English subtitles for clip: File:2009-03-28 President Obama's Weekly Address.ogv
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1 00:00:05,201 --> 00:00:10,000 Last week, I spent a few days in California, talking with ordinary Americans 2 00:00:10,100 --> 00:00:14,300 in town halls and in the places they work. We talked about their struggles, 3 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:18,300 and we talked about their hopes. At the end of the day, these men and women 4 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:21,299 weren't as concerned with the news of the day in Washington as they were 5 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:26,200 about the very real and very serious challenges their families face every day: 6 00:00:26,300 --> 00:00:29,400 whether they'll have a job and a paycheck to count on; 7 00:00:29,500 --> 00:00:33,400 whether they'll be able to pay their medical bills or afford college tuition; 8 00:00:33,500 --> 00:00:37,300 whether they'll be able to leave their children a world that's safer 9 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:40,000 and more prosperous than the one we have now. 10 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:43,199 Those are the concerns I heard about in California. 11 00:00:43,900 --> 00:00:47,199 They’re the concerns I've heard about in letters from people throughout 12 00:00:47,300 --> 00:00:51,000 this country for the last two years. And they are the concerns 13 00:00:51,110 --> 00:00:54,000 addressed in the budget I sent to Congress last month. 14 00:00:54,100 --> 00:00:57,500 With the magnitude of the challenges we face, I don't just view this budget 15 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:02,500 as numbers on a page or a laundry list of programs. It’s an economic 16 00:01:02,610 --> 00:01:06,300 blueprint for our future -- a vision of America where growth is not based 17 00:01:06,410 --> 00:01:11,000 on real estate bubbles or over-leveraged banks, but on a firm foundation 18 00:01:11,110 --> 00:01:14,200 of investments in energy, education, and health care 19 00:01:14,300 --> 00:01:17,500 that will lead to a real and lasting prosperity. 20 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:20,800 These investments are not a wish list of priorities that I picked out 21 00:01:20,900 --> 00:01:25,000 of thin air – they’re a central part of a comprehensive strategy to grow this 22 00:01:25,100 --> 00:01:28,399 economy by attacking the very problems that have dragged it down for 23 00:01:28,500 --> 00:01:33,000 too long: the high cost of health care and our dependence on foreign oil; 24 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:36,000 our education deficit and our fiscal deficit. 25 00:01:36,300 --> 00:01:39,700 Now, as the House and the Senate take up this budget next week, the 26 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:43,200 specific details and dollar amounts in this budget will undoubtedly change. 27 00:01:43,300 --> 00:01:46,100 That’s a normal and healthy part of the process. 28 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:48,000 But when all is said and done, 29 00:01:48,100 --> 00:01:51,399 I expect a budget that meets four basic principles. 30 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:56,200 First, it must reduce our dependence on dangerous foreign oil and finally 31 00:01:56,300 --> 00:02:00,300 put this nation on a path to a clean, renewable energy future. 32 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:04,000 There’s no longer a doubt that the jobs and industries of tomorrow 33 00:02:04,100 --> 00:02:07,000 will involve harnessing renewable sources of energy. 34 00:02:07,300 --> 00:02:10,000 The only question is whether America will lead that future. 35 00:02:10,300 --> 00:02:14,200 I believe we can and we will, and that's why we've proposed a budget that 36 00:02:14,300 --> 00:02:18,300 makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy, while investing 37 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:23,200 in technologies like wind power and solar power; advanced biofuels, clean coal, 38 00:02:23,300 --> 00:02:27,500 and fuel-efficient cars and trucks that can be built right here in America. 39 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,000 Second, this budget must renew our nation's commitment to a complete 40 00:02:32,100 --> 00:02:37,000 and competitive education for every American child. In this global economy, 41 00:02:37,100 --> 00:02:40,400 we know the countries that out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow, 42 00:02:40,500 --> 00:02:43,200 and we know that our students are already falling behind their counterparts 43 00:02:43,300 --> 00:02:48,200 in places like China. That’s why we have proposed investments in childhood 44 00:02:48,300 --> 00:02:53,000 education programs that work; in high standards and accountability for our schools; 45 00:02:53,100 --> 00:02:58,000 in rewards for teachers who succeed; and in affordable college education for 46 00:02:58,100 --> 00:03:03,000 anyone who wants to go. It is time to demand excellence from our schools 47 00:03:03,100 --> 00:03:07,200 so that we can finally prepare our workforce for a 21st century economy. 48 00:03:07,300 --> 00:03:11,500 Third, we need a budget that makes a serious investment in health care reform -- 49 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:16,100 reform that will bring down costs, ensure quality, and guarantee people their 50 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:20,000 choice of doctors and hospitals. Right now, there are millions of Americans 51 00:03:20,100 --> 00:03:24,500 who are just one illness or medical emergency away from bankruptcy. 52 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:27,700 There are businesses that have been forced to close their doors or ship jobs 53 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:32,300 overseas because they can't afford insurance. Medicare costs are consuming 54 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:36,000 our federal budget. Medicaid is overwhelming our state budgets. 55 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:39,200 So to those who say we have to choose between health care reform and fiscal 56 00:03:39,300 --> 00:03:43,600 discipline, I say that making investments now that will dramatically lower 57 00:03:43,700 --> 00:03:47,399 health care costs for everyone won't add to our budget deficit in the long-term 58 00:03:47,500 --> 00:03:50,400 it’s one of the best ways to reduce it. 59 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:55,000 Finally, this budget must reduce that deficit even further. 60 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:59,000 With the fiscal mess we've inherited and the cost of this financial crisis, 61 00:03:59,100 --> 00:04:04,000 I've proposed a budget that cuts our deficit in half by the end of my first term. 62 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,200 That's why we are scouring every corner of the budget and have proposed 63 00:04:07,300 --> 00:04:11,200 $2 trillion in deficit reductions over the next decade. 64 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:15,400 In total, our budget would bring discretionary spending for domestic programs 65 00:04:15,500 --> 00:04:20,000 as a share of the economy to its lowest level in nearly half a century. 66 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:25,000 And we will continue making these tough choices in the months and years ahead 67 00:04:25,100 --> 00:04:30,300 so that as our economy recovers, we do what we must to bring down this deficit. 68 00:04:30,500 --> 00:04:33,000 I’ll be discussing each of these principles next week, as Congress takes up the 69 00:04:33,100 --> 00:04:38,100 important work of debating this budget. I realize there are those who say these 70 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:43,99 plans are too ambitious to enact. To that I say that the challenges we face 71 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:47,800 are too large to ignore. I didn't come here to pass on our problems to the 72 00:04:47,900 --> 00:04:52,000 next President or the next generation -- I came here to solve them. 73 00:04:52,100 --> 00:04:56,000 The American people sent us here to get things done, and at this moment of great 74 00:04:56,100 --> 00:05:00,300 challenge, they are watching and waiting for us to lead. Let's show them 75 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:04,000 that we’re equal to the task before us, and let's pass a budget that 76 00:05:04,100 --> 00:05:07,200 puts this nation on the road to lasting prosperity.