President Obama Sharpens Message on Budget Priorities

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President Obama Sharpens Message on Budget Priorities

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In his weekly address, President Barack Obama has announced that in the coming weeks, he will continue to focus on the core principles of his budget such as, cutting the deficit in half by the end of his first term, making investments in long-delayed priorities like energy independence, revamping national infrastructures, and addressing education and health care reforms. 

An excerpt on the President's energy efficient plans:

"I expect a budget that meets four basic principles: 
First, it must reduce our dependence on dangerous foreign oil and finally put this nation on a path to a clean, renewable energy future.  There is no longer a doubt that the jobs and industries of tomorrow will involve harnessing renewable sources of energy.  The only question is whether America will lead that future.  I believe we can and we will, and that’s why we’ve proposed a budget that makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy, while investing in technologies like wind power and solar power; advanced biofuels, clean coal, and fuel-efficient cars and trucks that can be built right here in America."

He plans to commit the largest infrastructure investment since the creation of the Federal Highway System in the 1950's. These projects not only pave the way for the future, but they will also put Americans to work.  

It is the President's long-term plan to break the cycle of the past and to make concerted changes to improve the economy while laying the groundwork for long-term gains and progress.

NP readers can read the President's address in full here;
or View the video from the White House here.

Additional excerpts from the President's weekly address:

"With the magnitude of the challenges we face, I don’t just view this budget as numbers on a page or a laundry list of programs.  It’s an economic blueprint for our future – a vision of America where growth is not based on real estate bubbles or over-leveraged banks, but on a firm foundation of investments in energy, education, and health care that will lead to a real and lasting prosperity.

These investments are not a wish list of priorities that I picked out of thin air – they are a central part of a comprehensive strategy to grow this economy by attacking the very problems that have dragged it down for too long:  the high cost of health care and our dependence on foreign oil; our education deficit and our fiscal deficit." 

The President's commitments toward rebuilding America's infrastructures were emphasized from his meeting in the White House meeting with the Building of America's Future leaders on Mar. 20, yesterday. 

It is a broadly non-partisan coalition funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, led by three innovative public officials, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ed Rendell.  They formed this coalition in 2008 to study and address public concerns on improving roads, bridges, transit systems and other infrastructures through Federal spending.

This writer previously posted an article about the meeting with references to the American Society of Civil Engineers' grade "D" on the current state of American infrastructures.

The three officials spoke briefly to the press outside the West Wing after an hour long meeting with the President to highlight their discussion. They pledged to work to build support for the President's spending on America's infrastructures in the stimulus package and in 2010 budget. 

Governors Rendell (D-Pa.) and Schwarzenegger (R-Ca.) talked about creating an "infrastructure bank," an idea that President Obama endorsed as a candidate. Such a bank would raise money for major national projects by issuing bonds that could be leveraged into even more funding.

The three officials agreed that future generations of Americans would stand to benefit from these national infrastructure projects.  According to Mayor Bloomberg (I-NY), who succinctly summarized, "The President gets it."

NP readers can read full text of the press conference with the three officials on their meeting with the President here.

Suggested further information and reading: 

American Society of Civil Engineers 

Building of America's Future

Related Article by this Writer:
President Obama Meets with the Building America Coalition