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Weekly Address: President Obama – America’s Resurgence Is Real

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The President’s Weekly Address post is also an Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

 

From the White House – Weekly Address

In this week’s address, the President reflected on the significant progress made by this country in 2014, and in the nearly six years since he took office.

This past year has been the strongest for job growth since the 1990s, contributing to the nearly 11 million jobs added by our businesses over a 57-month streak. America is leading the rest of the world, in containing the spread of Ebola, degrading and ultimately destroying ISIL, and addressing the threat posed by climate change. And earlier this week, the President announced the most significant changes to our policy towards Cuba in over 50 years.

America’s resurgence is real, and the President expressed his commitment to working with Congress in the coming year to make sure Americans feel the benefits.

Transcript: Weekly Address: America’s Resurgence Is Real

Hi, everybody.  As 2014 comes to an end, we can enter the New Year with new confidence that America is making significant strides where it counts.

The steps we took nearly six years ago to rescue our economy and rebuild it on a new foundation helped make 2014 the strongest year for job growth since the 1990s.  Over the past 57 months, our businesses have created nearly 11 million new jobs.  And in a hopeful sign for middle-class families, wages are on the rise again.

Our investments in American manufacturing have helped fuel its best stretch of job growth since the ’90s.  America is now the number one producer of oil and gas, saving drivers about 70 cents a gallon at the pump over last Christmas.  The auto industry we rescued is on track for its strongest year since 2005.  Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, about 10 million Americans have gained health insurance in the past year alone.  And since I took office, we have cut our deficits by about two-thirds.

Meanwhile, around the world, America is leading.  We’re leading the coalition to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL.  We’re leading the global fight to combat the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.  We’re leading global efforts to address climate change, including last month’s joint announcement with China.  We’re turning a new page in our relationship with the Cuban people.

And in less than two weeks, after more than 13 years, our combat mission in Afghanistan will be over, and our war there will come to a responsible end.  Today, more of our troops are home for the holidays than at any time in over a decade.  Still, many of our men and women in uniform will spend this Christmas in harm’s way.  And as Commander-in-Chief, I want our troops to know:  your country is united in our support and gratitude for you and your families.

The six years since the financial crisis have demanded hard work and sacrifice on everyone’s part.  But as a country, we have every right to be proud of what we’ve got to show for it.  More jobs.  More insured.  A growing economy.  Shrinking deficits.  Bustling industry.  Booming energy.

Pick any metric you want – America’s resurgence is real.  And we now have the chance to reverse the decades-long erosion of middle-class jobs and incomes.  We just have to invest in the things that we know will secure even faster growth in higher-paying jobs for more Americans.  We have to make sure our economy, our justice system, and our government work not only for a few, but for all of us.  And I look forward to working together with the new Congress next year on these priorities.

Sure, we’ll disagree on some things.  We’ll have to compromise on others.  I’ll act on my own when it’s necessary.  But I will never stop trying to make life better for people like you.

Because thanks to your efforts, a new foundation is laid. A new future is ready to be written.  We have set the stage for a new American moment, and I’m going to spend every minute of my last two years making sure we seize it.

On behalf of the Obama family, I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas.

Thanks, and have a wonderful holiday season.

Bolding added.

~


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/ 5 Comments

5 comments

  2. JanF

    Breaking Down the “Worst” Year in Washington

    Let me start with a controversial premise: 2014 was a year of great progress for President Obama and the progressive agenda.

    Stay with me  – even if you’re distracted by the sound of heads exploding across the Beltway punditocracy. You can practically hear professional pundits saying “Wait, what? How can this be when it runs completely contrary to my narrative? The President’s party had a terrible midterm election and his poll numbers are only a few points better than they were this time last year when HealthCare.gov was 404 File Not Found.”

  3. JanF

    From an email sent to his OFA supporters:

       Friend —

       A lot has changed in the six years I’ve been president.

       As I look ahead at my final two years in office, I want you to know two things:

       1.) I’m so proud of the progress we’ve made together so far. Thank you. Because of folks like you, we’ve been able to accomplish incredible things — change that is making people’s lives better today. That’s the reason we do this work.

       2.) I’m not done. I won’t stop fighting for the American people until the day I leave this office. That’s a promise.

       No matter how much partisan gridlock gets in the way or how powerful some special interests seem, I know we can keep making real, lasting change.

       I can’t do it alone. That’s as true today as it was at the start.

       So, I hope you’re ready to go — say you’ll keep fighting alongside OFA any way you can in 2015:

       http://my.barackobama.com/Recommit-for-2015

       Thank you,

       Barack Obama

  4. JanF

    That meme is the antitheses of what Barack Obama has been for his entire life.

    From Politico, the opinion site that causes Charlie Pierce to want to guzzle anti-freeze, this “gem”: Operation Revenge. President Obama is back in his campaign comfort zone: Smiting his political enemies.:

    He’s gone from thinking of himself as a sitting (lame) duck, they tell me, to a president diving headlong into what amounts to a final campaign – this one to preserve his legacy, add policy points to the scoreboard, and – last but definitely not least – to inflict the same kind of punishment on his newly empowered Republican enemies, who delighted in tormenting him when he was on top.

    Utter bullpucky.

    And of course there is the gleefulness on the left (I always think that they should know better … and I am always disappointed) that the New President Obama will become President Eye Poker “Payback Time: Obama Plans On Punishing All Of The Republicans Who Obstructed Him “.

    President Obama was a community organizer, actually he still is, just on a larger scale. He has always been part of the Change Takes Time wing of the Democratic Party as well as a pragmatic progressive. So there will be more Republicans clogging up the gears of government in the 114th Congress. It doesn’t change much. He will preside the same way he has all along, seeking consensus, doing what he believes is right, compromising where it makes sense (and resisting when it doesn’t), and keeping his focus on what he was elected to do: make our lives better.

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