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The President: At this time last year,
amidst headlines about banks on the
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verge of collapse and job
losses of 700,000 a month,
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we received another troubling
piece of news about our economy.
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Our economy was shrinking
at an alarming rate --
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the largest six-month
decline in 50 years.
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Our factories and farms
were producing less;
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our businesses
were selling less;
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and more job losses
were on the horizon.
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One year later, according to
numbers released this past week,
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this trend has reversed itself.
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For the past six months, our
economy has been growing again.
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And last quarter, it grew more
quickly than at any time in the
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past six years.
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This is a sign of progress.
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And it's an affirmation of the
difficult decisions we made last
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year to pull our financial
system back from the brink and
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get our economy moving again.
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But when so many people
are still struggling --
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when one in ten Americans
still can't find work,
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and millions more are working
harder and longer for less --
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our mission isn't just
to grow the economy.
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It's to grow jobs for
folks who want them,
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and ensure wages that are
rising for those who have them.
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It's not just about improvements
we see in quarterly statistics,
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but ones people feel
in their daily lives --
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a bigger paycheck;
more security;
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the ability to give your kids
a decent shot in life and still
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have enough to
retire on one day.
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That's why job creation will be
our number one focus in 2010.
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We'll put more Americans
back to work rebuilding our
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infrastructure all
across the country.
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And since the true engines
of job creation are America's
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businesses, I've proposed tax
credits to help them hire new
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workers, raise wages, and invest
in new plants and equipment.
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I also want to eliminate all
capital gains taxes on small
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business investment, and help
small businesses to get the
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loans they need to open their doors and expand their operations.
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But as we work to create jobs,
it is critical that we rein in
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the budget deficits we've been
accumulating for far too long --
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deficits that won't just burden
our children and grandchildren,
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but could damage our markets,
drive up our interest rates,
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and jeopardize our
recovery right now.
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There are certain core
principles our families and
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businesses follow when they sit
down to do their own budgets.
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They accept that they can't get
everything they want and they
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focus on what they really need.
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They make tough decisions
and sacrifice for their kids.
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They don't spend
what they don't have,
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and they make do with
what they've got.
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It's time their
government did the same.
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That's why I'm pleased that the
Senate has just restored the
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pay-as-you-go law that was
in place back in the 1990s.
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It's no coincidence that
we ended that decade with a
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$236 billion surplus.
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But then we did
away with PAYGO --
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and we ended the next decade
with a $1.3 trillion deficit.
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Reinstating this law will
help us get back on track,
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ensuring that every
time we spend,
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we find somewhere else to cut.
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I've also proposed
a spending freeze,
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so that as we increase
investments in things we need,
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like job creation and
middle class tax cuts --
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we cut spending
on those we don't,
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like tax cuts for oil companies
and investment fund managers,
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and programs that are redundant,
obsolete, or simply ineffective.
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Spending related to
Medicare, Medicaid,
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and Social Security
will not be affected --
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and neither will
national security --
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but all other discretionary
government programs will.
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Finally, I've called for a
bi-partisan Fiscal Commission --
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a panel of Democrats and
Republicans who would sit down
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and hammer out concrete
deficit-reduction proposals by a
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certain deadline.
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Because we've heard plenty of
talk and a lot of yelling on TV
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about deficits, and it's now
time to come together and make
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the painful choices we need
to eliminate those deficits.
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This past week, 53 Democrats
and Republicans voted for this
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commission in the Senate.
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But it failed when seven
Republicans who had co-sponsored
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this idea in the first place
suddenly decided to vote against it.
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Now, it's one thing to have an
honest difference of opinion
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about something.
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I will always respect those who
take a principled stand for what
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they believe, even if
I disagree with them.
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But what I won't accept is
changing positions because it's
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good politics.
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What I won't accept is
opposition for opposition's sake.
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We can't have a serious
discussion and take meaningful
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action to create jobs and
control our deficit if
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politicians just do what's
necessary to win the next
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election instead of what's
best for the next generation.
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I'm eager and ready to work
with anyone who's serious about
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solving the real problems facing
our people and our country.
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I welcome anyone who comes to
the table in good faith to help
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get our economy moving again and
fulfill this country's promise.
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That's why we were elected
in the first place.
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That's what the American
people expect and deserve.
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And that's what we must deliver.
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Thanks so much.
