The 44th President: A transition to Power
Above: Obama with Rahm Emanuel (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
NYT
Published: January 6, 2009
The following is a rush transcript of President-Elect Barack Obama’s media availability as provided by the Obama team.
Obama: When the American people spoke last November, they were demanding change, change in policies that helped deliver the worst economic crisis that we’ve seen since the Great Depression, but they’re also looking for a change in the way that Washington does business. They were demanding that we restore a sense of responsibility and prudence to how we’d run our government.
One of the measures of irresponsibility that we’ve seen is the enormous federal debt that has accumulated, a number that has doubled in recent years. As we just discussed, my budget team filled me in on – Peter Orszag now forecasts that, at the current course and speed, a trillion-dollar deficit will be here before we even start the next budget, that we’ve already looked – we’re already looking at a trillion-dollar budget deficit or close to a trillion-dollar budget deficit, and that potentially we’ve got trillion-dollar deficits for years to come, even with the economic recovery that we are working on at this point.
So the reason I raise this is that we’re going to have to stop talking about budget reform. We’re going to have to totally embrace it. It’s an absolute necessity.
And it has to begin with the economic recovery and reinvestment plan that Congress will soon be considering, that we’re going to be investing an extraordinary amount of money to jump-start our economy, save or create 3 million new jobs, mostly in the private sector, and lay a solid foundation for future growth.
But we’re not going to be able to expect the American people to support this critical effort unless we take extraordinary steps to ensure that the investments are made wisely and managed well. And that’s why my recovery and reinvestment plan will have – will set a new higher standard of accountability, transparency, and oversight.
We are going to ban all earmarks, the process by which individual members insert pet projects without review. We will create an economic recovery oversight board made up of key administration officials and independent advisers to identify problems early and make sure we’re doing all that we can to solve it. We will put information about where money is being spent online so that the American people know exactly where their precious tax dollars are going and whether we are hitting our marks.
But we’re not going to be able to stop there. We’re going to have to bring significant reform not just to our recovery and reinvestment plan, but to the overall budget process, to address both the deficit of dollars and the deficit of trust. We’ll have to make tough choices, and we’re going to have to break old habits. We’re going to have to eliminate outmoded programs and make the ones that we do need work better.
That’s the challenge that I’ve handed to Peter, and Rob Nabors, and the rest of my budget team. That’s the challenge that the American people have handed me. They know that we’re at a perilous crossroad and that tinkering in the margins will not do.
I’m going to have more to say about this subject tomorrow, but today I wanted to lay out an early marker with those that I’ve entrusted to help bring the changes that the American people voted for. We are going to bring a long-overdue sense of responsibility and accountability to Washington. We are going to stop talking about government reform, and we’re actually going to start executing.
That’s the charge that I’ve given the members of the administration. That’s the charge that was given to me by the American people. And we are ready for the challenge.
So with that, I’m going to take some questions. And let’s start with you.
Question: Thank you, Mr. President-elect. Do you think that you’ll be submitting a budget larger than the $3.1 trillion that President Bush submitted for fiscal ’09? And, also, what are you doing to address concerns from other Democrats about deficit spending and increasing the deficit with the stimulus package? Read more at NYT.
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Who is Donating to Obama’s Inaugural Festivities? See the List
Obama raises $27 million for inaugural
The Associated Press
By SHARON THEIMER –
WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite the economic hard times, money keeps pouring in for President-elect Barack Obama’s inaugural festivities.
The inaugural committee has raised at least $27 million, donor information on its Web site Tuesday showed. Most of that has come in over the past three weeks.
If fundraising continues at that pace, Obama’s inaugural committee will have no problem reaching or exceeding the roughly $40 million raised for each of President George W. Bush’s two inaugural celebrations.
More than 2,000 donors are helping to finance Obama’s Jan. 20 swearing-in festivities. At least 378 gave the maximum $50,000.
Top donors include financier and major Democratic donor George Soros, actors Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx and Samuel L. Jackson, Hollywood producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, directors Ron Howard, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg and actor, singer and director Barbra Streisand.
The inaugural committee is releasing the names of those who give $200 or more. It is refusing money from labor unions, corporations, political action committees, foreigners and Washington lobbyists. Read More.
Click Here to See the List of Donors to the Presidential Inaugural Committee