A better day is coming
Barack Obama says a better day is coming for United States
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Saturday, 07, Mar 2009 10:15
The United States will emerge "stronger and more prosperous" than ever before, Barack Obama has insisted in a rallying call against the deepening economic gloom.
This week figures revealed 651,000 extra jobs had been lost in the States, where a jobless rate of 8.1 per cent represents a 26-year high.
But President Obama, in his weekly video/radio address, said the country could yet "discover great opportunity in the midst of great crisis".
"That is what we can do and must do today," he said. "And I am absolutely confident that is what we will do."
Mr Obama has already unveiled an extremely ambitious budget worth $3.55 trillion, including sweeping proposals on healthcare, climate change and education.
The president has also condemned the previous administrations that left him with a $1.3 trillion deficit that is as "irresponsible as it is unsustainable".
"These kinds of irresponsible budgets - and inexcusable practices - are now in the past," Mr Obama continued.
"For the first time in many years, my administration has produced a budget that represents an honest reckoning of where we are and where we need to go."
He went on to say: "But I also believe that we will get through this - that if we act swiftly and boldly and responsibly, the United States of America will emerge stronger and more prosperous than it was before.
"From the day I took office, I knew that solving this crisis would not be easy, nor would it happen overnight, and we will continue to face difficult days in the months ahead.
"My administration is committed to doing all that's necessary to address this crisis and lead us to a better day."