Change We Can Believe In, by Barack Obama: on Budget & Economy

Clinton left behind a surplus; Bush squandered it

We could have done something to end our addiction to oil, but instead we continued down a path that that funds both sides of the war on terror, endangers our planet, and has left Americans struggling with $4 a gallon gasoline. We could have invested in innovation and rebuilt our crumbling roads and bridges, but instead we’ve spent hundreds of billions of dollars fighting a war in Iraq that should’ve never been authorized and never been waged.

Worse yet, the price-tag for these failures is being passe to our children. The Clinton Administration left behind a surplus, but this Administration squandered it. We face budget deficits in the hundreds of billions and our nearly ten trillion dollars in debt. We’ve borrowed billions from countries like China to finance needless tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and an unnecessary war, and yet Sen. McCain is explicitly running to continue and expand these policies, without a realistic plan to pay for it. I want to take us in a new and better direction.

Source: Speech in Flint, MI, in Change We Can Believe In, p.247-8 Jun 15, 2008

The above quotations are from Change We Can Believe In Barack Obama's Plan to Renew America Published Sept. 9, 2008. Click here for definitions & background information on Budget & Economy. Click here for other issues (main summary page). Click here for more quotes by Barack Obama on Budget & Economy.
*Candidates and political leaders on Budget & Economy:*
*Incoming Obama Administration:* Pres.:Sen.Barack Obama V.P.:Sen.Joe Biden State:Hillary Clinton Staff:Rahm Emanuel Treas.:Tim Geithner DoD:Robert Gates A.G.:Eric Holder DHS:Janet Napolitano DoC:Bill Richardson	*Outgoing Bush Administration:* Pres.:George Bush V.P.:Dick Cheney A.G.:John Ashcroft(2005) DEA:Asa Hutchinson(2005) USDA:Mike Johanns(2007) EPA:Mike Leavitt HUD:Mel Martinez(2003) State:Colin Powell(2005) State:Condoleezza Rice HHS:Tommy Thompson(2005)	*2008 Presidential contenders:* AIP: Frank McEnulty Constitution: Chuck Baldwin GOP: Sen.John McCain GOP VP: Gov.Sarah Palin Green: Rep.Cynthia McKinney Independent: Ralph Nader Liberation: Gloria La Riva Libertarian: Rep.Bob Barr NAIP: Amb.Alan Keyes Socialist: Brian Moore
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