1 00:00:05,1 --> 00:00:07,300 Yesterday, we learned that the economy

2 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:10,100 lost another 651,000 jobs in the month of

3 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:13,100 February, which brings the total number of jobs

4 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:16,200 lost in this recession to 4.4 million.

5 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:19,500 The unemployment rate has now surpassed eight percent,

6 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:22,000 the highest rate in a quarter century.

7 00:00:22,500 --> 00:00:25,100 These aren't just statistics, but hardships

8 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:27,000 experienced personally by millions of Americans

9 00:00:27,100 --> 00:00:30,100 who no longer know how they'll pay their bills,

10 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:32,500 or make their mortgage, or raise their families.

11 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:35,100 From the day I took office, I knew that solving this

12 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:39,000 crisis would not be easy, nor would it happen overnight.

13 00:00:39,210 --> 00:00:41,000 And we will continue to face difficult

14 00:00:41,100 --> 00:00:44,000 days in the months ahead. But I also believe that

15 00:00:44,100 --> 00:00:47,100 we will get through this—that if we act swiftly

16 00:00:47,210 --> 00:00:50,100 and boldly and responsibly, the United States

17 00:00:50,210 --> 00:00:52,000 of America will emerge stronger

18 00:00:52,100 --> 00:00:54,300 and more prosperous than it was before.

19 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:56,000 That's why my administration is committed

20 00:00:56,100 --> 00:00:59,000 to doing all that's necessary to address this crisis

21 00:00:59,100 --> 00:01:02,000 and lead us to a better day. That's why we're moving

22 00:01:02,100 --> 00:01:04,500 forward with an economic agenda that will jump-start

23 00:01:04,599 --> 00:01:08,000 job creation, restart lending, relieve responsible

24 00:01:08,100 --> 00:01:11,000 homeowners, and address the long-term economic

25 00:01:11,100 --> 00:01:14,000 challenges of our time: The cost of health care,

26 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:17,100 our dependence on oil, and the state of our schools.

27 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:20,000 To prevent foreclosures for as many as four million

28 00:01:20,100 --> 00:01:22,699 homeowners—and lower interest rates and lift

29 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:26,100 home values for millions more—we are implementing

30 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:28,100 a plan to allow lenders to work with borrowers

31 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:31,100 to refinance or restructure their mortgages.

32 00:01:31,700 --> 00:01:34,100 On Wednesday, the Department of Treasury and Housing

33 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:37,100 and Urban Development released the guidelines that

34 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:39,400 lenders will use for lowering mortgage payments.

35 00:01:39,700 --> 00:01:41,500 This plan is now at work.

36 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:44,100 To restore the availability of affordable loans

37 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:46,100 for families and businesses—not just banks—

38 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,100 we are taking steps to restart the flow of credit

39 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:51,700 and stabilize the financial markets.

40 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:53,399 On Thursday, the Treasury Department and the

41 00:01:53,500 --> 00:01:56,700 Federal Reserve launched the Consumer and Business

42 00:01:56,800 --> 00:01:59,100 Lending Initiative—a plan that will generate up to

43 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:02,200 a trillion dollars of new lending so that families

44 00:02:02,300 --> 00:02:05,100 can finance a car or college education—and small

45 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:08,400 businesses can raise the capital that will create jobs.

46 00:02:08,900 --> 00:02:11,100 And we've already begun to implement the American

47 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:13,100 Recovery and Reinvestment Act—a plan that will

48 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:17,200 save and create over 3.5 million jobs over the next

49 00:02:17,300 --> 00:02:20,000 two years—jobs rebuilding our roads and bridges,

50 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:22,899 constructing wind turbines and solar panels,

51 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:26,000 expanding broadband and mass transit. And because

52 00:02:26,100 --> 00:02:29,100 of this plan, those who have lost their job in this

53 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:31,000 recession will be able to receive extended unemployment

54 00:02:31,100 --> 00:02:35,100 benefits and continued health care coverage, while 95

55 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:37,000 percent of working Americans will receive

56 00:02:37,100 --> 00:02:40,000 a tax break beginning April 1st.

57 00:02:40,100 --> 00:02:43,000 Of course, like every family going through hard times,

58 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:45,299 our country must make tough choices.

59 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:48,000 In order to pay for the things we need—

60 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:51,000 we cannot waste money on the things we don't.

61 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:56,000 My administration inherited a one-point-three trillion dollar budget deficit

62 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:59,000 the largest in history. And we've inherited a budgeting

63 00:02:59,100 --> 00:03:03,799 process as irresponsible as it is unsustainable.

64 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:06,000 For years, as Wall Street used accounting tricks to conceal

65 00:03:06,100 --> 00:03:10,000 costs and avoid responsibility, Washington did, too.

66 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:13,200 These kinds of irresponsible budgets—

67 00:03:13,300 --> 00:03:14,500 and inexcusable practices—

68 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:18,000 are now in the past. For the first time in many years

69 00:03:18,100 --> 00:03:21,100 my administration has produced a budget that represents an

70 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:24,399 honest reckoning of where we are and where we need to go.

71 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:27,500 It's also a budget that begins to make the hard choices

72 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:29,500 that we've avoided for far too long—

73 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:34,000 a strategy that cuts where we must and invests where we need.

74 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:37,200 That's why it includes two trillion dollars in deficit reduction

75 00:03:37,300 --> 00:03:40,000 while making historic investments in America's future.

76 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:43,400 That's why it reduces discretionary spending for non-defense

77 00:03:43,500 --> 00:03:47,000 programs as a share of the economy by more than ten percent

78 00:03:47,100 --> 00:03:50,000 over the next decade—to the lowest level since they began

79 00:03:50,100 --> 00:03:53,000 keeping these records nearly half a century ago.

80 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:56,000 And that's why on Wednesday, I signed a presidential

81 00:03:56,100 --> 00:03:59,000 memorandum to end unnecessary no-bid contracts

82 00:03:59,100 --> 00:04:02,200 and dramatically reform the way contracts are awarded—

83 00:04:02,500 --> 00:04:05,000 reforms that will save the American people

84 00:04:05,100 --> 00:04:07,299 up to forty billion dollars each year.

85 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,400 Finally, because we cannot bring our deficit down

86 00:04:11,500 --> 00:04:14,000 or grow our economy without tackling the skyrocketing

87 00:04:14,100 --> 00:04:17,000 cost of health care, I held a health care summit

88 00:04:17,100 --> 00:04:20,200 on Thursday to begin the long-overdue process of reform.

89 00:04:20,500 --> 00:04:24,000 Our ideas and opinions about how to achieve this reform

90 00:04:24,100 --> 00:04:28,000 will vary, but our goal must be the same: quality, affordable

91 00:04:28,100 --> 00:04:31,000 health care for every American that no longer overwhelms the

92 00:04:31,100 --> 00:04:34,200 budgets of families, businesses, and our government.

93 00:04:34,500 --> 00:04:37,500 Yes, this is a moment of challenge for our country.

94 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:40,000 But we've experienced great trials before.

95 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:43,000 And with every test, each generation has found

96 00:04:43,100 --> 00:04:46,000 the capacity to not only endure, but to prosper—

97 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:50,000 to discover great opportunity in the midst of great crisis.

98 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:53,000 That is what we can and must do today.

99 00:04:53,100 --> 00:04:56,000 And I am absolutely confident that is what we will do.

100 00:04:56,500 --> 00:04:59,000 I'm confident that at this defining moment

101 00:04:59,100 --> 00:05:01,500 we will prove ourselves worthy of the sacrifice

102 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:03,200 of those who came before us

103 00:05:03,300 --> 00:05:05,500 and the promise of those who will come after.

104 00:05:06,300 --> 00:05:07,800 Thank you.