  Weatherize our homes?  Next you’ll be tellin’ me to inflate the tires on my car!  Hahahah–wait, what?  You already said that?  Oh my.

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.

Whoa whoa whoa sparkey.  More money in the schools ain’t what keeping kids from graduation.  You got that!?

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

Awesome idea.  Really really is.  But not stimulative.  Just not.  Write it up in a bill and pass it.  But don’t lie to me.  Change my ass.

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

Cough  —bullshit— cough.  You didn’t even let Republican LAWMAKERS in the room when this was written.  You SAID daylight.  5 days.  For us to see.  Transparency.  “I don’t think that word means what you think it means!”

and accountability,

Right.  Forgive the disbelief.

I have assigned a team of managers to make sure that precious tax dollars are invested wisely and well.

Right.  Forgive the disbelief.

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.

This one you keep?  THIS one?  Awesome you “non tax cutter”

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.

Aaaahhh, here comes the punchline.

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.

Serious?!?  Are you F$%#ckin’ KIDDING me?  Do you read the papers?  Do you READ what is going on?  Do you have a CLUE as to what got us in this mess?  Home ownership?  Come on man!  Stay out of the way.  Let the market clear.

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

Google “Mark to market” you regulatory guy you.

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

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.  Breath.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA.

Thank you.

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

Pssst.    It’s now well over 3 trillion on it’s way to 7.

deficit that we’ve inherited.

It was the Senator YOU that gave this heapin pile of shit to the Blessed Leader you that is now talkin’ about it!  Dude.

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.

This I agree with.  Nothin you do is gonna do the trick!

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.

Careful.  We elected a no name Senator with zero experience and a past history of foolish policies.

And if we do, our economy — and our country — will be better and stronger for it.

Thank you.

The Chairman’s Weekly Radio Address: February 7, 2009

Barack Obama’s Weekly Radio Address

February 7, 2009

Yesterday began with some devastating news with regard to our economic crisis.  But I’m pleased to say it ended on a more positive note.

This must be speech writing 101.  I think that you started out last week’s address exactly the same way.

In the morning, we received yet another round of alarming employment figures – the worst in more than 30 years.

Okay, okay; I’ll give this one to ya.  At least you didn’t bring up the whole “worst since the Great Depression” thang.  So, while this may be as bad as the 90’s, it’s close.  And yes, the last time we saw numbers this bad was in the early 80’s.  About 28 years; so, okay, let’s go with 30.

Another 600,000 jobs were lost in January.  We’ve now lost more than 3.6 million jobs since this recession began.

Right, and 3.6 million sounds like a lot, heck, it IS a lot.  But, let’s take a look.  Since 1981, the last BIG recession, the labor force has grown some 50%.  So, while 3.6 million remains a lot of people, lets put this into perspective.

But by the evening, Democrats and Republicans came together in the Senate and responded appropriately to the urgency this moment demands.

Let’s be honest here sparky.  Every single Democrat – ALL of them– and just THREE Republicans came together.  This is not the partisan promise you sold me.  Actually, I personally didn’t buy ANY of your snake oil, but you know what I mean.

In the midst of our greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression,

I knew it.  I JUST KNEW you couldn’t make it through one of these infomercials with out a worst since the Great Depression reference.  You do know that this just makes you sound stupid.  I guess now I understand how the left felt about listening to Dubya.  Change……

the American people were hoping that Congress would begin to confront the great challenges we face.  That was, after all, what last November’s election was all about.

Legislation of such magnitude deserves the scrutiny that it’s received over the last month, and it will receive more in the days to come.  But we can’t afford to make perfect the enemy of the absolutely necessary.

Month?  What’choo talkin ‘about Willis?  This ain’t been no month!  You have been in office shy three week.  You know and I know that you are pushing this through before the American people support it less than they supported Dubya!

The scale and scope of this plan is right.  And the time for action is now.

If by right you mean horribly horribly wrong, then yeah, I’m with ya.  Action schmaction.  If you do nothing, just NOTHING, we are out of this in less than 6 months.

Because if we don’t move swiftly to put this plan in motion, our economic crisis could become a national catastrophe.  Millions of Americans will lose their jobs,

Pssst, over here.  Check it out….when Americans bring down debt -and they should bring down debt-it’s a recessionary action.  We knew this going in.  Okay, back to you.

their homes,

Pssst, over here.  Check it out…..[wait wait wait–do I really have to be the guy to tell you this?] It was those poepl GETTING their homes that caused this whole freaking mess to begin with?  What are doin?  Hey man, don’t walk away from me…..

and their health care.  Millions more will have to put their dreams on hold.

Let’s be clear:

Okay, okay.  Being clear time!  Let’s go.

We can’t expect relief from the tired old theories that, in eight short years,

Clear–being clear.  This is all George W. Bush’s fault.  Got it.  Not even three weeks in and I am tired of you!  Clear my ass.

doubled the national debt, threw our economy into a tailspin, and led us into this mess in the first place.

Whoo sparky.  “into this mess in the first place.”  Do you read or study?  I mean, you must have, right?  Double Ivy?  I mean, how in the HELL did you make it through?  Let’s review:

  1. Democrats initiated a program that sold people homes they couldn’t afford.  Bad bad bad.
  2. Democrats allowed Fannie and Freddie to go unchecked.  This not only perpetuated the lending money to people who couldn’t afford it, but in fact, accelerated it by creating a market for OTHER banks to do the same thing.
  3. Democrats came in and INCREASED regulation changing basic as well as tried and true accounting principals.
    1. Google Mark to Market

We can’t rely on a losing formula that offers only tax cuts as the answer to all our problems while ignoring our fundamental economic challenges

Things like borrowing and printing money to spend our way out of debt.  Anyone know the rat race that is cash advance from VISA to pay Mastercard?  Would you consul your daughters to do that?  No, then why are you telling me to do that?

– the crushing cost of health care or the inadequate state of so many schools; our addiction to foreign oil or our crumbling roads, bridges, and levees.

Look, we’re with ya on the whole schools, energy and infrastructure thing.  Really, we are.  But we are also not so fookin stupid as to think that they are the same thing as a stimulus bill.  If you want money for schools, get out your Abe Lincoln oil lamp and craft such a bill.  You should remember how to do it from your days in the Senate, right?  I mean, hell, you were responsible for huge and important legislation while you were—oh my, how embarrassing for you.  You weren’t were you?  Huh, well, maybe that explains why you don’t know how this whole thing works.

The American people know that our challenges are great.  They don’t expect Democratic solutions or Republican solutions – they expect American solutions.

From the beginning, this recovery plan has had at its core a simple idea:  Let’s put Americans to work doing the work America needs done.

Except it’s not the Government’s role to create jobs.  Just allow proper conditions to exist and we’ll take care of the rest.

It will save or create more than 3 million jobs over the next two years,

Umm, gosh, this is getting old, but you may wanna, you  know, research this.  Even your own peeps are not so much thinking 3 million

all across the country – 16,000 in Maine, nearly 80,000 in Indiana – almost all of them in the private sector, and all of them jobs that help us recover today, and prosper tomorrow.

Jobs that upgrade classrooms and laboratories in 10,000 schools nationwide – at least 485 in Florida alone – and train an army of teachers in math and science.

Jobs that modernize our health care system, not only saving us billions of dollars, but countless lives.

Jobs that construct a smart electric grid, connect every corner of the country to the information superhighway, double our capacity to generate renewable energy, and grow the economy of tomorrow.

Jobs that rebuild our crumbling roads, bridges and levees and dams, so that the tragedies of New Orleans and Minneapolis never happen again.

It includes immediate tax relief for our struggling middle class in places like Ohio,

We’ve been over this before as well.  When you take steal money from me and GIVE it to someone else, that is neither a tax cut or a relief.  All it does is PISS me off without benefiting anyone.

where 4.5 million workers will receive a tax cut of up to $1,000.

Okay, okay, you win.  I agree, Uncle.  Let’s give these people that $1,000.  Just DO it already.  In fact, if you PROMISE to just not talk anymore, I’ll double it.  That’s 9 billion dollars.  Just saved ya about 850 billion.

It protects health insurance and provides unemployment insurance for those who’ve lost their jobs.  And it helps our states and communities avoid painful tax hikes or layoffs

Dude, DUDE!  You SAID you studied Constitutional Law.  It is not YOUR job to reduce State and City taxes.

for our teachers, nurses, and first responders.

Stop it!  Shameless emotional garbage!

That’s what is at stake with this plan:  putting Americans back to work, creating transformative economic change, and making a down payment

What?  Down payment?  A down payment is money that you ALREADY have placed down for money you are going to borrow.  This, THIS is a lot of things.  But isn’t most certainly NOT a down payment!

on the American Dream that serves our children and our children’s children for generations to come.

Americans across this country are struggling, and they are watching to see if we’re equal to the task before us.  Let’s show them that we are.  And let’s do whatever it takes to keep the promise of America alive in our time.

If only you would!

Thank you.

The Chairman’s Weekly Radio Address: January 31, 2009

Barack Obama’s Weekly Radio Address

January 31, 2009

This morning I’d like to talk about some good news and some bad news as we confront our economic crisis.

Finally, some change I can believe in.  I am very very much in need of good news.  But, alas, I don’t believe you are capable of delivering it.

The bad news is well known to Americans across our country as we continue to struggle through unprecedented economic turmoil.

Are you talking to America?  Or, are you talking to your daughters?  Unprecedented economic turmoil…..that is just inexcusably irresponsible.

Yesterday we learned that our economy shrank by nearly 4 percent

Yo, Mr. “detail leaver outer”….the economy did not shrink by 4%, or even the 3.8% that was reported.  It shrank by .965% for the 4th quarter 2008.  Call it 1%, go ahead and round up to continue to scare us silly.  But really, really!, 4%?  Something about irresponsible comes to mind.  Though I suspect I am going to have to discipline myself to continue to avoid such references.

from October through December. That decline was the largest in over a quarter century, and it underscores the seriousness of the economic crisis that my administration found when we took office.

Nice pick.  Blame Dubya for all of this.  As if the Senate had noooothing to do with it.  Didn’t vote for TARP.  Golly, if ONLY we could get one two of those Senators and just YELL at them.

Already the slowdown has cost us tens of thousands of jobs in January alone. And the picture is likely to get worse before it gets better.

Make no mistake,

Umm, so far, it’s not me thats making the mistakes.

these are not just numbers. Behind every statistic there’s a story. Many Americans have seen their lives turned upside down. Families have been forced to make painful choices. Parents are struggling to pay the bills. Patients can’t afford care. Students can’t keep pace with tuition. And workers don’t know whether their retirement will be dignified and secure.

The good news

Oh good!  Good news…..

is that we are moving forward with a sense of urgency equal to the challenge.

Awesome.  Waiting for the goods.

This week the House passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan,

Wait wait wait….what is this?  You said, you PROMISED me good news.

which will save or create more than 3 million jobs over the next few years. It puts a tax cut into the pockets of working families,

No.  No it doesn’t.  What it DOES do is put MY money in their pockets.  But, you know–details, who needs ’em?.

and places a down payment on America’s future by investing in energy independence and education, affordable health care, and American infrastructure.

Good ideas all.  But, step over here Sparky……none of them have anything to do with, you know, the economy.  Much less stimulating it.

Now this recovery plan moves to the Senate. I will continue working with both parties so that the strongest possible bill gets to my desk.

I bet we have different definitions of “strong” in this case.

With the stakes so high we simply cannot afford the same old gridlock and partisan posturing in Washington. It’s time to move in a new direction.

gawd.

Americans know that our economic recovery will take years

As in, say….about…threeish?  Just right in time for your second run at the Office?

— not months. But they will have little patience if we allow politics to get in the way of action,

hahahahah, stop!  My belly hurts.  Really.

and our economy continues to slide. That’s why I am calling on the Senate to pass this plan, so that we can put people back to work and begin the long, hard work of lifting our economy out of this crisis. No one bill, no matter how comprehensive, can cure what ails our economy. So just as we jumpstart job creation, we must also ensure that markets are stable, credit is flowing, and families can stay in their homes.

Except that putting those families in their homes is the cause of all of this.  But, I’m sure you knew that, right?  Wait…why are shaking your head no?  Oh my, how embarrassing, you didn’t know that did you?

Last year Congress passed a plan to rescue the financial system.

Don’t make it sound like it was “they”.  YOU voted for it.  Don’t ever forget that; we won’t!

While the package helped avoid a financial collapse, many are frustrated by the results — and rightfully so. Too often taxpayer dollars 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 on their own.

And adding to this outrage, we learned this week that even as they petitioned for taxpayer assistance, Wall Street firms shamefully paid out nearly $20 billion in bonuses for 2008. While I’m committed to doing what it takes to maintain the flow of credit, the American people will not excuse or tolerate such arrogance and greed. The road to recovery demands that we all act responsibly, from Main Street to Washington to Wall Street.

Soon my Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, will announce a new strategy for reviving our financial system

Raise taxes and then not pay ’em.  Love it!

that gets credit flowing to businesses and families. We’ll help lower mortgage costs and extend loans to small businesses so they can create jobs. We’ll ensure that CEOs are not draining funds that should be advancing our recovery. And we will insist on unprecedented transparency, rigorous oversight, and clear accountability — so taxpayers know how their money is being spent and whether it is achieving results.

Rarely in history has our country faced economic problems as devastating as this crisis.

All right, stop.  Devastating.  Crisis.  How about this change?  Change the way in which you are painting this economic exercise.

But the strength of the American people compels us to come together. The road ahead will be long, but I promise you that every day that I go to work in the Oval Office I carry with me your stories, and my administration is dedicated to alleviating your struggles and advancing your dreams.

How about this?  If you stay out of the way, I’ll promise to work on my dream by myself.  Sheesh.

You are calling for action. Now is the time for those of us in Washington to live up to our responsibilities.

UPDATE:

I was in bed and it dawned on me; you kinda fooked me on that whole Good News thing.

Weekly Radio Address

Listening to the Chairman speak is much easier on the ears than Dubya has been; mercy me!  However, it is also a dangerous dangerous venture to go it alone.  You may be put under the spell as dear old Homer’s Champion can attest.  Or, you may simply be tricked by the crafty left.  Either way, it will always be helpful to have a travel guide.  A sorta speech GPS if you will.  So go ahead, sit back and enjoy the first installment of the Chairman’s weekly Radio Address.
Remarks of President-Elect The Chairman Barack Obama
Radio Address
Saturday, January 10, 2008
Washington, DC

We start this new year in the midst of an economic crisis unlike any we have seen in our lifetime.

We have finally gotten away from the “worst economic crisis since the Great Depression”!  However, to be fair to the Chairman, even our own, Dubya, help stoke that fire.  Gotta hand it to that Chairman, always good to jump on a political gift.

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

Official word is that this recession began Dec 07.  You could already say that this has lasted for years.  And you probably will again.

and the unemployment rate could reach double digits –

Actually, they say this even if everything is done.  As a matter of fact, economists from across the spectrum are saying that doing anything could actually increase the length of the recession, not shorten it.

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.

That is just plain Siren Song Mr. Chairman.  No one has ever said that.

It’s 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 I’ve taken the extraordinary step of working – even before I take office

Whatever happened to One President at a Time?  Oh yeah, forgot, even with Dubya at the helm, we still have room for a Chairman.

– 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’m hooked.  Explain this plan to me.

I asked my nominee for Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Dr. Christina Romer, and the Vice President-Elect’s 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.

See the plan here.

The report confirms that our plan will likely save or create three to four million jobs.

Pssst…come over here sparky.  The report was written by you.  This doesn’t confirm anything.

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.

This might be a bit misleading.  I think that all of the jobs you are talking about are coming from government contracts?

The jobs we create will be in businesses large and small across a wide range of industries.  And they’ll be the kind of jobs that don’t just put people to work in the short term, but position our economy to lead the world in the long-term.

We’ll 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 can’t be outsourced.

Umm, why not?  Why can’t I open a factory in Mexico to build wind turbines?  Or solar panels?  Or anything like that?  Sheesh.

We’ll create hundreds of thousands of jobs by improving health care – transitioning to a nationwide system of computerized medical records that won’t just save money, but save lives by preventing deadly medical errors.

Don’t get me wrong; I am ALL for computerized medical records.  But I don’t see how YOU are going to get ‘er done or, how that is going to create all these jobs?

And we’ll 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.

We’ll put nearly 400,000 people to work by repairing our infrastructure – our crumbling roads, bridges and schools.  And we’ll build the new infrastructure we need to succeed in this new century, investing in science and technology, and laying down miles of new broadband lines so that businesses across our nation can compete with their counterparts around the world.

Yeah yeah, this sounds like the government paying to have stuff done.  This doesn’t create jobs; at least not now.  Projects like these take years to get approved and contracted out.

Finally, we won’t just create jobs, we’ll also provide help for those who’ve lost theirs, and for states and families who’ve 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.

There it is, THERE it is.  At the end of your speech you finally get to it.  Your “tax cut”.  Lemme ‘splain somethin’ to ya.  You are now part of the Federal Government.  That is, you are able to influence Federal Tax policy.  State stuff, not you.  Federal stuff, THATS you.  So, when you shovel me this line of BS about a tax cut to folks that don’t pay [federal] taxes, you are tryin to trick me.  Payroll Tax?  Not Federal.  FICA?  Not a tax; thats insurance.  The only tax you impact is the Federal Income Tax.  And you are not reducing it.

Now, given the magnitude of the challenges we face, none of this will come easy.  Recovery won’t happen overnight, and it’s likely that things will get worse before they get better.

Right, right…..no crisis left unexploited.

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.

Nice finish.