Dr. B.
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Sunday, November 16, 2008
YOUR WEEKLY ADDRESS FROM THE PRESIDENT-ELECT. NO, SERIOUSLY. CHECK BACK HERE WEEKLY FOR THE NEXT WEEKLY ADDRESS. WEEKLY. EVERY WEEK. SERIOUSLY...
President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday urged Congress to get moving next week on an economic rescue plan that would extend jobless benefits, among other actions.
"If Congress does not pass an immediate plan that gives the economy the boost it needs, I will make it my first order of business as president," Obama said in his Democratic Party's first of presumably 52 weekly addresses a year, every week.
Obama said he was pleased President George W. Bush brought world leaders to Washington to discuss turmoil in the financial markets, "because our global economic crisis requires a coordinated global response, this week and every week."
Obama stressed the importance of creating jobs in the United States and helping to relieve the nation's economic distress.
Digging the country out of tough times will require people to pitch in and look after each other, in addition to long-term investments such as making health care affordable and rebuilding the nation's infrastructure, he said in his very first of many to come weekly addresses to the nation.
"Make no mistake: This is the greatest economic challenge of our times, and while the road ahead will be long, and the work will be hard, I know that we can steer ourselves out of this crisis because here in America we always rise to the moment, no matter how hard. And I am more hopeful than ever that America will rise once again. And did I mention I will be making these video addresses weekly?"
The president-elect plans to continue to record online videos of the addresses after he takes the oath of office January 20th, 2009. Weekly. So far, so good...
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77 comments:
I think we all need to check Dr. B's blog daily because at some point next week, President-Elect Barack Obama will make his second weekly address, and we wouldn't want to miss it.
Apparently this is where Obama makes his weekly address, because I did a Google search and got nada.
All presidents have done a weekly radio address—since FDR. A lot of us never hear them! I'm glad Obama is starting these broadcasts early, because we need some sanity and some encouragement. And I'm glad to see them on doc's blog. I get all my news from here and The Daily Show. LOL
I would not have been able to stomach listening to Bush on the radio every week. Thank GOD we don't have to listen to Palin!
Didja hear?
White House security caught a man crawling over the fence... pulled him down and wrestled him to the ground.
Reporters arrived in time to hear them say:
"No, Mr. President, you have two more months, you can't leave yet."
OK, I admit it...I lifted it off of Dr. B's facebook page. His daily status comments are hilarious.
B-rock's going to have a great presidency. He's innovative, visionary, and inclusive. Everything he's implementing is just building the excitement.
Somehow, some way, Limbaugh, Hannity & O'Reilly will interpret this as being a declaration of dangerous, anti-American socialism!
He is itching to get at this. I can hear it in his pleas to Congress. When he reiterates parts of his stump speech, "...steer ourselves out..." etc., he is begging us to hold the strain if possible. God, I wish Jan. 20th was tomorrow. I'd gladly skip Christmas this year, after all it's not going to be that merry.
Help and competence is coming, people. It's coming.
I agree. When he visited the White House you could see how engaged and energetic he was. He did all the talking and Bush did the listening. He can't wait to get into that chair. It will be tough and he can't do much in the next 4 to 6 months, but 2 years from now, we will feel and see a difference.
The only thing not possible for President-elect Obama:
no matter how hard he tries . . .
he can never be . . .
the worst President in our country's history.
Thanks for keeping us all in the loop, Mr. POTUS-E. Not even officially in the White House, yet already running things. You are totally awesome.
A video fireside chat is so blazingly obvious, yet it took BHO to implement it. Clinton built a bridge to the 21st century where BushCo. set up huge roadblocks, but Obama has already started clearing the way and soon we will be cruising into the future....!
BHO, like JFK and FDR...I like it!
What's a POTUS-E?
President Of The United States - Elect.
Roadblocks? Bushco have been busily building a bridge to the 12th century!
after 8 years of GW, it is somewhat strange listening to a man who can speak without mangling the English Language and manage to communicate a clear message in the process. I look forward to January 20.
So nice to hear an address from a guy who can string a sentence together. Wonderful really. I'm already feeling more confident we'll pull through this economic mess. Lately I've been feeling like a little boy waiting for Christmas day to come, waiting for Obama to move into the White House. Can't come soon enough!
Whether everyone agrees on the correct way forward or not, I think we can at least say this: President Obama truly wants to fix the crisis. He's not taking advantage of the crisis in order to fulfill some personal agenda. After 8 years we have someone who isn't corrupt in office. Kinda nice.
Absolutely. That fact alone, is change!!! We have heard so much jib-jabbering over the last eight years, it is refreshing to hear a correct, grammatical sentence coming off the lips of the leader of the free world.
Oh this is so exciting. A real person as President. A real, smart, honest, principled leader who can inspire us.
I want to pitch in. I want to do whatever I can in my own little way to help our country out of this mess.
I am so proud of America.
USA! USA! USA!!
President Obama is setting a new precedent of communicating directly to the people through the internet (which is where the real news has gone in the past few years anyway). This is the first of (probably) many historic changes we'll be able to take part in. I'm excited!
It feels soooooooo good to have a President(elect) whom I look forward to listening to, as opposed to the last eight years of avoiding the idiot-in-chief.
Thank you P.E. Obama ! You sure have moved a nation!! Suddenly, republicans know the meaning of non-partisanship ... mostly where it relates to you choosing your own administration ! Amazing !
Excuse me, but what's going on with the 700 Billion dollars out there? Can't some portion of that go to this modest stimulus package? It seems a modest stimulus package compared to the 700 Billion. Why don't Paulson et al chip in, along with their payouts?
Hello?
Because Paulson is a Republican. Republicans like oil companies and big banks.
Do the Republicans care about blue state automakers and union laborers?
Not so much.
If the Republicans had their way, they would bring back sweatshops and child labor here in the U.S.
The Democrats oppose that, so the Republicans just promote exporting jobs to China.
Here are some other suggestions of where he could give his talks from:
* While running on a treadmill
* Looking for empty boxes for packing his stuff
* While playing hoops
* Skydiving (requires mic with windscreen)
* From the supermarket, while buying groceries
* At the fish store (could slap Republicans with a mackerel)
* Shopping for xmas presents at Target...or FAO Schwartz in NY
* At a gas station......could talk about energy
* While making the bed....could talk about domestic issues
* Looking for empty boxes for packing his stuff
That should be Bush
* Skydiving
Bush again, but without the parachute
If you look at the hi-def version of the video (got my PC hooked up to a widescreen TV) you see some interesting items in the background. From Left to Right: The flag, three volumes of the public papers of John F Kennedy, a well worn volume of Cases in Constitutional Law and then a basketball autographed by Lenny Wilkens.
It seems that literacy and intelligence are returning to the White House.
What a class act this pres-elect is...I wish we didn't have to wait 2 more months for inauguration.
As has been mentioned in the media and in Washington in whispers and in conversations, we COULD have an early inauguration by way of an Act of Congress...
Oh, that would great! The more I look at Bush, the more I want to use his face as... I won't continue my thought so that the FBI doesn't go after me...
like right now, for instance. Bush has no desire to "lead" anymore. His butt has been handed to him. Of course he doesn't know that yet. "History will vindicate me," he's thinking. "I will go down as the second-worst president in history."
How do you get people involved?... Communication. If you've ever worked in any large business, communication is the biggest problem in getting people in gear. President-elect Obama is keenly aware that people thrive on communication...I think hope is here!
I just started reading Obama's books -- what a wonderful and revealing experience. Not only is he articulate, it is clear from the opening chapters that he is a deep thinker, that his understanding of diversity - across racial, social and economic lines - is deep within his upbringing and his psyche. What a wonderful change -- almost unimaginable - that we actually have a new leader of our nation who is intellegent, articulate, honest, and sensitive to the lives and needs of all people -- everywhere! And the man can actually write! No 'ghost writers', as so many others use. I'm pretty sure he wrote his own speeches too.
Yes, he does his own writing, books and speeches, because he's both articulate and INTELLIGENT, and when he gets to hold his cabinet meetings after inauguration, you just know he'll be the most intelligent person in the room. Thank God! The right man at the right time, and America saw past his name and skin color to see his brilliance, as powerful and charismatic as FDR and JFK.
When Barack speaks, the image of GWB fades into the sunset. Can't wait until he can speak to us from the Oval Office. We are all in a holding pattern, waiting to take off and get things done. I love this man.
What a joy to finally have a President who can speak eloquently, coherently, and logically. After eight years of having to listen to a bumbling goofball, I can finally say I'm proud of my President.
Yes, he's eloquent. He speaks intelligently. All those things we've come to miss from our President.
However the most important thing to me.........is we FINALLY have a man who we can trust what he's telling us.
How wonderful to not have to listen to.......up is down....back is front.......don't believe your lying eyes..........believe me instead.........
His words actually match my perception!! I no longer feel like I'm listening to someone from a parallel universe!
Yay!!!!!
I don't think it's a coincidence that he did his first "Pres-Elect" YouTube speech while Bush is meeting with the G20 this weekend--knowing how much they really, really wanted to meet with OBAMA!
I think this is just to remind and reassure the G20 that he's still the guy who'll be taking over...SOON. Sorry Bush, sorry Palin -- you've been royally upstaged by a master.
The timing ... Lol.
I think these Obama videos are great ~ Right now the mainstream media is still a-coverin' A-palin--- as though she has any newsworthiness at this point! I want to know what the President elect thinks -- not Moose-a-lini.
We can count on Obama to cut through the noise and give us the truth! Imagine -- getting the honest truth from the top dog!
Now THAT's mindlashing, Dr B.
The lies of Limbaugh, Hannity and the other righy-wing goons won't be allowed to shut down government the way it was done during the Clinton Admin.
Obama is counting on us to be his truth squad.
Considering that the weekly radio address is a presidential tradition started by FDR (in his "fireside chats") I don't think Obama can exactly do away with it.
But having video addresses posted on the internet is a long-overdue modernization on the ritual.
Americans don't exactly sit by the radio waiting for the President to talk to them anymore.
I am glad that the President-Elect did not call for bipartisanship, just for congress to act productively.
The emphases on green energy jobs, infrastructure improvements, and health care reform are also welcome.
I hope the Democrats in congress will take courage to press ahead as the majority party for the benefit of the nation.
He looks TIRED.
no kiddin, 21 months of campaigning and still on the roll getting his administration being built. but i say he's one tough dude!!!!
Unlike Dubya, who in 2000 and 2001 napped between being "elected" and being sworn in, after which he napped again for many many years.
But...he caught a fish !
About the crisis: Congress should RESCIND the original bailout plan they passed in October and Bush should dump Paulsen. Then Congress could enact some regulations for the Fed and the Banks.
Fannie and Freddie should lay down the law to the banks for all FHA mortgages where the interest rate is adjusting upward and the home value has plummeted.
Banks MUST re-do those mortgage contracts by doing the following: Ordering new appraisals and using the appraised value as the basis for the new mortgage, BUT splitting the difference between the appraised value and the original mortgage value, with the banks eating half and the homeowner eating the other half.
Then the interest rate must be adjusted to a low fixed rate, and the term lengthened to 35 or 40 years, so the homeowner won't have a payment over 40% of their income.
If banks refuse to comply they will lose their charter/license/whatever. If they follow the rules, the government will set up a trust fund to pay some of the mortgages which default after the renegotiation, so banks needn't fear lending.
This crisis is not that hard if they address the core original problem of home prices falling below mortgage values. Our Congress must TELL them what they must do. I am so sick of the mealy-mouthed, 'Oh, God, the sky is falling and NOBODY is in charge' attitude. Take control and fix it!
Agreed. Maybe I'm missing this, but how does this plan put an infusion of cash at the street level to get the economy jump-started? Is there more?
I think your idea is a good one--it makes sense, is fair, splits the liability, and gets everyone into a more comfortable financial position.
The only problem I see is the sheer amount of time that this would take. However, it took time to get into this situation, and it will take time to climb out.
Perhaps the efforts could be tiered: low risk mortgages get first help, going to medium risk and then high risk. Low risk mortgages could be those where the buyer has the financial resources to get back on his/her feet if only for some assistance (such as what you describe).
This would free some of the problem sectors. Medium-risk mortgages would be those where the borrower has encountered difficulties for which he/she might or might not survive--even with help.
It's like a 50-50 proposition. Low-risk mortgages would be those who would probably not make it even with help. By tiering it this way, banks would have more secure lending, and borrowers could get the help they need.
Each of the tiers of borrowers could quickly be identified through mortgage/bank databases as high,medium and low risk borrowers. Just a suggestion...
And I do agree: Take control and fix it!
You are absolutely correct - the sky is NOT falling, and not to belittle people's circumstances, but it's just money. It's not your health, it's not the environment, it's money...and if the government is willing to work with the new prez and the citizens, it'll be a much better situation for all of us.
If we"re really serious about the economic crisis, it"s time to reconsider drug prohibition.
We"ve given anti-drug forces free reign for at least the past 4 decades, and what have we gotten? Expensive undercover operations, expensive border operations, expensive foreign herbicidal operations, expensive TV ad campaigns, expensive & useless "educational" campaigns, expensive prosecution & jailing of people for drugs alone. We"ve punished people more harshly for drugs than for actually harming others " banning those convicted for marijuana " but not murder " from student aid.
What do we have to show for this? Drug use remains stable. Our schools & infrastructure are crumbling, social services are nonexistent, no national health and enormous national debt. Plus, the black market profits in opiates alone [the least popular of illegal drugs] fund al Qaeda & the Taliban.
Here"s an idea to help the economy fast " drug amnesty. All prisoners in for drugs & not stealing/defrauding/harming others got free, so they can work & pay taxes, instead of costing us $35-50K/yr. Legalize & tax recreational drugs. Use the money we"ve been spending looking for & punishing drug users to create a WPA style program to refurbish our infrastructure, develop non-petroleum energy sources, and get Americans working again.
And I second that, and third that...and fourth that..............
who's got the pipe?
Interesting idea. I'm gonna light up a joint and think about that.
sounds like a winner to me!
Wish I had the green to make a toast!
YEEEEEES. I have been saying it for past 26 years.
I am with you on that, I have always said that the drug war was the most ridiculous war ever existed. However, I doubt the government will do it, especially not Obama. Can you imagine what the haters are going to say. Look at the black man helping his posse blah, blah, blah....U catch my drift
"The road will be long. Our climb will be steep."
....President-elect Obama
Tough time are ahead us no matter what our government does, and tough times'll make a monkey eat red peppers.
The depression didn't end when FDR took office, and his administration was a whirlwind of ideas and actions.
It took WW II to pull us out of it. What kept the American people going were FDR's fireside chats, where in the words of one citizen during that time, "He talked to us about our government." Thus Americans kept faith.
The British withstood the German Blitzkreig bombing where other nations had succumbed and surrendered because Winston Churchill inspired them to endure. And ultimately with our help, they prevailed.
Leadership doesn't always get immediate results despite one's best efforts. And that will be the case here in the next few years.
However good leadership inspires trust and resolve from the people, when they have confidence that their leaders are actively engaged in trying to solve those problems that they can.
That comes from communicating with them during their darkest hours and keeping them informed.
That's why FDR and Churchill are considered great.
President-elect Obama as a student of history and leadership has absorbed those lessons, and updated them for the 21st century.
Win, lose, or draw we are being led by a great and deep thinker.
Yeah. You know, I watched this and thought about how Sarah Palin (bleah) wanted to communicate directly to the people.
THIS is how it's done. No bullshit shout-outs to third graders during debates, no bitching about gotcha journalistic questions (e.g., "Which magazine do you read?"), no ... well, whatever.
Did anyone on McCain's campaign even THINK about releasing addresses directly onto the Net?
No, they ran a 20th century campaign in the 21st century and got what they deserved.
We hear you Mr. President!!!
I hope we start responding in this economy to the prospect of having Obama's strong leadership team to help drive it forward.
I hope we start lending and investing again, and hiring again, and seeing our 401Ks and IRAs restored in value, because all it really takes is a little faith.
When you think how well we managed to do even with illegal wars and wholesale corruption, we shouldn't let this credit mess keep us down.
Help really is on the way.
Ooh, I just had an idea for dealing with the auto industry - why not increase mass transit [way more fuel efficient than individual autos], and the automakers to build the buses, train cars & street cars?
We could keep those jobs, create some infrastructure and help pave the transition to an economy which doesn't force every family to have 2 cars.
good idea. do it in concert with road/bridge/highway improvements such that they go ahead and intall reail lines in all major artierials.
Actually the heavy diesel engines industry could easily become a very green industry.
Now imagine instead of giving the industry cash, give it a purchase order for a million trucks that are alt fueled, and lease them to small businesses at a great rate. Now you have a million clean green trucks on the road, small businesses get green vehicles into service, which also creates instant market for alt fuel stations.
My husband is with you on this. My only addition will be to fire all the execs first. Change the UAW contract as well. They need to face the reality. Many of them get $90 per hour when their qualification level is High School drop out or barely High School.
My mother and I have been advocating the same thing!
Right on. The reverse of this actually happened when "coachmakers" were absorbed into the auto industry in its early years.
Fisher Auto Body were coachmakers; see their logo on today's cars. The reverse could happen just as you described.
To think we could develop the best mass transit in the world and at the same time rebuild our economy. It could be green as well.
Great idea...we have that in Canada and it's much cheaper than taking the car to work. Toronto has a subway system for locals, Go train for suburban commuters, busses and street cars(trams) and trains that travel cross country.
I'd rather save the American auto industry (and millions of jobs in Michigan, Winconsin, et. al) than Wall St. firms, but oversight in the form of new green initiatives should be in place.
We as a country, with a visionary leader willing to listen to all points of view, can turn this mess into our finest moment. We beat the British, the Japanese, and the Germans, we can't defeat ourselves!
I am proud to call Barack Obama my president, but I really think we need to encourage him to select "NEW" talent into the pool.
I do not want to re-live the 1990's. and in fact for those of you who believe that it's going to happen - dream on..
I beg of the transition team to look beyond the last democratic administration for talent, please.
The transition team IS the last Demo Admn. But yeah, hopefully, he'll pick more deserving & relative unknowns with less baggage. I love Hil but she needs to stay in the Senate.
Given the EXTRAORDINARY SET of CHALLENGES the incoming Administration faces, it is VERY important that they be able to hit the ground running.
To do so, they need people who already are experienced in doing what the Admin needs to do.
But, they will be doing so under new HOUSE RULES, and they do not make the policies, they ONLY implement it.
Experienced democrats date back 8-16 years ago in the Clinton Admin, or 28-32 years ago in the Carter Admin.
So it's either Clintonites or a totally new, inexperienced group. Don't worry, Obama promised CHANGE and Change he will deliver.
It was not change in persons, it is change in the WAY Washington WORKS.
And it's NOT ONLY Clintonites that are going to be hired!
Obama has the biggest lobbying group in the United States -- us.
All he has to do is tell us to email our representatives when he gets ready to pass his health care agenda or his green energy agenda.
"We the People" are the lobbyists now. This is the way it always could have been, but the American people lost sight of (that's polite speech for we got lazy) e-mailing, writing or calling their elected officials. We always had the power. But, it was Obama who understood that the internet could renew a process that is the very fabric of our democracy.
We need to teach our children what our Social Studies teachers are not. I promised my daughter that I would work to fix this for her and her generation because my generation screwed it up. But, I also told her she was going to have to work to keep it alive. It's a lesson we need to teach all our children.
I've never felt so connected to my country's governmental workings. Like we are a part of what is happening and what may happen.
We picked the right guy for the job this time.
Barack Obama seems to believe strongly in the American people and our potential to "make a difference", and his campaign was a shining example of how passion can lead to extraordinary generosity and commitment.
And now there is this revolutionary tool of weekly video meetings that will make it as easy as a keystroke to connect our evolving instinct towards civic duty to the larger problems in the world around us.
We will be back next week for more.
http://nessatxmom.blogspot.com/
thought you'd like the post she wrote :)
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