Filed under: News, Politics, President Obama
In a video message to his supporters, the president said that creating jobs and improving the economy are his top priorities:
"You know, when you look back on these last two years, they're as tough as anything we've gone through since the Great Depression. The economy, when I first was coming in, was contracting rapidly. We lost millions of jobs, businesses were shuttered and I think a lot of people were worried about the future," the president said.
"So we've made progress, but as all of you know, from talking to friends and neighbors, seeing what's happening in your communities, we've still got a lot more work to do. The fact of the matter is we've got millions of our fellow Americans who are out there struggling every day, don't have a job or haven't seen a raise in a long time, paycheck is shrinking at a time when costs are going up. And so my principal focus, my No. 1 focus, is going to be making sure that we are competitive, that we are growing and we are creating jobs not just now but well in to the future," the president added.
Now is a good time for America to hear this message.
With more Americans concerned about the overhyped political rhetoric coming out of Washington, this is a return to the basic necessities.
Despite the fact that it's not on the news as much as it used to be, millions of Americans are still out of work and in danger of losing their homes. Municipalities across the country are struggling to continue to provide the basic services. The federal government is working on a plan to let some states declare bankruptcy and shed some of their debts, including worker pensions.
Why are Americans still struggling with jobs despite the healthful record profits being posted by corporate America?
If I've been out of work for two years, it is a question that I want answered.
Americans should not be in the mood for political rhetoric but solutions. One example is the use of the deficit by some politicians to deny programs that Americans need right now, such as extended unemployment benefits.
"We're also going to have to deal with our deficits and our debt in a responsible way," president Obama said.
"How do we make sure that people have good jobs with good benefits? How do we make sure that somebody who has a good idea can suddenly start a business, how are we going to make sure that we have the most innovative, dynamic economy in the world? And how do we make sure that our kids are able to compete with workers anywhere in the world?
Now to do that, we're going to have to out-innovate, we're going to have to out-build, we're going to have to out-compete, we're going to have to out-educate other countries," the President said.
"In other words, our job is to make sure that the American Dream is attainable to everybody who is willing to work for it, everybody who is willing to strive for it."
Indeed.