In Weekly Radio Address, PEBO Provides More Details on Economic Recovery Plan

After turning Clinton's budget surplus into record breaking deficits, the Republicans are now worried about where the money is coming from. Where have you people been for the past eight years?

JoetheSoftwareArchitect writes, "Twenty years ago, conservatives were educated thinkers, builders, and soldiers. Now they're plumbers."
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I have to disagree Joe. The root of conservatism is wealth. It manifests itself politically by having "haves" trick "have nots" into believing they actually SHARE the same views. How else would you get "Joe the Plumber" to vote for "economic" policies that won't benefit him or his family? While the truly "affluent" create laws to protect their wealth they tell the "have-nots" that they care about guns, abortion, etc. Only one problem. If they actually DID anything about guns, abortion, etc what would "have-nots" conservatives RALLY behind? What would happen to the Republican Party if they actually started to vote based on issues that TRULY affect them or their family?

Moderate writes, "And I'm still waiting for that other shoe to drop-- how we are paying for this massive package of projects and how some of the specific programs he insisted on linking to job creation/ savings (yep, he's still on that "creating OR SAVING" thang) are going to actually contribute in a measurable way to said job creation-- like online medical records and florescent lighting."
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I love hearing comments like these. Where is Obama going to get the money! Oh where oh where can the money be? May I ask if you were asking WHERE would Bush get the money to a) spend on Iraq and b) continue to give tax breaks that shouldn't be given? Didn't matter as much huh? Figures

Why doesn't Obama just have a President-Elect State Of The Union Speach before the congress-elect next week ? Why Wait ? Isn't winning in Nov. and being inaugurated in Jan. enough for him ?

Obama is SO hungry for power. Lusting even. He'll have his chance in Jan. 44 days won't make any difference. Heck, FDR had to wait until March.

A lot of people think all the shrill, narrow comments represent the 'anger' of Republicans. It's not anger, it's fear. Obama is dismantling the Republican party one corrupt brick at a time. The Southern states are turning blue, and it's not going to stop. Looks for Obama to keep his gains and flip Missouri, Arizona, and Georgia in the next election cycle. Twenty years ago, conservatives were educated thinkers, builders, and soldiers. Now they're plumbers.

We are going to miss you President Bush. The media never gave you a chance but you are and always will be one of the great Presidents of this country. I fear for us when you are gone.

Electronic medical records.....NOW do you folks understand why it's important to punish snooping bureaucrats?

But, tying his health care, energy, education, and other initiatives to a jobs program is a masterstroke.

I think DEMOCRACY works like a restoring program as well as a operating program.All nations with DEMOCRACY are better off, even if somtimes they go through rough times.

Well....the videa shows we are about to pump money into the government pig trough, and all the piggies get fed. What about oil, coal, nuclear, recycling, mining, bio-fuel, bio-plastics, and what about Tesla motors ect. ect. I see a quagmire coming, inflation, and eventually another energy crisis. Oh well....I have a house overseas so....not my problem. LOL

THE PROBLEM with the OBAMA plan. His plan is to use government spending to stimulate the economy. Government programs are inefficient and DO NOT create value added wealth. Government spending does stimulate consumer spending, but that won't work by itself. The Government must stimulate the private sector through pro-development policies, and tax incentives in addition to the fiscal pork waste. All you BUSH HATERS better bare in mind that certain Republican economic policies DO work. When the NASDAQ collapsed starting 3/1999 to 2002 it went to 20% of its' high point value. That sounds like 1929 to me. LOL The bush policies did revive the economy. Okey...you brown shirt liberals.....go on hating and living in a bubble, but a truth is a truth is a truth and eventually the laws of physics prove it. I hope Obama does well as the President. I have my doubts, but I will give the man a chance.

Why does he keep on saying "to save or create" 2.5M jobs? Which one is it?

If it is "save" then what follows in that paragraph:

"....so that the nearly two million Americans who’ve lost them know that they have a future."

makes no sense...

Has anyone thought of the fact that this huge stimuli that Obama is counting on jump starting the economy with huge public works will be done by anyone that's actually American? Or are we going to outsource to companies who will end up hiring illegal workers and there goes our money again, south of the border.

obama is the best!!!

What an interesting group of comments. Just a few responses as I glance down the list--
To those who complain that Bush is not doing anything, so Obama must-- please pay attention. Bush is doing as much as he can in terms of trying to improve the economy. He coordinates things with Paulson, Bernanke, and co; he negotiates with Pelosi to insist that the loans to auto industry come from the 25 billion already passed for the industry (Pelosi was insisting that money only go, as originally planned, for retooling plants to build more fuel-efficient cars. No need to retool if you close up shop, so her stubborness was a real stumbling block). There are, actually, severe limits to what a lame-duck president with popularity numbers below 30% can do. Much of what a president does in terms of economy is jawboning and inspiring-- he does not have much of a platform for doing that, now does he? When he speaks, everyone immediately tunes him out. And yet, the same folks complain that he's not saying or doing anything.

Another meme getting old is the whole "Obama is brilliant, Bush is stupid" sniping. It simply is not demonstrably true. You assume Obama is extremely intelligent because he is well spoken and was educated at excellent universities. I think he is probably of above-average intelligence, certainly, but I do not automatically assume he is measurably brighter than either President Bush or President Clinton. And I have sat through enough faculty meetings listening to super-educated people speaking at length with excellent vocabularies while presenting ideas that were intellectually bankrupt to be mindful that an Ivy League education (which President Bush also has, remember) does not necessarily translate into brilliance and originality of ideas. Yes, Obama may well be bright, but please stop telling me that his ideas must be great because he is so darn smart and his predecessors were so darn stupid. Taint so! (I have far more education than The Chosen One but no one here is worshipping at my shrine, so obviously you know at some level that education and IQ are not the be-all and end-all. *G*)

Finally, I admire Mr. Tapper for noting the backdrop of Obama's speech. Appearances are very important and Obama has always been extremely concerned with stagecraft. The view of an urban landscape behind him was a deliberate choice on the part of the Obama team, as is the serious, faux-oval-office atmosphere and the use of flags. Since the Obama folks are created a symbolic vocabulary, as do almost all politicians in similar circumstances, it makes sense for reporters covering these speeches to make note of that fact.

And I'm still waiting for that other shoe to drop-- how we are paying for this massive package of projects and how some of the specific programs he insisted on linking to job creation/ savings (yep, he's still on that "creating OR SAVING" thang) are going to actually contribute in a measurable way to said job creation-- like online medical records and florescent lighting.

TVEddie- think you are missing a few zeros. It would cost 300,000,000,000,000. That is 300 trillion. But I often thought what if you gave everyone at age 25 1million. And they never get anything else from the government. No Social Security, no welfare, no medicare. No many people could do it and survive quite nicely. But many as we've seen with lottery winners would blow it in 6 months and then have their hand out again. And of course politicians would say the govt has to step and help them like Congress is doing to people who got stuck with mortgages when they couldn't have afforded them in the first place. Interesting concept but you need a few more zeros.

The fastest and cheepest way out of our economic trouble is to give to the head of household American making under 250k a check for $1,000,000 dollar with string attach. what would it cost? their 330-350 million people in America lets say 300 million make under 250k
700,000,000,000 minus 300,000,000 =600,700,000,000 Big Difference. Problem solve.

kat ...
I don[t mean all the safeguards go with it.. we need them..but there is a line that needs to be drawn. prevailing wage is crazy.. nobody not in Calif do workers need to make 40 bucks an hour..
bunk houses for fire workers don't need to cost 5 million dollars, a bridge don't need to cost 5 million dollars.. I can build it for 1 million or less.. just don't force me to pay 40 bucks an hour to a worker, and the liability of 40 thousand a year.. we need to tighten our belts.. so does the government.. S*

I thought that OBAMA said that there is only ONE President at a time !!!!
Hey OBAMA!!! You are NOT the President yet. LOL

So how is this all to be paid for? If the government just prints more money then that is the wrong way to go as it will actually devalue the dollars which we currently hold meaning that those of us in the middle class (as referred to by Obama) moving us closer to the poor house. If they do it by raising taxes then where is that money coming from? What is to keep the so called rich from moving out of the country and setting up their business outside of the US? The only logical answer is to lower the tax rates across the boards and especially lower the corporate tax rates so that businesses and investors will create more jobs through the economy. Government jobs will not drive the economy as the money has to come from the government not the private sector. Lastly the government should not be running any business, do a Google search on “social security fund” and see how they have screwed that up over the years. As early as the late 40’s there was a massive surplus in the system which the prudent person would bank for times when the income to the fund would be less then the amount going out. The politicians decided that they would increase the benefits to eliminate the surplus so that they could garner votes in upcoming elections. They did this several more times over the years and now we are finally starting to realize that the Social Security fund will not be able to take care of the people who are now paying for it. The best thing to happen to the country would to see that the next 535 job losses are in Washington DC, but that won’t happen now for two more years. We need politicians who have actually run a successful business instead of career politicians who have been unable to successfully accomplish anything in congress. Look at the GSE’s as a prime example, while Fannie and Freddie were in the process of failing who was saying that there was no problem and taking money from their lobbyists, right Representative Frank and Senator Dodd, and they still think that they have done nothing to contribute to the problem. They blame the President but forget that Congress passes the bills to the president for his approval, where were the bills to rein in the policies of the GSE’s, oh that’s right Frank and Dodd made sure that they never made it out of committee to get voted on.