Passing a Budget that Reflects Our Priorities
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/11/02/weekly-address-passing-budget-reflects-our-priorities?utm_source=snapshot&utm_medium=email&utm_content=110213-topper
Passing a Budget that Reflects Our Priorities
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/11/02/weekly-address-passing-budget-reflects-our-priorities?utm_source=snapshot&utm_medium=email&utm_content=110213-topper
WASHINGTON,
DC— In this week’s address, President Obama
said that in order to keep growing the economy and creating good jobs, Washington must end its
cycle of manufactured crises and self-inflicted wounds. It’s time for both parties to work together
to pass a budget that reflects our priorities – making smart cuts in things we
don’t need and closing wasteful tax loopholes, while investing in areas that
create opportunities for the middle class and our future generations.
Hi, everybody. On
Thursday, I addressed a conference for business leaders from around the
world. And my pitch was simple: Choose America. Invest in America. Create jobs in America.
It speaks to my top priority as President: growing our
economy, creating good jobs, strengthening security and opportunity for the
middle class.
Over the past three and a half years, our businesses have
created over seven and a half million new jobs.
And this week, the Treasury confirmed that since I took office, we’ve cut
our deficits by more than half.
But we have more work to do.
We need to grow and create more good jobs faster. That’s my driving focus. And I’ll go anywhere and do anything to make
it happen.
That has to be Washington’s
driving focus as well. But I know that
what you often hear out of Washington
can sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher – a jumble of unfocused noise that’s out
of touch with the things you care about.
So today, I want to cut through that noise and talk plainly
about what we should do right now to keep growing this economy and creating new
jobs.
It begins by ending what has done more than anything else to
undermine our economy over the past few years – and that’s the constant cycle
of manufactured crises and self-inflicted wounds.
I was glad to hear the Republican leader in the Senate say
this week that they won’t pursue another government shutdown or threaten
another default on our debt. Because we
shouldn’t be injuring ourselves every few months – we should be investing in
ourselves.
And one way to do that is through the budget that Congress
started working on this week.
Now, budgets can be a boring topic – especially on the
weekend. But they can also be
revealing. Because they expose what our
priorities are as a country for all to see.
Think about it. We
can keep wasteful corporate tax giveaways that working folks don’t get – or we
could close those loopholes and use that money to pay for things that actually
create jobs.
We can keep harmful cuts to education programs – or we could
give more kids a head start, hire more teachers in math and science, and help
more kids afford a college education.
We can keep doling out corporate welfare to big oil
companies – or we could keep investing in the renewable energy that creates jobs
and lowers our carbon pollution.
Priorities. Choices.
That’s what this is about. And
the stakes for the middle class couldn’t be higher. If we don’t pick the right priorities now,
make the right choices now, we could hinder growth and opportunity for decades,
and leave our children with something less.
That includes the obsession with cutting just for the sake
of cutting. That hasn’t helped our
economy grow; it’s held it back.
Remember, our deficits are getting smaller – not
bigger. On my watch, they’re falling at
the fastest pace in 60 years. So that
gives us room to fix our long-term debt problems without sticking it to young
people, or undermining our bedrock retirement and health security programs, or
ending basic research that helps the economy grow.
Here’s the bottom line.
Congress should pass a budget that cuts things we don’t need, and closes
wasteful tax loopholes that don’t help create jobs, so that we can free up
resources for the things that actually do create jobs and growth.
Building new roads, and bridges, and schools, and airports –
that creates jobs.
Educating our kids and our workers for a global economy –
that helps us grow.
Investing in science, technology, and research – that keeps
our businesses and our military on the cutting edge. It’s vital for our economic future.
So the question isn’t between growth and fiscal
responsibility. We need both. The question can’t be how much more we can
cut; it’s got to be how many more jobs we can create, how many more kids we can
educate, and how much more shared prosperity we can generate.
Because in America,
our economy doesn’t grow from the top-down.
It grows from the middle-class out.
And as long as I am President, our national mission will remain building
an America
where everyone belongs, and everyone who works hard has a chance to get ahead.
Thanks, and have a great weekend.