by Mark Silva
Today, on this day of a "distinctly American tradition,'' the president's tradtional weekly address arrives early.
"As much as we all have to be thankful for,'' President Barack Obama says in his address today, "we also know that this year millions of Americans are facing very difficult economic times. Many have lost jobs in this recession - the worst in generations...
"They are our family, our friends, and our neighbors,'' he says. "Their struggles must be our concern...
"The investments we have made and tough steps we have taken have helped break the back of the recession, and now our economy is finally growing again,'' the president says. But, while "the job losses we were experiencing earlier this year have slowed dramatically, we're still not creating enough new jobs each month to make up for the ones we're losing. And no matter what the economists say, for families and communities across the country, this recession will not end until we completely turn that tide.''
See the address above and read it below.
And then let's all step away from the computer and have a Happy Thanksgiving.
This is the text of the president's weekly address:
"For centuries, in peace and in war, in prosperity and in adversity, Americans have paused at this time of year to gather with loved ones and give thanks for life's blessings. This week, we carry on this distinctly American tradition. All across our country, folks are coming together to spend time with family, to catch up with old friends, to cook and enjoy a big dinner - and maybe to watch a little football in between.
"As always, we give thanks for the kindness of loved ones, for the joys of the previous year, and for the pride we feel in our communities and country. We keep in our thoughts and prayers the many families marking this Thanksgiving with an empty seat - saved for a son or daughter, or husband or wife, stationed in harm's way. And we say a special thanks for the sacrifices those men and women in uniform are making for our safety and freedom, and for all those Americans who enrich the lives of our communities through acts of kindness, generosity and service.
"But as much as we all have to be thankful for, we also know that this year millions of Americans are facing very difficult economic times. Many have lost jobs in this recession - the worst in generations. Many more are struggling to afford health care premiums and house payments, let alone to save for an education or retirement. Too many are wondering if the dream of a middle class life - that American Dream - is slipping away. It's the worry I hear from folks across the country; good, hard-working people doing the best they can for their families - but fearing that their best just isn't good enough. These are not strangers. They are our family, our friends, and our neighbors. Their struggles must be our concern.
"That's why we passed the Recovery Act that cut taxes for 95 percent of working people and for small businesses - and that extended unemployment benefits and health coverage for millions of Americans who lost their jobs in this turmoil. That's why we are reforming the health care system so that middle-class families have affordable insurance that cannot be denied because of a pre-existing condition or taken away because you happen to get sick. We've worked to stem the tide of foreclosures and to stop the decline in home values. We're making it easier to save for retirement and more affordable to send a son or daughter to college.
"The investments we have made and tough steps we have taken have helped break the back of the recession, and now our economy is finally growing again. But as I said when I took office, job recovery from this crisis would not come easily or quickly. Though the job losses we were experiencing earlier this year have slowed dramatically, we're still not creating enough new jobs each month to make up for the ones we're losing. And no matter what the economists say, for families and communities across the country, this recession will not end until we completely turn that tide.
"So we've made progress. But we cannot rest - and my administration will not rest - until we have revived this economy and rebuilt it stronger than before; until we are creating jobs and opportunities for middle class families; until we have moved beyond the cycles of boom and bust - of reckless risk and speculation - that led us to so much crisis and pain these past few years.
"Next week, I'll be meeting with owners of large and small businesses, labor leaders, and non-for-profits from across the country, to talk about the additional steps we can take to help spur job creation. I will work with the Congress to enact them quickly. And it is my fervent hope - and my heartfelt expectation - that next Thanksgiving we will be able to celebrate the fact that many of those who have lost their jobs are back at work, and that as a nation we will have come through these difficult storms stronger and wiser and grateful to have reached a brighter day.
"Thank you, God bless you, and from my family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving.''
Comments
BO has given tax cuts to 95% of the population (some will have to give this back when they file their 1040's this coming spring) and then raised taxes on 20% of the population. The spendulus has done little to generate on-going economic growth.
On this Thanksgiving, perhaps BO needs to read about the Pilgrims and their flirtation with socialism and how it failed and their turning to capitalism and letting the individual flourish - which ultimately benefited the community.
http://forum.isi.org/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/3830054552/m/1850052092
Posted by: Terry | November 26, 2009 9:05 AM
Like President Lincoln before him, President Obama reminds our nation of the devastation, our country is experiencing, on this Thanksgiving Day. With President Lincoln, it was the devastation of war, that prompted him, with the help of a Ms Hale, into declaring Thanksgiving Day, to a fixed day. President Obama reminds our nation of the less fortunate, the jobless, the homeless and the under- and uninsured and how fortunate some of us are. We thank the dear Lord for all of our blessings and ask His help, in alleviating the misfortune of so many of our fellow Americans !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | November 26, 2009 9:41 AM
Speaking of turning tides . . .
*
Inside the numbers: How Obama has fallen
*
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Inside-the-numbers-How-Obama-has-fallen-72577812.html
Posted by: Bobbie Mobbie | November 26, 2009 9:41 AM
I know at least one job BO has created: the person at the White House who makes up phony Congressional Districts and phony "jobs created" numbers.
Posted by: I saved or created 630 MILLION jobs | November 26, 2009 11:06 AM
Attn; Mr. President, there is somewhere around 17 to 20% of the population out of work, tell them something they don't know. And the rest of the population also realizes that our country is bankrupt, deeper in debt than at anytime in our history.,Your outrageous spending and proposed spending is ruining our country. And the public is not stupid, they know full well that the bill one day has to be paid and its going to be on the backs of every class level. So, you need to level with the public and stop the lies.
Posted by: Paul | November 26, 2009 12:22 PM
What Obimbo doesn't understand is that his policies are only making the economic problems worse, not better. Rampant government spending will not solve the problem. Taking over health care will not solve the problem. Cap and tax will not solve the problem. They only will make it worse.
President Clueless.
Posted by: John D, still right, as usual | November 26, 2009 1:17 PM
But, while "the job losses we were experiencing earlier this year have slowed dramatically, we're still not creating enough new jobs each month to make up for the ones we're losing. ~ Mustapha Mond, 44th President of the United States
-----------------------------------------
It is a nice statement of discernment for Mustapha to at least recognize the damage that his policies have wreaked on the American economy. When everything that you do and seek to do has a socialist design on it, then THERE WILL BE NO NET JOB CREATION TODAY, TOMORROW, OR EVER. Why is this so hard to understand?
Why are the Russians not still hard core communists?
Why did unified Germany seek to become more like West Germany than East Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall?
Why are the Chinese communists so deeply in engaged in capitalism? Huge numbers of their citizens still subsist in poverty
.
IF Castro ever does die, what would Cuba CHOOSE to do?
Do Liberals think more of the economy of North Korea than the economy of South Korea?
Which one should America emulate, if a free choice could be made?
How long will it take for some of Mustapha’s Politburo-Equivalent 5-year plans to work? The next tractor from the Russian Siberian tractor factory will be the first tractor from the Russian Siberian tractor factory.
Lincoln had UNWORLDLY wisdom, magnanimity, an implicit understanding and belief in America’s unique position in the World where power does NOT have to translate into imperialism or totalitarian rule. Getting elected from Illinois DOES NOT make you Lincoln. Lincoln SAVED a nation. Mustapha is DESTROYING one. There IS a substantial difference.
The rest of the World is wising up, while America dumbs down. What kind of profoundly dumb economic leadership is this? May the Koolaid always be potable.
Posted by: Django - N Exile In/Around the 30th Parallel | November 26, 2009 4:06 PM
So first Obama tells us that the recession is ending. See http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/10/recession_ending_gdp_rises_3rd.html And now, in the fourth quarter, he tells us that the recession is not over, that job losses are still outstripping job gains, that the economy still needs “reviving,” and that (implicitly) his job saving and job creation efforts haven’t worked (e.g. unemployment has gone way over 9%.)
.
Some of us new all of this stuff wasn’t going to work, and so we are neither surprised nor have we had our expectations dashed. Let this be a lesson to those who still salute Obama’s every movement: He’s only a man, math works (or doesn’t work) the same way for everyone, and the economy will recover - if at all - by itself and without Obama’s expensive and wasteful measures. In fact, if you don’t want to see more jobs lost, write your Congressman/Congresswoman and/or Senators and tell them you oppose both cap and trade and the current health care bills. They embody nice, but impractical ideals. However, imposing more unfunded mandates on small businesses is going to destroy jobs, not create them.
.
Have a happy Thanksgiving.
Posted by: John W. | November 26, 2009 4:11 PM
oh for crying out loud. Why don't you self-proclaimed patriots take off your coonskin caps and go eat some Thanksgiving turkey that I'm sure you hunted and bagged with your very own muskets. Take a day off from your miserable life and enjoy some pumpkin pie. Do you ever stop goaning? How sad your life must be.
Posted by: bill r. | November 26, 2009 7:57 PM
Ahhhh, Bull r., all you heard from you and your moronic ilk was moaning and groaning when Bush was prez. So, deal with it!
Posted by: John D, still right, as usual | November 26, 2009 11:51 PM
oh for crying out loud. Why don't you self-proclaimed patriots take off your coonskin caps and go eat some Thanksgiving turkey that I'm sure you hunted and bagged with your very own muskets. Take a day off from your miserable life and enjoy some pumpkin pie. Do you ever stop goaning? How sad your life must be.
Posted by: bill r. | November 26, 2009 7:57 PM
Hi Bill
cleaned out my musket
and ready to go back to hunting Obimbo truth- Hope your Thanksging was great and did you enjoy the State Dinner?
Posted by: Inky | November 27, 2009 9:24 AM
Hi Bill
cleaned out my musket
and ready to go back to hunting Obimbo truth-
Posted by: Inky | November 27, 2009 9:24 AM
My Thanksgiving was great. Filled with family and giving thanks for what we have. As to the State Dinner......could care less. Cared less about "all" the dinners held for eternity...they are just a part of doing business. as to "the truth", remember what Abe said:
How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four; calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg.
Posted by: bill r. | November 27, 2009 11:30 AM
Dear Unemployed,
Stop blaming the President and politicians for your failures. Learn another skill and pick yourselves up by your bootstraps!
Posted by: Conservativism at its finest | November 27, 2009 11:54 AM
Bill r,
I too extend to you a nice, day after the deal, kind of day. Read a good book, play with the dog, enjoy the mall, put on some Diana Krall, get in the spirit, whatever. Serious. Maybe Diana Krall would depress the spirit in that detached alto vocal range of hers, but her magic works well for me.
Here’s the deal, bill r. Youse guyz have got to back off the Koolaid. Plan an Epiphany for your own sake. John W. at 4:11 p.m., as usual, is so right. Mustapha is just a guy whose stars aligned in just the right way and BAM! Here he alights, the 44th president of the United States of America. Good for him, but he ain’t all that. Any good that comes of this economy will be despite him and his socialist czars, NOT because of him.
My experience with electing democrats is:
- You get to hear new theories on why America is merely a stain on humanity.
- New taxes / more taxes, but only if you are rich or somehow managed to get wedged into the middle class.
- More crime in your immediate living environment. Crime is the ultimate equalizer.
- Strange theories on everything that never works but do separate you from your freedom and your modest savings.
Yeah, I live in Texas. I’m a Wingnut, a Teabagger, maybe a Neo-Con to some degree, an Astro-Turfer possibly, although I really DON’T know what that is. I think that my school may have even invented the stuff, but that’s their deal. Don’t have one of those Davy Crockett coonskin hats. Wish I did have that cool top hat that Tom Petty used to wear in his younger days or a leopard skin pill box hat that Bob Dylan crafted an entire song around. I would preserve the pill box hat as a knick-knack kind of thing.
“Miserable”, would not entirely define my mental situation, at least in this moment in time. As long as there are pretty Latinas and guitars, and just a little tad of freedom, we can be clear here, I WILL NOT sink into misery as a Liberal would wish upon me, or latch onto that special intense political philosophy hatred that Liberals are so good at expressing. Just sayn’.
Liberals can rip on Texas, the Prince of Darkness, or Rick Perry to their little heart’s content. It bothers me not. Hey, I enjoy the attention. When Texas goes belly up though, your little game will also be up. Maybe they (not u bill r) are not smart enough to know that, yet, but for me ~ Not a problem. Comparing the Absolute Nothing that Mustapha has accomplished to Abraham Lincoln? PLEASE. Real Harm to the sensibilities is now being done. Swamp folk (not u bill r.) that do that have got to place theirself in Koolaid Rehab immediately. Forget the holidays. Get yourself in a program today. But Not you bill r. I am counting on the gulag that you would build to be first class all the way with amenities that Django would surely appreciate.
Bill r., have a nice long week-end. Enjoy YOUR American freedom. Serious.
Posted by: Django - N Exile In/Around the 30th Parallel | November 27, 2009 12:34 PM
the ultimate teabagger terry:
(snip)
On this Thanksgiving, perhaps BO needs to read about the Pilgrims and their flirtation with socialism and how it failed and their turning to capitalism and letting the individual flourish - which ultimately benefited the community.
The pilgrims didn't have the multi-national corporate aristocrats with their friends in high places to deal with at that particular time but they eventually did show up to enslave the new world and it took a war to be rid of them, only to have them reappear time and time,again, wrapped in the flag and waging war on democracy and it's citizens.
This time it's the insurance and banking *capitalists* and their useful idiots but it's the same game.
Posted by: writerofwrongs | November 27, 2009 12:35 PM
Always Wrong,
Are you talking about those insurance and banking capitalists like Timmy Geithner, Robert Rubin, Jon Corzine? Are you talking about those capitalists like Angelo Mozilo who gave sweetheart loans to Chrissy Dodd? Are you talking about those insurance companies like AIG that gave their largest political donations to Chrissy Dodd and Maxine Baucus?
Just a bit of history for you, since you never seemed to learn it. The PIlgrims did enter into a contract with Merchant Adventurers in London - a group of capitalists.
Stay at the kids table - you are out of your league.
Posted by: Terry | November 27, 2009 1:02 PM
Django......Thank you for your wishes on this Holiday. I simply wished to remind the rabid (not u Django) to take a day off and give thanks for all they do have. I may disagree with ripping on Texas by liberals. It seems to me it would be the right ( not u Django ) that is attempting to divide the country up into those more and less American parts of the country. As to comparisons to Lincoln, I don't really make those, but I would repeat the quote from Lincoln as to " the truth ": How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four; calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg. It is most fitting here in the swamp. Enjoy the music....I find a progressive jazz piece a tingle to the mind.
Posted by: bill r. | November 27, 2009 1:37 PM
Writerofwrongs,
Could we go as far to say that America is merely a stain on humanity?
Posted by: Django - N Exile In/Around the 30th Parallel | November 27, 2009 1:50 PM
All the gang.
Reguarding Thanksgiving-
Lets be thankful we can go pro and con have this great gift "Freedom of Speech"
Just look a Iran and Venezuela.
Posted by: Inky | November 27, 2009 5:09 PM
Bill r,
The Lincoln quote is great. He was truly a man of infinite wisdom and an elegant master of language and his special aphorisms. Lincoln's step-mother, Sarah, must have been the best step-mother ever. O.K. bill r, and Inky, I can be thankful and at peace with the gods of the universe ~ For a day or two. But like Wes Montgomery of Indianapolis IN, and Stevie Ray Vaughn of Austin TX, AND Abraham Lincoln of Springfield IL, not just anyone can break in on the act. Have a good week-end.
Posted by: Django - N Exile In/Around the 30th Parallel | November 27, 2009 7:50 PM
Writerofwrongs,
Could we go as far to say that America is merely a stain on humanity?
Posted by: Django - N Exile In/Around the 30th Parallel | November 27, 2009 1:50 PM
Must be Django, since those corporate bad guys have always run the place.
America is nothing like great historical nations like France, China, and Russia, dare I say every other nation that ever existed, where the "multi-national corporate aristocrats" have always been there to do a much better job of placing their boot on the neck of the peasants.
That was tongue in cheek for you, wrong.
Here, in the US we just have the democrat party scrounging for votes in order to stay in power to do that job.
Posted by: Free to Watch Whatever I Want | November 27, 2009 9:07 PM
Still waiting on the 3.5 million jobs you promised if your 800 billion "stimulus" package was approved, Mr. President.
Let's start with those first.
Posted by: dalmatian7 | November 28, 2009 7:46 AM
71% Angry at Federal Government, Up Five Points Since September
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/november_2009/71_angry_at_federal_government_up_five_points_since_september
Good reading.
Posted by: Crooks_In_DC | November 30, 2009 2:03 PM
That's almost as high as Bush&Cheney's disapproval rating, when they snuck out of town !! Go figure. I bet those same people are mad at the train-wreck, they left in their wake ! We need healthcare reform, now and that means Medicare for all citizens.
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | November 30, 2009 3:30 PM
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | November 30, 2009 3:30 PM
That's almost as high as Bush&Cheney's disapproval rating, when they snuck out of town !! Go figure. I bet those same people are mad at the train-wreck, they left in their wake ! We need healthcare reform, now and that means Medicare for all citizens.
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
______________________________
Even if Obamacare is passed you will still not have reform. Check out HR 2520 that is a real reform bill and not a tax & spend bill.
Posted by: Crooks_In_DC | December 1, 2009 10:06 PM