2009 address to joint session of Congress: on Government Reform
Barack Obama:
Economic agenda builds new foundation for lasting prosperity
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. And all the while, critical debates & difficult decisions were put off for some other time on some other day.
Well, that day of reckoning has arrived, and the time to take charge of our future is here. Now is the time to act boldly and wisely--to not only revive this economy, but to build a new foundation for lasting prosperity.
Now is the time to jumpstart 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. That is what my economic agenda is designed to do
Source: 2009 State of the Union address
Feb 24, 2009
Bobby Jindal:
Strength of America is not in government but in our citizens
Let me tell you a story. During Katrina, I visited Sheriff Harry Lee, a Democrat and a good friend of mine. He was yelling into the phone: "Well, I'm the Sheriff and if you don't like it you can come and arrest me!" He told me that he had put out a call
for volunteers to come with their boats to rescue people who were trapped on their rooftops by the floodwaters. The boats were all lined up ready to go, when some bureaucrat showed up and told them they couldn't go out on the water unless they had proof
of insurance and registration. I told him, "Sheriff, that's ridiculous." And before I knew it, he was yelling into the phone: "Congressman Jindal is here, and he says you can come and arrest him too!" Harry just told the boaters to ignore the
bureaucrats and go start rescuing people.There is a lesson in this experience: The strength of America is not found in our government. It is found in the compassionate hearts and the enterprising spirit of our citizens.
Source: GOP response to the 2009 State of the Union address
Feb 24, 2009
Page last updated: Feb 24, 2019