Speech

Obama Channels Optimism

"Flow of credit is the lifeblood of our economy"

President Obama's address to Congress opened with a promise for recovery. "Now is the time to jump-start job creation, re-start lending, and invest in areas like energy, health care, and education that will grow our economy, even as we make hard choices to bring our deficit down," he said. The president advocated bringing high-tech energy industry jobs back to the US and said that American healthcare is in crisis. He argued, "We cannot afford to govern out of anger... Our job is to solve the problem. Our job is to govern with responsibility." He also pledged to put forth a plan for ending the Iraq War "responsibly" and to be honest about its costs.