President-Elect Barack Obama's December 6, 2008 Radio Address on Jobs

President-Elect Barack Obama gives his radio address today, December 6, 2008, on the economy. His address focuses on the need for both job creation and job preservation. A transcript of his remarks appears below. You can see the video clip of his remarks here.

Remarks of President-elect Barack Obama
Radio Address on the Economy
Saturday, December 6, 2008

Good morning.

Yesterday, we received another painful reminder of the serious economic challenge our country is facing when we learned that 533,000 jobs were lost in November alone, the single worst month of job loss in over three decades. That puts the total number of jobs lost in this recession at nearly 2 million.

But this isn’t about numbers. It’s about each of the families those numbers represent. It’s about the rising unease and frustration that so many of you are feeling during this holiday season. Will you be able to put your kids through college? Will you be able to afford health care? Will you be able to retire with dignity and security? Will your job or your husband’s job or your daughter’s or son's job be the next one cut?

These are the questions that keep so many Americans awake at night. But it is not the first time these questions have been asked. We have faced difficult times before, times when our economic destiny seemed to be slipping out of our hands. And at each moment, we have risen to meet the challenge, as one people united by a sense of common purpose. And I know that Americans can rise to the moment once again.

But we need action – and action now. That is why I have asked my economic team to develop an economic recovery plan for both Wall Street and Main Street that will help save or create at least two and a half million jobs, while rebuilding our infrastructure, improving our schools, reducing our dependence on oil, and saving billions of dollars.

We won’t do it the old Washington way. We won’t just throw money at the problem. We’ll measure progress by the reforms we make and the results we achieve -- by the jobs we create, by the energy we save, by whether America is more competitive in the world.

Today, I am announcing a few key parts of my plan. First, we will launch a massive effort to make public buildings more energy-efficient. Our government now pays the highest energy bill in the world. We need to change that. We need to upgrade our federal buildings by replacing old heating systems and installing efficient light bulbs. That won’t just save you, the American taxpayer, billions of dollars each year. It will put people back to work.

Second, we will create millions of jobs by making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s. We’ll invest your precious tax dollars in new and smarter ways, and we’ll set a simple rule – use it or lose it. If a state doesn’t act quickly to invest in roads and bridges in their communities, they’ll lose the money.

Third, my economic recovery plan will launch the most sweeping effort to modernize and upgrade school buildings that this country has ever seen. We will repair broken schools, make them energy-efficient, and put new computers in our classrooms. Because to help our children compete in a 21st century economy, we need to send them to 21st century schools.

As we renew our schools and highways, we’ll also renew our information superhighway. It is unacceptable that the United States ranks 15th in the world in broadband adoption. Here, in the country that invented the internet, every child should have the chance to get online, and they’ll get that chance when I’m President – because that’s how we’ll strengthen America’s competitiveness in the world.

In addition to connecting our libraries and schools to the internet, we must also ensure that our hospitals are connected to each other through the internet. That is why the economic recovery plan I’m proposing will help modernize our health care system – and that won’t just save jobs, it will save lives. We will make sure that every doctor’s office and hospital in this country is using cutting edge technology and electronic medical records so that we can cut red tape, prevent medical mistakes, and help save billions of dollars each year.

These are a few parts of the economic recovery plan that I will be rolling out in the coming weeks. When Congress reconvenes in January, I look forward to working with them to pass a plan immediately. We need to act with the urgency this moment demands to save or create at least two and a half million jobs so that the nearly two million Americans who’ve lost them know that they have a future. And that’s exactly what I intend to do as President of the United States.

Thanks for listening.

MCDAC Readers Overwhelmingly Support Clinton for Secretary of State

This past week, we surveyed the readers of our weekly newsletter to see what they thought of Clinton as Secretary of State. As you can see from the accompanying graph, they liked it a lot.

Over 85% of those responding to the question, approved of the choice. Those who disapproved only numbered a shade over 10%. If this admittedly unscientific sample is any indication, people who may have had reservations about Clinton as President don't have them about Clinton as Secretary of State.

We allowed those readers who responded to the poll to leave comments about Obama choosing Clinton. You can read some of those comments which are reproduced in italics below. One theme that runs through the comments is that some readers would rather see her in the Senate because they think that Obama and the Democrats have a greater need for her in that position. It is important to keep in mind when considering her nomination that her successor will be chosen by a Democratic governor and will be a Democrat. This means that the Democrats are not losing a vote in the Senate.

Only if Bill or Cuomo is given her senate seat.
Hillary Clinton sold her soul to zionist AIPAC funding years ago so her views will reflect continued anti-Palestinian policies...just another Rice.
As long as her replacement in the Senate measures up to her standards, or exceeds them
She is not " ON THE SAME PAGE " as BARACK and will be a drag on his creativity. Her thinking is back room,old WASHINGTON. Bad decisions on wars.
I would have rather seen Sen. Clinton work on Health Care Reform. Then be seated as a Supreme Court Judge when the appointment is open.
I want her on the Supreme Court, but she can still do that later.
Long before he chose her, I said she should be Secretary of State. I am delighted to learn that great minds think alike!!!!!!
I hope that Bill will stay out of her way.
she is needed in the senate
Duh... Condy to Clinton. What's not to like?
i also think that she would make a great supreme court justice
She doesn't have the character of a Madelein Albright, but she brings in street smarts. Not a bad choice.
I think it would be great. I said this before the election. She is very forceful and wouldn't back down to anyone. Bill would be a good adviser.
I think she would be strong, effective, and restore America's credibility and stture.
We need someone to take the VPres.spot if something should happen
I'm sure that she can surrender to Al Quida as well as anyone else he would appoint to do the job.
Excellent choice of a talented politician. Her reputation will facilitate foreign policy & place her in position for a future presidential run.
Continuing the legacy of ugly women in that office.
Great choice.
Good choice
Barack needs the Clinton's.
Shows that Obama is interested in party unity. She came close to being nominated for President. Most should think she is qualified for this post.
I believe this appointment was discussed before Hillary relented her presidential run. It's a good choice.
Go for it. She's a smart lady and we could only benefit from her experience.
He owes her!
NO. Bill Richardson would have been the better choice. The US must make fundamental changes in foreign policy and he would be better to carry it out.
Intelligent decision. Know your weaknesses and put someone there who is strong.

President-Elect Barack Obama's Weekly Address for November 22, 2008

Following is a transcript of President-elect Barack Obama’s radio address for Saturday, Nov. 22, as released by the president-elect’s office.

Good morning.

The news this week has only reinforced the fact that we are facing an economic crisis of historic proportions. Financial markets faced more turmoil. New home purchases in October were the lowest in half a century. Five-hundred-forty-thousand more jobless claims were filed last week, the highest in 18 years. And we now risk falling into a deflationary spiral that could increase our massive debt even further.

While I’m pleased that Congress passed a long-overdue extension of unemployment benefits this week, we must do more to put people back to work and get our economy moving again. We have now lost 1.2 million jobs this year, and if we don’t act swiftly and boldly, most experts now believe that we could lose millions of jobs next year.

There are no quick or easy fixes to this crisis, which has been many years in the making, and it’s likely to get worse before it gets better. But January 20th is our chance to begin anew — with a new direction, new ideas, and new reforms that will create jobs and fuel long-term economic growth.

I have already directed my economic team to come up with an Economic Recovery Plan that will mean 2.5 million more jobs by January of 2011 — a plan big enough to meet the challenges we face that I intend to sign soon after taking office. We’ll be working out the details in the weeks ahead, but it will be a two-year, nationwide effort to jumpstart job creation in America and lay the foundation for a strong and growing economy. We’ll put people back to work rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, modernizing schools that are failing our children, and building wind farms and solar panels; fuel-efficient cars and the alternative energy technologies that can free us from our dependence on foreign oil and keep our economy competitive in the years ahead.
These aren’t just steps to pull ourselves out of this immediate crisis; these are the long-term investments in our economic future that have been ignored for far too long. And they represent an early down payment on the type of reform my administration will bring to Washington — a government that spends wisely, focuses on what works, and puts the public interest ahead of the same special interests that have come to dominate our politics.

I know that passing this plan won’t be easy. I will need and seek support from Republicans and Democrats, and I’ll be welcome to ideas and suggestions from both sides of the aisle. But what is not negotiable is the need for immediate action.

Right now, there are millions of mothers and fathers who are lying awake at night wondering if next week’s paycheck will cover next month’s bills. There are Americans showing up to work in the morning only to have cleared out their desks by the afternoon. Retirees are watching their life savings disappear and students are seeing their college dreams deferred. These Americans need help, and they need it now.

The survival of the American Dream for over two centuries is not only a testament to its enduring power, but to the great effort, sacrifice, and courage of the American people. It has thrived because in our darkest hours, we have risen above the smallness of our divisions to forge a path towards a new and brighter day. We have acted boldly, bravely, and above all, together. That is the chance our new beginning now offers us, and that is the challenge we must rise to in the days to come.

It is time to act. As the next president of the United States, I will. Thank you.

Is Obama's Election the Final Atonement of the Democratic Party?

Following its inception in the late 1790s, the Democratic Party, originally called the Democratic-Republican Party, worked for the political aims of the slaveowners of the South. The founder, Thomas Jefferson, owned slaves. As the sin of slavery became more and more apparent to Americans, the Democratic Party began to suffer internal strains. Indeed, in the pivotal 1860 election, the Democratic Party split into two factions and each faction had its own candidate. The reason why was because the Democratic Party couldn't remain loyal to both its allies in the Southern ruling class and get the votes of Americans who wanted to abolish slavery.

From 1860 to 1876, the Democratic Party was out of power in Washington. The Southern ruling class, which had lost the Civil War, wasn't able to control the Reconstruction governments of the states of the Old Confederacy. That all began to change, however, following the disputed election of 1876.

In that election, Democratic candidate Samuel Tilling, governor of New York, almost defeated the Republican candidate, Rutherford Hayes. The election was thrown into the House of Representatives. Hayes managed to pull out a win, but the price was that he agreed to withdraw United States troops from the South. He ended Reconstruction.

The ending of Reconstruction meant that the white majority of the Southern states could grab control of the state governments, which they did, and it also meant that they could establish segregation, which they did. The refusal of the United States Supreme Court to rule segregation unconstitutional in the Plessy case meant that black Americans had no way to force the state governments of the South to recognize their civil rights.

From 1876 to 1948, the Democratic Party did not challenge this state of affairs. That ended in 1948 when the young Mayor of Minneapolis challenged the status quo and forced the Democratic Party to adopt a civil rights plank. Strom Thurmond and the so-called Dixiecrats walked out, formed their own party, appeared on five Southern ballots in 1948, and the so-called "Solid South" began to crack.

The cracking was patched over in the 1960 election, with electoral slates loyal to John F. Kennedy carrying most southern states. The passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, followed by the Voting Rights Act, drove Southern whites out of the Democratic Party. By 1972, Nixon was following the Southern Strategy and Democrats lost every state in the South. (Of course, McGovern lost all states but one, but the writing was on the wall for Democrats in the South.)

Jimmy Carter managed to get back some of those southern states in 1976, cut lost them to Reagan in 1980. Mondale lost them in 1984 and Dukasis lost them in 1988. Clinton, though, was competitive in the South in both 1992 and 1996. Gore, however, in 2000, was not, and neither was Kerry in 2004.

In politics, though, as in life in general, nothing lasts forever. Obama actually took three southern states, Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida, on his way to winning the presidency. Not only did he take three southern states, but he proved that a candidate who was not a white southerner could win the presidency.

In a way, the election of the first African-American President as a Democrat represents an atonement of sorts for the Democratic Party's racist past. It doesn't excuse it, it doesn't make it disappear, and it doesn't repay all those African-Americans whose rights were denied for decades in the South, and indeed, in the United States. But, it is an atonement of sorts. As a Democrat, I am proud and glad that my party was the first major party to nominate an African-American for president. As an American, I am even prouder of my country for electing him.

States Ranking by Percentage in Poverty & the 2008 Election

Below is the ranking of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia by the percentage of their population living in poverty. The ranking was done by the United States Census Bureau. If you look at the top ten states, two of them went for Obama and the other eight went for McCain. Conversely if you look at the bottom ten, you will find that nine of those states went for Obama, while only one went for McCain. Ohio, by the way, ranks 21, with 13.3% of its population living in poverty.

1
Mississippi
21.1
2
District of Columbia
19.6
3
Louisiana
19
4
New Mexico
18.5
5
Arkansas
17.3
5
West Virginia
17.3
7
Kentucky
17
7
Oklahoma
17
9
Texas
16.9
10
Alabama
16.6
11
Tennessee
16.2
12
South Carolina
15.7
13
Georgia
14.7
13
North Carolina
14.7
15
Arizona
14.2
15
New York
14.2
17
Missouri
13.6
17
Montana
13.6
17
South Dakota
13.6
20
Michigan
13.5
United States
13.3
21
Ohio
13.3
21
Oregon
13.3
23
California
13.1
24
Maine
12.9
25
Indiana
12.7
26
Florida
12.6
26
Idaho
12.6
28
Kansas
12.4
29
Illinois
12.3
30
Pennsylvania
12.1
31
Colorado
12
32
Washington
11.8
33
Nebraska
11.5
34
North Dakota
11.4
35
Delaware
11.1
35
Rhode Island
11.1
37
Iowa
11
37
Wisconsin
11
39
Alaska
10.9
40
Utah
10.6
41
Nevada
10.3
41
Vermont
10.3
43
Massachusetts
9.9
44
Minnesota
9.8
45
Virginia
9.6
46
Wyoming
9.4
47
Hawaii
9.3
48
New Jersey
8.7
49
Connecticut
8.3
50
New Hampshire
8
51
Maryland
7.8

Plain Dealer Article on Dem Gains in Ohio

The Cleveland Plain Dealer ran an interesting article last week on November 10, 2008 about Dem gains and GOP gains in the Ohio presidential election. As you can see from the map, McCain only gained on Bush's performance in 11 counties while Obama did better than Kerry in 77 counties. You can read the article here.

Barack Obama's Election and Household Income

Below is a ranking of the fifty states of the United States, plus the District of Columbia, and how they rank in terms of median household income. You will note that of the top 20 states, which includes the District of Columbia, Obama carried all 20 of them. Of the bottom 20, McCain carried 15 and Obama carried 20. The information was obtained from the website of the United States Census Bureau,which can be found at www.census.gov.


Rank Median Income
1
New Jersey
52,487
2
Connecticut
52,372
3
Massachusetts
51,960
4
Maryland
51,316
5
District of Columbia
49,544
6
Alaska
48,703
7
Washington
48,331
8
New Hampshire
48,254
9
Michigan
47,329
10
Virginia
47,063
11
Illinois
46,526
12
Minnesota
46,349
13
Delaware
46,043
14
New York
45,833
15
Rhode Island
45,544
16
Colorado
45,017
17
California
44,905
18
Pennsylvania
43,402
19
Wisconsin
42,380
20
Ohio
42,346
United States
42,210
21
Indiana
41,991
22
Wyoming
41,913
23
Hawaii
41,821
24
Nevada
41,717
25
Oregon
41,536
26
Utah
41,475
27
Louisiana
40,765
28
Georgia
40,646
29
Kansas
40,595
30
Missouri
40,443
31
Vermont
40,119
32
Maine
40,116
33
Arizona
40,056
34
Iowa
39,753
35
Kentucky
39,595
36
Alabama
39,528
37
Texas
38,797
38
Idaho
38,278
39
North Dakota
38,179
40
Florida
38,005
41
Nebraska
37,828
42
West Virginia
37,622
43
Tennessee
37,589
44
North Carolina
37,545
45
South Carolina
37,194
46
New Mexico
37,064
47
Oklahoma
36,655
48
Montana
36,378
49
Mississippi
35,617
50
Arkansas
35,144
51
South Dakota
34,937

President-Elect Obama's Weekly Radio Address

Below is the transcript of President-Elect Obama's radio address given on November 15, 2008. A link to the video clip that was posted on You Tube appears after the transcript.


Remarks of President-elect Barack Obama
November 15, 2008

Today, the leaders of the G-20 countries -- a group that includes the world's largest economies -- are gathering in Washington to seek solutions to the ongoing turmoil in our financial markets. I'm glad President Bush has initiated this process -- because our global economic crisis requires a coordinated global response.

And yet, as we act in concert with other nations, we must also act immediately here at home to address America's own economic crisis. This week, amid continued volatility in our markets, we learned that unemployment insurance claims rose to their highest levels since September 11, 2001. We've lost jobs for ten straight months -- nearly 1.2 million jobs this year, many of them in our struggling auto industry. And millions of our fellow citizens lie awake each night wondering how they're going to pay their bills, stay in their homes, and save for retirement.

Make no mistake: this is the greatest economic challenge of our time. And while the road ahead will be long, and the work will be hard, I know that we can steer ourselves out of this crisis -- because here in America we always rise to the moment, no matter how hard. And I am more hopeful than ever before that America will rise once again.

But we must act right now. Next week, Congress will meet to address the spreading impact of the economic crisis. I urge them to pass at least a down-payment on a rescue plan that will create jobs, relieve the squeeze on families, and help get the economy growing again. In particular, we cannot afford to delay providing help for the more than one million Americans who will have exhausted their unemployment insurance by the end of this year. If Congress does not pass an immediate plan that gives the economy the boost it needs, I will make it my first order of business as President.

Even as we dig ourselves out of this recession, we must also recognize that out of this economic crisis comes an opportunity to create new jobs, strengthen our middle class, and keep our economy competitive in the 21st century.

That starts with the kinds of long-term investments that we've neglected for too long. That means putting two million Americans to work rebuilding our crumbling roads, bridges, and schools. It means investing $150 billion to build an American green energy economy that will create five million new jobs, while freeing our nation from the tyranny of foreign oil, and saving our planet for our children. It means making health care affordable for anyone who has it, accessible for anyone who wants it, and reducing costs for small businesses. And it also means giving every child the world-class education they need to compete with any worker, anywhere in the world.

Doing all this will require not just new policies, but a new spirit of service and sacrifice, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. If this financial crisis has taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers -- in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people. And that is how we will meet the challenges of our time -- together.

Thank you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd8f9Zqap6U