[Vision2020] American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan

[Tom Hansen]

Transcript from this morning's (January 8, 2009) announcement, by 
President-elect Barack Obama, detailing his "American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Plan".

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President-elect Obama:  Throughout America’s history, there have been some 
years that simply rolled into the next without much notice or fanfare.  
Then there are the years that come along once in a generation – the kind 
that mark a clean break from a troubled past, and set a new course for our 
nation.

This is one of those years. 

We start 2009 in the midst of a crisis unlike any we have seen in our 
lifetime – a crisis that has only deepened over the last few weeks.  
Nearly two million jobs have now been lost, and on Friday we are likely to 
learn that we lost more jobs last year than at any time since World War 
II.  Just in the past year, another 2.8 million Americans who want and 
need full-time work have had to settle for part-time jobs.  Manufacturing 
has hit a twenty-eight year low.  Many businesses cannot borrow or make 
payroll.  Many families cannot pay their bills or their mortgage.  Many 
workers are watching their life savings disappear.  And many, many 
Americans are both anxious and uncertain of what the future will hold. 

I don’t believe it’s too late to change course, but it will be if we don’t 
take dramatic action as soon as possible.  If nothing is done, this 
recession could linger for years.  The unemployment rate could reach 
double digits.  Our economy could fall $1 trillion short of its full 
capacity, which translates into more than $12,000 in lost income for a 
family of four.  We could lose a generation of potential and promise, as 
more young Americans are forced to forgo dreams of college or the chance 
to train for the jobs of the future.  And our nation could lose the 
competitive edge that has served as a foundation for our strength and 
standing in the world. 

In short, a bad situation could become dramatically worse.

This crisis did not happen solely by some accident of history or normal 
turn of the business cycle, and we won’t get out of it by simply waiting 
for a better day to come, or relying on the worn-out dogmas of the past.  
We arrived at this point due to an era of profound irresponsibility that 
stretched from corporate boardrooms to the halls of power in Washington, 
DC.  For years, too many Wall Street executives made imprudent and 
dangerous decisions, seeking profits with too little regard for risk, too 
little regulatory scrutiny, and too little accountability.  Banks made 
loans without concern for whether borrowers could repay them, and some 
borrowers took advantage of cheap credit to take on debt they couldn’t 
afford.  Politicians spent taxpayer money without wisdom or discipline, 
and too often focused on scoring political points instead of the problems 
they were sent here to solve.  The result has been a devastating loss of 
trust and confidence in our economy, our financial markets, and our 
government.

Now, the very fact that this crisis is largely of our own making means 
that it is not beyond our ability to solve.  Our problems are rooted in 
past mistakes, not our capacity for future greatness.  It will take time, 
perhaps many years, but we can rebuild that lost trust and confidence.  We 
can restore opportunity and prosperity.  We should never forget that our 
workers are still more productive than any on Earth.  Our universities are 
still the envy of the world.  We are still home to the most brilliant 
minds, the most creative entrepreneurs, and the most advanced technology 
and innovation that history has ever known.  And we are still the nation 
that has overcome great fears and improbable odds.  If we act with the 
urgency and seriousness that this moment requires, I know that we can do 
it again.

That is why I have moved quickly to work with my economic team and leaders 
of both parties on an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that will 
immediately jumpstart job creation and long-term growth.

It’s a plan that represents not just new policy, but a whole new approach 
to meeting our most urgent challenges. For if we hope to end this crisis, 
we must end the culture of anything goes that helped create it – and this 
change must begin in Washington.  It is time to trade old habits for a new 
spirit of responsibility.  It is time to finally change the ways of 
Washington so that we can set a new and better course for America.

There is no doubt that the cost of this plan will be considerable.  It 
will certainly add to the budget deficit in the short-term.  But equally 
certain are the consequences of doing too little or nothing at all, for 
that will lead to an even greater deficit of jobs, incomes, and confidence 
in our economy.  It is true that we cannot depend on government alone to 
create jobs or long-term growth, but at this particular moment, only 
government can provide the short-term boost necessary to lift us from a 
recession this deep and severe.  Only government can break the vicious 
cycles that are crippling our economy – where a lack of spending leads to 
lost jobs which leads to even less spending; where an inability to lend 
and borrow stops growth and leads to even less credit.

That is why we need to act boldly and act now to reverse these cycles.  
That’s why we need to put money in the pockets of the American people, 
create new jobs, and invest in our future.  That’s why we need to re-start 
the flow of credit and restore the rules of the road that will ensure a 
crisis like this never happens again. 

That work begins with this plan – a plan I am confident will save or 
create at least three million jobs over the next few years.  It is not 
just another public works program.  It’s a plan that recognizes both the 
paradox and the promise of this moment – the fact that there are millions 
of Americans trying to find work, even as, all around the country, there 
is so much work to be done.   That’s why we’ll invest in priorities like 
energy and education; health care and a new infrastructure that are 
necessary to keep us strong and competitive in the 21st century.  That’s 
why the overwhelming majority of the jobs created will be in the private 
sector, while our plan will save the public sector jobs of teachers, cops, 
firefighters and others who provide vital services.

To finally spark the creation of a clean energy economy, we will double 
the production of alternative energy in the next three years.  We will 
modernize more than 75% of federal buildings and improve the energy 
efficiency of two million American homes, saving consumers and taxpayers 
billions on our energy bills.  In the process, we will put Americans to 
work in new jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced – jobs building 
solar panels and wind turbines; constructing fuel-efficient cars and 
buildings; and developing the new energy technologies that will lead to 
even more jobs, more savings, and a cleaner, safer planet in the bargain. 

To improve the quality of our health care while lowering its cost, we will 
make the immediate investments necessary to ensure that within five years, 
all of America’s medical records are computerized.  This will cut waste, 
eliminate red tape, and reduce the need to repeat expensive medical 
tests.  But it just won’t save billions of dollars and thousands of jobs – 
it will save lives by reducing the deadly but preventable medical errors 
that pervade our health care system.

To give our children the chance to live out their dreams in a world that’s 
never been more competitive, we will equip tens of thousands of schools, 
community colleges, and public universities with 21st century classrooms, 
labs, and libraries.  We’ll provide new computers, new technology, and new 
training for teachers so that students in Chicago and Boston can compete 
with kids in Beijing for the high-tech, high-wage jobs of the future. 

To build an economy that can lead this future, we will begin to rebuild 
America.  Yes, we’ll put people to work repairing crumbling roads, 
bridges, and schools by eliminating the backlog of well-planned, worthy 
and needed infrastructure projects.  But we’ll also do more to retrofit 
America for a global economy.  That means updating the way we get our 
electricity by starting to build a new smart grid that will save us money, 
protect our power sources from blackout or attack, and deliver clean, 
alternative forms of energy to every corner of our nation.  It means 
expanding broadband lines across America, so that a small business in a 
rural town can connect and compete with their counterparts anywhere in the 
world.  And it means investing in the science, research, and technology 
that will lead to new medical breakthroughs, new discoveries, and entire 
new industries. 

Finally, this recovery and reinvestment plan will provide immediate relief 
to states, workers, and families who are bearing the brunt of this 
recession.  To get people spending again, 95% of working families will 
receive a $1,000 tax cut – the first stage of a middle-class tax cut that 
I promised during the campaign and will include in our next budget.  To 
help Americans who have lost their jobs and can’t find new ones, we’ll 
continue the bipartisan extensions of unemployment insurance and health 
care coverage to help them through this crisis.  Government at every level 
will have to tighten its belt, but we’ll help struggling states avoid 
harmful budget cuts, as long as they take responsibility and use the money 
to maintain essential services like police, fire, education, and health 
care. 

I understand that some might be skeptical of this plan.  Our government 
has already spent a good deal of money, but we haven’t yet seen that 
translate into more jobs or higher incomes or renewed confidence in our 
economy.  That’s why the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan won’t 
just throw money at our problems – we’ll invest in what works.  The true 
test of the policies we’ll pursue won’t be whether they’re Democratic or 
Republican ideas, but whether they create jobs, grow our economy, and put 
the American Dream within reach of the American people.

Instead of politicians doling out money behind a veil of secrecy, 
decisions about where we invest will be made transparently, and informed 
by independent experts wherever possible.  Every American will be able to 
hold Washington accountable for these decisions by going online to see how 
and where their tax dollars are being spent.  And as I announced 
yesterday, we will launch an unprecedented effort to eliminate unwise and 
unnecessary spending that has never been more unaffordable for our nation 
and our children’s future than it is right now.

We have to make tough choices and smart investments today so that as the 
economy recovers, the deficit starts to come down.  We cannot have a solid 
recovery if our people and our businesses don’t have confidence that we’re 
getting our fiscal house in order.  That’s why our goal is not to create a 
slew of new government programs, but a foundation for long-term economic 
growth.

That also means an economic recovery plan that is free from earmarks and 
pet projects.  I understand that every member of Congress has ideas on how 
to spend money.  Many of these projects are worthy, and benefit local 
communities.  But this emergency legislation must not be the vehicle for 
those aspirations.  This must be a time when leaders in both parties put 
the urgent needs of our nation above our own narrow interests. 

Now, this recovery plan alone will not solve all the problems that led us 
into this crisis.  We must also work with the same sense of urgency to 
stabilize and repair the financial system we all depend on.  That means 
using our full arsenal of tools to get credit flowing again to families 
and business, while restoring confidence in our markets.  It means 
launching a sweeping effort to address the foreclosure crisis so that we 
can keep responsible families in their homes.  It means preventing the 
catastrophic failure of financial institutions whose collapse could 
endanger the entire economy, but only with maximum protections for 
taxpayers and a clear understanding that government support for any 
company is an extraordinary action that must come with significant 
restrictions on the firms that receive support.  And it means reforming a 
weak and outdated regulatory system so that we can better withstand 
financial shocks and better protect consumers, investors, and businesses 
from the reckless greed and risk-taking that must never endanger our 
prosperity again.

No longer can we allow Wall Street wrongdoers to slip through regulatory 
cracks.  No longer can we allow special interests to put their thumbs on 
the economic scales.  No longer can we allow the unscrupulous lending and 
borrowing that leads only to destructive cycles of bubble and bust. 

It is time to set a new course for this economy, and that change must 
begin now.  We should have an open and honest discussion about this 
recovery plan in the days ahead, but I urge Congress to move as quickly as 
possible on behalf of the American people.  For every day we wait or point 
fingers or drag our feet, more Americans will lose their jobs.  More 
families will lose their savings.  More dreams will be deferred and 
denied.  And our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some 
point, we may not be able to reverse.

That is not the country I know, and it is not a future I will accept as 
President of the United States.  A world that depends on the strength of 
our economy is now watching and waiting for America to lead once more.  
And that is what we will do.

It will not come easy or happen overnight, and it is altogether likely 
that things may get worse before they get better.  But that is all the 
more reason for Congress to act without delay.  I know the scale of this 
plan is unprecedented, but so is the severity of our situation.  We have 
already tried the wait-and-see approach to our problems, and it is the 
same approach that helped lead us to this day of reckoning.

That is why the time has come to build a 21st century economy in which 
hard work and responsibility are once again rewarded.  That’s why I’m 
asking Congress to work with me and my team day and night, on weekends if 
necessary, to get the plan passed in the next few weeks.  That’s why I’m 
calling on all Americans – Democrats and Republicans – to put good ideas 
ahead of the old ideological battles; a sense of common purpose above the 
same narrow partisanship; and insist that the first question each of us 
asks isn’t “What’s good for me?” but “What’s good for the country my 
children will inherit?” 

More than any program or policy, it is this spirit that will enable us to 
confront this challenge with the same spirit that has led previous 
generations to face down war, depression, and fear itself.  And if we do – 
if we are able to summon that spirit again; if are able to look out for 
one another, and listen to one another, and do our part for our nation and 
for posterity, then I have no doubt that years from now, we will look back 
on 2009 as one of those years that marked another new and hopeful 
beginning for the United States of America.  Thank you, God Bless You, and 
may God Bless America. 

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"We got our win.
Obama's in . . .

Barack the House!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNle_402RY0
 

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