President gave a very impressive, sincere, thoughtful and engaging address during his first appearance before a joint session of Congress. He does seem to have a good grasp of the issues we as a culture face, and some of the root habits that has brought us to the point of current financial depression era. In the statement below, he very succinctly lays out some of the basic problems that we as a country, we as people and we as a culture have to fix.
The fact is, our economy did not fall into decline overnight. Nor did all of our problems begin when the housing market collapsed or the stock market sank. We have known for decades that our survival depends on finding new sources of energy. Yet we import more oil today than ever before. The cost of health care eats up more and more of our savings each year, yet we keep delaying reform. Our children will compete for jobs in a global economy that too many of our schools do not prepare them for. And though all these challenges went unsolved, we still managed to spend more money and pile up more debt, both as individuals and through our government, than ever before.
In other words, we have lived through an era where too often, short-term gains were prized over long-term prosperity; where we failed to look beyond the next payment, the next quarter, or the next election. A surplus became an excuse to transfer wealth to the wealthy instead of an opportunity to invest in our future. Regulations were gutted for the sake of a quick profit at the expense of a healthy market. People bought homes they knew they couldn’t afford from banks and lenders who pushed those bad loans anyway. And all the while, critical debates and difficult decisions were put off for some other time on some other day.
The president seems determined to drive a change from the deep roots. The skeptic in me still wants to follow the president on the journey of change, not only in his people, but also on a global mind-set. Some of these things are easier said than done, but in tracking the initiatives last few weeks it does appear that the President is willing to take every step necessary to establish a legacy, and earn it fully.
He is not only acting swiftly where needed but also following up on previous proposals. He has struck again on the issue of fair-pay, and lavish wall-street bonuses amid recession and financial crisis. He alerted for all entities with a Government stake about transparency and accountability. [Or well, at least a notion of accountability]. This is something shareholders should have voiced, but with all the day-trading, and lack of any long-term interests in the company in today’s age of ‘instant-gratification’; we all have forgotten to hold the managements of public companies responsible of their fiduciary duties.
“I intend to hold these banks fully accountable for the assistance they receive, and this time, they will have to clearly demonstrate how taxpayer dollars result in more lending for the American taxpayer. This time, CEOs won’t be able to use taxpayer money to pad their paychecks or buy fancy drapes or disappear on a private jet. Those days are over. ” said Obama
Green painters will make lot’s of Green: With president’s reiterated support for Energy sustainability, and big goals of foreign energy independence, it is going to be a bigger push and bigger prosperity to the Energy sector. This will not only benefit alternative energy industry, but also traditional energy companies who will be required to update their distribution systems, their power-plants, their investments with the help of funding available with the Government focus on this area. The president said
“Thanks to our recovery plan, we will double this nation’s supply of renewable energy in the next three years. We have also made the largest investment in basic research funding in American history — an investment that will spur not only new discoveries in energy, but breakthroughs in medicine, science, and technology.
We will soon lay down thousands of miles of power lines that can carry new energy to cities and towns across this country. And we will put Americans to work making our homes and buildings more efficient so that we can save billions of dollars on our energy bills.”
He has a very ambitious agenda that involves health-care reform, cutting deficit, reducing unemployment, achieving energy sustainability and energy independence, establishing US as the next leader in the innovations and technologies around alternative energy, safe-guarding economy, restoring social-security and stronger education amongst a few. He has brought various proposals, started various committees, gathered substantial funding, and began to put wheels in motion. And even a month after his appointment, he does not seem to be slowing down.
Get the full transcript of his address at whitehouse.gov page here
