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Last week, I spent a few days in California, talking with ordinary Americans
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in town halls and in the places they work. We talked about their struggles,
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and we talked about their hopes. At the end of the day, these men and women
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weren't as concerned with the news of the day in Washington as they were
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about the very real and very serious challenges their families face every day:
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whether they'll have a job and a paycheck to count on;
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whether they'll be able to pay their medical bills or afford college tuition;
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whether they'll be able to leave their children a world that's safer
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and more prosperous than the one we have now.
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Those are the concerns I heard about in California.
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They’re the concerns I've heard about in letters from people throughout
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this country for the last two years. And they are the concerns
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addressed in the budget I sent to Congress last month.
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With the magnitude of the challenges we face, I don't just view this budget
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as numbers on a page or a laundry list of programs. It’s an economic
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blueprint for our future -- a vision of America where growth is not based
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on real estate bubbles or over-leveraged banks, but on a firm foundation
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of investments in energy, education, and health care
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that will lead to a real and lasting prosperity.
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These investments are not a wish list of priorities that I picked out
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of thin air – they’re a central part of a comprehensive strategy to grow this
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economy by attacking the very problems that have dragged it down for
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too long: the high cost of health care and our dependence on foreign oil;
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our education deficit and our fiscal deficit.
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Now, as the House and the Senate take up this budget next week, the
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specific details and dollar amounts in this budget will undoubtedly change.
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That’s a normal and healthy part of the process.
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But when all is said and done,
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I expect a budget that meets four basic principles.
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First, it must reduce our dependence on dangerous foreign oil and finally
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put this nation on a path to a clean, renewable energy future.
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There’s no longer a doubt that the jobs and industries of tomorrow
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will involve harnessing renewable sources of energy.
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The only question is whether America will lead that future.
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I believe we can and we will, and that's why we've proposed a budget that
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makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy, while investing
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in technologies like wind power and solar power; advanced biofuels, clean coal,
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and fuel-efficient cars and trucks that can be built right here in America.
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Second, this budget must renew our nation's commitment to a complete
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and competitive education for every American child. In this global economy,
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we know the countries that out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow,
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and we know that our students are already falling behind their counterparts
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in places like China. That’s why we have proposed investments in childhood
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education programs that work; in high standards and accountability for our schools;
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in rewards for teachers who succeed; and in affordable college education for
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anyone who wants to go. It is time to demand excellence from our schools
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so that we can finally prepare our workforce for a 21st century economy.
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Third, we need a budget that makes a serious investment in health care reform --
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reform that will bring down costs, ensure quality, and guarantee people their
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choice of doctors and hospitals. Right now, there are millions of Americans
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who are just one illness or medical emergency away from bankruptcy.
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There are businesses that have been forced to close their doors or ship jobs
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overseas because they can't afford insurance. Medicare costs are consuming
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our federal budget. Medicaid is overwhelming our state budgets.
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So to those who say we have to choose between health care reform and fiscal
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discipline, I say that making investments now that will dramatically lower
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health care costs for everyone won't add to our budget deficit in the long-term
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it’s one of the best ways to reduce it.
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Finally, this budget must reduce that deficit even further.
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With the fiscal mess we've inherited and the cost of this financial crisis,
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I've proposed a budget that cuts our deficit in half by the end of my first term.
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That's why we are scouring every corner of the budget and have proposed
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$2 trillion in deficit reductions over the next decade.
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In total, our budget would bring discretionary spending for domestic programs
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as a share of the economy to its lowest level in nearly half a century.
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And we will continue making these tough choices in the months and years ahead
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so that as our economy recovers, we do what we must to bring down this deficit.
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I’ll be discussing each of these principles next week, as Congress takes up the
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important work of debating this budget. I realize there are those who say these
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plans are too ambitious to enact. To that I say that the challenges we face
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are too large to ignore. I didn't come here to pass on our problems to the
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next President or the next generation -- I came here to solve them.
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The American people sent us here to get things done, and at this moment of great
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challenge, they are watching and waiting for us to lead. Let's show them
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that we’re equal to the task before us, and let's pass a budget that
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puts this nation on the road to lasting prosperity.
