Barack Obama

We will rebuild. We will recover. The U.S. will emerge stronger than ever before.

It's going to be an important week for the president.

The budget I submit will invest in the three areas that are absolutely critical to our economic future -- energy, health care, and education.

Given these realities, everyone in this chamber, Democrats and Republicans, will have to sacrifice some worthy priorities for which there are no dollars.

My budget does not attempt to solve every problem or address every issue. It reflects the stark reality of what we've inherited; a trillion dollar deficit, a financial crisis and a costly recession.

It's not about helping banks. It's about helping people.

If your family earns less than $250,000 a year, a quarter million dollars a year, you will not see your taxes increase a single dime. I repeat, not one single dime.

In order to save our children from a future of debt, we will also end the tax breaks to the wealthiest two percent of Americans.

I have told each of my cabinet as well as mayors and governors across the country that they will be held accountable by me and the American people for every dollar they spend.

We're going to do health care reform this year.

I reject the view that says our problems will simply take care of themselves. That says government has no role in laying the foundation for our common prosperity.

And dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It's not just quitting on yourself, it's quitting on your country. And this country needs and values the talents of every American.

Now is the time to act boldly and wisely, to not only revive this economy, but to build a new foundation for lasting prosperity. Now is the time to jump start job creation, restart lending, and invest in areas like energy, health care and…

Over the next two years, this plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs.

95 percent of working households in America will receive a tax cut.

I want to be very clear. While we are making important progress toward fiscal responsibility this year in this budget, this is just the beginning. In the coming years, we will be forced to make more tough choices and do much more to…

The last thing I want to do is hold up the food.

When I hear people say, 'Well, there's -- there's a lot of waste in this program,' well, from my perspective at least, keeping teachers in the classrooms is not wasteful. From my perspective, tax cuts to 90 percent of working families is…

I think John has also been extraordinarily consistent and sincere about these issues.

Somehow it's being characterized in broad brushes, wasteful spending. That starts sounding more like politics.

When I hear people say, well, there's a lot of waste in this program, well, from my perspective at least, keeping teachers in the classroom is not wasteful. From my perspective, tax cuts to 95 percent of working families is not wasteful.

Joe and I can't think of a more tenacious and efficient guardian of the hard-earned tax dollars the American people have entrusted us to wisely invest.

But I just want us to not lose perspective of the fact that most of the things that have been the topic of argument over the last several days amount to a fraction of the overall stimulus package.

We cannot and will not sustain deficits like these without end. Contrary to the prevailing wisdom in Washington these past few years, we cannot simply spend as we please and defer the consequences to the next budget, the next…

The casual dishonesty of hiding irresponsible spending with clever accounting tricks, the costly overruns, the fraud and abuse, the endless excuses; this is exactly what the American people rejected when they went to the polls.