Obama's weekly address on "the most sweeping economic recovery plan in history"

Not a bad week for Obama. He signed the economic recovery act, proposed a plan to save housing and even got in a trip to Canada. It wasn't just any economic recovery act, it was "the most sweeping economic recovery plan in history." We need the most sweeping economic recovery plan in history to dig out from the mess left behind by George Bush.




Here's an excerpt:

But as important as it was that I was able to sign this plan into law, it is only a first step on the road to economic recovery. And we can't fail to complete the journey. That will require stemming the spread of foreclosures and falling home values, and doing all we can to help responsible homeowners stay in their homes, which is exactly what the housing plan I announced last week will help us do.

It will require stabilizing and repairing our banking system, and getting credit flowing again to families and businesses. It will require reforming the broken regulatory system that made this crisis possible, and recognizing that it's only by setting and enforcing 21st century rules of the road that we can build a thriving economy.

And it will require doing all we can to get exploding deficits under control as our economy begins to recover. That work begins on Monday, when I will convene a fiscal summit of independent experts and unions, advocacy groups and members of Congress, to discuss how we can cut the trillion-dollar deficit that we've inherited. On Tuesday, I will speak to the nation about our urgent national priorities. And on Thursday, I'll release a budget that's sober in its assessments, honest in its accounting, and lays out in detail my strategy for investing in what we need, cutting what we don't, and restoring fiscal discipline.

No single piece of this broad economic recovery can, by itself, meet the demands that have been placed on us.

Yes, let's not forget about all the demands that have been placed on us -- and who placed them. It was the Bush administration's failed economic policies combined with the Bush administration's refusal to regulate corporate America. The Republicans on Capitol Hill, who now won't help Obama solve the crisis, were complicit. Also owning a share of the responsibility are the patsies in the business press who wanted to be friends with corporate titans instead of reporting on their misdeeds.

Lots of blame to go around, but Obama and the Democrats now have to fix it. And, fix it the right way.